The 1960s is the focus of the new display at the Edwardsburg Historical Museum. In researching that decade it is amazing how many topics are still current today.

The museum advisory board was charged with researching the events but there were so many significant subjects they  had to be narrowed down .

Selected were the Civil Rights legislation, Ppolitics and politic parties, medical advancements, local events taken from the Argus, national events, arts and entertainment, Assassinations, Vietnam War,  space exploration and educational trends of the 1960s.

The advisory board members chose topics to research and designed a presentation board. Those who participated were Barbara Dempsey, Patricia Bellaire, Marjorie Rea, Shirley Andrews, Birdella Holdread, Karen Duck and

Sally Dalrymple.

These displays are added to the exhibit of the house of the 1960s.

Some topics were too vast and are not included such as music, sit-ins, church bombings, the Warren report of JFK’s assassination, Los Angeles Riots, the death of astronauts, USS Pueblo seized, the Manson family murders, My Lai Massacre, the first Super Bowl, Haight-Ashbury, the birthplace of America’s counter-culture during the summer of 1967, the riots and marches of the 60s.

The 1960s gave us the Beatles, Vietnam, color TV shows, Woodstock, the Democratic Convention in Chicago, the Black Panther Party, the fight for Civil Rights, a walk on the moon, and a number of assassinations.

The ‘60s changed the lives of  many Americans, but still 55 years later some of the same issues are with us today. Come to the museum and check out the past. Listen to the music of the 60s and you will recognize some of the same songs and artists played on the radio today.

The museum gives you a chance to do a memory walk, to remember the past or to learn about it.

Feeling groovy? Come and get your groove on.

 

Jo-Ann Boepple works at the Edwardsburg Area History Museum.