Droppers: America's First Hippie Commune, Drop City

America's First Hippie Commune, Drop City

Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States, 20th Century, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science
Cover of the book Droppers: America's First Hippie Commune, Drop City by Mark Matthews, University of Oklahoma Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Mark Matthews ISBN: 9780806183107
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press Publication: December 3, 2011
Imprint: University of Oklahoma Press Language: English
Author: Mark Matthews
ISBN: 9780806183107
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
Publication: December 3, 2011
Imprint: University of Oklahoma Press
Language: English

Sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll. In popular imagination, these words seem to capture the atmosphere of 1960s hippie communes. Yet when the first hippie commune was founded in 1965 outside Trinidad, Colorado, the goal wasn’t one long party but rather a new society that integrated life and art. In Droppers, Mark Matthews chronicles the rise and fall of this utopian community, exploring the goals behind its creation and the factors that eventually led to its dissolution.

Seeking refuge from enforced social conformity, the turmoil of racial conflict, and the Vietnam War, artist Eugene Bernofsky and other founders of Drop City sought to create an environment that would promote both equality and personal autonomy. These high ideals became increasingly hard to sustain, however, in the face of external pressures and internal divisions.

In a rollicking, fast-paced style, Matthews vividly describes the early enthusiasm of Drop City’s founders, as Bernofsky and his friends constructed a town in the desert literally using the “detritus of society.” Over time, Drop City suffered from media attention, the distraction of visitors, and the arrival of new residents who didn’t share the founders’ ideals.

Matthews bases his account on numerous interviews with Bernofsky and other residents as well as written sources. Explaining Drop City in the context of the counterculture’s evolution and the American tradition of utopian communities, he paints an unforgettable picture of a largely misunderstood phenomenon in American history.

 

* *

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll. In popular imagination, these words seem to capture the atmosphere of 1960s hippie communes. Yet when the first hippie commune was founded in 1965 outside Trinidad, Colorado, the goal wasn’t one long party but rather a new society that integrated life and art. In Droppers, Mark Matthews chronicles the rise and fall of this utopian community, exploring the goals behind its creation and the factors that eventually led to its dissolution.

Seeking refuge from enforced social conformity, the turmoil of racial conflict, and the Vietnam War, artist Eugene Bernofsky and other founders of Drop City sought to create an environment that would promote both equality and personal autonomy. These high ideals became increasingly hard to sustain, however, in the face of external pressures and internal divisions.

In a rollicking, fast-paced style, Matthews vividly describes the early enthusiasm of Drop City’s founders, as Bernofsky and his friends constructed a town in the desert literally using the “detritus of society.” Over time, Drop City suffered from media attention, the distraction of visitors, and the arrival of new residents who didn’t share the founders’ ideals.

Matthews bases his account on numerous interviews with Bernofsky and other residents as well as written sources. Explaining Drop City in the context of the counterculture’s evolution and the American tradition of utopian communities, he paints an unforgettable picture of a largely misunderstood phenomenon in American history.

 

* *

More books from University of Oklahoma Press

Cover of the book Doc Holliday by Mark Matthews
Cover of the book Writing Arizona, 1912–2012 by Mark Matthews
Cover of the book Brotherhood in Combat by Mark Matthews
Cover of the book Three Days in the Shenandoah by Mark Matthews
Cover of the book All for the King's Shilling by Mark Matthews
Cover of the book Lands of Promise and Despair by Mark Matthews
Cover of the book The Unkechaug Indians of Eastern Long Island by Mark Matthews
Cover of the book A Way Across the Mountain by Mark Matthews
Cover of the book When I Came West by Mark Matthews
Cover of the book Bracketing the Enemy by Mark Matthews
Cover of the book Joe, the Slave Who Became an Alamo Legend by Mark Matthews
Cover of the book A Polish Doctor in the Nazi Camps by Mark Matthews
Cover of the book Poke a Stick at It by Mark Matthews
Cover of the book Mapping the Four Corners by Mark Matthews
Cover of the book Sea of Sand by Mark Matthews
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy