An overview of the "hippie" movement in San Francisco's Haight Ashbury neighborhood. Includes important figures such as Timothy Leary, Mario Savio, Janis Joplin, Hunter S. Thompson, and Alan Ginsberg.

1.
When Counterculture Went Pop
The
Human
Be-­‐In
and
Haight-­‐Ashbury,
San
Francisco
–
1967
Brett
Ruffenach
1201748370
30
April,
2012

2. 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).

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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.

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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.

13. 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

14. 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).

15. “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

16. 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

17. 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.”

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22.
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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