Even though the crowd was not diverse by today’s standards, people of diverse backgrounds did attend while musicians of diverse races and genders that included Jimi Hendrix, Grateful Dead, Joan Baez and Janis Joplin among others, did perform as different peoples were brought together in a spirit of “social harmony”[2] despite the fact the country was being torn apart over the Vietnam war, racial tensions (civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. had been assassinated a year earlier), and cultural clashes over competing values and visions for the future that had significant ramifications including on the arts and photography ushering in new forms of expression. In fact with its non-existent crime, prevailing attitude of tolerance and respect in which people were accepted for who they were instead of what they were, a spirit of generosity whereby people shared food and belongings, Woodstock was an insular refuge from the harsh realities of the apathetic, uncaring and violent world outside of Bethel. At the same time, the attendees were not naïve – even if they were called “hippies” and “pacifists” – they were patriotic and abhorred communism and its dangers such that at one of the stands that sold tie-dyed t-shirts in the woods near the stage prominently displayed a banner that read, “Fuck Communism.”

Adversity did not extinguish the enthusiasm and love of these three days even though people had to camp out in “a sea of mud,” share tree branches to hang their laundry and sleep and reside with each other in close quarters – often next to total strangers. Everyone made the best of the situation and did not allow biases to interfere with their good time even if some drank alcohol, others smoked marijuana or partook in recreational drugs such as “acid” (LSD), while still others male and female communed in the nude since no one shamed the human anatomy we all share. Simply put, there were no fights, no racism, no hate and a state of emergency did not have to be declared by then New York State Governor Nelson Rockefeller despite initial concerns when the crowd exceeded expectations by almost tenfold. During those three days, stigmatization was left to the judgmental society outside of Bethel.

In addition, Woodstock held in a town whose name means “House of God” proved to be a profound spiritual experience that can be compared to the “miracle of the loaves and fish” [3] as the attendees shared food among each other so no one went hungry as well as to the “Sermon on the Mount” when Jesus preached the beatitudes to an electrified crowd that soaked in every word of his profound and radical message of love that included “turning one’s cheek” and “loving one’s enemies” as they found a momentary but welcome respite from the political drama of the Roman Empire and Holy Land. In the words of organizer Michael Lang, “A sense of possibility and hope was born” at Woodstock as “young people… searching for an identity and… meaning” found it “that weekend” per music historian Pete Fornatale.[4] Per Melanie Safka who then as a 22 year-old performed in the rain, Woodstock was a "complete spiritual awakening" akin to "an out of body experience" she will hold onto for the rest of her life after having seen how "people came together"[5] to support each other and the artists.

As a result of Woodstock, peoples' lives were transformed as was America and the entire world, a glimpse of what is possible if peace and love can forever supplant war and hate since regardless of every descriptive adjective society attempts to use to define and divide us, we are ultimately one of the same, single human race.

Woodstock Photos, August 1969 displayed per Bethel Woods Museum license

Woodstock Collage, August 1969 featuring performers Jimi Hendrix (top left) and Melanie Safka (top right). All images purchased for use in this article.