{"id":47257,"date":"2019-01-14T12:33:30","date_gmt":"2019-01-14T17:33:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=47257"},"modified":"2019-01-25T11:13:48","modified_gmt":"2019-01-25T16:13:48","slug":"today-in-history-human-be-in-at-s-f-s-golden-gate-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/today-in-history-human-be-in-at-s-f-s-golden-gate-park.html","title":{"rendered":"Today in History: \u2018Human Be-In\u2019 at S.F.\u2019s Golden Gate Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

The burgeoning counterculture in 1960s America was aware of the event, but the mainstream press and public were bewildered by the gathering of more than 20,000 \u201chippies\u201d that occurred in San Francisco\u2019s Golden Gate Park on 14 January 1967. This peaceful gathering of young people, many sporting brightly-colored clothing, beads and flowers, was responding to an entreaty from the local underground newspaper, the San Francisco Oracle<\/em>, for \u201cA Gathering of the Tribes for a Human Be-In.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: cover of the \u201cSan Francisco Oracle,\u201d Volume 1 No. 5, January 1967, announcing the upcoming \u201cHuman Be-In.\u201d Credit: the Estate of Allen Cohen and Regent Press; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This was the first event in a movement of people, music and ideas centered near the Golden Gate Park and the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood in 1967 that culminated in San Francisco\u2019s \u201cSummer of Love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite being loose in its planning and execution \u2013 this was, after all, the counterculture \u2013 the Be-In went remarkably well that day. The police made no arrests. Tourists gathered to watch the spectacle. The sun shone, the music and poetry were great, and the participants had fun.<\/p>\n

It is becoming lost lore now, but \u201cIns\u201d were quite popular in the \u201960s. The Civil Rights and anti-war movements were having sit-ins. Campuses were having teach-ins. The hippies were having be-ins and love-ins. A year after the Golden Gate Park Be-In the term went mainstream when NBC launched Rowan and Martin\u2019s \u201cLaugh-In\u201d comedy show on 22 January 1968.<\/p>\n

The Golden Gate Park \u201cBe-In\u201d was a seminal event. The entertainment was provided by such now-legendary rock bands as the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, and poets such as Allen Ginsberg and Gary Snyder. Timothy Leary, guru of the psychedelic drug LSD, addressed the crowd and delivered his famous advice: \u201cTurn on, tune in, drop out.\u201d LSD had only recently been made illegal (on 6 October 1966), but Owsley Stanley \u2013 who manufactured and provided the LSD for the \u201cacid tests\u201d staged by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters the previous two \u00a0years \u2013 provided LSD for the San Francisco \u201cBe-In,\u201d no doubt contributing to some of its zaniness.<\/p>\n

The following four newspaper articles provide an indication of how the mainstream press and public reacted to the Be-In and the growing counterculture. The first two articles report on the Be-In itself. The third reports on San Francisco Mayor Shelley expressing concern that the \u201cSummer of Love\u201d that would follow the Be-In would bring 100,000 hippies flocking to his city \u2013 which in fact did happen. The fourth article provides a rabbi\u2019s insights into the youthful minds of the counterculture.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Seattle Daily Times (Seattle, Washington), 15 January 1967, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here is a transcription of this article:<\/p>\n

All Kinds of \u2018Kooks\u2019 Gather for \u2018Happening\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Richard M. Harnett
\nUnited Press International<\/p>\n

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 14. \u2013 Take all the beatniks, hippies, beardies, and LSD \u201csaints\u201d in San Francisco and the Berkeley delegation and put them all on a polo field for one grand \u201cBe-In\u201d on a sunny Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n

It happened.<\/p>\n

Police estimated the crowd at the Golden Gate Park polo field at 15,000, including a large number of tourists and other square people who happened by and were dumbfounded at the sight.<\/p>\n

Beards had been curled, dyed, and decorated with flowers. The ordinary attire of the participants, which is enough to slow traffic, had been traded for \u201cfeast day\u201d garments.<\/p>\n

One lanky young man with long hair wore a red gunnysack. Another had a towel around his waist and beads around his neck. A chubby blonde wore a flour sack with \u201cU.S.A.\u201d stenciled on the front and smaller printing in foreign languages on back proclaiming that the contents couldn\u2019t be sold.<\/p>\n

There was a court jester in full dress [and] a number of fellows in assorted vestments like priests of some strange religion.<\/p>\n

One of the participants arrived by parachute.<\/p>\n

Everyone seemed happy. They had been summoned for what was billed as a \u201cgathering of the tribes,\u201d the love-cultists and leftists.<\/p>\n

Timothy Leary, the LSD high priest, was there. He told listeners to turn on, tune in and drop out.<\/p>\n

The poet Alan Ginsberg was there. So was the poetess Lenore Kandel, whose \u201cLove Book\u201d once was banned by San Francisco police.<\/p>\n

Anti-war activist Jerry Rubin, just out of a Berkeley jail, was on hand declaiming against the system and collecting money for his defense in court.<\/p>\n

