Alumni

From USF With Love

Dons remember the Haight-Ashbury Era 50 Years Later

by Nicole Maldahl MA '16

Fifty years ago, San Francisco took center stage in the national spotlight, as the city became a locus of anti-war protests, civil rights battles, and the sexual revolution.

The city drew a young generation full of big ideas and hope for a better future. Nearly 100,000 people converged on Haight-Ashbury neighborhood for what came to be called the Summer of Love.

They traveled from Seattle, Sag Harbor, and Kissimmee. These “hippies” — a term coined by San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen after he visited a “hip” new shop in Haight-Ashbury — embraced counter culture ideas and became a mainstay of the national media as America grappled with the changing times.

Here, in their own words, Dons recount their college years and the Summer of Love ...

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