2. The 1960s: A Time of
Counterculture
coun·ter·cul·ture
(Noun) A way of life and set of attitudes opposed to or at
variance with the prevailing social norm.
• During the 1960s, an abundance of socio-political
problems, such as Civil Rights, the Vietnam War,
and a new consumerism, mixed with a popular
culture typified by complacency to produce a
counterculture that questioned where America was
headed and sought to return to the basics of life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. (“CounterCulture”)
3. The Start of Civil Rights
The Civil Rights movement was in full swing by the 1960s
• The previous decade saw the start of the movement:
– The US Supreme Court ruled against racial segregation in
schools in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954
– Rosa Parks was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat
– The Montgomery bus boycott officially began in 1955
– Martin Luther King, Jr. emerges as leader and spokesperson
– Violence over the issue erupted at the U. of Alabama for 3 days
– Federal troops were sent to Little Rock to enforce desegregation
(Johnson)
4. Civil Rights in the 1960s
• In the 1960s, the fight for Civil Rights intensified:
– Freedom Riders who test desegregation meet violence in 1961
– Violence erupts at U. of Mississippi over integration in 1961
– Americans watch on TV as peaceful demonstrators in
Birmingham are subdued with dogs and power hoses 1963
– The Civil Rights March in Washington, D.C. is held in 1963
– The Civil Rights Act is passed in 1964
– The Voting Rights Act is passed in 1965
(Johnson)
Birmingham Protest
5. To Kill a Mockingbird
• In 1960, in the midst of the Civil
Rights movement, Harper Lee
published To Kill A Mockingbird.
• Lee’s book uniquely portrays race
relations from the vantage of an
innocent child, one that is not
corrupted by the racism of the time.
6. About To Kill A
Mockingbird
• The book is set in the 1930s
in Alabama, focusing on the
life of the main character,
Scout, and how she and the
town she lives in is affected
by the unfair trial of a black
man falsely accused of rape.
Harper Lee
7. Real Life Connection in
Mockingbird
• In 1931, nine young black men were accused of
raping two young women on a train in northern
Alabama.
• During the Scottsboro Trials, the sole testimony of
one of the women, who was a known prostitute,
was used to convict the men, of whom a number
remained on death row for years.
• These real life events are clearly connected with
the fictional trial of Tom Robinson in Lee’s book.
(Johnson)
8. Reflecting on To Kill A
Mockingbird
• Though the story of To Kill A Mockingbird
takes place in the 1930s, its connection to the
1960s remains.
• The book portrays the prejudice and unfair
treatment that blacks experienced in America
and reflects the struggle and tensions facing
the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s.
9. The Vietnam Quagmire
• The Vietnam War lasted from 1954 to 1975.
• It was the longest and most unpopular war in
America’s history.
• Much of the counterculture of the 1960s was focused
in protest against the Vietnam War.
• As the war dragged on and the death count and stories
of US atrocities increased, more and more opposed
the war and America’s involvement in it.
10. Kent State Massacre
• On May 4, 1970, students at Kent State University
were holding a rally to protest the escalation of the
Vietnam War and the US invasion of Cambodia.
• The Ohio National Guard had been called to the
University because of violence that had occurred in
the past few days. (Lewis)
11. More on the Kent State
Massacre
• It was decided that the rally should be dispersed, but first
attempts by the Guard failed.
• The Guard’s use of force (tear gas and loaded guns) was met
with rocks and yelling.
• The Guard then fired on the crowd, killing four, paralyzing
one, and wounding eight more. (Lewis)
The Four Killed During the Shootings
12. Ohio by Crosby, Stills,
Nash, & Young
• After hearing about the Kent State Massacre, Neil Young composed “Ohio”
Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin'. Gotta get down to it.
We're finally on our own. Soldiers are cutting us down.
This summer I hear the drummin'. Should have been done long ago.
Four dead in Ohio. What if you knew her and
Gotta get down to it. Found her dead on the ground?
Soldiers are gunning us down. How can you run when you know?
Should have been done long ago. Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin'.
What if you knew her and We're finally on our own.
Found her dead on the ground? This summer I hear the drummin'.
How can you run when you know? Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na.
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na.
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na.
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na.
