This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love – that fateful summer when over 100,000 teenagers flocked to San Francisco. They were seeking out the “gentle people” with flowers in their hair, promised by the Scott McKenzie song ‘San Francisco’, that hit the airwaves two months prior. The whole city is alive with celebration and commemoration. “The Summer of Love was fundamental to the DNA of San Francisco,” says historian and former Grateful Dead publicist Dennis McNally. “It’s ironic, because 50 years ago the police were not thrilled and the city government was like ‘do we really need this aggravation?’”
The very failings of the city to address the influx of young people resulted in what are now some of the most celebrated elements of that summer. The San Francisco Free Clinic, founded by Dr David Smith, gave form to the idea that access to healthcare should be a right, not a privilege. The legendary Monterey Pop Festival (which held a reprisal concert in mid-June) raised $25,000 for the clinic, which is still open to this day. “David Smith hasn’t changed a lick,” observes McNally.
“Certainly the hippy thing has a lot more respect these days than it did at the time… Jerry Garcia was asked to sing the national anthem for the Giants in 1993. It was the only time in [the Grateful Dead’s] 30 years of existence that they ever sang the national anthem. Someone asked them, ‘Why do you think they asked you now?’ and Jerry’s response was, ‘It’s like old whores and bad architecture. After a while you just get used to it, and get some respect.’”
When asked what the original participants in that summer might think of the city today, McNally says: “I think they’d cherish what’s left in the neighbourhoods, and like many residents… they’d be concerned about the cultural shift to greed.
“There’s a store that sells tie-dye called Love on Haight [loveonhaightsf.com] run by somebody whose name is Sunshine Powers, she wears a lot of sparkles, she’s delightful, and also a very smart business woman. She’s on the board of Taking it to the Streets, which is a not for profit that takes care of the homeless kids on Haight Street, of which we have far too many. She represents the very best of what the Haight was about, and continues to do so.”
The city’s biggest tribute to that summer can be found at the de Young Museum, where the Summer of Love Experience: Art, Fashion, and Rock & Roll provides a detailed insight into what people wore and listened to in 1967. The fashion collection is particularly remarkable, from complex rainbow crochet wedding gowns by 100% Birgitta to surrealist Betsy Johnson knits. There’s also a psychedelic chillout area where visitors can lounge on beanbags inside what feels like an oversized lava lamp and an exhaustive collection of rock and roll posters. The gallery also boasts pretty incredible, panoramic views of the city from the ninth floor of its Hamon Observation Tower.
Over at the Museum of African Diaspora you’ll find an exhibition centering on Jimi Hendrix. Every image in the exhibition was taken in 1967 – the year Hendrix broke into the mainstream American consciousness, after playing at the Monterey Pop Festival.
The California Historical Society are presenting On the Road to the Summer of Love, a photography exhibition curated by McNally that features, among other things, a photograph of a 19-year-old Janis Joplin performing in a little black dress – a look she never wore again after that night. You’ll also find 1,000 tabs of LSD (safely behind glass) and photographs of the notorious Death of Hippie funeral procession down Haight Street – which theatre group the Diggers hoped would bring an end to both the Summer of Love and the media’s idea of “hippies”. After the summer ended, the Diggers implored people to take what they’d learned back to their own communities and enact change there.
Diving into the Buddhist roots of many hippy actions and fashions, the Asian Art Museum is showing Flower Power; an exploration of floral motifs across Asia. Zeroing in on six flowers, the lotus, plum blossom, cherry blossom, chrysanthemum, tulip, and rose, the show will feature antiquities and decorative art as well as fine art and contemporary works, including pieces from Takashi Murakami and Lee Mingwei.
If you want to experience the Summer of Love outside museum walls, we suggest tracing the origin of the movement with a drink at Vesuvio – which has barely changed since beats like Ginsberg and Kerouac drank there. It’s all art glass light shades, dark booths and cheap drinks. Head upstairs and grab a spot right by the window to watch all the action on Columbus Avenue. It may not be a red light district anymore, but the people-watching is still excellent.
Then, browse through City Lights bookstore next door. It published Ginsberg’s famous poem ‘Howl’ in 1956, and the resulting obscenity trial marked the death knell of Mccarthy-era censorship.
Social transformation always has an economic underpinning. In Wild SF’s musical walking tour of Haight-Ashbury, you’ll learn that it was rising property prices that drove the Beats from North Beach to the significantly more affordable area right beside Golden Gate Park. Beats and hippies weren’t just cut from the same cloth, they were in many cases, the same people (plus or minus a few tabs of LSD). The tour is lead with charisma by Wes – and on it you’ll learn about the historic and cultural factors that created the flower child movement, and why everybody loved the Grateful Dead’s jam sessions, all while standing in front of their old house.
After the tour, hit up Static for a piece of the Summer of Love – it’s by far the best vintage shop on Haight Street. On our visit we found a velvet Pucci twinset in great condition for US$150 but they’ve also got more affordable items.
Finally, if you want to experience the lasting legacy of that summer, go to a meditation session at the San Francisco Zen Centre. The origins of meditation in the West can be traced back to the hippy movement but the city – and Silicon Valley – remains in love with the practice to this day. They host drop-in sessions for beginners and more advanced meditators throughout the week.
For more on the city’s celebrations, visit www.summerof.love.
United flies direct to San Francisco daily.
The author travelled as a guest of the City of San Francisco and United Airlines.