R. J. Marx
Description
Three years of Labor Day riots in Seaside changed the city forever. The coastal Oregon tourist town, in transition from a family tourist destination t
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o a hub for teens and young adults in the late 1950s and early 1960s brought a sense of social, economic, political and cultural change.Rock 'n' roll and cultural iconography were pitted against a growing militaristic presence in the form of the state police and National Guard. The events dovetailed with the advent of a political system that devalued the incoming youth population; a surge of young people with new and changing cultural values; and a social climate that led to the divisions of later years. These conflicts would play out throughout the 1960s on a national level, as seen by Vietnam protests, Civil Rights unrest and a growing political divide. Seaside, Oregon, provided a microcosm of all these issues, with a frenzied and violent street uprising on Sept. 1, 1962, that would be repeated in various forms in the next few years, with increasing military presence and pressure.The impacts of the riots are seen seen in the changing nature of Seaside's local economic and political framework, as the city moved from the notoriety of the riots to trying to reclaim its role as a family tourist destination, building a convention center and forming an urban renewal district to change the tide."Seaside's Rock 'n' Roll Labor Day Riots" examines many aspects that provided the riot: the influence of popular rock groups in the Pacific Northwest; the strengthening of law enforcement amid youth crackdowns; and the resistance that remained steadily growing into the 1960s, a time of change, renewal and a step into the world we live in today.
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