Earth Day Origin and Spirit
Why did people start Earth Day? What was it like in the 1970s? Check out original video and some Earth Day history.
Time Machine--50 Years Ago
The First Earth Day (3 minutes) 1970s footage. Original Earth Day celebrations. Fears about global climate change--a new Ice Age! And the dawning realization that fossil fuels might warm the atmosphere. Access with myCommNet log in.
News Coverage of Earth Day 1970
Feature Films: American Landscapes
Access with myCommNet log in.
The story of how Native Americans invent a way of life intimately connected to earth, sky, water, and all living things in From Caves to Cosmos.
This 12-hour, six-part documentary series by Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan tells the story of an idea as uniquely American as the Declaration of Independence and just as radical: that the most special places in the nation should be preserved—not for royalty or the rich, but for everyone.
Tunxis Library has thousands of documentaries available to stream free for students, staff and faculty. Explore Environmental Science, Geography, Ecology and dozens of other subjects.
People Start Pollution...People Can Stop It
This iconic PSA from the 1970s, with a controversial back story, was one of several ads that shifted environmental consciousness.
The "Profoundly Radical" Message of Earth Day
Access with myCommNet login.
Explore
Bookshelf Earth Day Past
Access with myCommNet log in.
The Man from Clear LakeISBN: 9780299196400A biography of Gaylord Nelson, who created Earth Day.
"A fun book to read-filled with fascinating stories of politics in the twentieth century. We yearn for more political leaders like Gaylord who always voted his conscience and led with integrity and humor."
—Bill Meadows, president, The Wilderness Society
Beyond Earth DayISBN: 9780299180409"When the environment is finally forced to file for bankruptcy because its resource base has been polluted, degraded, dissipated, and irretrievably compromised, the economy goes into bankruptcy with it."
—Gaylord Nelson
The Republic of NatureISBN: 0295804149"This thought-provoking book tells a different version of American history than the one we are used to, where nature plays a fundamental role in the events that shaped the nation."
- Institute for Global Environmental Strategies
