Daily News | 1970: In Philadelphia, consciousness got nation’s biggest boost
As Thacher Longstreth remembers it, it all began when he, as president of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, agreed to meet a couple of young men who were planning something called Earth Day for the spring of 1970.
It all sprang from U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson’s idea for a national event on the environment, first voiced in September 1969. Nelson, a Wisconsin Democrat, envisioned then a nationwide series of teach-ins, mostly on college campuses; the term Earth Day was born later. “I had just gotten degrees in both law and city planning at Penn,” Furia said in a telephone interview, “and in my graduate thesis had written that the way to develop programs was to use the mass media to bring your ideas to the ordinary people and get them accepted.
“Many of the more radical members of our committee did not like the idea of going to the chamber, thinking this was going to the enemy,” Furia recalled. “But we needed the business community. We’d gotten some seed money from the Philadelphia Gas Works, but we needed more.” With support increasing, and with college organizations raining ideas upon him, Furia decided that Philadelphia would have an Earth Week, not merely an Earth Day.
“Ummmm, bag. What are you doing?” a well-dressed businessman asked, leaning over one of the burlap mounds. “I’m dying,” it gasped. “What time is it?” shrilled another. “Too late,” boomed a third. The message got across: Clean up the environment before it swallows us.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
1970 Datsun 240Z Is Junkyard TreasureOne of the first Zs sold in the United States, now awaiting the crusher in California.
Read more »
1970 Datsun 240Z Is Junkyard TreasureOne of the first Zs sold in the United States, now awaiting the crusher in California.
Read more »
US: Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index drops to -31.3 in April vs. -19.2 expectedUS: Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index drops to -31.3 in April vs. -19.2 expected – by eren_fxstreet Manufacturing EconomicIndicator Macroeconomics UnitedStates
Read more »
Philadelphia Fed's factory gauge slumps deeper into contraction in AprilThe Philadelphia Fed said Thursday its gauge of regional business activity slumped to negative 31.3 in April from negative 23.2 in the prior month.
Read more »
Police: 12-year-old boy hospitalized after shooting in South PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia police are investigating a shooting in South Philadelphia that injured a 12-year-old boy.
Read more »
Police: Boy, 12, and 30-year-old man hospitalized after shooting in South PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia police are investigating a shooting in South Philadelphia that injured a 12-year-old boy.
Read more »