Gaylord Nelson, founder of Earth Day

Soon after Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson announced in a speech in Seattle that there would be a national environmental teach-in sometime in the spring of 1970, his office was deluged by telegraphms, phone calls and letters.

He needed to open an office to serve as a clearinghouse for the growing number of people who wanted to participate in the teach-in. He hired Denis Hayes, then a graduate student at Harvard's Kennedy School, to help coordinate the many volunteer organizers who did the hard work of making Earth Day happen.

LINKS

The Wilderness Society takes a special interest in Earth Day because when Nelson left the Senate in 1981, he joined the Society's staff. He was TWS counselor for a quarter century, until his death in July 2005. 
 

Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin
This site contains the best source of historical information on Earth Day. It features a number of Earth Day documents, videos, and other items drawn from the Gaylord Nelson collection at the Wisconsin Historical Society, which cosponsored the site.

EVENTS
On Sunday, April 25th, Earth Day Network and partner organizations will host a massive climate rally on the National Mall to call on Congress to enact climate and clean energy legislation this year.

For more information on events around the country, consult Earth Day Network’s calendar: http://www.earthday.org/events/be-heard-climate-rally-%E2%80%93-national-mall-%E2%80%93-april-25th-2010

For Idaho events, click here


Idaho Attorney helped bring the first Earth Day to Life
Idaho Statesman article, click here