36. Softball Uniform

This cotton/nylon sports jersey was worn by an unknown female student at Northwood High School in Silver Spring in the mid-to-late 1970s. Northwood High School opened on University Boulevard at Arcola Avenue in 1956, but closed in 1985 due to declining student-age population in the area. Before reopening in 2004, it was used as a holding school while other high schools were being renovated.

In the 1970s, the Northwood school colors were black and red and the team name was the Indians; today the colors remain the same, but the school mascot was changed to a Gladiator in 2004. The 1973 Arrowhead yearbook shows girls participating only in swimming and gymnastics. One year later, however, there are yearbook pages for girls’ tennis, field hockey, basketball, volleyball, and softball, an expansion probably in response to the passage by Congress of “Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972” regarding gender parity for programs and activities receiving Federal financial assistance. Photos of girls’ basketball and softball players in 1974 show jerseys like this one – red collar and short sleeves with “Northwood” in black script and the player’s number across the white chest.

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