1960s counter culture

1960s Counter-Culture

Art  109A:    Art  Since  1945  Westchester  Community  College  Fall  2012  

1955-1965: The Consensus Years The prosperity and optimism of the 1950s continued in the early decades of the 1960s

“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.” President John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Speech, January 20, 1961

President John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Speech, January 20, 1961

The Consensus Years: 1955-1965 Faith in government

The Consensus Years: 1955-1965 Trust in Capitalism

The Consensus Years: 1955-1965 Belief that America was steadily becoming more equal and free

George E.C. Hayes, Thurgood Marshall, and James M. Nabrit folowing Supreme Court decision ending segregation May 17, 1954. Kibrary of Congress Image source: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/civilrights/cr-exhibit.html

The Cold War But the Cold War led to a series of international crises

Paul Vathis, 1962 Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of President John F. Kennedy and former President Dwight D. Eisenhower walking together at Camp David following the Bay of Pigs invasion. Washington Post

The Cold War In 1962 the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the United States and the USSR to the brink of nuclear war

October 1962 Executive Committee of the National Security Council meeting. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston

The Military-Industrial Complex American involvement in the Cold War had other consequences as well

F-111 Production Line, General Dynamics, Fort Worth, Texas, 1968 http://www.f-111.net/RAAF-F-111s-off-the-production-line-1.htm

The Military-Industrial Complex In 1961 President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned about an emerging “military-industrial complex” that threatened American democracy

President Dwight D. Eisenhower in his televised Farewell Address 1961. In this speech President Eisenhower warned against the emergence of the “military industrial complex” which became a catchphrase of the 1960s protest movement

General Dynamics, Fort Worth Texas, 1969 http://www.f-111.net/RAAF-F-111s-off-the-production-line-1.htm

“The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes.” President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Farewell Address, 1961

The Military-Industrial Complex Military defense had become one of America’s leading industries

General Dynamics, Fort Worth Texas, 1969 http://www.f-111.net/RAAF-F-111s-off-the-production-line-1.htm

The Military-Industrial Complex As James Rosenquist suggested in F-111, American prosperity was directly linked to the arms industry

James Rosenquist, F-111, 1964-65

“It seemed the prime force of this war machine was to economically keep people employed in Texas and Long Island.

At the time, I thought people involved in its making were heading for something, but I didn't know what, like bugs going towards a blinding light. By doing this they could achieve two and a half children, three and a half cars, and a house in the suburbs.”

James Rosenquist http://www.moma.org/collection/printable_view.php?object_id=79805

The Great Society After the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson became president

Andy Warhol, 16 Jackies, 1964 Walker Art Center

The Great Society He introduced sweeping social reforms designed to create the “Great Society”

Cecil Stoughton, Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Civil rights Act, 1964 Wikipedia

“The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Pub.L. 88-352, 78 Stat. 241, July 2, 1964) was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed segregation in schools, public places, and employment. Conceived to help African Americans, the bill was amended prior to passage to protect women, and explicitly included white people for the first time. It also created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.” Wikipedia

The Great Society But his escalation of the War in Vietnam led to his downfall, and he did not seek re-election at the end of his term

President Lyndon B. Johnson listens to tape sent by Captain Charles Robb from Vietnam, 07/31/1968, LBJ Library photo by Jack Kightlinger http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/vietnam/vietnam_lessons.cfm

1960s Counter Culture The social activism of the 1950s gave way to the counter culture of the 1960s

Fred W. McDarrah, Allen Ginsberg at Vietnam Peace Rally, 5th Ave. NYC, March 26, 1966 http://www.stevenkasher.com/html/noresults.asp

1960s Counter Culture The civil rights movement reached critical mass under the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. addresses a crowd from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial where he delivered his famous I Have a Dream speech during the Aug. 28, 1963, march on Washington, D.C. http://news.stanford.edu/news/2011/august/i-have-a-dream-082511.html

1960s Counter Culture The drive towards integration sparked violent reactions from white communities

Anti-integration rally in Little Rock, Arkansas, on 20 August 1959 http://faculty.polytechnic.org/gfeldmeth/1045a.html

