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This weekend through Monday, television and the internet will be full of commemorations of the Apollo 11 moon mission, in which Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon’s surface. If you want to relive the event, you can follow coverage in real time at the interactive site We Choose the Moon. It was 40 years ago today that the mission lifted off from Kennedy Space Center. But those who weren’t yet born when Apollo 11 launched don’t have the context of that time period, which helps to understand how awed and inspired we were by the accomplishments of the Apollo astronauts and by mankind in general in July of 1969. What follows are some of the events that shaped the mood of the nation at the time.
The Vietnam War
The Unites States was deeply mired in another land war in Asia, and had been for about a decade. As a child, my country had always been at war in Vietnam. The news we watched on TV every night wasn’t good, but it wasn’t the whole story, either. By 1969, returning veterans were speaking out about how the war was mismanaged and how much worse conditions were than news outlets were telling us. More and more young men refused to serve when drafted, and thousands turned out for protests because although they could be drafted, they were too young to vote.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Civil Rights movement had breakthroughs and setbacks at a pretty steady pace for the 15 years since the Brown vs Board of Education ruling in 1954. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the unelected leader of the movement, due to his oratorical skills and his inexhaustible devotion to the cause. In the late sixties, King had expanded his crusade to include justice for poor people of all races and an end to the Vietnam War. He was not the first Civil Rights leader to be murdered, but he was the most prominent. When King was shot on April 4th, 1968, the event cast a cloud over all the gains the movement had made.
Bobby Kennedy
Former US attorney general Bobby Kennedy ran for president in 1968, but only got as far as winning the California primary when he, too was assassinated on June 5th. His death was a shock and brought up all the old feelings Americans had when president John F. Kennedy was murdered in 1963.
1968 Presidential Election
Chaos reigned at the 1968 democratic convention as police fought against hippies, Yippies, anti-war protesters, civil rights activists, and others who had invaded the streets of Chicago. People following the TV and newspaper reports were afraid the protesters would disrupt the presidential nomination process, or worse, poison the city’s water supply with drugs! But we also hoped that the protests would somehow shorten the war. Anyhow, with Lyndon Johnson out of the race (due to the war) and Kennedy out of the race (due to his death), the democrats really had no chance in the ‘68 election against Richard Nixon.
Feminism
The women’s liberation movement was making progress in some areas and suffering backlash in others. Organizations were pressing for abortion rights. The first Women’s Studies class for credit was held at Cornell University in 1969. Women went to office jobs wearing pantsuits inside of skirts. Attitudes lagged behind activism, as the movement was condescendingly called “women’s lib” and feminist were called “bra burners”, even though no bras were ever burned.
The Cold War
The space race was only one side of America’s competition with Soviet Russia. The darker side was the nuclear arms race and the threat of global nuclear war. As children, my generation felt it was just a matter of time before the Russians dropped an H-bomb on us. We listened for the Emergency Broadcast System to deliver the bad news of the nuclear attack we came to expect. We learned to Duck and Cover, but we also knew that those defense tactics were useless.
Apollo
Into this depressing mix of events and conditions, there was a shining beacon of hope. We were going to the moon! The Mercury and Apollo missions fed our pioneering spirit and our thirst for modern technology at the same time. Everyday men became superheroes when they put on a spacesuit and stepped into a tin can to be flung higher above the earth than anyone had flown before. And we got to follow their progress in newspapers and magazine, and best of all, on TV! When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the moon, they took us all with them. If mankind could take this giant step, there could surely be nothing to stop us from taking care of all those other problems.
And that’s what it was like in 1969.
Comments (25)
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wait a tic…..this is an article about 1969, and MLKjr was killed in ‘68. Am I missing something here? Maybe you should have labeled that section ‘Civil Rights’.
posted by Ian on 7-16-2009 at 8:32 am
I wanted to hit some of the big events that shaped the mood of the time, without adding anything like Woodstock that happened after the moon shot. I didn’t think too much about the labels. The events of 68 were still fairly fresh in July of ‘69.
posted by Miss Cellania on 7-16-2009 at 8:41 am
Wait a minute. You forgot the biggest event of the year. My BIRTH.
But you’re forgiven… it won’t be happening for a few more months, so there’s still time to plan the celebration ! ;-)
posted by Anon Emous on 7-16-2009 at 9:09 am
How about Woodstock and the Manson murders?
posted by case on 7-16-2009 at 9:09 am
case, both those things happened in August of ‘69. I wanted to place this post specifically in July of that year, because of the moon shot. It was an eventful time, wasn’t it?
posted by Miss Cellania on 7-16-2009 at 9:14 am
I was 7. It was a dark and stormy night and the lights went out on our street. We and our neighbors went down the street and around the corner to friends that still had power to watch the landing. 20 people crowded around a black and white TV set. I remember that night clearly.
posted by KJ on 7-16-2009 at 9:18 am
Most of the events you cite were really in 1968. In fact, the summer of 69 was dominated by three events which had in common only one thing–they were all feel-good events that produced a general national reaction of “Ohmigod I can’t believe this is really happening.” They were–
The Apollo moon landing
Woodstock
The Miracle Mets
I remember that summer with fondness . . .
posted by Karl Weber on 7-16-2009 at 9:27 am
I was ten. After watching the feed of the first steps on the moon, my family all went outside and gazed at the moon in wonder. My husband told me he didn’t get such a great view, because it wasn’t even dark yet in California!
posted by Miss Cellania on 7-16-2009 at 9:27 am
OK, I’m going to retitle this to reflect July.
posted by Miss Cellania on 7-16-2009 at 9:35 am
Ahh, I was a mere 6, my birthday is in July. I remember watching the Apollo 11 liftoff and moon landing with my father. I remember day camp, where I learned my first rock n roll songs (the counselors were allowed to play radios during activities). And, yes, going to Mets games. And then later peeing my pants, scared over the fireworks at the parade following their World Series win.
