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Woodstock Meets the Sixties with historian Richard Heppner
September 16, 2023 @ 3:00 pm
Saturday, September 16, 3 p.m.
Admission: Free
On Saturday, September 16 at 3:00 p.m., the Historical Society of Woodstock will present a talk by Woodstock Town Historian Richard Heppner titled Woodstock Meets the Sixties. Heppner, who has written extensively on Woodstock history, will discuss how, at the time, a decidedly conservative town “greeted” an influx of young people as Woodstock became a beacon for those seeking music, magic, and freedom. It wasn’t always pretty.
From the early 1960s, through a good part of the 1970s, official Woodstock and many of its townspeople weren’t always pleased with the new arrivals as the town confronted differing lifestyles, issues of drug use, nude swimming, trespassing, and varying political and philosophical beliefs. Through his talk, Heppner will highlight the impact and evolution of changing times in Woodstock as the name of a small town at the base of Overlook Mountain became linked to an entire generation.
The Historical Society of Woodstock is located at 20 Comeau Drive, Woodstock. Admission to this talk is free and it is presented in conjunction with the final weekend of the Historical Society’s summer exhibit, Goin’ to Town–a Celebration of the Woodstock Village.
The Historical Society of Woodstock was founded in 1929 by a group of artists, writers, academics, and local citizens. In addition to the exhibition space, which is located at the historic Eames House on Comeau Drive in the center of Woodstock, the Historical Society has an extensive archive consisting of paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture, textiles, photographs, books, manuscripts, correspondence, documents, film/sound recordings, and antique tools. The archive serves as a resource for a wide range of exhibitions, public programming, and research.