1960s Counter Culture The drive towards integration sparked violent reactions from white communities

“One of the most important legal decisions in U.S. history, the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education . . . declared school segregation unconstitutional and paved the way for the civil rights achievements of the 1960s. By overturning the "separate but equal" doctrine . . . Brown v. Board of Education began the process of unraveling more than half a century of federally sanctioned discrimination against African Americans. As a result, it also initiated a struggle between a government now obligated to integrate all public schools and recalcitrant communities determined to maintain the status quo.” http://www.oxfordaasc.com/public/features/archive/0507/photo_essay.jsp?page=1

Anti-integration rally in Little Rock, Arkansas, on 20 August 1959 http://faculty.polytechnic.org/gfeldmeth/1045a.html

1960s Counter Culture The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 represented progressive legislation

Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act, 1964 Wikipedia

1960s Counter Culture But violence against blacks continued

Collage depicting the bombing of The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama that killed four girls in 1963 http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/african/2000/1960.htm

1960s Counter Culture Martin Luther King Jr. advocated non-violence as a strategy of resistance

Civil Rights March on Washington, 1963 http://oralhistoryeducation.com/civil-rights-stories-2

“[T]he nonviolent resister does not seek to humiliate or defeat the opponent but to win his friendship and understanding . . . . The aftermath of nonviolence is reconciliation and the creation of a beloved community . . . It is merely a means to awaken a sense of shame within the oppressor but the end is reconciliation, the end is redemption.” Martin Luther King Jr., The Power of Non-Violence, 1957 http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=1131

1960s Counter Culture But government response was often violent and brutal

Top: Firemen hose down protestors Bottom: Police set dogs on civil rights protestor Birmingham, 1963 http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/african/2000/1960.htm

Andy Warhol, Red Race Riot, 1963

1960s Counter Culture Other groups advocated more aggressive tactics

Black Panther Party national chairman Bobby Seale (left) and defense minister Huey Newton http://www.africawithin.com/studies/black_panther_party1.htm

1960s Counter Culture In 1965 violence erupted in the Watts section of Los Angeles, which lasted for five days

Race riots in the Watts section of Los Angeles, August 11-15, 1965 http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/african/2000/1960.htm

1960s Counter Culture Race riots spread across the nation

• 1966: Chicago, New York, Cleveland, Baltimore

• 1967: Detroit, Newark, Rochester, New York, Birmingham, New Britain

Police subdue an injured rioter during race rights riots in Newark, N.J. (Three Lions/Getty Images) http://abcnews.go.com/US/popup?id=3371026

1960s Counter Culture Violence also erupted in a wave of political assassinations

Roy Lichtenstein, Time Magazine Cover, 1968

1960s Counter Culture Nation of Islam leader Malcolm X was assassinated in 1966

Malcolm X waiting for a press conference to begin on March 26, 1964 Wikipedia

1960s Counter Culture And in 1968 Martin Luther King and Senator Robert F. Kennedy were both assassinated

Martin Luther King and his aids moments after his assassination on a Memphis landing in 1968 http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/1,28757,1726656,00.html?iid=redirect-mlk

Busboy comforts Sen Robert F Kennedy moments after he was shot, June 5, 1968 L.A. Times

1960s Counter Culture America was a nation at war with itself

Blacks are searched at bayonet point by the National Guard in Newark, N.J., July 17, 1967 (Eddie Adams/AP Photo) http://abcnews.go.com/US/popup?id=3371026

1960s Counter Culture The civil rights movement stimulated other marginalized groups to seek equality

Betty Friedan, a founder of the National Organization for Women, led a march in Manhattan in 1970 for the Women's Strike for Equality J. P. Laffont/Corbis Sygma http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/02/05/national/05friedan_CA1.html

1960s Counter Culture The National Organization of Women (N.O.W.) and the Gay Rights movement were both launched in the later 1960s

Gay Liberation flyer, 1970 University of Washington Library, Vietnam Era Ephemera Collection

http://www.stonewall-place.com/

1960s Counter Culture A driving force behind the 1960s counter culture was the growth of student activism

