Back in May 1970, Marblehead High School students were given the option of attending regular classes or a “teach-in,” an all-day event that saw a dozen speakers talking to a packed auditorium of students. A photo from a May 12, 1970 edition of The Daily Evening Item shows state Rep. J. Hilary Rockett speaking to hundreds of students at the high school.
According to the article, subjects discussed at the teach-in “ranged from the Vietnam War to the problems on college campuses.”
The article focused on a eulogy of Rep. Jim Shea by Rockett. Shea died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and Rockett characterized him as “a man cheered and jeered during the final week of his life when he supported a cause he sincerely believed in — peace in Southeast Asia,” according to the article.
The article also stated that Rockett added that Shea had “suffered from ‘complete exhaustion as a result of fighting for a change in administration policy in Vietnam.'”