Home > Research Guides > The 1960s
Librarian: Christine Kickels
Office: SRC 3050
Phone: (630) 942-2313
E-mail: kickels@cod.edu
Reference books
Need to pick a topic? Have no idea where to go next with your topic? Try these books first. All are located in the reference collection on the first floor of the Library.
General references and popular culture
- American Decades
- E169.12 .A419
- This series of books (one for each decade of the 20th century) gives brief sketches of important events and trends in American history. Topics covered include education, law, religion, social conditions, and more. These books are a good starting point if you’re looking for a topic. Remember to look at not only the “1960-1969” volume but “1950-1959” and “1970-1979” as well.
- American Decades Primary Sources
- E169.1 .A471977 2004
- A companion to American Decades, these books contain primary sources (documents from the time periods covered). There are many types of documents included: speeches, legislation, advertisements, photos, excerpts from books, song lyrics and liner notes.
- Bowling, Beatniks, and Bell-bottoms
- E169.1 .B7825 2002
- A light-hearted look at popular culture in America. Volume 4 covers the 60s and 70s. Themes include food and drink, fashion, film and theatre, TV and radio. A fun, quick read and a good place to get started.
- Cold War Culture
- E169.12 .S39 1998
- This book looks at how Americans responded to the political climate of the Cold War in their daily lives. Covers 1945 to 1990 and entries are in alphabetical order, not by year so this would be a place to look up a particular subject, rather than just browse for information.
- Encyclopedia of Popular Culture
- E169.1 .S764 2000
- This five-volume set gives a scholarly treatment to popular culture in America. The entries in these books can provide good source material for your paper or presentation. Entries are in alphabetical order but there are category indexes and time frames by decade to help you identify events and trends from the ‘60s.
- Encyclopedia of Television
- PN1992.18 .E53 2004
- This four-volume set includes entries about performers, TV shows, and themes in television from the earliest days of American TV. Entries are in alphabetical order and there is no timeline or division by date, so you will want to use the index in volume 4. Best used if you want to look up a specific subject.
Books that look more specifically at the cultural aspects of television can be found in the General collection.
Two examples are:
- The Revolution Wasn't Televised : Sixties Television and Social Conflict
- Lynn Spigel and Michael Curtin, ed.
- PN1992.6 .R47 1997
- A collection of scholarly essays, this book looks at the effects of television on American culture in the 1960s. A consistent theme is whether the shows airing on the major networks really mirrored the struggles between different elements of American society.
- Glued to the Set
- Steven D. Stark
- PN1992.3 .U5 S72 1997
- The author looks as what he considers the most influential television shows in American history. Divided by decades, the book covers the 1940s through the 1990s. Each television show is used to illustrate the author’s points about other shows in the same genre, such as talk shows, games shows, sitcoms.
- The Sixties in America
- E169.12 .S5 1999
- Considered by some the best reference work about the ‘60s, this three-volume set has entries written by scholars, which will provide you with reliable source material. Topics include musical groups and performers, political groups, movies, literature, and more. Many photographs and other visual aids.
- This Fabulous Century
- E161 .T55
- This is an eight-volume set from Time-Life. Each volume covers a decade (from 1900 to 1970 in total). Not a scholarly publication, this is a glossy “coffee table” set but the wealth of b/w and color photos makes this useful and a fun starting point. As a bonus, additional copies are in the general collection and may be checked out.
Fashion, design, and art
- Contemporary Artists
- N6490 .C6567
- The “Contemporary” series from St. James Press provide deep coverage of subjects. Entries in this work will include brief bios, histories of the artist’s exhibitions, essays about the artist’s life and work, and bibliographies. The newest edition may not cover artists who lived and worked during the 1960s. The bonus for you is that earlier editions cover artists you may be researching and they are in the general collection and may be checked out. Other books in this series include:
- Encyclopedia of American Art
- N 6505 .B73 1981
- This is a single volume that covers topics such as painting, sculpture, photography, and architecture. The entries in this encyclopedia are not limited to the 1960s but it’s a good place to quickly look up terms you may find in depth elsewhere. Entries about the ‘60s include Andy Warhol, Pop Art.
- Fashion, Costume, and Culture
- GT511 .P46 2004
- Volume 5 of this five-volume set covers the years from 1946 to 2003. The series gives a well-organized overview of fashion through the ages, including clothing from head to foot as well as body art. Each volume is well illustrated and includes useful indexes.
- Fashions of a Decade. The 1960s
- GT596 .C66 1990
- This book consists mainly of photos with just a bit of descriptive text. While it doesn’t contain scholarly articles for your paper, it will give you a good introduction to the clothing and fashion of the ‘60s. The library owns two copies; one in reference and one in the general collection.
Crime and criminals
- Encyclopedia of American Crime
- HV6789 .S54 2001
- An alphabetical listing of notable American crimes. Tends to focus on sensational murders. This is a good source of information about the Manson Family murder of Sharon Tate. The 2nd edition is in the reference collection. The older first edition is in the general collection.
- Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice
- HV6017 .E52 2002
- This four-volume set contains sizeable essays on many aspects of crime. It is arranged alphabetically so you will want to use the indexes to locate particular topics. One of the most useful aids is a guide to legal citations. For example, if you’ve learned that the Supreme Court decision in Gideon v Wainwright guarantees the right of the accused to an attorney and want to learn more, the guide will point you to all the entries in the books where that decision is discussed.
Biographies
Many of the reference books listed above contain biographical essays but you can find more in reference books devoted to biography. Check out the library’s Biography Research Guide for more information.
Finding books using the library catalogs
Information about this time period can be found in a number of ways. Try subject and keyword searches in our Library Catalog first. Other options include searching I-share or WorldCat.
If you need to request books from other libraries, please allow 7-10 days for delivery. Requests can be made online with a library card. This is a free service.
Subject Searches
Some subject searches to try:
- African Americans civil rights
- Ali Muhammad
- Beat generation
- Birth control United States Social aspects
- Black panther party
- Carson Rachel
- Civil rights movements
- Counterculture
- Fashion United States History
- Feminism United States History
- Friedan Betty
- Hoffman Abbie
- King Martin Luther
- Montgomery Ala
- Nader Ralph
- Nineteen sixties
- Popular culture United States History
- Radicalism United States
- Student movements United States
- Subculture
- United States History 1961 1969
- United States Social Conditions 1960 1980
- Vietnamese Conflict 1961 1975
- Vietnamese Conflict 1961 1975 motion pictures
- Vietnamese Conflict 1961 1975 personal narratives American
- Vietnamese Conflict 1961 1975 protest movements United States
- Women United States History
- X Malcolm
Keyword Searches
Keyword searches are more open-ended. Think about what interests you. What are different words that describe your topic? Here are a few samples:
- Birth control pill
- Brown v board of education
- Chicago seven
- Consciousness raising
- Consumer movement
- Counterculture
- Draft resisters
- Environmental movement
- Gideon v Wainwright
- Kent state
- Mapp v Ohio
- Miranda v Arizona
- Pop art
- Protest
- Stonewall
- Watts riot
- Women’s lib
- Women’s rights
- Woodstock festival
You can also try a BOOLEAN search; using more than one term. Examples include:
- Art AND sixties
- Music AND sixties
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