On Saturday, September 19th, 2026 the Seaside Public Library welcomes back R.J. Marx, who will be giving the final in a series of presentations titled, “Seaside’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Riots – 1964: Operation Seaside.” This event will take place at 2:00 p.m. in the Community Room. This event is made possible by the generous support of the Seaside Library Friends & Foundation.
Military on the streets and on rooftops. Young people swarming into Seaside. A national crisis brewing as cities everywhere felt the pressures of Civil Rights unrest and the Vietnam War. By 1964, Seaside was reeling from two years of Labor Day violence that Mayor Maurice Pysher characterized as a “Holy War” against “lawless, godless” youth. Authorities coordinated ”Operation Seaside,” a massive security plan involving 100 National Guardsmen and 44 state troopers, while moving the popular Pypo Club to a new location to isolate teenagers from the beach.
In this presentation, Marx will chronicle how the weekend’s events pitted over 1,000 youngsters against well-drilled forces utilizing modern tactics like undercover walkie-talkie surveillance and Polaroid cameras for booking arrests.