Lecture delivered by environmental historian Adam Rome at the Hagley Museum and Library on April 25th 2013. His lecture was based on his just-released book, "The Genius of Earth Day: How a 1970 Teach-In Unexpectedly Made the First Green Generation."

The Genius of Earth Day is the first complete story of how April 22, 1970, the date of the “National Teach-In on the Crisis of the Environment”—better known as Earth Day—caught on and resulted in hundreds of teach-ins and other educational events around the country. In its aftermath, thousands of Earth Day organizers and participants decided to devote their lives to the environmental cause.

Dr. Rome shows how much of the environmental movement’s infrastructure—lobbying organizations, environmental-studies programs, community ecology centers—and legislation protecting the environment can be traced to the first Earth Day.

Recordings are available for non-profit and educational use only by the Hagley Museum and Library. If you have any questions, please contact us at Ask Hagley