Mario Savio at a Free Speech rally, UC Berkeley 1964 http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/events/bancroftiana/114/times.html

“There comes a time when the system becomes so odious that you can’t take part, you can’t even tacitly take part.” Mario Savio, 1964

1960s Counter Culture The UC Berkeley Free Speech Movement was one of the first student protest movements to make national headlines

Mario Savio and students in a free speech rally at UC Berkeley Oakland Museum

1960s Counter Culture Protesting Cold War restrictions on free speech, students occupied the administration building

Close to 800 students were arrested

Student protestor Mario Savio (C) being roughed up by two Berkeley cops as they arrest him during student riot at Free Speech Movement demonstration on campus at UC Berkeley 1964 Nat Farbman, LIFE Magazine

1960s Counter Culture The Free Speech Movement sparked a wave of student activism across the nation

Amherst College students using bullhorn & carrying signs as they during protest demonstration against US investments in South Africa which indirectly support apartheid, at General Electric Plant, 1965. John Loengard LIFE Magazine

1960s Counter Culture The war in Vietnam became the main focus for student protest activities

An anti-war demonstrator burns his draft card at a Vietnam War protest outside the Pentagon in October 1967.(Photo by Wally McNamee via Corbis)

Sound clip: War written by Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield, sung by Edwin Starr – 1970

Students Protest The Vietnam War, John Muir College, 1965 http://www-muir.ucsd.edu/40/pictures/pictures.html

http://www.utwatch.org/archives/disorientut2005/military.html

“War, huh, yeah What is it good for Absolutely nothing Uh-huh” War written by Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield, sung by Edwin Starr – 1970

1960s Counter Culture In 1970 President Richard M. Nixon announced the expansion of the war to Cambodia

President Richard M. Nixon in a televised address announcing expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia,April 30, 1970 http://www.vw.vccs.edu/vwhansd/HIS122/KentState.html

"If when the chips are down, the world's most powerful nation acts like a pitiful helpless giant, the forces of totalitarianism and anarchy will threaten free nations... throughout the world.” President Richard M. Nixon, televised address announcing the invasion of Cambodia, 1970

1960s Counter Culture At Kent State University in Ohio students demonstrated in response

Students gather for protest rally at Kent State University, 1970 Howard Ruffner Gallery of Kent State Massacre Photos on Picasaweb http://picasaweb.google.com/hruffner/KentStateUniversityMay141970#

1960s Counter Culture The National Guard was called in and four students were killed

National Guardsmen at Kent State Universtty, May 1970 Howard Ruffner Gallery of Kent State Massacre Photos on Picasaweb http://picasaweb.google.com/hruffner/KentStateUniversityMay141970#

1960s Counter Culture

Opposition to the United States involvement in Vietnam led to several domestic confrontations between antiwar demonstrators and government troops. National Guard troops stunned the nation when they shot into a crowd of protesters during a 1970 demonstration at Ohio’s Kent State University, killing four students and wounding nine. http://encarta.msn.com/media_461562516_761552642_-1_1/Kent_State_Shooting_Aftermath.html

1960s Counter Culture

Kent State Massacre, May 1970 Howard Ruffner Gallery of Kent State Massacre Photos on Picasaweb http://picasaweb.google.com/hruffner/KentStateUniversityMay141970#

1960s Counter Culture

Pulitzer prize winning photograph of Kent State Massacre by Paul Filo

1960s Counter Culture Two weeks later two students were shot during a protest at Jackson State University

James Earl Green, one of the students shot at Jackson State University, May 1970 http://www2.kenyon.edu/Khistory/60s/webpage.htm

1960s Counter Culture The events at Kent State and Jackson State sparked further student protests and a government commission on campus unrest

The Report of the President’s Commission on Campus Unrest, 1970 http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2008/1655549123_f5947098e9.jpg

Source: http://www2.kenyon.edu/Khistory/60s/webpage.htm

1960s Counter Culture Public support for the war hit an all time low

Source: http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/vietnam/vietnam_pubopinion.cfm

1960s Counter Culture A major factor in dwindling public support for the war was the unprecedented coverage in the media

