Summer of '69

When

Monday July 8, 2019: 9:00am to Friday August 30, 2019: 9:00pm

Where

Downtown Library: 3rd Floor Exhibit

Description

The summer of 1969 is famous as a flashpoint year in the US:  Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, the full size of the hippie movement became clear at Woodstock, and the Stonewall riots stood as an example of the deep divide between progressives and the establishment.  It was a time of social upheaval in Ann Arbor as well: there were marches, protests, civil actions, and an attempt to issue a traffic ticket to a motorcyclist on South University led to several days and nights of protests and violent clashes between crowds and police.  

But everyday life went on in Ann Arbor during that summer as well.  Kids did all the fun things kids do in the summer and their adults joined in, too: pools were swum in, soapbox derby cars were raced, art fairs were held (and probably grumbled about).  

This exhibit of photographs from the Ann Arbor News shows the diversity of life in Ann Arbor during the summer of ’69, from sun-drenched poolsides to sweat-drenched protests.  It shows a living, breathing city caught up in an era of change.  And it shows how everyday life goes on in the most-fabled of times.