A vintage Volkswagen van sits outside the Vermont History Center in Barre, Vt., to promote “Freaks, Radicals & Hippies,” a new exhibit about the state in the 1970s that opens there on Saturday after two years of research.
A vintage Volkswagen van sits outside the Vermont History Center in Barre, Vt., to promote “Freaks, Radicals & Hippies,” a new exhibit about the state in the 1970s that opens there on Saturday after two years of research. Credit: AP Photo

BARRE, Vt. — Black-and-white photos and video footage, vintage posters and oral histories of 1970s hippies are at the heart of an exhibit at the Vermont History Center, in Barre, dedicated to the decade that brought tens of thousands of outsiders to the state, changing it forever.

“Freaks, Radicals & Hippies” opens Saturday after two years of research.

The nearly yearlong exhibit includes oral histories from people of the time talking about social justice, food access and their memories of the counterculture. About 60 such recordings are posted online.

Ginny Callan, who opened the Horn of the Moon vegetarian restaurant in 1977 in Montpelier, recalls closing for a day or two whenever there was an important anti-nuclear event or other demonstration to attend.