Transcript
Page 1: When Counterculture Went Pop

             

     

When Counterculture Went Pop The  Human  Be-­‐In  and  Haight-­‐Ashbury,  San  Francisco  –  1967  

                             

Brett  Ruffenach  1201748370  30  April,  2012  

                       

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The  election  of  President  John  F.  Kennedy  in  November  of  1960  served  as  a  

milestone  for  a  new  generation.  Filled  with  charisma,  intellect,  and  a  type  of  

pragmatic  political  rhetoric  that  caught  the  ears  and  imagination  of  young  people  

around  the  country,  President  Kennedy  served  as  a  beacon  of  hope  for  the  future  of  

the  United  States.  “For  the  young,”  Helen  Swick  Perry  notes  in  her  book  The  Human  

Be-­‐In,  “President  Kennedy  was  the  earliest  classic  example  of  someone  at  the  

highest  level  telling  it  ‘like  it  is.’”1  As  the  first  president  born  in  the  20th  century,  

Kennedy  clearly  understood  the  magnitude  of  the  moment  when  he  stated  in  his  

inaugural  address  “that  the  torch  has  been  passed  to  a  new  generations  of  

Americans…unwilling  to  witness  or  permit  the  slow  undoing  of  those  human  rights  

to  which  this  nation  has  always  been  committed,”2  President  Kennedy  wanted  to  

galvanize  the  youth  of  America  to  act  for  a  better  tomorrow.  Most  notable  of  those  

who  saw  President  Kennedy  as  the  first  to  “tell  it  like  it  is”  were  the  politically  active  

intellectuals  of  elite  higher  learning  institutions  throughout  the  country  –  the  “best  

and  brightest”  of  their  generation.  These  students,  inspired  by  Kennedy’s  message,  

began  to  work  with  political  associations  in  an  effort  to  create  change  both  locally  

and  nationally.  Among  the  most  effective  of  these  organizations  was  the  Student  

Non-­‐violent  Coordinating  Committee  (SNCC),  which  was  a  product  of  the  larger  

American  Civil  Rights  Movement.  SNCC  began  to  have  significant  success  in  civil  

rights  efforts  throughout  the  south  and  ultimately  attracted  like-­‐minded  college  

students  from  across  the  country.  Among  these  was  Mario  Savio,  a  Berkeley  student  

who,  after  spending  a  summer  organizing  political  activities  with  SNCC  in  

                                                                                                               1 Perry, Helen Swick. 1970. The Human Be-In. New York: Basic Books, Inc., 43. 2 Kennedy, John F. "Inaugural Address, 20 January 1961." John F Kennedy Presidential Library and

Museum, http://tinyurl.com/c3bv3jn (accessed April 23, 2012).

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Mississippi  in  1964,  brought  his  newfound  political  activism  back  to  his  own  college  

campus  in  California.    

Savio  and  his  fellow  students  began  to  speak  out  against  the  Berkeley  

administration  with  accusations  that  they  were  treating  their  students  as  objects  on  

an  assembly  line  rather  than  human  beings.  This  newfound  consciousness  and  

activism  ultimately  led  the  university,  in  an  attempt  to  quell  the  growing  sense  of  

unrest,  to  ban  the  distribution  of  all  political  materials  on  the  university  campus.  

This  only  further  motivated  Savio  and  his  fellow  students  to  be  heard.  Savio  went  on  

to  lead  the  Free  Speech  Movement,  a  protest  effort  on  the  Berkeley  campus  that  

aimed  to  reverse  the  limits  of  free  speech  imposed  by  the  University.3  Consistent  

with  other  on  campus  civil  rights  efforts  across  the  country,  the  Free  Speech  

Movement  illustrated  the  consciousness  developed  amongst  college  students  in  the  

late  1960’s.    

Having  grown  up  in  the  prosperity  of  post-­‐WWII  United  States,  the  move  to  a  

college  campus  found  many  students  shocked  and  saddened  upon  exposure  to  racial  

strife  domestically  and  a  misguided  war  effort  internationally.  This  led  thousands  to  

reconsider  their  lives  and  the  implications  of  a  commercialized  American  life.  For  

many  of  these  students  the  first  choice  was  to  act  and  attempt  to  change  the  system.    

But  this  idealist  mindset  soon  ran  into  harsh  political  reality.  Activist  students  

experienced  violence  and  even  death  during  their  time  volunteering  for  SNCC.  In  

addition,  resistance  from  the  Democratic  Party  in  adopting  their  proposals  on  the  

national  level,  and  continual  oppression  by  the  Republican  Party  to  stop  their  

                                                                                                               3 Chafe, William Henry. The Unfinished Journey: America since World War II. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford

University Press, 1995. 310.

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various  protests  and  demonstrations  made  meaningful  political  in-­‐roads  all  but  

impossible.    In  1964,  many  new  young  activists  were  disheartened.  By  1966,  after  

the  escalation  of  American  forces  in  Vietnam  and  combined  with  the  recent  

Republican  victory  of  control  over  the  Senate  in  the  Midterm  elections,  these  young  

individuals  found  themselves  disillusioned,  disheartened,  and  disengaged  by  the  

entire  American  political  process.  To  many  students,  the  only  choice  that  seemed  

available  was  to  step  outside  of  the  establishment  and  rebel  from  mainstream  

society.  The  disenfranchised  students  decided  that  maybe  it  would  be  best  to  follow  

the  expression  coined  by  Marshall  McLuhan  and  ultimately  made  famous  by  

Timothy  Leary;  “turn  on,  tune  in,  drop  out.”  “It  became  the  battle  cry  for  a  new  

alternative:  If  the  establishment  refused  to  be  reformed,  give  up  on  it.”4    

  Fortunately,  at  the  very  same  time,  a  new  culture  was  developing  just  across  

the  bay,  which  presented  these  disillusioned  students  with  opportunity  to  indeed  

“drop  out.”  With  a  similar  mindset  to  those  at  Berkeley,  many  young  people  in  San  

