1969
A Time of Radical Change
Black and white photograph showing a young White woman and man from behind. The couple has their, arms around one another and they are walking in the street. The woman wears an intricately patterned sweater and woven hair accessory. The man wears clothing that is of Native American design along with military jacket with a peace symbol drawn on the back. A group of eight young men and a woman are visible in the background. The text 'SUNSET COLOR HOUSE PAINT AND WALLPAPER' is visible on a sign above the street on a corner building.

A growing countercultural movement that would question traditional modes of authority began to coalesce around opposition to the war in Viet Nam and in support for civil rights.

Viet Nam on April 27,1969: American soldier throws signal grenade and directs helicopter to land in field.

Color photograph of three Native American U.S. Army soldiers reclining on the ground surrounded by vegetation in SE Asia. They wear green uniforms, helmets, bullet straps hang around their necks. One soldier holds a rifle.

Native American soldiers in Viet Nam.

The poetic words in Bob Dylan’s song “The Times They Are A’ Changin,” described the intergenerational tensions emerging in the nation, crossing ethnic, racial and class boundaries.

Black and white photograph taken at the Woodstock music festival in 1969. A White man and woman embrace standing, surrounded by a blanket that the man is wearing. In the background: many others sit and lay in the field, wrapped in blankets, facing toward the left of the photo.
Black and white photograph of a young Bob Dylan in 1968.

"Come gather ’round people

Wherever you roam

And admit that the waters

Around you have grown

And accept it that soon

You’ll be drenched to the bone

If your time to you is worth savin’

Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone

For the times they are a-changin’

...The line it is drawn

The curse it is cast

The slow one now

Will later be fast

As the present now

Will later be past

The order is rapidly fadin’

And the first one now will later be last

For the times they are a-changin’ "

- Bob Dylan

Woodstock 1969
Color photograph of Jimi Hendrix performing while wearing a headband and jacket with long fringe. Hendrix is photographed from behind and a large crowd fills the background of the image.

In August of 1969, Woodstock, a three-day musical festival drew more than 400,000 young people. Jimi Hendrix, wearing a Native American fringed jacket, was the final act of the festival and his rendition of the national anthem is still considered a hallmark of the event.