''1964'' is a documentary film produced by Insignia Films for the American Experience series about political, social and cultural events in the United States for the calendar year 1964. It is based partly on Jon Margolis' book ''The Last Innocent Year: America in 1964.'' The documentary depicts the year 1964 as significant and epic in that following the

assassination of President John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle wi ...

in late 1963, 1964, as a presidential election year, becomes a departure point for American history, with lasting effects today. It is also the year of the

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" on b ...

led by the

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

, when

Cassius Clay Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...

fights

Sonny Liston Charles L. "Sonny" Liston ( 1930 – December 30, 1970) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1953 to 1970. A dominant contender of his era, he became the world heavyweight champion in 1962 after knocking out Floyd Patterson i ...

for the World Heavyweight Championship, the year after

Betty Friedan Betty Friedan ( February 4, 1921 – February 4, 2006) was an American feminist writer and activist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book ''The Feminine Mystique'' is often credited with sparking the se ...

's book, ''

The Feminine Mystique ''The Feminine Mystique'' is a book by Betty Friedan, widely credited with sparking second-wave feminism in the United States. First published by W. W. Norton on February 19, 1963, ''The Feminine Mystique'' became a bestseller, initially selling ...

'', is published, and the year Republican activist, Phyllis Schlafly's book, ''

A Choice, Not an Echo ''A Choice Not an Echo'' is a non-fiction book self-published in 1964 by Movement conservatism, movement conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly. It was the first of Schlafly's 19 authored texts, and sold 3 million copies, granting her national at ...

'', is published. It is also the year of

Freedom Summer Freedom Summer, also known as the Freedom Summer Project or the Mississippi Summer Project, was a volunteer campaign in the United States launched in June 1964 to attempt to register as many African-American voters as possible in Mississippi. ...

, an initiative by the

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, often pronounced ) was the principal channel of student commitment in the United States to the civil rights movement during the 1960s. Emerging in 1960 from the student-led sit-ins at segrega ...

to register African-Americans in Mississippi, the subsequent

murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner The murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner, also known as the Freedom Summer murders, the Mississippi civil rights workers' murders, or the Mississippi Burning murders, refers to events in which three activists were abducted and murdered in ...

, three

CORE Core or cores may refer to: Science and technology * Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages * Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding * Core (optical fiber), the signal-carrying portion of an optical fiber * Core, the central ...

activists, in Mississippi by white supremacists that created a national sensation, and the

Harlem riot of 1964 The Harlem riot of 1964 occurred between July 16 and 22, 1964. It began after James Powell, a 15-year-old African American, was shot and killed by police Lieutenant Thomas Gilligan in front of Powell's friends and about a dozen other witnesses. ...

, culminating in the

Berkeley Free Speech Movement The Free Speech Movement (FSM) was a massive, long-lasting student protest which took place during the 1964–65 academic year on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. The Movement was informally under the central leadership of Be ...

at the University of California at Berkeley. A recurrent theme of the film is its departure as a presidential election year, with President Lyndon B. Johnson running as the expected Democratic Party nominee and the nomination of U.S. Senator

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...

selected through a grassroots campaign for the Republican nomination for President of the United States, that defines the future divisions of the US political party competition. The ''1964'' interviews were conducted in 2014 and made accessible online in the

American Archive of Public Broadcasting The American Archive of Public Broadcasting (AAPB) is a collaboration between the Library of Congress and WGBH Educational Foundation, founded through the efforts of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The AAPB is a national effort to digitall ...

in 2018.

Commentators

Mark Kurlansky Mark Kurlansky (December 7, 1948) is an American journalist and writer of general interest non-fiction. He has written a number of books of fiction and non-fiction. His 1997 book, ''Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World'' (1997), ...

– writer *

Lee Edwards Lee Willard Edwards (born 1932) is an American academic and author, currently a fellow at The Heritage Foundation. He is a historian of the conservative movement in America. Background Edwards was born in Chicago in 1932. Edwards says he was in ...

– historian – part of 1964 Goldwater Campaign * Jon Margolis – author of ''The Last Innocent Year: America in 1964'' * Leah Wright Rigueur – historian *

Rick Perlstein Eric S. Perlstein (born September 3, 1969) is an American historian and journalist who has garnered recognition for his chronicles of the post-1960s American conservative movement. The author of five bestselling books, Perlstein received the 200 ...

- writer *

Hodding Carter III William Hodding Carter III (born April 7, 1935) is an American journalist and politician. He was Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs in the Jimmy Carter administration. Life and career Carter was born in New Orleans to journalist a ...

– newspaper editor of family newspaper, ''The Delta-Democrat Times'' of Greenville, Mississippi *

Robert A. Caro Robert Allan Caro (born October 30, 1935) is an American journalist and author known for his biographies of United States political figures Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson. After working for many years as a reporter, Caro wrote ''The Power Br ...

– author *

Robert Dallek Robert A. Dallek (born May 16, 1934) is an American historian specializing in the presidents of the United States, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon. He retired as a history professor at Boston ...

– historian * Dan T. Carter - historian * Claire Bond Potter – historian *

Stephanie Coontz Stephanie Coontz (born August 31, 1944) is an American author, historian, and faculty member at Evergreen State College. She teaches history and family studies and is Director of Research and Public Education for the Council on Contemporary Fami ...

– historian *

Susan J. Douglas Susan J. Douglas is an American feminist columnist, and cultural critic who writes about gender issues, media criticism and American politics. She has published five books on American history, and is currently Catherine Neafie Kellogg Professor o ...

– historian * Richard A. Viguerie - conservative political activist * Phyllis Schafly – President of Illinois Federation of Republican Women, an office she has held since 1960 * John H. Bracey, Jr. – historian * Jann S. Wenner – founder of ''Rolling Stone'' magazine * Reverend Ed King – civil rights activist * Dave Dennis – civil rights activist (close friends with James Baldwin's brother)

References

External links

* * 2015 American television episodes American Experience PBS original programming 2015 television films 2015 films {{documentary-tv-film-stub