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In January of 1970, the Environmental Teach-In elected to call their April 22nd event "Earth Day." In time, due to the success of the initial Earth Day events, Earth Day became a regular, annual feature. Indeed, Gaylord Nelson, an environmental activist and member of the U.S. Senate, took a leading role in organizing the celebration. Upon his election, Senator Nelson staffed his office with college students who appreciated environmental issues. The Senator selected Denis Hayes -- a Harvard student and Stanford graduate -- as coordinator of activities related to environmental issues. It was the era of student political activism. It was the era in which outdoor protests attracted news cameras. According to Senator Nelson, Earth Day succeeded because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level in many parts of the United States and, indeed, ultimately the world over. Though he felt his Senate committee had neither the time nor resources to organize the 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated, these event did happen. The Senator surmised that in the end Earth Day organized itself. The date selected for Earth Day is the historical date for Arbor Day, a national tree-planting holiday started in the late 1800's. Arbor Day actually is celebrated on the birthday of the founder of that celebration, Julius Sterling Morton. Some people also note that the date was chosen to allow college students to participate in events because the timing was opportune when considering the academic schedules of college students. |
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