Francisco  in  1966  looked  at  the  mainstream  culture  of  the  United  States,  a  society  

that  they  saw  entrenched  in  “the  middle-­‐class  opiates  of  television  sit-­‐coms,  

swimming  pools,  and  alcohol,”5  and  decided  that  this  not  only  was  something  that  

they  did  not  want  to  associate  with,  but  also  something  that  was  literally  harmful  to  

their  mental  health.  These  people  looked  at  the  grey-­‐flannel  suited,  married-­‐with-­‐

children  middle  class  American  population  and  chose  to  create  their  own  culture;  a  

culture  counter  to  those  of  mainstream  society.  While  this  counterculture  was  born  

out  of  many  smaller  reactionary  movements  in  San  Francisco  and  other  parts  of  the  

                                                                                                               4 Perry, Helen Swick. The Human Be-In. 49 5 Greene, John Robert. 2010. America in the Sixties. Syracuse, NY, USA: Syracuse University Press. 139.

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country,  it  fully  bloomed  in  the  Haight-­‐Ashbury  neighborhood  of  San  Francisco,  

where  it  gained  full  momentum  in  the  summer  of  1967.  Importantly,  months  before  

that  famous  “Summer  of  Love”,  the  Oracle,  a  local  paper  based  in  the  area,  

announced  an  event  to  be  held  in  Golden  Gate  Park  on  January  14th,  1967  called  “A  

Gathering  of  the  Tribes  for  a  Human  Be-­‐In.”  this  event  gave  not  only  full  traction  to  

the  counterculture  movement  that  was  brewing  in  the  Haight-­‐Ashbury  

neighborhood  but  also  led  to  important  national  exposure.  Some  30,000  people  of  

all  paths,  so-­‐called  hippies,  as  well  as  families,  students,  middle-­‐class  workers,  and  

journalists  attended  this  event,  which  was  covered  with  intense  interest  by  print  

and  television  media  alike.  It  would  ultimately  serve  as  the  major  jumping  off  point  

for  the  inevitable  immersion  of  counterculture  into  pop  culture.  Shortly  following  

this  event,  San  Francisco  was  viewed  as  the  place  to  live,  denim  became  the  de  

rigueur  style  of  clothing,  and  Jim  Morrison  and  the  Doors  showed  up  on  the  Ed  

Sullivan  show  the  following  September.6  The  very  thing  that  these  young  tribesmen  

had  wanted  to  get  away  from  was  the  thing  from  which  they  could  not  escape.  The  

Human  Be-­‐In,  because  of  what  it  was  and  what  it  represented,  served  as  the  nexus  

between  counter  and  pop  culture.  It  was  the  first  step  towards  the  

commercialization  and  eventual  demise  of  the  counterculture  movement.    

The  Arrival  of  the  Seekers  

  From  as  early  as  the  1940’s,  Haight-­‐Ashbury  had  served  as  an  epicenter  of  

cultural  diversity.  Although  populated  by  a  wide  range  of  different  ethnicities  that  

would  ultimately  give  it  its  passion  and  politics,  those  who  would  lay  the  path  for  

the  counterculture  movement  actually  did  not  live  in  Haight-­‐Ashbury.  Rather,  they  

                                                                                                               6 The Doors | Ed Sullivan show." SOFA Entertainment. http://www.edsullivan.com/artists/the-doors

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lived  in  North  Beach,  an  area  just  northeast  of  the  neighborhood.  This  small  

bohemian  area  served  as  the  home  of  the  Beat  Generation  throughout  the  late  

1950’s.  Here  resided  many  counterculture  pioneers,  including  Allen  Ginsberg  and  

Neal  Cassidy,  who  developed  their  mindset,  style,  and  beliefs,  and  eventually  laid  the  

foundation  for  what  would  occur  in  Haight-­‐Ashbury  years  later.    

  Beginning  at  the  east  entrance  to  Golden  Gate  Park  and  extending  east  until  it  

hit  Market  Street  and  is  redirected  northeast,  Haight  St.  was  originally  surrounded  

by  a  smaller  neighborhood  with  traditional  bars,  shops,  and  stores  occupying  the  

storefronts.  The  Haight-­‐Ashbury  moniker  was  applied  in  the  late  1800’s  in  memory  

of  two  San  Francisco  city  planners.7  Because  of  location  and  inexpensive  rents,    

Haight-­‐Ashbury  quickly  became  known  as  a  melting  pot  of  different  ethnicities,  with  

its  very  own  unique  culture.  Helen  Swick  Perry,  a  psychology  researcher,  was  one  of  

many  who  came  to  Haight-­‐Ashbury  in  1966  to  see  and  study  its  culture.  Her  

personal  account  of  the  transformation  of  the  neighborhood  as  well  as  herself  from  

an  outsider  to  a  self-­‐proclaimed  “hippie”  is  beautifully  documented  in  her  book  The  

Human  Be-­‐In.  At  the  beginning  of  her  experience  in  the  fall  of  1966,  Perry  found  

herself  as  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land.  The  new  bohemians  of  the  neighborhood  

with  whom  she  quickly  identified  and  joined,  initially  numbered  less  than  1,000  in  a  

district  of  30,000  people8,  but  they  flooded  the  streets  daily  and  brought  a  very  

visible  culture  with  them.    

Along  with  the  growing  sense  of  freedom  and  change,  the  opening  of  new  

shops  in  the  area  brought  radical  changes  to  the  Haight-­‐Ashbury  scene.    By  1966,  

“seekers”  or  “flower  children”  –  their  original  names  before  the  onset  of  the  widely                                                                                                                  7 Carlisle, Henry C. "San Francisco Streets Named for Pioneers" Virtual Museum of the City of San

Francisco. http://www.sfmuseum.org/street/stnames4.html (accessed April 15, 2012). 8 Perry, Helen Swick. The Human Be-In. 9

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accepted  term  “hippie”  –  found  themselves  frequenting  the  cheap  storefronts  such  

as  The  Psychedelic  Shop,  Mnasidika  Boutique,  and  I-­‐Thou  coffee,  which  was  actually  

opened  by  a  State  College  Instructor.9  These  shops,  which  reflected  their  customers’  

beliefs  and  attitudes,  ultimately  attracted  a  younger  audience  such  as  Beatniks,  

artists,  and  students.  Fearing  this  new  group  of  people  and  weary  of  their  personal  

choices  (particularly  those  associated  with  drug  use),  the  older  storeowners  

opposed  the  new  merchants  and  their  storefronts,  creating  a  series  of  conflicts  

between  the  two.  

