1. Woodstock
"Three days of peace, love, and music."
Denisse McKoy
4th Period

2. Background
Woodstock had a lasting
impact on the peace
movement of the late 60s. In
August 1969, on a farm about
50 miles from Woodstock,
New York, half a million
hippies (the largest concert
audience ever) gathered to
celebrate and hear the music
of their time. News that some
of the biggest Rock and Folk
singers of the 60s would be
headlining brought in hippies
from across the country to
the small town of Bethel, New
York; to a farm owned by a
man named Max Yasgur.
Because the festival was
rumored to be the largest

4. Who was Behind Woodstock
The organizers of the Woodstock Festival
were four young men, by the names of
John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie
Kornfeld, and Mike Lang. The oldest of
the four was only 27 years old at the
time of the Woodstock Festival.
John Roberts was an heir to a
pharmaceutical fortune. He and his
friend Joel Rosenman were looking for a
way to use Roberts' money to invest in
an idea that would make them even
more money.
They put an ad up in The New York Times
that read, "Young men with unlimited
capital looking for interesting, legitimate
investment opportunities and business
propositions." That’s when they met
Artie Kornfeld and Mike Lang, who
responded to the ad.

5. How Woodstock affected the Peace
Movement
Woodstock's stated
mission was to provide
people with three days of
peace, love and music,
while the country was
involved in the Vietnam
War. Their beliefs did not
match with the country's
mood at the time. Peace
was an act that was rarely
seen in the late '60s. There
were student protests,
political assassinations,
racial conflict, and riots
that took place in the
country constantly during
that time. Hippies and
youths across the country,
protested and pleaded for

6. How they planned to spread the
message of peace
During the 1950's, America had become less liberal and set on
the idea of what the perfect life of the American should be. The
youth of the 60s (or the Baby Boomers of the 50s) believed in
self expression, and rebelled against what they called the
"conformist society". Whether it was by growing out their hair,
which was looked down upon, dressing in wild and colorful
clothes and even experimenting with drugs. They weren't
afraid to voice their anti-war views, and protested for equality
for all. Woodstock was a liberation in itself, through music,
emotions, sex, and other forms of expression. It helped the
“The music is still the highlight, but
personal revolution that occurred in this decade the others that
even more was the community, the
followed.
friendships, the exhilaration, the
fatigue.”
- Karen F, Woodstock attendee

7. Music was the peacekeeper at Woodstock. The weekend of
August the 15th through the 18th of 1969 marked a milestone
in American history, where almost 500,000 people joined
together in peace for the sake of music. Even though some
tickets for the event had been pre-sold, the directors of
Woodstock had announced it as a free event on the same day
that it started. There were already about 50,000 people
camping near the stage due to an unfinished gate and un-built
ticket booths that allowed thousands of Woodstock goers
enter without paying.
News spread that Woodstock had become a free concert and
thousands more showed up. Because the event was planned
last minute, there were poorly working bathrooms, not
enough food, and a lack of supplies for health and safety.
Despite all of these challenges, it only seemed to have brought
everyone even closer together. People helped each other find
any food to last them for the event.

8. The town of Bethel, usually a quiet town, had never
seen so many people. No one had planned for over
half a million people to show up. The highways in the
area became over crowded and tight; used as parking
spaces because their was no room to drive around
other cars. People abandoned their cars in the middle
of the street and walked the rest of the way to the
festival.
On August 16, in a Woodstock Coverage in the 1969
Washington Post, The Woodstock traffic jam was
described as the most patient traffic jam that had ever
been seen. It also quotes that there wasn't even any
honking of horns.
“There was nothing to do about it, except park and
walk, so everyone broke out guitars and drums and
tambourines, sat on the hoods, trunks, and roofs of
cars and tried to make the best of it.” -BJ Phillips

9. What Message
did it send?
Music was more than
enjoyment for the
fans that attended
the crowded
Woodstock festival, it
was life and it was
what they stood for.
For the hippies, the
music was a way to
talk to the world in a
language that
everyone could
understand. Even the
musicians used their
music to voice their
opinions on the state
of the country during
this time. Woodstock
was not divided

11. Pros and Cons of its impact on society

12. How it affected the culture and people of that
era

13. How it
continues to
affect us today
The impact, good and bad, of the 1960’s hippie
movement cannot be denied. The movement
influenced popular music, television, film, literature,
and the arts. The music industry, particularly the rock
music segment, experienced an explosion in sales that
has continued to this day. In subsequent years,
unmarried couples no longer felt persecuted for living
together. Frankness regarding sexual matters was
common. Religious and cultural diversity gained
greater acceptance. Even fashion was impacted as the
popularity of the necktie and other business apparel
declined and was replaced by more casual dress
standards.

14. The End of an Era

15. Works Cited Page
• Rosenberg, Jennifer. “The Woodstock Festival of 1969”. About.Com. 4 May 2012.
<http://history1900s.about.com/od/1960s/p/woodstock.htm>
• Cammorata, Nicole. “Remembering Woodstock, 40 years later”. Boston.com.
Boston Globe. 4 May 2012. http://www.boston.com/ae/music/gallery/woodstock/
• “How Did Woodstock Affect Society for the Better?”. Your Dictionary.com.
LoveToKnow, Corp. 4 May 2012.
http://answers.yourdictionary.com/answers/entertainment-arts/how-did-
woodstock-affect-society-for-better.html
• Evans, Mike. Kingsbury, Paul. Scorsese, Martin. Woodstock, Three Days That
Rocked the World. Sterling, 2009.
• Keyser, Tom. “Does Woodstock mean anything after 40 years?” Chron.com. 13 Aug
2009. Hearst Communications Inc. 4 May 2012.
<http://www.chron.com/entertainment/music/article/Does-Woodstock-mean-
anything-after-40-years-1622906.php>