Gaylord Nelson at the Apostle Islands, Photograph by Frank Wallick, 1967. WHi 56854
An Earth Day Gallery in Nelson's Honor
In 1969, Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin conceived the idea of a national teach-in to bring about public awareness of the rampant environmental problems of the times. Thirty-eight years ago, on April 22nd, the first Earth Day was celebrated, and this year the Society is proud to announce the completion of the first phase of the Gaylord Nelson Papers processing project. In celebration of both the project and Nelson's Earth Day legacy, a selection of images of Nelson are this month's featured gallery.
Nelson donated a portion of his senatorial papers to the Society in 1974; the rest of the materials arrived in 1980 upon Nelson's defeat in the Senate. These two accessions comprised the bulk of the Nelson collection, totaling 1,040 boxes of paper, audio recordings, films, photographs, scrapbooks, and video recordings. The papers remained unprocessed, however, until 2006 when the Society received a generous grant from the Evjue Foundation. In addition to the grant, the Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has been a major financial contributor to the project. Since then, the work to identify, organize, and describe the materials in the collection has been ongoing. And now, the most significant portion of the collection has been preserved, organized, and lastly, described in a finding aid now available online through the Society's Web site.
The collection spans the years 1954-2006, covering Nelson's senatorial career and his post-senatorial activities, and documents his greatest legislative achievements including, the establishment of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore; the preservation of the Appalachian Trail; the incorporation of the St. Croix, Namekagon, and Wolf Rivers into the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System; and the organization of the first national Earth Day Teach-In. Nelson also contributed to the development of the Environmental Education Act; and aided in the passage of the Menominee Restoration Act and the establishment of the Upper Great Lakes Regional Commission.
Nelson may be lesser known as one of only three senators opposed to the war in Vietnam; for his strong advocacy of civil rights; for his efforts to combat poverty; for his fight against the tire and automobile industry to adopt new safety standards; and for opening up the discourse on the problems and abuses of the pharmaceutical industry. It was said by his colleagues that Nelson was the conscience of the Senate and he was well known for his bipartisan leadership.
The photographs in this gallery document his early life in Clear Lake, Wisconsin, and his career as Governor of Wisconsin, U.S. Senator, founder of Earth Day, and staunch environmentalist. Several images show Nelson with prominent people, many of whom were close personal friends of Nelson. You can read more about Nelson and the environmental movement in Wisconsin in our online collection, Turning Points in Wisconsin History.
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View the Gallery
Suggestions for Further Reading
Finding Aid: Gaylord Nelson Papers, 1954-2006
Turning Points: Gaylord Nelson seeks to bring the environment into the classroom, 1969
Turning Points: An Overview of Earth Day, 1970
Turning Points: The Modern Environmental Movement
Turning Points: Selections from Gaylord Nelson's Earth Day files, 1970
Turning Points: Gaylord Nelson's early environmental speeches, 1962-1971
Dictionary Term: Nelson, Gaylord A. 1916-2005
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