William Moomaw received an unusual request on the morning of April 22, 1970.
The dean’s office at Williams College rang the young assistant professor to ask if it could send a junior dean to observe his students. During a time of frequent college campus protests, the administration wanted to make sure the first Earth Day was a day of peaceful rallies, lectures and debates.
“I think they were a little nervous about what we were doing,” he said of his environmental science class. “It was high emotional content. People were really upset to learn about the bad things that were happening to the environment then.”
After the 75 students finished class, which dealt with the dangers of pesticides, they joined other students at a rally on the Williamstown, Massachusetts, campus.
About half the 2,000 students at the small private school participated in the rally. Thousands of other colleges, high schools and elementary schools across the United States also took part.
“People were pretty upbeat [that day]. Finally we were tackling another unaddressed issue,” he said. “There was a real can-do attitude and a real sense that individual and public engagement could change things. A very different attitude than one sees today.”
The year 1970 was one of the most tumultuous in U.S. history, during a time when many Americans were growing angrier at the government. The United States was involved in a controversial war in southeast Asia and the invasion of Cambodia set off more student protests and strikes.
William Moomaw received an unusual request on the morning of April 22, 1970.
The dean’s office at Williams College rang the young assistant professor to ask if it could send a junior dean to observe his students. During a time of frequent college campus protests, the administration wanted to make sure the first Earth Day was a day of peaceful rallies, lectures and debates.
“I think they were a little nervous about what we were doing,” he said of his environmental science class. “It was high emotional content. People were really upset to learn about the bad things that were happening to the environment then.”
After the 75 students finished class, which dealt with the dangers of pesticides, they joined other students at a rally on the Williamstown, Massachusetts, campus.
About half the 2,000 students at the small private school participated in the rally. Thousands of other colleges, high schools and elementary schools across the United States also took part.
“People were pretty upbeat [that day]. Finally we were tackling another unaddressed issue,” he said. “There was a real can-do attitude and a real sense that individual and public engagement could change things. A very different attitude than one sees today.”
The year 1970 was one of the most tumultuous in U.S. history, during a time when many Americans were growing angrier at the government. The United States was involved in a controversial war in southeast Asia and the invasion of Cambodia set off more student protests and strikes.
