60s Project
Young or old, black or white, man or woman, Democrat or Republican, hawk or dove;
one of the few things that most people will agree on when talking about the 1960s is that
the world changed over the course of that decade. During those years, tensions ran high,
attitudes were strong and definite, people were divided about what they believed was
right and wrong. On subjects as diverse as the war in Vietnam, women’s rights, civil
rights, the environment, music, and the way people wore their hair, everyone had an
opinion.
http://www.pbs.org/opb/thesixties/educator/index.html
Assignment
Your assignment for this project has two parts:
1. TIMELINE
Your and your group will create an illustrated timeline of events focusing on your
assigned theme for the decade. It must include:
 A minimum of three entries for each year
 A minimum of five international events
 A minimum of five people (politicians, leaders, activists, musicians, etc.)
 Each event must be accompanied by a short (2-3 sentences) descriptive caption.
You may extend your timeline beyond 1960-1969, but you must include these years. It
is not necessary to illustrate each event, but there should be at least one image per year.
2. VISUAL
The visual may take any of a number of formats: exhibit, movie, documentary, play etc.
but it must be an accompaniment to your oral presentation not the presentation in its
entirety; that is, you will need to introduce, clarify and explain your visual.
Some events/people/ideas will necessarily be included under more than one of the
themes. Below are some suggested areas for exploration:
Anti-war activism (Columbia, Chicago,
Kent State, etc.)
The Cold War
Communism
Black power
Non-violent protest
Martin Luther King
Student Protest
The women’s movement
War on poverty
March on Washington
Anti-war sentiments
Soldier’s point of view
Richard Nixon
Lyndon Johnson
Robert Kennedy
Eugene McCarthy
Barry Goldwater
Woodstock (music, music as a medium
of getting the protest message out,
culture change, youth movement, etc.)
Art and literature (posters, poetry, song
lyrics, etc.)
Self expression (hair, clothes, etc.)
Social changes (communal living, ideas
about nature, etc.)
http://www.pbs.org/opb/thesixties/edu
cator/for_teachers.pdf