These 30 Vintage Photos From the Late ’60s Show Us What Life Was Like Back Then
The late 1960s were a time of great upheaval and change. Protesters marched through city streets with flowers tucked behind their ears, while music, fashion, and art tore down old rules to dare and imagine something new (and more inclusive). From the muddy fields of Woodstock to the first footprints on the moon, the late ’60s were an era of discovery and hope. We’ve rounded up photos from those years that capture the wild, untamed spirit of a generation set on making its own rules and living large.
1. Aspiring Secretaries Hone Their Skills During a Typing Class
2. Dancing the Night Away, Disco Style
3. ‘My Mom’s Late 1960s College Pics’
4. Astronaut Michael Collins During the Apollo 11 Mission to the Moon, 1969
5. A Woman Flashes Peace Signs While Vibin’ at Woodstock ’69
6. Jimi Hendrix Tearing It Up at Woodstock Music Festival
7. Members of the Gay Liberation Front March Through New York City in the Late ’60s, Culminating in the Stonewall Riots
8. ‘The Only Known Photograph Taken During the First Night of the [Stonewall] Riots Shows LGBTQ Youth Scuffling With Police’
9. ‘National Guardsmen Surround a Vietnam War Protester During the People’s Park Riot, May 15th, 1969’
10. Six Girls Posing By the Car Before a Roadtrip, 1966
11. The Penn State Sociology Department Holds an Anti-Vietnam War Protest on Campus to Demand an End to US Involvement in the War
12. ‘Protesting the Vietnam War, Circa 1967’
13. Elvis Presley Performs During His 1968 Comeback Special
14. George Harrison of the Beatles Jams Out With Protesters During the ‘Summer of Love’ in San Francisco, 1969
15. Hippies Frolicking During the ‘Summer of Love’
16. Though the Civil Rights Act Was Passed in 1964, Protests Demanding Equal Rights for All Continued Well Into the Late ’60s and Beyond
17. Students in Paris, France, Walking to Class While Looking Stylish
18. Young Women Grab Snacks From a Vending Machine Dressed in Classic 1960s Pin-Up Style
19. A College Party in 1966
20. Colorized Image of the Beatles Performing in the Late ’60s
21. A Rare Shot of an Empty New York Street in 1969 With the Pan-Am Building in the Background
22. ‘New York City, Late 1960s’
23. Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip by Photographer Joey Tranchina
24. ‘Los Angeles Teens in the ’60s’
25. ‘Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, 1969’
26. ‘Postcard of Times Square, New York City, 1968’
27. The King Family on the Set of the ABC Musical Variety Series, 1965
28. Camping in the ’60s
29. ‘Dolly Parton Live, Late ’60s’
30. Apollo 11 Astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and Michael Collins Speak to Reporters at a Press Conference, August 1969
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Take a look at photos from pivotal moments in the late 60s, including From Woodstock to the Moon: These 30 Photos From 1969 Capture a Generation in Motion and 17 Vintage Photos From Woodstock ’69 That Show What the Festival Was Really Like. Head to San Francisco in ’67 with Peace, Love, and Protest: 15 Photos From the ‘Summer of Love’.