Gaylord Nelson, Father of Earth Day - MINDS@UW Home

especially when he evoked images of pioneers and their westward expansion.
On the other, he showed himself a conservationist, if only in the sense of aligning
himself with the notion that political power in some basic way relied upon control
of natural resources, arguing that “…the control of water is the secret of the
development of the west, and…no drop of water west of the 100 th parallel should
flow to the ocean without being used.” 116
* * * * *
In the Newbold interview, Nelson said that the marginal success of
President Kennedy‟s conservation tour actually motivated him to ask how to
“…get this issue onto the national political agenda,” claiming, ultimately, that the
conservation tour was “…the germ of the idea that eventually evolved into Earth
Day.” 117
Earth Day
The exact origins of Earth Day are somewhat hazy. Just as in the case of
President Kennedy‟s conservation tour of 1963, there are conflicting accounts in
Gaylord Nelson‟s papers. However, in the Newbold interview and later in his
book Beyond Earth Day, Nelson said that by the summer of 1969, conditions in
the United States were ripe for environmental change. According to Nelson,
116 John F. Kennedy, address at the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah.
September 26, 1963. http://www.jfklibrary.org/jfkl (Accessed February 17, 2009).
117 Gaylord Nelson, interview with Dr. Heather Newbold, October 23, 1996.
Gaylord Nelson Papers, 1954-2005. Box 1, Folio 4. Wisconsin State Historical
Society, McIntyre Library, University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. Eau Claire,
Wisconsin. See also Bill Christofferson, 302.
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