With her camera, Lisa Law documented history in the heart of the counterculture revolution of the 1960s as she lived it, as a participant, an agent of change and a member of the broader culture. She recorded this unconventional time of Anti-War demonstrations in California, communes, Love-Ins, peace marches and concerts, as well as her family life as she became a wife and mother. The photographs were collected by William Yeingst and Shannon Perich in a cross-unit collecting collaboration. Together they selected over two hundred photographs relevant to photographic history, cultural history, domestic life and social history.
Law’s portraiture and concert photographs include Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Lovin Spoonful and Peter, Paul and Mary. She also took several of Janis Joplin and her band Big Brother and the Holding Company, including the photograph used to create the poster included in the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum’s exhibition 1001 Days and Nights in American Art. Law and other members of the Hog Farm were involved in the logistics of setting up the well-known musical extravaganza, Woodstock. Her photographs include the teepee poles going into the hold of the plane, a few concert scenes and amenities like the kitchen and medical tent. Other photographs include peace rallies and concerts in Haight-Ashbury, Coretta Scott King speaking at an Anti-War protest and portraits of Allen Ginsburg and Timothy Leary. From her life in New Mexico the photographs include yoga sessions with Yogi Bhajan, bus races, parades and other public events. From life on the New Buffalo Commune, there are many pictures of her family and friends taken during meal preparation and eating, farming, building, playing, giving birth and caring for children.
Ms. Law did not realize how important her photographs were while she was taking them. It was not until after she divorced her husband, left the farm for Santa Fe and began a career as a photographer that she realized the depth of history she recorded. Today, she spends her time writing books, showing her photographs in museums all over the United States and making documentaries. In 1990, her video documentary, “Flashing on the Sixties,” won several awards.
A selection of photographs was featured in the exhibition A Visual Journey: Photographs by Lisa Law, 1964–1971, at the National Museum of American History October 1998-April 1999.
Hot Shots poster of the First Women's International 7 Ball Championship. The credibility professional pool player Billie Billing built for the WPBA eventually led to this tournament with total prize money equalling $25,000, the largest purse in the history of women's billiards. This was televised on ESPN.
This small pamphlet of instructions was published by Sinclair Radionics Limited of St. Ives, Huntingdonshire, England, for use with a Sinclair Cambridge handheld electronic calculator. For an example of the calculator, see 1981.0403.01.
With her camera, Lisa Law documented history in the heart of the counterculture revolution of the 1960s as she lived it, as a participant, an agent of change and a member of the broader culture. She recorded this unconventional time of Anti-War demonstrations in California, communes, Love-Ins, peace marches and concerts, as well as her family life as she became a wife and mother. The photographs were collected by William Yeingst and Shannon Perich in a cross-unit collecting collaboration. Together they selected over two hundred photographs relevant to photographic history, cultural history, domestic life and social history.
Law’s portraiture and concert photographs include Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Lovin Spoonful and Peter, Paul and Mary. She also took several of Janis Joplin and her band Big Brother and the Holding Company, including the photograph used to create the poster included in the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum’s exhibition 1001 Days and Nights in American Art. Law and other members of the Hog Farm were involved in the logistics of setting up the well-known musical extravaganza, Woodstock. Her photographs include the teepee poles going into the hold of the plane, a few concert scenes and amenities like the kitchen and medical tent. Other photographs include peace rallies and concerts in Haight-Ashbury, Coretta Scott King speaking at an Anti-War protest and portraits of Allen Ginsburg and Timothy Leary. From her life in New Mexico the photographs include yoga sessions with Yogi Bhajan, bus races, parades and other public events. From life on the New Buffalo Commune, there are many pictures of her family and friends taken during meal preparation and eating, farming, building, playing, giving birth and caring for children.
Ms. Law did not realize how important her photographs were while she was taking them. It was not until after she divorced her husband, left the farm for Santa Fe and began a career as a photographer that she realized the depth of history she recorded. Today, she spends her time writing books, showing her photographs in museums all over the United States and making documentaries. In 1990, her video documentary, “Flashing on the Sixties,” won several awards.
A selection of photographs was featured in the exhibition A Visual Journey: Photographs by Lisa Law, 1964–1971, at the National Museum of American History October 1998-April 1999.
Red, white and blue fiberglass helmet worn by downhill skateboarder Guy 'Grundy' Spagnoli in 1975. Spagnoli wore this helmet during the first downhill skateboard contest hosted by the United States Skateboard Association on Signal Hill in which he set the first recorded Guinness Book Land Speed Record on a skateboard at 50.2 mph. Hill Street in Signal Hill, California was known for its 30 degree, stomach dropping incline and in 1975, became the perfect place to promote the first downhill skateboard race in the United States. Guy Grundy, a local surfer, was asked by race organizer, Jim O’Mahoney if he wanted to participate in this first race which was to be televised by the ABC television show, “The Guinness Book of World Records”. As a pro surfer Grundy knew this could be a dangerous event so he prepared accordingly, buying race leathers and a helmet. The other racers had shown up in shorts and T-shirts but once they saw the steep hill backed out of the race for fear of injury. The only other contestant fell and dislocated his shoulder leaving Spagnoli to complete his run and enter the history books and the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest man on a skateboard. Signal Hill would also break ground by allowing women to compete in the downhill competitions and witnessed the advent of the ‘skate-car’. These were gravity defying machines that proved more dangerous than the stand-up downhill boards due to their construction which made them difficult to stop at the speeds that they generated down the steep incline of Signal Hill. The Signal Hill Speed Runs would reign supreme for the next four years before countless wrecks, gruesome injuries and a couple of near death accidents would shut the races down.
This Santa Cruz helmet was worn by downhill skateboarder Judi Oyama while racing during the late 1970's and into the 1980s. Oyama began skating as a teen and was sponsored by Santa Cruz Skateboards in the mid-seventies. She skated both vert and street but her passion was slalom and downhill racing where she was one of the few women that raced against the men. At the age of 43 she won the 2003 Slalom World Championships and in 2013 was ranked second in the US and first in the masters division overall. In 2015, Judi became the first woman to win the N-Men Icon Award given to Northern California skaters who have made an impact on the sport. Judi is also the Vice President of Board Rescue which provides skateboards and safety equipment to organizations that work with underprivileged and/or at-risk kids.