One  of  the  most  heated  conflicts  between  a  new  and  the  old  merchants  

occurred  in  the  fall  of  1966,  when  Morris  Moscowitz  attempted  to  purchase  a  large  

storefront.  He  was  the  owner  of  the  popular  Telegraph  Ave  student  meet-­‐up  spot  in  

Berkeley  called  Moe’s  Book  Store.  Foreseeing  a  further  influx  of  Berkeley  

intellectuals  and  Free  Speech  Movement  activists,  the  older  merchants  fought  

against  the  opening.  Through  a  series  of  legal  maneuvers  involving  insurance  on  the  

property,  the  older  merchants  prevented  Moscowitz  from  opening  the  store.  As  a  

result,  a  store  opened  temporarily  in  the  space  known  as  Print  Mint,  creating  a  

completely  unintended  result  for  the  old  merchants.  As  described  by  Perry,  

“Throngs  of  peace  lovers,  students  from  Berkeley,  costumed  ones  from  all  over  Christendom,  and  finally  jostling  and  eager  tourists  pushed  their  way  through  its  doors,  buying  famous  Fillmore  posters,  peace  posters  of  all  kinds,  salacious  and/or  political  buttons,  large  blown-­‐up  photos  of  every  daring  artist  anyone  had  ever  heard  of;  in  time,  even  one  of  the  old  merchants  would  enter  the  Print  Mint  rather  sheepishly  to  make  his  own  purchases  for  “interested  relatives”  in  another  part  of  the  country.”10  

 

                                                                                                               9 Perry, Charles. The Haight-Ashbury: A History. 77 10 Perry, Helen Swick. The Human Be-In. 35

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The  people  who  would  compose  the  counterculture  movement  had  arrived,  and  

those  who  resided  in  the  neighborhood  prior  to  this  transformation  were  not  

supportive  of  it.  It  quickly  became  apparent  that  it  could  not  be  stopped.  Slowly,  

relations  between  the  old  and  the  new  improved,  largely  through  the  dialogue  and  

corporation  facilitated  by  the  Haight-­‐Ashbury  Neighborhood  Council  (HANC)  that  

was  started  in  1959  and  remains  active  to  this  day.11  

HANC  was  a  group  of  individuals  who  represented  all  aspects  of  the  Haight-­‐

Ashbury  neighborhood.  Composed  of  residents,  merchants,  community  organizers,  

and  even  professionals  who  only  worked  in  the  area,  HANC  managed,  coordinated,  

and  organized  many  aspects  of  the  neighborhood.  One  major  activity  in  which  HANC  

participated  was  organizing  events;  many  of  them  addressing  what  the  committee  

thought  were  important  political  issues.  In  1966,  HANC  organized  a  small  event  

called  the  Festival  of  the  Peoples,  which  was  the  first  event  Swick-­‐Perry  

encountered  in  her  study  of  Haight-­‐Ashbury.  This  event  took  place  in  what  is  known  

as  The  Panhandle  –  a  small  extension  of  the  east  end  of  Golden  Gate  Park,  one  block  

north  of  Haight.  The  event  served  primarily  as  a  political  rally  leading  up  to  the  

1966  election,  with  various  politicians  speaking  and  churches  and  community  

organizations  represented.  Perry  attended  the  event  believing  it  would  be  filled  with  

her  newfound  associates.  However,  she  was  disappointed  to  learn  there  were  

virtually  no  hippies  at  this  affair.  She  found  the  entire  event  horribly  disorganized  

and  boring.    “I  saw  no  particular  evidence  of  a  festival…I  felt  the  almost  complete  

anomie  of  the  group.”12  Perry  recalls.  As  it  turns  out,  the  animosity  and  

estrangement  developed  between  the  hippies  and  the  older  merchants  that  made  up  

                                                                                                               11 "History." Haight-Ashbury Neighborhood Council. http://www.hanc-sf.org/history/. 12 Perry, Helen Swick. The Human Be-In. 13

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of  large  part  HANC  is  what  caused  the  newcomers  to  not  attend  the  event.  In  fact,  

Perry  notes  that  many  shops  around  Haight-­‐Ashbury  had  hung  signs  that  advocated  

hippies  to  not  attend  the  event.  HANC,  too,  took  measures  to  actually  prevent  what  

they  referred  to  as  “tourists”  from  attending  the  festival.13  While  HANC  did  indeed  

serve  as  a  way  for  different  groups  of  people  who  resided  in  Haight-­‐Ashbury  to  

communicate,  they  were  initially  unwelcoming  to  the  newly  developing  and  quickly  

growing  hippie  population.  However  as  hippie  culture  became  more  present  in  

Haight-­‐Ashbury  culture,  their  values  became  better  understood  and  ultimately  

accepted  by  HANC.    

A  Neighborhood  Turned  On  

  By  the  time  the  1966  election  arrived,  the  counterculture  movement  was  

clearly  gaining  momentum  in  the  neighborhood  and  with  it  new  brought  new  

challenges  to  the  community  infrastructure.  Though  there  had  been  a  jump  in  

population  as  the  older  residents  of  the  neighborhood  had  expected,  to  their  

surprise  resources  been  set  in  place  to  compensate  for  the  stress  in  infrastructure  

the  increase  had  created.  One  example  of  neighborhood  services  provided  at  the  

time  was  the  work  of  the  Haight-­‐Street  Diggers.14  This  group  of  individuals  in  

Haight-­‐Ashbury  provided  free  services  to  the  public  in  order  to  support  the  influx  of  

new  residents  moving  in  the  area.  Described  as  the  “worker-­‐priests”  of  the  hippie  

population  by  Hunter  S.  Thompson,  the  Diggers  provided  food,  clothing,  and  shelter  

to  the  often  hungry,  homeless,  impoverished  people  roaming  the  streets.15  The  

services  provided  by  these  groups  positively  contributed  to  the  relationship  

                                                                                                               13 Ibid. 16 14 "A People's History of the Sixties." The Digger Archives. http://diggers.org/history.htm (accessed March

13, 2012). 15 Thompson, Hunter S. 1967. “The ‘Hashbury ‘is the Capital of the Hippies.” New York Times (1923-

Current file), May 14, 1967.

