Thursday, August 13, 2009

Woodstock Memories

footnote.com is highlighting the Woodstock Music Festival this month as part of its This Month in History series and while I'd like to say it brought back memories, sadly it doesn't. The festival took place 40 years ago this weekend, August 15 - 17, 1969.

Understand that I grew up in Liberty, New York which was probably 10 miles away from Bethel, New York and Max Yasgur's farm where the festival took place. I was not even seven years old yet but for some reason - memories of Woodstock? Nope, ain't got 'em.

Liberty and the county seat Monticello were the biggest towns nearby where people could get food and provisions. I do remember my family in later years talking about all the "hippies" who were camped in the median of the Quickway (NY Rt. 17 which went from the New Jersey border up to Binghamton and beyond). I also remember talk of there being no milk or basics in the stores for days after the festival. How exactly do you prepare for 500,000 people arriving for the weekend? Woodstock for three days became the second largest city in New York state after New York City.

You can see more Woodstock images here at the Woodstock Memories Project. And check out footnote.com's copies of the Poughkeepsie Journal - if you have ancestors from the Hudson Valley like me, you will probably find a great deal of genealogy info such as obituaries and news items at footnote.com.

© 2009, copyright Thomas MacEntee

1 comment:

footnoteMaven said...

I remember the time, not the event.

I really can't image an influx of that many people on a small community.

-fM