Henry Huet, cover LIFE Magazine, February 11 1969 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Henri_Huet,_LIFE_cover,_110266.jpg

1960s Counter Culture It has been called “the living room war” because of the unprecedented television coverage

Yale Joel, Nixon TV Speech

1960s Counter Culture Iconic images of the war include this prize-winning photograph of a Buddhist monk who set himself on fire on a Saigon street

Buddhist Monk Thich Quang Duc immolates himself in protest against South Vietnamese persecution of Monks, Saigon, 1963 Prize winning photograph by Malcolm Browne http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%ADch_Qu%E1%BA%A3ng_%C4%90%E1%BB%A9c

South Vietnamese National Police Chief Brig Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan executes a Viet Cong officer with a single pistol shot in the head in Saigon, Vietnam on Feb. 1, 1968 AP Photo: Eddie Adams http://www.nandotimes.com/nt/images/century/photos/century0258.html

In 1968, during the Tet offensive, viewers of NBC news saw Col. Nguyen Ngoc Loan blow out the brains of his captive in a Saigon street. http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/V/htmlV/vietnamonte/vietnamonte.htm

Nick Ut, Naplam Attack on a South Vietnamese Village, June 1972 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4517597.stm

And in 1972, during the North Vietnamese spring offensive, the audience witnessed the aftermath of errant napalm strike, in which South Vietnamese planes mistook their own fleeing civilians for North Vietnamese troops. http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/V/htmlV/vietnamonte/vietnamonte.htm

Ronald L. Haeberle, Mai Lai Massacre, published in LIFE Magazine, 1969 http://library.thinkquest.org/C0129380/events/mylai.html

On Mar. 16, 1968, a unit of the U.S. army America division, led by Lt. William L. Calley, invaded the South Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai, an alleged Viet Cong stronghold. In the course of combat operations, unarmed civilians, including women and children, were shot to death; estimated to be about 500. http://library.thinkquest.org/C0129380/events/mylai.html

Hippie Culture and the Generation Gap Descendants of the “hipsters” and “beatniks” of the 1950s, Hippies were a sub-group of the 1960s counterculture

Hippies dancing to folk music during anti-war demonstration, San Francisco, 1967 Ralph Crane LIFE Magazine

Hippie Culture and the Generation Gap Embracing sex drugs and rock ‘n roll they rebelled against the accepted values of “The Establishment”

Tom Wolfe, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, 1968

Album cover for Timothy Leary Turn on Tune in Drop Out Soundtrack to a 1967 motion picture that was suppressed within weeks of its premiere in LA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leary.jpg

Hippie Culture and the Generation Gap They called for a non-violent revolution that promoted the values of love and peace

Sound clip: Revolution The Beatles 1968

Hippie Culture and the Generation Gap Their exploration of alternative lifestyles was symptomatic of a widening “generation gap”

Norman Mingo, cover of Mad Magazine, 1969 http://flickr.com/photos/66733752@N00/2036801738/

Hippie Culture and the Generation Gap Icons of the Hippie sub culture include the “Summer of Love” in San Francisco, 1967

Robert Altman, “The First Rave” http://www.yenra.com/music/summer-of-love.html

Hippie Culture and the Generation Gap

“School was out for the summer and hundreds of young people traveled across the country to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district to become a part of a counter cultural phenomenon that some said would change the world. Others weren't so sure. Still others cared only about scoring some acid (LSD) for the Jefferson Airplane show at the Fillmore auditorium.

The year was 1967 and those who'd come to San Francisco wore flowers in their hair as part of the Summer Of Love.” http://www.jour.sc.edu/pages/wigginsweb/0204summer.html

Robert Altman, “The first Rave” http://www.yenra.com/music/summer-of-love.html

Hippie Culture and the Generation Gap And the Woodstock festival and concert that drew half a million people to Yasgur’s Farm in 1968

Hippie Culture and the Generation Gap Popular music became a primary expression of the youth counter culture

The American Experience: Summer of Love Chapter 2: (7:53) Disillusioned members of the Baby Boom generation embrace a utopian vision. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/love/program/love_02_qt_lo.html