It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…
Fifty years later, we’re still pondering the 1960’s and how the influence of that iconic decade still resonates today. Marilyn Scallan takes us on a quick tour of the good, the bad, and the goofy from the year 1969, the year that encapsulates the decade.
The turbulent year 1969 closed out a turbulent decade in America. The ’60s started optimistically enough with the newly elected, young, charismatic President John F. Kennedy Jr. and the promise of new laws and reforms, but ended with a country reeling from divisive events. Progress was made in civil rights when the civil rights and voting rights acts were signed into law. But the country was rocked by assassinations, including those of Kennedy and Medgar Evers in 1963, Malcolm X in 1965, and Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.
In July 1969, three U.S. astronauts were the first humans to land on the moon—a unifying and bold achievement. And although the Vietnam war raged on, the first troop withdrawals occurred. The Clean Water Act and creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in ’69 were spurred when the heavily polluted Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught on fire. There were firsts in entertainment (British rock group Led Zeppelin released its first album in the U.S.) and aviation (the world’s first jumbo jet debuted).
In August ’69, half a million people gathered on a dairy farm in Bethel, New York, for the three-day Woodstock festival—a peaceful celebration that became synonymous with the counterculture movement of the ’60s. But, for some, the end of the peace-and-love movement arrived that same month when followers of Charles Manson murdered seven people in California. “Many people I know in Los Angeles believe that the Sixties ended abruptly on August 9, 1969,” Joan Didion wrote in her 1979 book The White Album.
Woodstock
Woodstock Music and Art Fair; 1969; gift of Deborah L. Kempf;
Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History
The Woodstock Music and Art Fair was held Aug. 15–18, 1969, in Bethel, New York—about 40 miles from Woodstock. More than 400,000 people watched 32 acts, including Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez, Canned Heat, Grateful Dead, Credence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin and the Kozmic Blues Band, Sly and the Family Stone, The Who and Jimi Hendrix. The festival came to symbolize the ’60s counterculture, and its site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.
Apollo 11
Command Module, Apollo 11. Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. Transferred
from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1971.
The Apollo 11 command module Columbia was the living quarters for Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins during most of the first manned lunar-landing mission in July 1969. They launched from Cape Kennedy July 16, 1969, atop a Saturn V rocket. The other two parts of the spacecraft were the service module and the lunar module, nicknamed “Eagle.” Aldrin and Armstrong landed on the moon in the Eagle July 20. As he stepped on the surface of the moon, Armstrong said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” The command module is the only portion of the spacecraft to return to Earth.
“Julia” lunch box
Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, 1969.
In 1969, for the first time, a black woman was featured on a lunch box. This metal lunch box was manufactured by Thermos and included images from Diahann Carroll’s hit TV series, Julia, which aired 1968–1971. The show was applauded for its depiction of African American life in a suburban setting.
Sesame Street
Sketch of the Sesame Street set by Alan Compton, set designer. Painted for the 1979 exhibition “Ten
Years of Sesame Street” at Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
This sketch of the set of the public-TV series Sesame Street features Big Bird. Sesame Street premiered in 1969 and is still on TV today. The educational show teaches reading, arithmetic and other subjects as well as basic life skills to preschoolers. More about the show and its origins is on the National Museum of American History’s blog.
Stonewall
“Illegal To Be You: Gay History Beyond Stonewall.” Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
New York City’s Stonewall Inn, an underground gay bar in lower Manhattan, was raided by police on the grounds the bar refused to pay an increase in bribery. For three days in June, 400 to 1,000 patrons rioted against police. It came to be known as the Stonewall Rebellion, considered the birth of the homosexual rights movement.
The National Museum of American History’s exhibition “Illegal To Be You: Gay History Beyond Stonewall” contextualizes that event with the larger and longer experience of being gay. Objects from the exhibition can be viewed on the its companion website.
First Jumbo Jet
Boeing 747 forward fuselage on display at the National Air and Space Museum. (NASM photo)
The Boeing 747 is one of the most significant airliners in history. It popularized air travel and ushered in a new era of affordable airfare. In the early 1970s, many of 747s were outfitted with extravagant amenities like bars, piano lounges and even spiral staircases. But the airlines realized they could make a lot more money by replacing lounges with seats. Boeing 747s are still in service.
Judy Garland
Judy Garland Palace Theater, New York City; Richard Avedon; Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History
Judy Garland was an actress, singer and dancer. She was a child star who was already famous when she portrayed Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz at 16 (the famous ruby slippers can be seen in the National Museum of American History’s collections). Her life was plagued by alcohol and substance abuse and financial difficulties, but she still performed. She died in her home of an accidental overdose in London at 47.
Garland is featured in Smithsonian Spotlight
Scooby Doo, where are you?
This still, featuring the Castle of the “Splitsonian Institute,” is from the 1976 episode “The Spirits of ’76.” Via http://radioactive-studios.com/biohazard-films/files/2015/03/Scooby-Spirits76-02-Smithsonian.jpg
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! was an animated mystery series for children that first aired in September 1969. Under the umbrella term The Scooby-Doo Show, the Scooby-Doo franchise continues to this day.
This still, featuring the Castle of the “Splitsonian Institute,” is from the 1976 episode “The Spirits of ’76.”
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Posted: 27 September 2019
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Categories:
Air and Space Museum , American History Museum , Feature Stories , History and Culture
