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Publication of Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring"
When Rachel Carson's Silent Spring was published in 1962, it generated a storm of controversy over the use of chemical pesticides. Miss Carson's intent in writing Silent Spring was to warn the public of the dangers associated with pesticide use. Throughout her book are numerous case studies documenting the harmful effects that chemical pesticides have had on the environment. She explains how pesticides have done more harm than good in eradicating the environment, as well as humans. -
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Noteworthy Events
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Publication of Betty Friedan’s "Feminine Mystique"
It is often cited as the founding moment of second-wave feminism. The book highlighted Friedan's view of a coercive and pervasive post-World War II ideology of female domesticity that stifled middle-class women's opportunities to be anything but homemakers. A survey she conducted of her classmates indicated that many felt depressed even though they supposedly enjoyed ideal lives with husbands, homes, and and children. She wrote this to tell people about how magazines, ect. make women fell worse. -
Publication of Ralph Nader’s "Unsafe at Any Speed"
Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile by Ralph Nader, published in 1965, is a book detailing resistance by car manufacturers to the introduction of safety features, like seat belts, and their general reluctance to spend money on improving safety. It was a pioneering work, openly polemical but containing substantial references and material from industry insiders. It made Nader a household name. -
NOW is Founded
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was formed in 1965 to enforce the Civil Rights Act. Though future NOW founders Aileen Hernandez and Richard Graham fought hard as EEO commissioners to enforce Title VII's prohibition on sex discrimination, they were ultimately outnumbered 3-2 , and the EEOC decided in September of 1965 that sex segregation in job advertising was permissible. -
UFW’s Nationwide Boycott of Grapes Picked on Nonunion Farms
The UFW's first target was the grape growers of California. Chávez, like Martin Luther King, Jr., believed in nonviolent action. In 1967, when growers refused to grant more pay, better working conditions, and union recognition, Chávez organized a successful nationwide consumer boycott of grapes picked on nonunion farms. Later boycotts of lettuce and other crops also won consumer support across the country. -
Woodstock Festival
Woodstock was the pop culture music event of the decade and arguably to this day the single most profound event in the history of music. Acts from all around the world met at Max Yasgur's Farm in Bethel, NY on August 15-18, 1969 for a celebration of peace and music. What began as a paid event drew so many viewers from across the world that the fences were torn down It became a free concert open to the public. 500,000 youthful people gathered peacefully creating the largest gathering in history. -
First Earth Day Celebration
In Spring 1970, Senator Gaylord Nelson created Earth Day as a way to “force this issue onto the national agenda.” He believed that Americans were not concered about the enviroment and he wanted them to be. When it first started, 20 million Americans demonstrated in different U.S. cities, and it worked! In December 1970, Congress authorized the creation of a new federal agency to tackle environmental issues, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. -
The EPA is Established
Born in the wake of elevated concern about environmental pollution, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency opened its doors in downtown Washington, D.C., on December 2, 1970. EPA was established to consolidate in one agency a variety of federal research, monitoring, standard-setting and enforcement activities to ensure environmental protection. EPA's mission is to protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment—air, water, and land—upon which life depends. -
Congress Passes Clean Air Act
Passed by Congress in 1970 in response to public concerns about air pollution, the Clean Air Act was designed to control the pollution caused by industries and car emissions. The EPA forged an agreement with car manufacturers to install catalytic converters (devices that convert tailpipe pollutants into less dangerous substances) in cars to reduce harmful emissions. -
Supreme Court Rules to Legalize Abortion in the Roe v. Wade Case
A landmark social and legal change came in 1973, when the Supreme Court legalized abortion. The justices based their decision on the constitutional right to personal privacy, and struck down state regulation of abortion in the first three months of pregnancy. However, the ruling still allowed states to restrict abortions during the later stages of pregnancy. The case was, and remains, highly controversial, with radical thinkers on both sides of the argument. -
Protesters From the AIM Take Over the Reservation at Wounded Knee
On Feb. 27, 1973, traditional members of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) tribe and activists from the AIM occupied the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota. A protest designed to draw attention to the deplorable living conditions on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and the corrupt rule of Richard Wilson, head of the tribal council. The site of a terrible massacre of Lakota Indians in 1890, Wounded Knee was chosen for its symbolic importance and because they hoped the government would not repeat it.
