This is Who We Were: In the 1960s explores American life in the 1960s as a truly tumultuous and pivotal decade in the U.S.. Readers will uncover what life was like for ordinary Americans as they lived through a Social Revolution, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Vietnam War, all in the span of 10 short years.

Table of Contents

• Essay on the 1960s
• Introduction
• Section One: Profiles
• This section contains 30 profiles of individuals and families living and working in the 1960s. It examines their lives at home, at work, and in their neighborhoods. Based upon historic materials, personal interviews, and diaries, the profiles give a sense of what it was like to live in the years 1960 to 1969.
• Olympic Weightlifter, Washington, DC & Rome, Italy
• Television Programmer, Los Angeles, CA
• Automobile Salesman, Chicago, IL
• Plumbing Salesman, Honolulu, HI
• Civil Rights Pioneer, Charleston, SC
• Baseball Barker, St. Louis, MO
• Golf Caddie, Baltimore, MD
• Record Producer, Memphis, TN
• Investor and Art Collector, Baltimore, MD
• Developmental Psychologist, Nashville, TN
• Entrepreneur and Restructurer, Los Angeles, CA
• Longshoreman, Portland, OR
• Disillusioned Beatle Fan, Birmingham, AL
• African-American Baseball Player, Washington, DC
• Mexican Immigrant, Delano, CA
• Daughter of Oil Executive, Sardinia, Italy & New Jersey
• Artist, New York, NY
• Super Glue Inventor, Kingsport, TN
• Immigrant Medical Student, San Francisco, CA
• Band Member, Myrtle Beach, SC
• Woman Golf Pro, Ladies Professional Golf Tour
• Ski Lodge Operators, Winter Park, CO
• Electronics Worker, Memphis, TN
• Student Body President, Rock Hill, SC
• Native American Activist, Puget Sound, WA
• Sex Education Advocate, US Education Environment
• Civilian Antiwar Advocates, Vietnam Moratorium
• Inventor of Sweet ‘N Low, New York, NY
• Vietnam War Bride, Saigon, Vietnam & Boston, MA
• Record Producer, Nashville, TN
• Section Two: Historical Snapshots
• This section includes lists of important “firsts” for America, from technical advances and political events to new products and top selling books. Combining serious American history with fun facts, these snapshots present, in chronological categories, an easy-to-read overview of what happened in the 1960s.
• Preface
• Early 1960s
• Mid 1960s
• Late 1960s
• Section Three: Economy of the Times
• This section looks at a wide range of economic data, including food, clothing transportation, housing and other selected prices, with reprints of actual advertisements for products and services of the time. It includes figures for the following categories, plus a valuable year-by-year listing of the value of a dollar.
• Preface
• Consumer Expeditures
• Annual Income
• Selected Prices
• Value of a Dollar Index 1860-2012
• Section Four: All Around Us—What We Saw, Wrote, Read & Listened To
• This section includes reprints of newspaper and magazine articles, speeches, and other items designed to help readers focus on what was on the minds of Americans in the 1960s. These printed pieces show how popular opinion was formed, and how American life was affected.