Ah, youth. It’s true. it’s wasted on the young.: )
posted by Bubba on 7-16-2009 at 10:08 am
Didn’t the Beatles break up in 69? What a said day for fans everywhere.
posted by Tracie on 7-16-2009 at 10:47 am
Great post! It’s easy to forget why us old timers (I think we are the same age), have such fond memories of the moon landing. The context of the times had a big impact on everyone’s mood.
Not to mention how everyone in the world could understand at that instant, how amazing an advance this was. Stuff like the internet, GPS, TV and other amazing technological advances revealed themselves over a much longer period of time.
posted by Stew on 7-16-2009 at 10:57 am
No, it did not lift off from Cape Canaveral. No manned mission has flown from the Cape since Gemini. Apollo flights launched from Kennedy Space Center which is on Merritt Island – and at the time of the launch there was no Cape Canaveral, it had been renamed Cape Kennedy, it has since returned to its original name.
Newscasters continue to refer to Shuttle launches and landings at “the Cape” – they’re wrong
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 7-16-2009 at 11:53 am
Well, I’d like to think that my birth in June of 1969 somehow contributed to the mood of the country, yet that’s a tough one to prove.
However, the Stonewall Riots in the same month opened up the modern gay rights movement, not to mention yet another example of the wicked unrest at the time.
posted by Marty on 7-16-2009 at 12:25 pm
Thanks, PartiallyDeflected, fixed.
posted by Miss Cellania on 7-16-2009 at 12:36 pm
Hey Marty – I’m a June 69 birth as well! No one believes me when I tell them I remember the moon walk >_<
posted by Diana on 7-16-2009 at 12:38 pm
There were so many events that occurred in ‘68 & ‘69 that I tell my kids it was like living the ForestGumpian’ way. If you didn’t live it it is hard to explain what it was like. Man I feel old!
posted by JaneM on 7-16-2009 at 1:12 pm
It was my daddy’s 6th birthday the day of the landing. Now it makes it that much more special.
posted by daddy's girl on 7-16-2009 at 2:08 pm
I and about 100,000 of “my closest friends” were in Idaho for the National Jamboree of the Boy Scouts on that day.
No TV for us campers, but plenty of people had radios and, since many of us were working on making dinner, you could hear the sounds of the event taking place all over the camp.
“The Eagle has landed” brought up a fantastic roar throughout the camp.
Rumor has it that the LEM was called “The Eagle” because Armstrong is an Eagle Scout. That certainly made a difference to the “2nd largest city in Idaho” (for that week.)
They had a tough time finding thousands of of American flags to put on all the tents but it was a fantastic sight to see.
posted by Gary on 7-16-2009 at 5:12 pm
I feel old too! And don’t rename your post. We had to live the turbulent year of ‘68 to be in the mindset to appreciate 1969 and the moon landing. Finally something to cheer about! We had a packed house that night with extended family over to watch the landing and first steps. My Dad bought an old used TV to go in the living room at the opposite end of the room so everyone would be able to see the screen. I can remember thinking: Who ever heard of having two TVs in one house!?! And turned on!!! It was the only night I can remember when every child was allowed to stay up all night for the broadcast. Few of us made it, but it was the fact that we could’ve that sparked the night. I can remember the picture of Armstrong’s feet on the screen and then his little hop to the moon’s surface. It was awesome!
posted by Hummer on 7-16-2009 at 6:04 pm
I definitely remember photos of women putting bras into 50 gallon drums that were blazing.
posted by Richard on 7-16-2009 at 6:33 pm
Born in 64, I can’t say that I really remember the 69 moon landing as such, but I do remember subsequent ones as kind of like “Oh, we’re going to the moon again”. At that stage of my life moon landings were the norm, neat, but as far as I was concerned we were always going to the moon. Bet others born the same time felt the same way.
posted by Larry on 7-16-2009 at 8:00 pm
When are they going to send someone to walk on the moon again? It’s been 40 years!
posted by Tech on 7-16-2009 at 8:57 pm
Hey Gary! I was there with you in Idaho. Coming from the desert of New Mexico where it was over 100 degrees, I was freezing at the Jamboree. But it was glorious listening to the landing, and that night they showed us a replay of the first step on drive-in theater type screens. Talk about fuzzy! It was also during that week that during the morning newscast that was broadcast throughout the camp we learned that Senator Ted Kennedy had driven off a bridge resulting in the death of a young aide. I remember as a young kid of 16 thinking “There goes his shot for the White House.” The whole space program begining with Mercury was what inspired me to get a degree in Electrical Engineering so I could work with missiles and rockets and astronauts. Still working with missiles and rockets and loving it!!!!!!
posted by Tomas on 7-16-2009 at 11:23 pm
No need to defend your work, MC. A great post. I love bringing myself back to another era. Even though I was only 6 at the time, I remember waking my Dad from his nap on the couch to say “They’re going to walk on the moon!” It was huge, still one of my favorite moments.
posted by Richard Dixon on 7-17-2009 at 9:33 am