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between  the  hippies  and  the  original  residents  and  their  cooperation  would  serve  as  

an  important  part  of  maintaining  stability  in  the  neighborhood.    

As  this  area  grew  in  population,  the  city  of  San  Francisco  was  becoming  

increasingly  concerned  and  began  actively  discouraging  young  people  to  come  to  

San  Francisco.  Mayor  John  F.  Shelly  wrote  a  controversial  letter  to  the  Board  of  

Supervisors  of  San  Francisco,  condemning  the  hippies  of  Haight-­‐Ashbury,  and  

proposed  initiatives  to  stop  migrants  from  sleeping  in  parks  and  organizations  from  

providing  free  food  or  shelter,  all  in  the  name  of  preventing  “a  chaotic  condition  

detrimental  to  themselves  and  to  the  residents  of  San  Francisco.”  It  was  at  this  point  

that  HANC  initially  chose  to  officially  stand  behind  the  hippies.  In  a  letter  released  in  

their  official  publication  in  April  1967,  HANC  affirmed  its  values  in  keeping  Haight-­‐

Ashbury  open  to  all  people.  In  addition,  HANC  spoke  out  against  the  Mayor’s  wishes  

and  claimed  that  the  proposed  actions  were  unconstitutional  and  intolerable  in  a  

free  society.  16  This  support  of  the  Haight-­‐Ashbury  hippies  by  HANC  served  as  a  

milestone  in  the  eventual  adoption  of  hippie  culture  into  mainstream  San  Francisco  

society.  

As  time  went  on,  the  dialogue  that  occurred  through  the  Council  allowed  the  

counterculture  philosophy  to  be  accepted  and  understood  by  all  parties  of  the  

community.  Hippies  did  very  much  compose  a  culture  that  was  indeed  counter  to  

that  of  mainstream  society,  and  while  it  is  common  for  a  younger  generation  to  rebel  

against  those  before  them,  the  hippies  rebelled  to  a  larger  and  more  extreme  degree  

than  ever  seen  before.  What  was  exceptional  about  this  alternative  society  straining  

for  their  utopia  was  its  location.  Historically  deviant  groups  would  separate  

                                                                                                               16 Perry, Helen Swick. The Human Be-In. 23

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themselves  from  mainstream  society  by  setting  up  Tribalist  communities  in  desolate  

natural  areas  such  as  the  late-­‐1800s  transcendentalist  community  in  Fruitlands,  

Massachusetts.17  While  the  counterculture  movement  embraced  many  elements  of  

philosophy  about  nature,  they  chose  to  put  their  community  in  an  urban  

environment.  And  so,  joined  by  a  common  geography  and  united  by  a  shared  spirit,  

the  Tribalist  philosophy  behind  the  Haight-­‐Ashbury  counterculture  movement  was  

clarified  and  ultimately  composed  of  a  few  key  ideas:  

Communalism.  The  hippie  culture  of  Haight-­‐Ashbury  believed  in  the  existence  

of  a  community  as  one.  Food,  housing,  and  other  life-­‐necessities  were  shared  among  

all  of  its  habitants.  Although  some  of  those  involved  in  the  counterculture  movement  

with  a  more  extreme  Tribalist  view  took  issue  with  the  communities’  urban  setting,  

their  proposal  to  migrate  and  create  a  group  in  the  forest  where  an  entire  

community  could  be  completely  independent,  sustainable  and  separated  from  

“straight”  culture  never  gained  traction  in  nascent  urban  hippie  community  of  San  

Francisco.  18  

Flexibility.  Hippies  did  not  assume  everything  would  go  according  to  plan;  in  

fact  plans  often  were  never  even  made.  The  concept  of  a  schedule  or  arranging  

appointments  was  foreign  to  them,  as  they  would  constantly  change  plans  if  

something  more  important  came  up.19  

Egalitarianism.  Hippies  constantly  considered  and  questioned  the  social  

hierarchy  of  their  community  and  their  position  within  it.  This  was  a  serious  

concern  of  theirs  and  they  consistently  strived  to  create  equality  amongst  each  of  its  

                                                                                                               17 Ibid. 27

18 Thompson, Hunter S. 1967. “The ‘Hashbury ‘is the Capital of the Hippies.” 121 19 Perry, Helen Swick. The Human Be-In. 21

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members.  This  philosophy  was  also  reflected  through  their  views  on  sex.  Communal  

sex,  or  “free  love,”  as  the  hippies  dubbed  it,  was  based  around  the  idea  of  everyone  

sharing  their  bodies  with  everyone  else.  Rather  than  viewing  sex  as  a  private,  

personal  experience  between  two  individuals,  hippies  viewed  sex  as  a  gateway  to  

further  immerse  oneself  into  a  connected  community.  The  hippie  movement’s  

elements  of  sexual  freedom  largely  tied  into  a  sexual  revolution  that  was  

simultaneously  occurring  in  mainstream  society.  Sexual  freedom  was  a  key  aspect  of  

the  hippie  philosophy.  It  meant  cultural  emancipation.  It  played  into  the  communal  

lifestyle  of  hippies  and  contributed  towards  the  heightening  of  hippie  

consciousness.20    

This  philosophy  and  lifestyle  was  clearly  displayed  by  those  who  came  to  the  

streets  of  Haight-­‐Ashbury-­‐  often  with  flowers  in  their  hair.  Hunter  S.  Thompson’s  

article  “The  ‘Hashbury”  is  the  capital  of  the  Hippies,”  published  in  The  New  York  

