9/20/26 - Woodstock: Where the Seekers Stayed
Long before the 1969 festival made it a household name, Woodstock was already a community shaped by arrivals. Artists came first, drawn by the light and the landscape, settling into a quiet rural town and quietly unsettling it. Then came the musicians, the seekers, the back-to-the-landers — wave after wave of people who came for a weekend, a summer, a festival, and never quite left. In this program, Woodstock Town Historian and author Richard Heppner traces the long arc of migration that made Woodstock what it is — and what it means for a community to be perpetually transformed by the people who choose it. Drawing on his award-winning book Woodstock: From World War to Culture Wars (SUNY Press, 2024), Heppner explores how each new arrival changed the character of the town, how longtime residents pushed back, and how the tension between roots and reinvention has defined Woodstock across more than a century. It is a story Ulster County knows well — and one that is still unfolding.
About the Presenter
Richard Heppner is Emeritus Professor of Communications and the former Vice President of Academic Affairs at Orange County Community College, State University of New York, and has served as the Woodstock Town Historian since 2001. He is the author of Woodstock's Infamous Murder Trial: Early Racial Injustice in Upstate New York and coauthor (with Janine Fallon-Mower) of Legendary Locals of Woodstock. His most recent book is Woodstock: From World War to Culture Wars. He lives in Woodstock, New York.
This event is free, but seating is limited—please reserve your spot in advance.
We suggest a donation of $15 to support the Sunday Salon Series and the work of the Ulster County Historical Society. You can contribute online when you RSVP or donate at the event itself via cash, check, or credit card.
About the Presenter
Richard Heppner is Emeritus Professor of Communications and the former Vice President of Academic Affairs at Orange County Community College, State University of New York, and has served as the Woodstock Town Historian since 2001. He is the author of Woodstock's Infamous Murder Trial: Early Racial Injustice in Upstate New York and coauthor (with Janine Fallon-Mower) of Legendary Locals of Woodstock. His most recent book is Woodstock: From World War to Culture Wars. He lives in Woodstock, New York.
This event is free, but seating is limited—please reserve your spot in advance.
We suggest a donation of $15 to support the Sunday Salon Series and the work of the Ulster County Historical Society. You can contribute online when you RSVP or donate at the event itself via cash, check, or credit card.
Thank you for supporting local history and community programming!