• Preface
• “New Grid League Has Troubles” GRIT, November 27, 1960
• “Negro Singer to Wed White Actress Sunday” The Danville Virginia Bee, November 12, 1960
• “The Revolution Nobody Noticed, Timid Taste Turned Bold” Life Magazine, December 26, 1960
• “Boom in Organized Bowling Continues, No End in Sight” GRIT, October 23, 1960
• “Improving Textbooks” Russell Kirk, National Review, September 10, 1960
• “Franchise Selling Catches On” 1960
• “Huge Salt Cavern in Kansas May Be U.S. Treasure Chest” GRIT, November 27, 1960
• “This Is Coca-Cola?” Business Week, October 8, 1960
• “Admirals Expect Polaris Sub Buildup to Enlarge Pearl Harbor Fleet, Jobs” Honolulu Advertiser, March 20, 1961
• “Presley Due Tomorrow; Honolulu Airport Braced” Honolulu Advertiser, March 24, 1961
• “JFK Orders Start of Peace Corps” San Francisco Examiner, May 2, 1961
• “The Machines Are Taking Over, Computers Outdo Man at His Work Now and Soon May Outthink Him” Life Magazine, March 3, 1961
• “The Chosen Three for First Space Ride” by Loudon S. Wainwright, Life, March 3, 1961
• “Making the Tax Mess Worse” Editorial, Life Magazine, March 3, 1961
• “Special Message to Congress on Urgent National Needs” [excerpt], President John F. Kennedy, May 25, 1961
• “Your Life Easily May Depend on How Well You Are Prepared, If an ATTACK Comes” by John D. Hacket, The Evening Sun, Baltimore, Maryland, August 1961
• “Working Girls Beat Living Cost” San Francisco Examiner, March 2, 1961
• “World's Fair Poises for Start Today” The Salt Lake Tribune, April 21, 1962
• “JFK IS ASSASSINATED” by Frank Cormier, Associated Press, November 23, 1963
• “Education 1963” Fred M. Hachinger, Education Editor, The New York Times Encyclopedia Yearbook, 1964
• “Computers May Enable Men to Farm by Phone” The Greenville News (South Carolina), November 25, 1963
• “Building the Beatle Image” by Vance Packard, Saturday Evening Post, March 21, 1964
• “Strongest Rights Law Signed by President” Roanoke Times (Virginia), July 3, 1964
• “The Ku Klux Klan Is Moving Boldly into the Open in a Last-Ditch Fight against Integration; ‘We Got Nothing to Hide,’” by Harold H. Martin and Kenneth Fairly, The Saturday Evening Post, January 30, 1965 228
• Civil Rights Timeline
• Selma, Alabama High School Black Student Bettie Mae Fikes and Her Involvement in the Movement in 1965
• “Broken Glass Marks Namath Success Trail” Evening Independent (Massillon, Ohio), January 7, 1965
• “The Unwanted Fight” Arthur Daley, The Winston-Salem Journal (North Carolina), May 11, 1965
• “Congressmen Tap Outside Sources to Bolster Their $30,000 Salaries” by Richard Harwood, The Washington Post, May 1, 1966
• “College ‘Sex Revolution’ Overstressed” by Jean White, The Washington Post, May 1, 1966
• “The Inside Story of The NFL-AFL Merger” by Bob Stewart, Complete Sports, November 1966
• “Can She Boil a Pot or Water, Billy Boy?” by Jeanne Lamb O'Neill, American Home, October 1966
• “The Talent for Listening, Help your Child Learn to Love Good Music” by André Previn, American Home, October 1966
• “Things You Should Know About Harvest Aid Chemicals” Harris H. Barnes, Jr., Progressive Farmer, July 1967
• “Patent Protects Inventor Rights” Charleston Daily Mail, November 16, 1967
• “King Charges U.S. Stifled War Dissent” Delaware County Daily Times (Chester, Penn.), June 1, 1967
• “Will Lift-Skiing Spoil Snowmass?” by John Henry Auran, Skiing, October 1967
• “Hippie Meccas, Sun-Soaked Beaches Are Top Attractions” Columbus Daily Telegraph, July 19, 1967
• “The Search for a Nexus—Vietnam and the Negroes” William F. Buckley, Jr., National Review, August 22, 1967
• “PROTEST: The Banners of Dissent” Time, October 27, 1967
• “Astros Object to Playing on U.S. Day of Mourning” The New York Times, June 9, 1968
• “CONSERVATION, Reprieve for the Redwoods” Time, September 27, 1968
• “What Those Draft Classifications Mean” Good Housekeeping, June 1968
• “Beatles Still Tops in Poll” San Antonio Light, February 27, 1969
• “Program for Non-White Jobs to Begin” New York Times, September 21, 1969
• “The Game of the Name” by William Zinsser, Life, November 7, 1969
• “Gift for Nixon” World Week, January 31, 1969
• “In the Round, Viet Talks Resume” World Week, January 31, 1969
• Section Five: Census Data
• This section includes state-by-state comparative tables and demographic trends for metropolitan areas from 1960 to 1970.
• Preface
• Total Population
• White Population
• Black Population
• American Indian/Alaska Native Population
• Asian Population
• Foreign-Born Population
• Urban Population
• Rural Population
• Males per 100 Females
• High School Graduates
• College Graduates
• One-Person Households
• Homeownership Rate
• Median Home Value
• Median Gross Rent
• Households Lacking Complete Plumbing
• Bibliography