Times  14  May  1967,  is  a  personal  take  on  the  state  of  the  counterculture  movement  

and  more  specifically  the  epicenter  of  it  –  the  Haight-­‐Ashbury  district.  Noting  the  

origins  of  those  who  made  up  the  counterculture  movement,  Thompson  provided  a  

specific  description  and  analysis  of  what  made  up  a  “hippie,”  and  illustrated  the  

culture  that  had  accumulated  in  what  he  calls  “the  Hashbury”.    Thompson  in  

particular  addressed  drug  use  among  hippies,  “A  serious  problem  in  writing  about  

the  Haight-­‐Ashbury  is  that  most  of  the  people  you  have  to  talk  to  are  involved,  one  

way  or  another,  in  the  drug  traffic.”  Thompson  discussed  the  byproducts  of  

proliferated  drug  use  in  the  neighborhood,  noting  that  bars,  clubs,  and  other  

                                                                                                               20 Greene, John Robert. America In The Sixties. 143.

 

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recreational  establishments  had  mostly  closed  down,  and  further  explained  that  the  

use  of  psychedelic  drugs  and  widespread  poverty  prevented  most  hippies  from  

participating  in  any  type  of  conventional  entertainment.  “Drugs  have  made  formal  

entertainment  obsolete  in  the  Hashbury,”  he  explained,  “but  only  until  somebody  

comes  up  with  something  appropriate  to  the  new  style  of  the  neighborhood.”21  

Another  interesting  point  made  by  Thompson  was  that  the  proliferation  of  LSD  

throughout  “the  Hashbury”  made  the  streets  significantly  safer.  “Burglars  are  still  a  

problem  but  violence  is  increasingly  rare,”  Thompson  reported,  “…the  fact  that  the  

hippies  and  the  squares  have  worked  out  such  a  peaceful  coexistence  seems  to  

baffle  the  powers  at  City  Hall.”    

The  final  point  that  Thompson  ultimately  arrived  at  is  that,  while  the  traits  of  

the  counterculture  movement  were  clearly  present  and  centralized  in  the  Haight-­‐

Ashbury  neighborhood,  these  “drugs,  orgies  and  freak-­‐outs”  were  as  familiar  to  a  

part  of  “the  Bay  Area’s  respectable,  upward-­‐mobile  society”  as  they  were  to  “the  

colorful  dropouts  of  San  Francisco’s  new  Bohemia.”22  While  these  people  chose  to  

rebel  against  societal  norms  and  operate  outside  of  mainstream  society,  the  very  

society  they  chose  to  abandon  was  changing  and  beginning  to  embrace  the  hippie  

philosophy.  It  seemed  inevitable,  much  like  the  microcosm  seen  in  the  changing  

streets  of  Haight-­‐Ashbury,  that  the  counterculture  would  find  common  ground  with  

pop  culture.  The  first  major  step  towards  this  union  took  place  on  January  14th,  

1967.  

 

                                                                                                               

21 Thompson, Hunter S. 1967. “The ‘Hashbury ‘is the Capital of the Hippies.” 122 22 Ibid. 125

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The  Human  Be-­‐In  

The  fifth  edition  of  the  Oracle,  the  major  newspaper  of  Haight-­‐Ashbury,  was  

released  in  early  January  1967,  and  featured  a  poster  announcing  a  major  event.  The  

poster  read  that  “A  Gathering  of  Tribes  for  a  Human  Be  In”  was  set  to  take  place  at  

the  Polo  Fields  in  Golden  Gate  Park  on  January  14th,  1967.  Michael  Bowen,  an  artist  

from  San  Francisco  who  played  a  vital  role  in  organizing  the  event,  created  the  

poster  in  January  1967.23  The  poster  largely  consisted  of  a  picture  of  a  shamanist-­‐

bearded  man,  with  a  triangle  superimposed  over  his  face  and  a  third  eye  placed  on  

the  middle  of  his  forehead,  indicating  in  a  not  so  subtle  manner  that  this  event  was  

intended  to  be  a  spiritual  journey  based  around  internal  self-­‐discovery  in  pursuit  of  

enlightenment.  At  the  bottom  of  the  poster  in  a  psychedelic,  occult  stylized  text,  was  

a  list  of  the  artists  set  to  perform,  including  now-­‐legendary  poets  and  speakers  such  

as  Allen  Ginsberg  and  Timothy  Leary.  Below  the  spoken  word  performers,  rather  

than  listing  the  extensive  lineup  of  bands  including  Jefferson  Airplane,  the  Grateful  

Dead,  and  Joan  Baez,  it  simply  read  in  large  text  “ALL  S.F  ROCK  GROUPS.”  Beyond  

the  basic  information  regarding  the  details  of  the  event,  the  only  other  text  found  on  

the  poster  was  a  simple  suggestion:  “Bring  food  to  share.  Bring  flowers,  beads,  

costumes,  feathers,  bells,  cymbals,  flags.”24  While  the  event  did  not  possess  a  specific  

political  purpose,  it  did  serve  as  something  in  which  each  faction  of  the  

counterculture  movement  could  gather  together  in  peace  and  harmony.  In  a  press  

conference  held  at  Print  Mint  just  two  days  before  the  event,  Allen  Cohen,  the  editor  

for  the  Oracle,  made  a  statement  describing  the  event  as,    

                                                                                                               23 Cohen, Allen. "About the Human be-in" http://www.allencohen.us/ 24 Bowen, Michael. 1967. A gathering of tribes for a human be-in. San Francisco Oracle, 1967, sec 3

(accessed 02/09/2012).

