As one of three students who initiated the protest, John Tinker describes the events and inspiration that led to the decision in 1965 by a group of students in Des Moines, Iowa, to wear black armbands to protest the Vietnam War.

Additional resources, including the an audio recording of the U.S. Supreme Court opening arguments for the Tinker Case and the text of the Court’s case decision, are available on the Iowa PBS 50th Anniversary of the Tinker v. Des Moines Schools Decision and Students’ Right to Freedom of Speech: The Tinker Case websites.