1969: The end of an era and one of America’s stormiest and most impactful years

Emerging on the heels of the Fabulous ’50s in which the horrors of world war were steadily receding from the population’s consciousness, replaced by previously unheard-of middle-class prosperity, the 1960s proved to be one of the most politically, socially and culturally turbulent and consequential decades in the history of the United States. The escalation of the Vietnam War, the turbulent but hopeful rise of the Civil Rights Movement, a revolution in art and music and a Cold War-fueled race to the moon, among countless other developments, seemed to compete for the top spot on the period’s list of most influential events.

As the decade’s final year closed out the iconic era known simply but reverently as “the ’60s,” the nation would bear witness to a series of happenings that ranged from terrifying to triumphant, and that would send echoes — and sometimes shockwaves — through the next half-century.

In a commemorative series of stories, USC Dornsife scholars will rewind the historic timeline to explore some of the most notable events of 1969 and how their impact is still being felt today.