What exactly was the Summer of Love?
The Summer of Love was a social phenomenon that took place for a few brief months in 1967 when between 75,000 and 100,000 people converged on San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district. Quickly dubbed "hippies" by the press, this youthful throng represented a new revolutionary movement and the counterculture that was sweeping across the West Coast of the United States and beyond, in fact as far away as New York City, the aim of which was to cast off conservative social values and instead embrace peace, love, and freedom of expression. This utopian ideal was played out to a psychedelic soundtrack, composed by bands such as the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. By autumn, however, the scene had soured and darkened. Discord replaced harmony, and what was initially seen as a significant cultural event ended as a commercialized media spectacle. So, how did the sun rise and set over the Summer of Love? Click through and put some flowers in your hair.
2024-05-13T09:16:29Z