In this 1975 Chattanooga News-Free Press photo, Lucy Thatcher and her pet Dalmatian join the Labor Day parade on Lookout Mountain. The theme of the parade that year was the United States Bicentennial, which would be marked in 1976.
A sign on the dog's back read: "Give me liberty, or give me a bone." The word "death" - from the Patrick Henry quote of 1775 - is marked out as a joke.
Earlier that year, the town of Lookout Mountain had enacted a leash law that led to the dog being confined, the newspaper article noted. Previously, the Dalmatian had roamed the mountain freely.
The report in the Sept. 6, 1975, Sunday newspaper noted that 2,000 attended the Lookout Mountain parade, which had been held a few days earlier.
The photo is one of hundreds recently found in a box of slides at the offices of the Chattanooga Times Free Press and archived now at ChattanoogaHistory.com, an online gallery of historic photos curated by history buff Sam Hall.
The convertible automobile, also shown in the photo, includes riders in military garb and a hand-made sign that read: "Shoot if you must this old gray head, but spare our country's flag, she said." The line is from a poem by John Greenleaf Whittier.
The parade also included scores of adults and children on bicycles, several floats and many citizens dressed in Revolutionary War-era fashions.
News-Free Press writer Helen McDonald Exum described the scene: "The newly renovated shopping center on Lookout Mountain was ready to be dedicated. There was a tent for the barbecue over by the Baptist church. The band was tuning up their brass in the bandstand. There were huge American flags lining the streets."
One of the attendees noted that there were more people in the parade than there were spectators at the event.
To view more photos from the "Remember When, Chattanooga?" series, visit ChattanoogaHistory.com or join the public group on Facebook.
Contact Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com.
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ChattanoogaHistory.comLaunched by history enthusiast Sam Hall in 2014, ChattanoogaHistory.com is maintained to present historical images in the highest resolution available.If you have photo negatives, glass plate negatives, or original non-digital prints taken in the Chattanooga area, contact Sam Hall for information on how they may qualify to be digitized and preserved at no charge.