The
Tale of The Two Earth Days
The
first EARTH DAY, celebrated in the United States, was on March 21, 1970.
It has been celebrated each year thereafter at the United Nations, bringing
attention to its original purpose: peace, justice and the care of Earth.
Earth
Day March
Earth
Day -was first proposed by John McConnell in early October 1969 to a few members
of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and other community leaders especially
interested in caring for and improving our natural environment.
John
McConnell
On November 25,
1969, the final day of the UNESCO National Conference, "Man, and His
Environment," Cynthia Wayburn, one of the youth leaders on Mr. McConnell's
Earth Day Committee, presented the idea and showed the Earth Flag during this
presentation at the luncheon.
On March 21,
1970. The first Proclamation of Earth Day was by San Francisco, the
City of Saint Francis, patron saint of ecology.
United Nations Symbol
Designating the First Day of
Spring, March 21, 1970 to be Earth Day, this day was
later sanctioned in a Proclamation signed by Secretary General U Thant at the
United Nations where it is observed each year. From the beginning the proposal
called for observance of Earth Day on March 21st, which is the Vernal Equinox. This is the moment when
night and day are equal throughout the Earth --reminding us of Earth's beautiful
systems of balance which
humanity has partially upset and must restore. From Humanity's earliest history
people of many cultures have celebrated this day as the beginning of spring -
symbolizing renewal of life.
Earth Day
will be observed
at United Nations Headquarters in New York City the first
day of spring (Nature's Day) in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the
Southern Hemisphere. At exactly 14:16 Eastern Standard, the moment of the vernal equinox,
the Peace Bell will ring at the UN in New York followed by two minutes of silent prayer or meditation.
At the same moment the Peace Bell at the
United Nations in Vienna will ring.
Earth
Day founder John
McConnell
Earth Day April
22
Senator
Gaylord Nelson and Denis Hayes, founder of The Bullitt Foundation, are the
founders of this Earth Day.
Gaylord Nelson
Gaylord
Nelson, a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin and a long time conservationist, was one
who understood that the methods developed for use in the anti-war protest could
succeed in other areas as well. "At the time," Nelson later wrote,
"there was a great deal of turmoil on the college campuses over the Vietnam
War. Protests, called anti-war teach-ins, were being widely held on campuses
across the nation.... It suddenly occurred to me, why not have a nationwide
teach-in on the environment? That was the origin of Earth Day."
Nelson
began promoting Earth Day to state governors, mayors of major cities, editors of
college newspapers, and, importantly, to Scholastic Magazine, which is
circulated in U.S. elementary and high schools. In September, 1969 Nelson
formally announced that there would be a "national environmental
teach-in" sometime in the Spring of 1970. "The wire services carried
the story nationwide," recalled Nelson. "The response was dramatic....
Telegrams, letters, and telephone inquiries poured in from all over the nation.
Using my Senate staff, I ran Earth Day activities out of my office. By December,
the movement had expanded so rapidly that it became necessary to open an office
in Washington to serve as a national clearinghouse for Earth Day inquiries and
activities.
"Earth
Day achieved what I had hoped for. The objective was to get a nationwide
demonstration of concern for the environment so large that it would shake the
political arena. It was a gamble, but it worked. An estimated 20 million people
participated in peaceful demonstrations all across the country. Ten thousand
grade schools and high schools, two thousand colleges, and one thousand
communities were involved... That was the remarkable thing that became Earth
Day."
Dennis
Hayes works on the first "environmen-tal teach-in," April 1970
The name national environmental teach-in was later changed to Earth
Day. "For many years prior to Earth Day, it had been troubling to me that
the state of our environment was simply a non-issue in the politics of our
country. The President, the Congress, the economic power structure of the nation
and the press paid almost no attention to this issue, which is of such
staggering import to our future. It was clear that until we somehow got this
matter into the political arena -- until it became part of the national
political dialogue -- not much would ever be achieved." said Senator
Nelson. Senator Nelson argued early and often against the Vietnam war, and
helped pass major environmental laws in the Senate.
or
More Information visit
The
International Earth Day Site
http://www.earthsite.org/
