Our first of two February book club selections is 1969: The Year Everything Changed by Rob Kirkpatrick. This special book club event coincides with our newest exhibit 1969: Reflection & Reimagination — Celebrating 60 years of the Mark H. Reece Collection of Student-Acquired Contemporary Art. This special exhibit runs through June 2023 and features work purchased by Wake Forest University students in New York City during a 1969 art-buying trip. We are grateful to Wake Forest University Art Collection for making this exhibition possible.

About the Museum’s Book Club

The museum’s book club meetings include a casual discussion with museum staff and neighbors about a work of historical fiction or nonfiction. Books typically explore local and regional history or exhibit themes. There is no obligation to participate in every book discussion. We encourage you to register for the book club meetings that most interest you. There is no obligation to participate in every book discussion, and it is okay if you haven’t finished the book by the time we meet.

About the Exhibition

1969: Reflection & Reimagination features artwork from the Mark H. Reece Collection of Student-Acquired Contemporary Art in celebration of the collection’s 60th anniversary. The exhibit was curated by Wake Forest University students with the support of their advisor, Jennifer Finkel, Acquavella Curator of Collections and includes twelve of twenty-eight pieces of art purchased by Wake Forest students in New York City in 1969. This will be the first time the Mark H. Reece Collection has been on display in Wake Forest, North Carolina, the founding place of Wake Forest University and represents an important new partnership between the Wake Forest Historical Museum and Wake Forest University’s Office of University Art Collections.

Established in 1962, the Mark H. Reece Collection of Student-Acquired Contemporary Art is unusual in that it was conceived by students, selected by student committees, and purchased entirely with Wake Forest University funds. Every four years since the first New York buying trip in 1963, a small group of students, under the direction of an Art Department faculty member, have researched contemporary artists and the contemporary art market and purchased new artworks for the Wake Forest Art Collection. Included are paintings, prints, drawings, photography, and sculpture by such notable artists as Jasper Johns, Louise Nevelson, Alex Katz, Robert Colescott, Glenn Ligon, Kiki Smith, and Shirin Neshat. The Mark H. Reece Collection of Student-Acquired Contemporary Art is now the University’s premier collection, numbering nearly 200 artworks by over one hundred different artists. This program is the first of its kind at a university. 

About the Book

In February 2023, we are reading 1969: The Year Everything Changed by Rob Kirkpatrick. 

Woodstock, the moon landing, Charles Manson, Richard Nixon, the Vietnam War, and more. A must-read for baby boomers and the generations that came after!

Here is a rich, comprehensive narrative, chronicling an unparalleled year in American society in all its explosive ups and downs. 1969. The very mention of this year summons indelible memories. Here are just a few:

• Woodstock and Altamont.
• Charles Manson and the Zodiac Killer.
• The televised moon landing
• Ted Kennedy’s address after Chappaquiddick.
• The Amazin’ Mets and Broadway Joe’s Jets.
• The Stonewall Riots and the Days of Rage.
• The first punk and metal albums hit the airwaves.
• Swinger culture became chic.
• The Santa Barbara oil slick and Cuyahoga River fire
• The My Lai massacre inspired impassioned debate on the Vietnam War.
• Richard Nixon spoke of “The Silent Majority” while John and Yoko urged us to “Give Peace a Chance.”

In this rich and comprehensive narrative, Rob Kirkpatrick chronicles an unparalleled year in American society in all its explosive ups and downs.

“The year, and a book, that defined an era…The subtitle of his new book, 1969: The Year Everything Changed, may sound hyperbolic, but Kirkpatrick makes a good case that it was a year ‘of landmark achievements, cataclysmic episodes and generation-defining events.'” —USA Today

How to Get a Copy of the Book

Books can be purchased from Page 158. Please let the store know that you are participating in the museum’s book club to receive a special discount. If you are in the local area, the bookstore can deliver orders of $20 or more to these zip codes: 27587 and 27571. They also offer curbside pickup 11 am-6 pm Monday thru Saturday. Books can also be shipped to your home.

Register for this Event