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“A  union  of  love  and  activism  previously  separated  by  categorical  dogma  and  label  mongering  will  finally  occur  ecstatically  when  Berkeley  political  activists  and  hip  community  and  San  Francisco’s  spiritual  generation  and  contingents  from  the  emerging  revolutionary  generation  all  over  California  meet  for  a  Gathering  of  the  Tribes  for  a  Human  Be-­‐In…”25      The  event  took  place  roughly  two  miles  from  the  eastern  entrance  to  Golden  

Gate  Park  at  Haight.  With  the  stores  on  Haight  Street  closed,  Hippies,  flower  

children,  beatniks,  students,  and  middle-­‐class  professionals  flooded  the  park.  The  

weather  was  unusually  clear  and  sunny  for  San  Francisco  and  the  park  comfortably  

accommodated  the  estimated  20,000-­‐30,000  people  setting  up  their  picnic  blankets  

on  the  Polo  Fields  of  Golden  Gate  Park.26  As  the  crowd  on  the  Polo  Fields  grew,  the  

Diggers  set  up  to  pass  out  thousands  of  turkey  sandwiches  while  others  distributed  

countless  hits  of  a  type  of  LSD  called  White  Lightening.  Owsley  Stanley,  the  chief  

chemist  and  drug  supplier  behind  the  Haight-­‐Ashbury  trade,  donated  both  the  food  

and  the  drugs.  The  people  attending  the  event  were  mostly  dressed  in  fairly  causal  

clothing;  jeans,  t-­‐shirts,  light  jackets,  skirts,  and  blouses.  Others,  however,  came  

dressed  in  robes,  flowers,  long  dresses  and  other  exotic  clothing.  27  Indeed,  it  was  

apparent  that  many  event-­‐goers  had  heeded  the  Oracle’s  encouragement  to  “bring  

flowers,  beads,  costumes,  feathers,  bells,  cymbals,  flags.”    

  But  while  the  majority  of  those  who  came  to  The  Human  Be-­‐In  were  Berkeley  

activists  and  hippies  (as  was  the  intention  of  those  who  organized  the  event),  a  good  

number  of  attendees  came  from  more  conservative  life  styles.    Nurses  from  the  

nearby  hospital,  members  of  the  church  congregation  just  up  the  street,  and  most  

notably,  news  reporters  from  various  local  newspapers  attended  came  to  the  Be-­‐In.                                                                                                                  25 Perry, Charles. The Haight-Ashbury: A History. 122 26 LaMott, Kenneth. 1967. “A Non-Hip View of a Human Be-In.” Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File),

Mar 26, 1967. A23 27 Perry, Charles. The Haight-Ashbury: A History. 125

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They  were  all  there  to  witness  and  document  what  was  widely  felt  to  be  a  very  

important  happening.  But  the  presence  of  the  photographers  raised  concerns  among  

some  of  the  hippies.  As  noted  by  Helen  Swicky  Perry  in  recounting  her  experience  at  

the  Human  Be-­‐In,  “My  firm  opinion  was  that  the  seekers  did  not  take  kindly  to  

cameras.  But  the  vibrations  were  good  at  the  Be-­‐In,  so  the  cameras  were  no  

problem.”  Even  she,  a  sympathetic  and  hippie  supporter  was  pleasantly  surprised  at  

the  response  to  the  presence  of  the  press  “It  was  the  flexibility  of  these  young  

people  that  caught  the  establishment,  including  me  at  times,  off  guard.”28    

Central  to  the  attention  of  the  growing  crowd  was  a  stage  that  served  as  a  

centerpiece  of  the  event.  As  Allen  Ginsberg  gave  Hindu  blessings,  photographers  and  

journalists  lined  the  front  of  the  stage,  continuing  to  closely  document  the  day’s  

events.  Soon  Timothy  Leary  later  came  on  and  uttered  his  infamous  proclamation  to  

“turn  on,  tune  in,  drop  out”  to  the  30,000  attendees.  Later  about  a  dozen  rock  bands  

from  the  area  also  took  the  stage  and  played  long  flowing  enthusiastic  sets  much  to  

the  pleasure  of  the  crowd  who  didn’t  seem  that  bothered  by  the  occasional  loss  of  

power.    As  the  event  was  organized  purely  through  volunteers,  the  PA  system  and  

electrical  system  set  up  on  the  stage  experienced  many  difficulties  throughout  the  

day.  When  the  sound  system  did  manage  to  work,  it  lacked  sufficient  power  to  

adequately  reach  the  large  crowd.  Many  of  those  attending  were  unable  to  hear  or  

otherwise  completely  unaware  of  what  was  happening  on  stage.  Still,  a  sense  of  calm  

and  peace  ran  through  the  event.    Even  the  Hell’s  Angels,  working  as  security  and  

known  to  respond  aggressively  to  any  “security”  issues,  contributed  to  the  positive  

vibes  flowing  through  the  Polo  Fields  by  supplying  childcare  and  technical  

                                                                                                               28 Perry, Helen Swick. The Human Be-In. 87

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assistance  for  the  sound.29  As  the  event  came  to  a  close  in  the  evening,  the  crowd  

followed  Ginsberg’s  request  to  provide  help  in  throwing  away  their  trash,  leaving  

the  park  unexpectedly  clean.  It  was  an  unprecedented  event  for  the  Hippies,  and  it  

led  the  mainstream  public  to  be  exposed  to  the  counterculture  philosophy  in  a  

manner  like  never  before.30    

The  major  achievement  of  the  Human  Be-­‐In  was  the  counterculture  mindset  

and  philosophy  that  was  communicated  to  mainstream  society.  The  newspapers  

may  have  captured  the  event  in  photographs,  but  the  true  significance  of  it  was  

documented  in  the  articles  written  by  the  reporters  who  were  there.  For  example,  in  

a  report  to  The  Sunday  Ramparts,  Jann  Wanner  describes  her  experience  at  the  

event:    

“There  they  were,  twenty  thousand  people  having  a  good  time  all  at  once.  It  was  anti-­‐war  only  in  the  sense  that  the  idea  of  war  could  have  been  the  furthest  thing  from  anyone's  mind.  A  thousand  people  gathered  in  Los  Angeles  and  other  cities  on  the  same  day  for  a  similar  get-­‐together.  Perhaps  it  was  love.”31    

 The  idea,  the  feeling,  the  philosophy  –  all  of  the  exciting  and  indeed  

somewhat  unsettling  traits  of  this  unique  culture  were  brought  to  light  by  the  

reporters  who  found  themselves  in  Golden  Gate  Park  that  Sunday  afternoon.  

