The ‘Surrender Dorothy’ bridge sports a conspiratorial new message
, one of the Holy Child girls, told me in 2011.The earliest reference I could find in print to aversion of “SURRENDER DOROTHY” was a brief item in the Washington Star on April 16, 1981. Those two words were there for years in various incarnations. As far as I can tell, no one has publicly taken credit.
I’ve only been able to find one photograph of any of the versions. It’s an uncharacteristic one, with small letters bunched to the left. Old-timers will remember larger letters spread out over the right-hand side of the bridge. The graffito was painted over regularly, only to magically reappear. It was a meme before there was an internet.At some point, “SURRENDER DOROTHY” was painted over for good. Perhaps the cohort who grew up with it had gotten too old to scramble onto a railroad overpass.
What can we make of this particular message? Well, the brushstrokes are strong and confident, but the first N is backward, as if written by a child or a not particularly bright adult. There’s no space between the two words. Whoever painted it opted for “HIDEN,” which I suppose is a mash-up of “Biden” and “hiding.” The I is dotted with what looks like a star. Or perhaps it’s meant to evoke the burning fuse on a firecracker.I should point out here that it is illegal to paint your sentiments on someone else’s property. And in this case, it’s dangerous. Trains are big and hard. People are small and soft. We’re fortunate no one has been injured out on that bridge.
Pondering the last 50 years, I think I discern a message in the succession of proclamations the bridge has borne. What was once the home of a nonpolitical message poking gentle fun at a local landmark has become a place where our fractured politics are on view. I think I liked it better when the bridge reminded me there’s no place like home.
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