13. Interpretation of ‚Ohio‛
• “The "Tin soldiers" are the National
Guard”
• “The line, "We're finally on our own"
describes the feeling of freedom and
independence in college”
• Nixon is included in the song because Richard Nixon
“many people, including Young, felt that
it was President Richard Nixon's fault.”
Some also blamed the Governor of
Ohio, James Allen Rhodes, for the
massacre.
("Ohio" - Neil Young Lyrics Analysis.) James Rhodes
14. Further Interpreting
‚Ohio‛
• “Soldiers are gunning us down” refers to when the
Ohio Guard fired on the protesting students
• “Four dead in Ohio” refers to the four students who
were killed by the Guard.
• “Should have been done long ago” reflects the anti-
war sentiment in that many believed the war should
have been over and done with by then.
("Ohio" - Neil Young Lyrics Analysis.)
15. Conclusion ‘bout ‚Ohio‛
• The songs during the 1960s and
into the 1970s largely reflected the
counterculture of the time and the
events surrounding it.
• Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young skillfully captured
the feelings of many Americans during these
turbulent times in a number of there songs, and
especially in “Ohio.”
16. Pop Art in the 1960s
• “In the 1960s young artists in the United States made popular
culture their subject matter.” (Rotilie)
• They appropriated “images and objects such as common
household items, advertisements from consumer products,
celebrity icons, fast food, cartoons, and mass-media imagery
from television, magazines, and newspapers. ” (Rotilie)
• “These artists also often used forms of mechanical
reproduction that downplayed the idea of originality or the
individual mark of the artist.” (Rotilie)
• “The Pop Art style sought to test the boundaries between art
and life.” (Rotilie)
17. CONSUMERISM
“Consumerism suggests that happiness can be
achieved through the purchase of goods and
services.” (Rotilie)
From the 1950s through the 1960s, consumerism
in American exploded as people bought mass
produced items, cars, houses, televisions, modern
appliances, etc.
18. Consumerism & Art
• To challenge traditional art, Pop Artists of the 1960s
equated fine art with the mass-produced imagery of
advertising.
• “Aiming to employ images of popular as opposed to
elitist culture, Pop Art embraced the kitsch associated
with consumerism and mocked brand loyalty and its
implicit promise of happiness.” (Rotilie)
19. Andy Warhol: Pop Artist
Extraordinaire
• Andy Warhol is one of the, or the, most
important figure in American Pop Art.
– He is widely known for borrowing images from
television, advertising, and other mass media, and
taking those images, such as product labels and
logos, out of a commercial context and displaying
them as art. (Rotilie)
20. Boxes by Andy Warhol
• Warhol took previously
manufactured, painted
wood boxes and
silkscreened the Brillo
and other product logos
onto them. (Rotilie)
• He then stacked the
boxes to mimic a
supermarket product
display. (Rotilie)
21. how is that Art?
• Andy Warhol’s Boxes may look like ordinary
supermarket items, but that’s the point.
• To elevate these consumer packages to the
level of high art, Warhol produced large-scale
trompe l'oeil (deceives the eye) versions of the
original. (Rotilie)
• So, they are indeed art.
22. Summin’ it Up
• The 1960s was a far-out time.
• Many changes and important events in the
history of America occurred during this period.
• Not only literature, but music and art as well,
reflected, and in some ways, shaped the
society during this time.
23. Works Cited
"CounterCulture." CounterCulture. University of Virginia, n.d. Web. 08 June 2012.
<http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug03/dumlao/MDST361/counter.html>.
Johnson, Claudia, Dr. Joanne V. Gabbin, and Catherine Turner. "Historical Background."
ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation, n.d. Web. 08 June 2012.
<http://library.thinkquest.org/12111/SG/SG5.html>.
Lewis, Jerry M., and Thomas R. Hensley. “The May 4 Shootings at Kent State University: The
Search for Historical Accuracy." Kent State University, n.d. Web. 08 June 2012.
<http://dept.kent.edu/sociology/lewis/lewihen.htm>.
""Ohio" - Neil Young Lyrics Analysis." Neil Young Ohio Lyric Analysis. Thrasher's Wheat, n.d.
Web. 08 June 2012. <http://thrasherswheat.org/fot/ohio.htm>.
Rotilie, Susan. "Art in the 1960s." Art in the 1960s. Walker Art Center, n.d. Web. 09 June 2012.
<http://artsconnected.org/collection/118487/art-in-the-1960s>.
