50 Years Ago
The first ever Earth Day happened April 22, 1970.
It happened all over the world. It happened at WVWC.
In 1970, more than 20 million Americans participated and advocated. Thousands of colleges and universities held protests, environmental teach-ins, and petition drives. By 1990, the movement was global. This year, on the 50th anniversary of its founding, more than one billion people will be involved in more than 193 countries. (Virtually, of course, with Social Distancing)
Pharos Coverage
For weeks before the big day, the Pharos was abuzz with plans.
The full text of Cherie Nick’s article can be read here.
The text of the petition:
A Common Goal For This Millennium
The Family of Man in Balance with Its Environment In A World of Peace
UNITED NATIONS PETITION FOR THE HUMAN ENVIRONMENT
To the head of the Member Nations of the United Nations, to the General Assembly, and to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. In recognition of the great urgency of our need to find solutions to the global problems of environmental deterioration and overpopulation, we urge you:
To formally declare a Common Goal for the People of the Earth, to be achieved within the short period of time that now remains before the THIRD Millennium, of bringing the Family of Man into balance with its environment, i a world of peace.
To add to the formal structure of the United Nations a Population an Environment Council of coordinate rank to the five major organs that now serve the General Assembly.
To accelerate planning for the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment that is now being planned for June of 1972, and to schedule it for the earliest reasonable date in 1971.
To work together in advance of the Conference to formulate and informally agree upon specific plans for unified world-wide action to solve our major environmental problems.
To formally adopt these plans at the 1971 Conference of Human Environment.
To use this Conference to launch a unified assault upon those problems of our common environment on this small earth that demand, and will only yield to the common will and concerted efforts of all men everywhere — all races, all creeds, all economic classes, all ages — all over the world.
They Even Had Earth Day Pins!
The Wesleyan community was also invited to purchase a pin to show support for the movement. Proceeds went to the Balance Fund Foundation at the United Nations.
Advocacy: Then And Now
There were several wonderful descriptions of events on the campus by student writers, Cherie Nick (1971) and David Grubb (1972).
The April 14, 1970 issue of the Pharos had an article about the Ecological Teach-In and an article entitled Give Earth A Chance, by David Grubb. The opening paragraph sounds hauntinlgy current:
Earth Day was not just given lip service. There was follow-up. David Grubb also had an article in the April 28th issue entitled Where Do We Go From Here? The article began:
Earth Day, 1970, was more than just a pretty day to sit on the chapel steps and contemplate the potential and eminent dangers that face the world and the United States. It was, in fact, a time to look at the deeper social, political, and economic questions that lie at the very foundations of the crisis. The ecological destruction that has swept our finite planet can not simply be written off as a by-product of the population explosion.
David Grubb, class of 1972, when he went on from here, indeed continued the work that had been started. He dedicated himself to making a difference with a life of public service. According to his profile on the website of The Grubb Law Group, he was recognized as the National Consumer Advocate of the Year in 1983 by the Conference of Consumer Organizations, worked for a time with Ralph Nader in consumer advocacy, served in both the West Virginia State Senate and the House of Delegates, as the Deputy Attorney General in charge of West Virginia’s consumer protection office, and founded and served as the Executive Director of the West Virginia Citizen Action Group. He has received the Public Service Achievement Award from Common Cause of West Virginia, the Mother Jones Award from the West Virginia Environmental Council, and the Environmental Initiative Award from Sierra Club.
Progress Has Been Made – But There Is Much More To Do
Click Here To See How You Can Participate on Wednesday, April 22, 2020
UPDATES!
Since this blog was published on Monday, I have had a great email visit with David Grubb. He enjoyed looking back at all of this.
Also, here are some great photographs of the event in 1970. Howard Hiner was the campus photographer, and he captured these (and more) images. Thanks, and a shout-out, to his son-in-law Danny Green ’74 for sharing them.
