1960s Counterculture

  • The Hippy Movement
    • The term “hippy” comes from being hip.
    • You were either hip or you were a “square” or a “pig”
    • Hippie were looking for an alternative way of life
    • Most hippies valued freedom, nature, intimacy, peace, sharing, and spirituality
  • The Way of Life
    • Hippies wanted to distance themselves from mainstream ways of life
    • They discarded possessions and often lived in parks or campsites in the foods
    • Living like this made them feel free
    • Nudity was another form of freedom
  • Counterculture Fashion
    • Hippies distanced themselves from mainstream culture by their dress.
    • Colorful, flowing clothing, beads, headbands, bell-bottoms, and tie-dye were popular.
    • Men had their hair and beards long or in afros.
    • Hippies were often called “longhairs”
  • San Francisco and Haight Ashbury
    • San Francisco was the birthplace of the counterculture/hippy movement.
    • By 1965, hippies had taken over the Haight Ashbury district.
    • Haigh Ashbury district contains the Golden Gate Park, home of the Trips Festival and “be-ins”
  • Hippy Music
    • The most popular music of the time was psychedelic rock,
    • Bands like Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and the Grateful Dead played free concerts at Golden Gate Park
    • Concerts and be-ins were places for hippies to protest, socialize, dance, or take drugs.
    • At Woodstock over 250,000 hippies showed up to hear artists like Janis Joplin, The Who, Canned Heat, The Allman Brothers, and County Joe and the Fish.
  • Woodstock
    • Woodstock was not just a music concert.
    • “For thousands who couldn’t even hear the music” it was a “profound religious experience”
    • Meager resources were shared with everyone
    • Many people at Woodstock used illegal drugs
  • Drug Culture
    • Drugs like marijuana and LSD were a big part of the hippy/counterculture movement
    • Using drugs made hippies feel like they were rebelling from mainstream society
    • Timothy Leary, a Harvard professor, was an advocate of LSD
    • LSD was created by a Swiss scientist, used by the CIA, and tested for use by psychiatrists before it became illegal