Curators at the Museum at Bethel Woods in New York are collecting the stories of people who attended Woodstock while they are still alive.

(The crowd at Woodstock in August 1969 on Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in Bethel, New York. HOWARD ARNOLD COLLECTION / GETTY IMAGES)

Thanks to a grant, curators are traveling the country to interview attendees.

They were in Florida last month, and will head to Boston this month and New York City in early April.

With many who attended Woodstock now in their 70s, the museum is trying to collect these perspectives before they are lost. So far, the project, which began in 2020, has collected 1,200 stories.

In 2024, curators of the project hope to collect 300 more stories, including those of underrepresented communities and their places in the counterculture of the 1960s.

“Through the oral history initiative, we began collecting stories that were so much bigger. Our goal in 2024 is to create partnerships and reach into communities that have been historically underserved. We want to record the experiences of as many participants, attendees, workers, and volunteers from the era as we can because we know they are slipping away fast. These narratives are invaluable in shaping and preserving the rich history and legacy of the ’60s,” said Dr. Neal V. Hitch, senior curator at The Museum at Bethel Woods.

The museum hopes to eventually collect 4,500 oral histories, about 1% of the attendance at Woodstock.

For more information, e-mail [email protected].