Throughout  San  Francisco  and  ultimately  across  the  nation,  mainstream  

society  was  turned  on  to  the  idea  to  just  be.    

A  Nation  Turned  On  

  Following  the  Human  Be-­‐In,  the  counterculture  movement  began  

interacting  with  mainstream  society  more  than  ever  before.  Publications  

                                                                                                               29 Wenner, Jann. "The Gathering of the Tribes" The Sunday Ramparts, January 29 - February 12, 1967,

1967. 30 Perry, Helen Swick. The Human Be-In. 88 31 Wenner, Jann. “The Gathering of the Tribes.”

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based  around  events  in  Haight-­‐Ashbury  exploded  in  popularity,  with  the  

Oracle  reaching  up  to  500,000  readers,  some  editors  estimated.32  New  

newspapers  were  started,  too,  such  as  the  Haight-­‐Ashbury  Tribune  and  the  

Haight-­‐Ashbury  Maverick.  The  Berkeley  Bard  also  began  regularly  reporting  

on  what  was  happening  in  the  area,  contributing  immensely  to  the  new  

connection  created  between  the  Berkeley  students  and  Haight-­‐Ashbury  

hippies.  The  neighborhood  became  an  epicenter  of  culture  for  the  city  and  

ultimately  the  country.  As  the  events  and  lifestyle  of  the  neighborhood  

became  more  known  nationally,  young  people  began  heading  west,  in  search  

of  a  way  to  be.  The  idea  of  heading  west  was  further  popularized  by  Scott  

McKenzie’s  hit  song  “San  Francisco  (Be  Sure  to  Wear  Flowers  in  Your  Hair),”  

which,  while  in  the  process  of  reaching  number  four  on  the  Billboard  Hot  

100,  circulated  a  feeling  of  peace  that  was  believed  only  to  be  found  in  San  

Francisco.  Six  months  following  the  Human  Be-­‐In,  the  summer  brought  up  to  

100,000  young  people  to  Haight-­‐Ashbury  in  what  became  known  as  the  

Summer  of  Love.33    

  In  addition  to  the  influx  of  young  people  migrating  to  Haight-­‐Ashbury,  

so  too  did  San  Francisco  experience  an  increase  in  tourism,  with  people  from  

all  over  the  country  coming  to  the  city  in  pursuit  of  seeing  this  new  culture  

firsthand.  The  Grey  Line  Bus  Company  capitalized  on  this  and  created  a  “San  

Francisco  Haight-­‐Ashbury  District  ‘Hippie  Hop’  Tour,”  advertised  as  “the  only  

foreign  tour  within  the  continental  limits  of  the  United  States.”  Tourists  were  

given  a  two-­‐hour  tour  through  the  area,  guided  by  a  “Glossary  of  Hippie                                                                                                                  32 "Summer of Love: Underground News." Public Broadcasting System. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/love/sfeature/oracle.html 33 Perry, Charles. The Haight-Ashbury: A History. 172

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Terms”  provided  to  them  at  the  beginning  of  the  trip,  and  a  bus  driver  with  

extensive  knowledge  about  the  area.34  This  new  interaction  with  mainstream  

culture  created  a  sense  of  cynicism  about  the  entire  counterculture  

movement  among  those  living  in  the  area,  beginning  the  inevitable  decline  

that  would  occur  in  both  the  infrastructure  and  population  of  Haight-­‐

Ashbury.    

By  October  of  1967,  the  hippies  who  resided  in  Haight-­‐Ashbury  were  

fed  up,  and  chose  to  proclaim  “the  death  of  the  hippie.”  In  a  report  to  The  

Washington  Post,  one  reporter  describes  the  march  that  occurred  on  October  

6,  1967,  with  the  intentions  behind  the  event  described  by  Digger  Arthur  

Lisch.  The  residents  of  Haight-­‐Ashbury  waved  flags  and  incense  in  the  air  and  

marched  down  the  street,  declaring  “Hippie  is  dead.  Now  we  are  free.”  An  

event  led  by  The  Diggers,  Lisch  describes  the  funeral  as  a  way  to  

“symbolically  purge  the  area  of  its  evil”.  The  very  people  who  had  worked  

endlessly  the  past  18  months  to  maintain  some  form  of  social  stability  

through  providing  free  resources  to  the  Haight-­‐Ashbury  residents  now  faced  

a  new  society,  overrun  by  “bad  vibes”  –  an  evil  created  by  the  influx  of  

tourists  and  late-­‐adopting  hippies  who  were  unable  to  follow  the  hippie  

mindset  of  “do  your  own  thing.”  Lisch  goes  on  to  discuss  the  recent  move  of  

many  of  Haight-­‐Ashbury’s  most  creative  people  to  more  rural  areas  outside  

of  San  Francisco,  and  places  the  final  nail  in  the  hippie’s  coffin  with  the  

announcement  that  the  Psychedelic  Shop  would  be  closing  in  the  coming  

                                                                                                               34 Ibid. 171

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weeks.35  Haight-­‐Ashbury  had  come  to  be  just  18  months  earlier,  and  now  as  

the  Diggers  saw  mainstream  culture  begin  to  absorb  it,  it  chose  once  again  to  

drop  out,  and  declare  the  hippie,  and  its  utopian  society,  dead.  

