The Times
With the landslide election defeat by President Lyndon Johnson of Barry Goldwater in November of 1964, SUNY Cortland seniors had mixed feelings. While students supported the passing of President Johnson’s sweeping Civil Rights Act of 1964, many were upset with the escalation of US involvement in the Vietnam War, causing students to rise up and play a central role in challenging established norms and advocating for social change.
International political and ideological events created lasting changes that we still feel today. In October 1964, Premier Nikita Khrushchev was ousted and succeeded by Leonid Brezhnev, shaping the trajectory of the Soviet Union. In May 1964, the Palestinian Liberation Organization, or the PLO, was formed and it’s ideology would influence future terrorist organizations like Hamas.
By the time Cortland seniors returned from winter break in 1965, they could not imagine what was ahead. In February, Malcolm X was assassinated in NYC. One month later, the world witnessed 25-year-old John Lewis lead six hundred marchers across Selma, Alabama’s Edmund Pettus Bridge while the nation watched the brutal attacks by state troopers called “Bloody Sunday.” The outrage from the footage prompted demonstrations in eighty cities across the country. Just 2 weeks later, Martin Luther King, Jr., organized the March to Montgomery with 25,000 people in tow.
1965 marked a major turning point in the Vietnam War and how it was perceived by the American Public. Dubbed “The Living Room War,” the nation watched as the war rapidly intensified bringing the realities of war into the homes of Americans. The coverage of Operation Rolling Thunder, a sustained bombing campaign of North Vietnam, would influence the growing anti-war sentiment especially among college students.
Another kind of invasion came in 1964 and 1965 but was a lot more pleasant. It was the British Invasion! Launched by The Beatles’ appearance in early 1964 on the Ed Sullivan Show and proved to be one of the most pivotal in music history, it also helped bring the country out of a state of mourning after the assignation of JFK. “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” “She Loves You” and “Can’t Buy Me Love” dominated the charts. And as the Beatles conquered America, other notable chart-topping artists like The Rolling Stones, The Byrds, The Four Tops, Petula Clark, The Supremes and Freddie and The Dreamers were keeping young people musically engaged.
Notable Events
- The Signing of The Civil Rights Act – 1964
- On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act. This was the most sweeping Civil Rights legislation pass by Congress since the post Civil War Reconstruction era. Johnson used 75 different pens for the signing.
- Bloody Sunday – March 7, 1965
- A 25-year-old John Lewis led the march across the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama. Lewis was part of the Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Renamed “Bloody Sunday,” white State Troopers and sheriff’s deputies attacked the marchers which was broadcast on national TV. This led to subsequent demonstrations across 80 cities including the MLK, Jr., March to Montgomery with 25,000 marchers.
- British Invasion – 1965
From April 23rd to May 29th, 1965, the British Invasion hit our shores as the Rolling Stones embarked on an American tour in both the US and Canada and supported their third US album “The Rolling Stones, Now!”