Hippie
A member of a youth counterculture that emerged in the 1960s, associated with communal living, personal freedom, and opposition to conventional norms.
Beat Generation: A postwar literary and cultural movement that challenged conformity through experimental writing and alternative lifestyles. Hippie culture drew on Beat writing, nonconformity, and interest in Eastern traditions.
Communal living: A way of life in which people share housing, resources, or daily responsibilities. Hippie communes put ideals of cooperation and shared life into practice.
Psychedelic rock: A rock music style shaped by psychedelic experiences, experimental sounds, and extended improvisation. Bands associated with hippie scenes gave the movement a distinctive soundtrack.
Yippies: Members of the Youth International Party, which used theatrical protest and countercultural politics. Yippies shared countercultural roots with hippies but emphasized political spectacle.
Haight-Ashbury: A San Francisco neighborhood that became a center of 1960s counterculture. Its communal scene and gathering places made hippie life highly visible.
Free love: A social ideal favoring consensual sexual relationships outside conventional marriage norms. Hippie ideas about personal freedom often challenged restrictive sexual conventions.
Grateful Dead: An American rock band known for improvisational concerts and a devoted following. Its touring community sustained hippie social practices beyond the 1960s.
New Left: A set of political movements that challenged hierarchy, imperialism, and racial and economic injustice. The New Left focused more directly on organized political change than hippie lifestyle did.
Human Be-In: A 1967 gathering in San Francisco that combined music, speeches, and countercultural celebration. It brought the Haight-Ashbury counterculture into national view.
Psychedelic art: Art using vivid colors, distorted forms, and visual effects associated with altered perception. Its imagery became a recognizable visual language for hippie music and gatherings.