When  Counterculture  Went  Pop  

Even  those  who  didn’t  leave  their  lives  within  the  establishment  and  

move  to  San  Francisco  began  changing  their  lifestyle  to  align  with  the  

counterculture  movement.  This  was  particularly  noticeable  when  it  came  to  

fashion.  Moving  away  from  1950’s  fashion  –  crew  cuts,  hats,  and  suits  for  

men,  and  swelling,  bouffant  haircuts  and  knee-­‐length  dresses  for  women  –  

the  1960’s  and  more  specifically  the  counterculture  movement  brought  new  

elements  to  fashion  in  pop  culture.  Most  notable  of  this  change  was  the  

adoption  of  blue  jeans  –  described  by  John  Robert  Greene  in  his  book  

America  in  the  Sixties  as  “the  quintessential  article  of  youth  protest  clothing  

from  the  1950s.”  The  adoption  of  denim  by  middle  class  largely  represented  

a  change  in  culture  and  mindset.  Greene  goes  on  to  say,  “Moreover,  what  

became  known  as  the  “hippie  look”  –  tie-­‐dyed  shirts,  sandals,  torn  jeans,  love  

beads  –  was  worn  by  middle  to  upper-­‐class  college  youth  who  were  many  

things,  but  hardly  hippies.”36      

The  philosophy  of  the  counterculture  movement  was  further  

popularized  and  commercialized  through  music  and  film,  bringing  the  

attitude  so  deeply  entrenched  in  Haight-­‐Ashbury  to  a  national  level.  In  

particular,  Bonnie  and  Clyde  was  among  the  first  major  motion  pictures  to  

bring  to  light  the  sentiment  towards  mainstream  culture  that  so  many  young  

                                                                                                               35 “West Coast Hippies Play Dead.” 1967. The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973), Oct 07, 1967. 36 Greene, John Robert. America In The Sixties. 147

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people  in  the  60’s  seemed  to  identify  with.  Released  in  August  1967,  Bonnie  

and  Clyde  served  as  “a  veritable  parable  of  radical  youth  in  the  1960’s,  a  

Rosetta  stone  for  deciphering  their  utopian  aspirations,  destructive  impulses,  

and  revolutionary  pretentions,”37  The  Graduate,  also  released  in  1967,  also  

served  as  a  way  to  display  the  confusion  and  loss  of  identity  that  was  

experienced  by  young  people  in  the  1960’s,  created  by  a  life  of  expected  

comfort  and  prosperity.    

Whether  placed  in  the  context  of  self-­‐destructive  outlaws  or  introverted  

college  graduates,  expected  comfort  and  prosperity  within  a  consumer  lifestyle  was  

the  very  thing  that  created  the  counterculture  sentiment.  Having  grown  up  in  a  

society  where  what  you  own  made  up  determined  who  you  were  in  society,  the  

youth  of  the  1960’s  chose  to  reconsider  their  role  in  society,  and  after  becoming  

alienated  from  and  disillusioned  by  the  American  political  process,  chose  to  rebel  

against  this  culture  and  lifestyle  of  expected  comfort  and  prosperity.  Through  this  

reconsideration  and  rebellion,  a  unique  bohemia  was  organically  created  in  the  

streets  of  Haight-­‐Ashbury.  As  this  society  grew,  it’s  proximity  to  various  facets  of  

mainstream  culture  –  beginning  with  the  Human  Be-­‐In  –  became  closer,  and  with  

this  a  greater  understanding  and  acceptance  of  their  philosophy  and  values.  From  

HANC  standing  up  against  the  Mayor  in  support  of  their  new  residents,  to  Scott  

McKenzie’s  Summer  Of  Love  anthem  nearly  topping  the  charts  in  late-­‐1967,  as  the  

counterculture  increased  in  popularity,  mainstream  culture  continually  absorbed  it,  

mutated  it,  and  found  a  way  to  combine  it  with  a  consumerist  society.  

                                                                                                               37 Braunstein, Peter and Michael William Doyle. Imagine Nation: The American Counterculture of the

1960s and '70s. New York; London: Routledge, 2002. 261

 

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   Though  the  original  intention  was  to  rebel  against  the  modern  capitalist  

system,  commerce  played  a  key  role  in  the  inception  and  eventual  end  of  the  Haight-­‐

Ashbury  counterculture  society.  The  opening  of  shops  aligned  with  the  early-­‐hippie  

mindset  drove  the  right  people  to  this  neighborhood,  and  through  the  casual  

settings  provided  by  Print  Mint,  I-­‐Thou  Coffee,  and  the  Psychedelic  shop,  a  petri  dish  

for  a  budding  culture  was  created.  Through  the  development  of  a  legitimate  

philosophy,  culture,  and  arguably  sustainable  society,  many  goods  which  

encapsulated  this  culture  –  jewelry,  clothing,  music  –  were  commoditized.  The  

unique  lifestyle  of  these  costumed  strangers  seen  by  so  many  through  a  television,  a  

movie  screen,  or  a  magazine  article  gave  way  to  the  counterculture’s  increase  in  

popularity,  and  with  this  consumers  developed  a  new  interest  the  goods  which  

seemed  to  represent  this  sought  after  utopia.  Many  businesses  were  able  to  

capitalize  and  meet  the  new  demand  for  denim  jeans,  tie-­‐dye  shirts,  psychedelic  

light  shows,  and  “acid  rock”  music.  And  while  the  counterculture  movement  

undoubtedly  had  a  significant  affect  on  the  mindset  of  many  Americans,  its  legacy  

largely  lies  in  the  goods  and  services  provided  by  large  corporations  –  a  reality  that  

is  quite  contrary  to  the  fundamental  hippie  philosophy.  The  counterculture  

movement  may  live  on  today,  but  seemingly  only  in  the  multimillion  dollar  music  

festivals  put  on  throughout  the  world,  in  the  tie-­‐dye  shirts  found  in  the  boy’s  section  

of  Target,  in  the  high  end  stone-­‐washed  jean  retailers  in  San  Francisco,  and  in  the  

Arts  Centers  throughout  the  country  putting  on  productions  of  the  musical  Hair.  The  

inception  of  the  counterculture  movement,  and  more  specifically  the  utopian  society  

of  Haight-­‐Ashbury  from  1966-­‐1968,  was  driven  by  commerce.  And  in  the  end,  

commerce  is  what  brought  it  to  its  demise.      

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