Counterculture In The 1950's

The Counterculture was a time where many youthful Americans wanted to live in peaceful, carefree environments. Taking place in the 1960’s, this movement mainly consisted of commonly white, middle-class youths who were upset with the lack of fairness in America. Removing themselves from traditional America, these youth attempted to create a new society filled with peace and love. Members of the counterculture, also known as hippies, felt that America had “grown hollow” in the sense of war and technology. Because of this feeling of living in a hollow world, tens of thousands of youth left their homes, schools, and or work to join what they hoped would be a community of love and tranquility. The hippie era (Age of Aquarius) was not only influenced by rebellious teens but also the nonconformist beat movement of the 1950’s.

The look of hippies contained crazy clothing, ragged clothing, love beads, and long hair.

Governor Ronald Reagan ordered that the park that the hippie's hand planted trees, flower, and grass in would be destroyed. This government ordered project upset the hippies and riots began to form. The police took matters into their own hands and started to fight back resulting in over 123 students going to the hospital for head injuries, gun wounds, and many other serious injuries.

Counterculture may have been short-lived, but many aspects of the belief have left an imprint on the world today. A new form of art was first introduced by a guy named Andy Warhol. Many of his famous paintings/prints included simple images such as soup cans, Marilyn Monroe, pop, and a non-complex yellow banana. This rebellious form of art inspired by rebellious actions is called pop art. Pop art could be described as bright and simple images that could relate back to the cookie-cutter lifestyle of houses in the 1950s. Pop art also helped express people's feelings and emotions during the mid-1950s to