'Surrender Dorothy' painted on a Beltway overpass — what's the story?

As I traveled on the Beltway in the early ’70s near the Mormon Temple in Kensington, I was always amused by one re-occurring sight. On an overpass just as the temple comes into view, someone would always spray paints in big letters “Surrender Dorothy.” The line was from “The Wizard of Oz,” and I’m fairly sure it reflected the graffiti artist’s impression that the temple was reminiscent of the spires that Dorothy and company saw as they approached the Emerald City and their subsequent fear when the witch wrote the phrase in the sky. While I recognize that it was illegal to do that, I marveled at the writer’s ability to write it so boldly as to be seen from the highway. I’ve often wondered if anyone knew the story behind it or knew who the person was.

— Christine Mulligan, Germantown

First, allow Answer Man to state that he does not condone breaking the law, especially breaking the law in such a dangerous way. That graffito (singular of graffiti) was on a CSX railway bridge, meaning the perpetrator(s) risked not just falling onto the Beltway below but being flattened by a passing freight train.

Answer Man could find no reference to when it first went up. The temple was dedicated in November 1974, and certainly by the early 1980s “Surrender Dorothy” was a common sight for Beltway drivers — and an irritant for state highway workers, who would periodically be brought in to remove what was seen as a distraction to drivers.

In 2001, state highway spokesman David Buck told Mormon News, “We’ve fought an uphill battle for years with people putting graffiti on that bridge.” Maintenance crews that year shut down two lanes of traffic for an hour to scrub away yellow spray paint. (In that article, a temple administrator said he found the graffito amusing, although Answer Man figures many Mormons probably don’t like their religion being associated with witches and flying monkeys.)

If you happen to have any information about “Surrender Dorothy,” drop Answer Man a line at the address below.

A dirty business

Readers wanted to dish more dirt after last Sunday’s column on what happened to the material dug up for Metro’s tunnels . Some of it is at the National Zoo, said architect W. Kent Cooper .

In the late ’70s, his firm was designing the zoo’s Beaver Valley. “We created a rocky landscape, filled with contained sites for pools and visitor walkways, and we used artificial stonework to accomplish the end,” Kent wrote. Then they heard Metro had blasted out some big rocks while tunneling.

The Hidden Meaning of the Wizard of Oz | The Illuminati Watch

By vigilantcitizen.com:

With its memorable story and its cast of colorful characters, the Wizard of Oz quickly became an American classic. More than a hundred years after the release of this book, kids everywhere are still enchanted by Oz’s world of wonder. Few, however, recognize that, under its deceptive simplicity, the story of the Wizard of Oz conceals deep esoteric truths inspired by Theosophy. Here we’ll look at the Wizard of Oz’s occult meaning and its author’s background.