1960s: Counterculture and Civil Rights Movement (Video)

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Woodstock

Woodstock Ventures The Woodstock Music Festival was the brainchild of four men, all age 27 or younger, looking for an investment opportunity: John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfeld and Michael Lang. Lang had organized the successful Miami Music Festival in 1968 and Kornfeld was the youngest vice president at Capitol Records. Roberts and Rosenman were […]

(Original Caption) Chicago, IL: An unidentified bystander points accusingly at Illinois National Guardsmen as they stand guard of Grant Park early 8/28 following a large scale confrontation with hippies. Seven hundred troops, all members of the 33rd MP battalion, were ordered into the park, across the street from Democratic National Convention Headquarters at the Conrad Hotel. 8/28/1968

1968 Democratic Convention

Goal of Protestors at the 1968 Democratic Convention Though the 1968 protest at the Democratic National Convention were largely against the Vietnam War, the country was undergoing unrest on many fronts. The months leading up to the infamous 1968 Democratic Convention were turbulent: The brutal assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in April had left […]

Watts Rebellion

Watts, California It was a low-key traffic stop around 7 p.m. on a Wednesday evening that ignited what would become known as the Watts Rebellion. Stepbrothers Marquette and Ronald Frye were pulled over by a white California Highway Patrol officer while driving their mother’s car near the corner of Avalon Boulevard and 116th Street in […]

President Lyndon B. Johnson Giving Speech(Original Caption) Message to the Nation. Washington, DC: President Johnson during a quickly-arranged nationwide TV address from the White House today at which he announced that he and the new Soviet leadership have exchanged pledges to continue seeking steps toward a "solid peace." On Red China's explosion of a nuclear device, he said there is "no fear it will lead to immediate danger of war."

Great Society

Riding A Wave of Empathy On November 22, 1963, Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as President of the United States after the killing of John F. Kennedy. The assassination of Kennedy left American citizens reeling. They felt empathy, even sympathy for Johnson as he became president under such difficult circumstances. Johnson took advantage of […]

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Sheriff's deputies form a line across street at Garfield High School during a Chicano student demonstration on March 5, 1968. Similar confrontations occurred at other schools.

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How 1968 East L.A. Student Walkouts Ignited the Chicano Movement

Thousands of Mexican American students participated in the ‘Blowout,’ the first urban, youth-led protest of the burgeoning Chicano civil rights crusade.

Crowds gather for the The Harlem Cultural Festival on June 29, 1969.

Why the Watershed 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival Was Overshadowed for 50 Years

During the same summer as the legendary Woodstock music festival, the Harlem concert series featured major African American artists against a backdrop of massive social change.

How Barry Goldwater Brought the Far Right to Center Stage in the 1964 Presidential Race

Despite a landslide loss, the Arizona Republican ignited his party’s ultra-conservative wing for decades to come.

How the First Earth Day Was Born From 1960s Counterculture

On April 22, 1970, a nationwide “teach-in” inspired millions of Americans to care more about the environment.

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Baby Boomers

Find out more about the huge – and hugely influential – generation of Americans born during the post-World War II period between 1946 and 1964.

3:43 minTV-PG

The Great Society

What did President Lyndon B. Johnson envision with his suite of domestic programs known as the Great Society? What did the programs entail, and what became of them after the 1960s?

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3:50 minTV-PG

The Detroit Riots of 1967

Explore the history of the 1967 Detroit riots, from the political context that sparked them to the broader consequences of the conflict.

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2:11 minTV-PG

Flashback: RFK Speaks at Columbia University

In the middle of his 1964 New York Senatorial bid, Robert Kennedy visits Columbia University to participate in a student-led Q&A session. From this excerpt, one can easily see why Kennedy was a rising star of the Democratic Party and a future presidential hopeful.

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This Day in History

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1968

1960s

Topics

Woodstock

1968 Democratic Convention

Watts Rebellion

Great Society

Stories

How 1968 East L.A. Student Walkouts Ignited the Chicano Movement

Why the Watershed 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival Was Overshadowed for 50 Years

How Barry Goldwater Brought the Far Right to Center Stage in the 1964 Presidential Race

How the First Earth Day Was Born From 1960s Counterculture

Videos

Baby Boomers

The Great Society

The Detroit Riots of 1967

Flashback: RFK Speaks at Columbia University

This Day in History

Black soldiers stage sit-in at Fort Hood

Aberfan disaster kills 144 people and levels a Welsh mining village

Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” is published

Iconic photo of Che Guevara taken

Delano Grape Strike begins

Golda Meir elected as Israel’s first female prime minster