Dizzie Gillespie, jazz virtuoso, played his horn.<\/p>\n

At the end of the afternoon the crowd turned en masse towards the setting sun as Ginsberg chanted a poem.<\/p>\n

Police said no one was arrested.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), 16 January 1967, page 28<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here is a transcription of this article:<\/p>\n

A HAPPENING<\/strong><\/p>\n

San Francisco\u2019s hippies and beatniks and Berkeley\u2019s political activists met in warm sun and balmy weather for a happening.<\/p>\n

Nearly 15,000 persons assembled on the polo field at Golden Gate Park to participate in or stare at the spectacle, billed as the first annual feast of the incongruous.<\/p>\n

Its promoters called it a union of love and activism.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), 24 March 1967, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here is a transcription of this article:<\/p>\n

Stay Home<\/u><\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018Hippies\u2019 Get No Welcome<\/strong><\/p>\n

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (UPI) \u2013 Mayor John F. Shelley had a message Thursday for young hippies planning to join the Haight-Ashbury scene this summer \u2013 stay home.<\/p>\n

Shelley asked the board of supervisors to make a policy statement opposing a migration of \u201cindigent young people\u201d into the city.<\/p>\n

Some Haight-Ashbury leaders have warned that up to 100,000 young hippies may invade the district during the summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am strongly opposed to any encouragement of a publicized summer influx of indigent young people who are apparently being led to believe by a certain element of society that their vagrant presence will be tolerated in the city, particularly in the Haight-Ashbury district, without due regard to their needs for food, adequate shelter and other necessities,\u201d the major said.<\/p>\n

Shelley warned that city laws would be strictly enforced and that hippies would not be permitted to sleep in Golden Gate Park, adjacent to the Haight-Ashbury.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), 7 February 1967, page 8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here is a transcription of this article:<\/p>\n

Jewish Official Cites Young Unrest in U.S.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Social unrest among young people is more evident in the United States than in any other country in the world, a national B\u2019nai B\u2019rith official from Washington, D.C., said here Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince we have more students in proportion to our population than any other nation, we give them a more important role in society, and they respond accordingly,\u201d said Dr. Alfred Jospe.<\/p>\n

Dr. Jospe, national director of the program and resources of the B\u2019nai B\u2019rith Foundations, was in Dallas where he addressed the annual meeting of Jewish Family Service Monday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my extensive travels and studies abroad, I have never witnessed the same kind or equal extent of youth unrest that we have here,\u201d he said in an interview.<\/p>\n

Dr. Jospe believes that young people\u2019s increasing concern with religion, morality and politics indicates a development that \u201ccould drive the cobwebs out of traditional thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Concerning the touted revolution in religious values of college students, Dr. Jospe defended universities against charges of \u201cGodlessness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we need now is not more religion in higher education, but more higher education in religion,\u201d he said, explaining that college students \u201cneed to pursue an intellectual investigation of the development of religion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOtherwise, their pediatric knowledge of religion \u2013 which is usually about equivalent to eighth-grade standards \u2013 will evaporate in the intellectual climate of a university,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Admitting that young people may \u201cgo too far by condemning everything,\u201d Dr. Jospe called for patience and sympathy on the part of elders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must understand their anguish,\u201d he said, \u201cand while I do not justify excesses, I do know that I would rather become an active, involved, concerned young person than be a member of the silent generation of the last decade.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Jospe does not condemn the much-publicized \u201chippies\u201d or drug-using dropouts who are examples of \u201csome of the extreme elements\u201d of youth.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir reactions are merely results of an increase in permissiveness and a speed-up in experiences of our young people in society,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are groping for new experiences, because they see no new worlds to be conquered.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Josep said youth involvement in politics is \u201ca healthy development. It will make a great contribution if young people take a much more active part in politics \u2013 providing they have adequate information and passion tempered with understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Downplaying the concept of a sexual revolt on campus, Dr. Jospe said he had not discovered a \u201csignificant\u201d change in attitudes or practices. He attributes the emphasis on \u201cmodern morality\u201d to \u201ca far more open climate for discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung people today are bringing a new honesty to their search for answers, and this puts us on the threshold of awakening the thinking of many persons who have never questioned anything,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Note:<\/em><\/strong> An online collection of newspapers, such as GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>, is not only a great way to learn about the lives of your ancestors \u2013 the old newspaper articles also help you understand American history and the times your ancestors lived in, and the news they talked about and read in their local papers \u2013 as well as more recent events. Were you in San Francisco for the first Human Be-In? Please share your stories with us in the comments section below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An article about the first \u201cHuman Be-In\u201d that took place in San Francisco\u2019s Golden Gate Park on 14 January 1967.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12235],"tags":[6713,39169,39167,2020,689],"class_list":["post-47257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","tag-american-history","tag-golden-gate-park","tag-human-be-in","tag-newspaper-archives","tag-san-francisco"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/photo-0114-2019-featured-graphic-human-be-in.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}