Key Figures
The following people are well known for their involvement in 1960s era counterculture. Some are key incidental or contextual figures, such as Beat Generation figures who also participated directly in the later counterculture era (see also: Inspirations and influences of the New Left, Key figures of the New Left). Although many of the people listed below were civil rights activists, those figures whose primary notability was within the realm of the civil rights movement are not listed here (see: List of civil rights leaders).
- Saul Alinsky (author, activist)
- Bill Ayers (activist, professor)
- Joan Baez (musician, activist)
- Sonny Barger (Hell's Angel)
- Walter Bowart (newspaper publisher)
- Stewart Brand (environmentalist, author)
- Lenny Bruce (comedian, social critic)
- George Carlin (comedian, social critic)
- Rachel Carson (author, environmentalist)
- Neal Cassady (literary inspiration)
- Cheech & Chong (comedians, social critics)
- Peter Coyote (Digger, actor)
- David Dellinger (pacifist, activist)
- Angela Davis (communist, activist)
- Rennie Davis (activist, community organizer)
- Bob Dylan (musician)
- Daniel Ellsburg (whistleblower)
- Betty Friedan (feminist, author)
- Jane Fonda (actress, activist)
- Jerry Garcia (musician)
- Stephen Gaskin (author, activist, hippie)
- Allen Ginsburg (beat poet, activist)
- Dick Gregory (comedian, author, activist)
- Paul Goodman (sociologist, poet, pacifist)
- Wavy Gravy (hippie, activist)
- Hugh Hefner (publisher)
- Alan Haber (activist)
- Tom Hayden (activist, politician)
- Abbie Hoffman (Yippie, author)
- Jack Kerouac (author)
- Ken Kesey (author, Merry Prankster)
- Paul Krassner (author)
- William Kunstler (attorney, activist)
- Timothy Leary (professor, LSD advocate)
- John Lennon and Yoko Ono (musicians, artists, activists)
- Eugene McCarthy (anti-war politician)
- Michael McClure (poet)
- Madalyn Murray O'Hair (atheist, activist)
- Ralph Nader (consumer advocate, author)
- Richard Pryor (comedian, social critic)
- Jerry Rubin (Yippie, activist)
- Mark Rudd (activist)
- Mario Savio (free speech/student rights activist)
- John Searle (professor, free speech advocate)
- Pete Seeger (musician, activist)
- John Sinclair (poet, activist)
- Smothers Brothers (musicians, TV performers, activists)
- Owsley Stanley (drug culture chemist)
- Gloria Steinem (feminist, publisher)
- Hunter S. Thompson (journalist, author)
- Andy Warhol (artist)
Read more about this topic: Counterculture Of The 1960s
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