About the Project

Few years resonate in history as powerfully as 1968. The assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy re-drew the political profile of the United States and reverberated throughout the world.

The politics and demonstrations at the Democratic national convention in Chicago — which “the whole world [was] watching” — forever altered the script of American electoral politics.

Students rebelled and took control of institutions from Columbia University in New York City to the Sorbonne in Paris. Protesting students were gunned down in Mexico City by a government intent on providing a climate hospitable to the Olympic games.

In the Peoples’ Republic of China, the Cultural Revolution was in full swing. The USSR invaded Czechoslovakia. Black power and red power and brown power were rising. The US media was beginning to take notice of the women’s movement. Baby boomers were embracing Eastern religions while new drugs were altering the minds of both draft resisters and troops who found themselves fighting an imperialist war in Vietnam.

There were be-ins, happenings and stream-of-consciousness performances. Rock-and-roll emerged from the shadows to become a commercial force. And in the middle of all of this was Pacifica Radio. Before cable, before the Web, before National Public Radio, Pacifica Radio was there… reporting to the people, from the people, supported by the people.

Pacifica was the original alternative media — the original underground — the first and often the only media to be there at the scene, bringing listeners first-hand reports of the political struggles, social revolutions and artistic frontiers of the sixties.

Through its Preservation and Access Project we, the Pacifica Radio Archives, have been restoring vital audio from the year 1968 in all its radiance, complexity, and influence. We also offer digital versions of original program guides from Pacifica stations KPFA in Berkeley and KPFK in Los Angeles. These historic artifacts provide detailed descriptions of what was on the air in 1968, as well as insight into Pacifica culture and community. We encourage you to engage with history by looking at and listening to our 1968 recordings and visuals.

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