The History of the Beatles and the Social Revolution of the 1960s - Delaware Public Archives

Date Posted: Wednesday, September 26th, 2012

It’s been fifty years since four young men from Liverpool, England known collectively as The Beatles walked into a recording studio to record their first single “Love Me Do.” The Delaware Public Archives (DPA) is celebrating this anniversary with a program about this legendary group who changed the musical and cultural fiber of the 1960s. To be presented on Saturday, October 6, 10:30 a.m., the program features Delawarean and Beatle historian Joel Glazier. Along with The Beatles presentation, the Delaware Public Archives will have a small, temporary display of documents from its collections about the protest movement of the 1960s. As noted by State Archivist Stephen M. Marz, “when many citizens think about the Delaware Public Archives, they believe we only keep materials from the 17^th century through the early 20^th century. However, we want people to know that we have a large collection of materials related to recent Delaware history that researchers and all citizens should know are available for review and research. We think this program on The Beatles, who were so much a part of this historic period, presents an excellent opportunity to bring out a sampling of these 1960s documents. It was a definitely a different era and that is truly reflected in the materials.”

Joel Glazier, a resident of Wilmington, is a retired Delaware public school teacher who has been a Beatles fan since 1964, when the group first achieved recognition in America. His interest continued into his teaching career and The Beatles have been used in his classroom and as part of university courses he has taught. He was fortunate enough to have met all four Beatles and saw the group in concert when they toured the United States in the mid 1960s. As a speaker with the Delaware Humanities Forum he has given talks on various aspects of The Beatles history at dozens of Delaware schools, libraries and for various social and educational groups.

The program is free to the public. No reservations are required. For more information, contact Tom Summers (302) 744-5047 or e-mail thomas.summers@delaware.gov.

Delaware State Archivist Stephen M. Marz and Archives staff member David Bagosy review the protest documents that will be on display at the October 6 program.