About the lecture

In this module, we will examine how in the late 1960s environmentalism became a mass movement in the United States. This was a period of great citizen activism. The Civil Rights, anti-Vietnam-War and Women’s movements, all showed that public activism could have positive political effects. This coupled with growing concern about the indiscriminate use of pesticides and herbicides, worries about air pollution, and disasters involving the use of oil, led to the first “Earth Day,” (April 22, 1970). These were demonstrations nationwide on behalf of improved environmental stewardship and were the biggest demonstrations in US history.

About the lecturer

Patrick N. Allitt is the Cahoon Family Professor of American History at Emory University. He specialises in American intellectual, environmental, and religious history; and has authored seven books, including A Climate of Crisis: America in the Age of Environmentalism.