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Earth Day

On April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day celebration was held to raise awareness of environmental issues. On that day, Washington Senator Henry M. Jackson, a leader on environmental legislation, spoke at UW and WSU on the dangers of environmental degradation. In Pullman, some students pelted him with marshmallows to protest his hawkish stance on the Vietnam War, but Jackson caught a few and threw them back, eliciting cheers.

In keeping with Earth Day celebrations, we also note that this week marks two analyses of the Northwest's natural world that took place two centuries ago. On April 22, 1812, fur trader, map maker, and geographer David Thompson left Kettle Falls for Montreal, having spent the previous year making a scientific survey of the Columbia River. His explorations led to the first accurate rendition of the Inland Northwest north of the Snake River.

And on April 20, 1825, Scottish naturalist David Douglas arrived at Fort Vancouver, one month after the fur-trading outpost opened on the north bank of the Columbia River in present-day Clark County. Douglas, a collector for England's Horticultural Society, was dispatched to the Northwest coast to bring back specimens and seeds of regional plants for introduction into British gardens and forests. Less than six months later he made the first recorded ascent of the Cascade Mountains.

We invite you to explore the hundreds of essays on HistoryLink that pertain to the environment. You'll find a wide variety of articles, including ones on irrigation, conservation, watersheds, wildlife refuges, gardens, green spaces, scenic areas, fish runs, Alpine lakes, petrified forests, champion trees, state parks, national parks, and more. And be sure to check out the biographies of environmental advocates such as Dee Arntz, John Arum, John Beal, Fred Cleator, Dan Evans, Janet Dawes, William O. Douglas, Gene Duvernoy, Polly Dyer, Jim Ellis, Helen Engle, Kathy Fletcher, Bernie Gobin, Morey and Bart Haggin, Harvey Manning, Ira Spring, Virgil T. McCroskey, John and Rachael Paschal Osborn, Yalonda Sinde, Joan K. Thomas, Bill Van Ness Jr., Aubrey White, Hazel Wolf, and Phil and Laura Zalesky.

Space Age

On April 21, 1962, the gates opened at the Seattle World's Fair and thousands of people poured in to catch a glimpse of the future. Billed as "America's Space Age World's Fair," the Century 21 Exposition had plenty to see and do. A ride up to the top of the Space Needle was a must, as was a trip on the monorail. Exhibits, both foreign and domestic, captured the imagination. Performances, music, and artwork stirred the soul, opening up new vistas of creativity. And newly-introduced Belgian waffles sated the most ravenous appetites.

The fair traced its origins to the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, which Seattle City Councilman Al Rochester remembered fondly from his youth. Recalling the successes of the A-Y-P, Rochester advocated a second world's fair to commemorate the first, but the 1957 launch of Sputnik 1 by the Soviet Union shifted the theme to science and technology that showcased Seattle's strides towards Century 21. The space-age fair received broad support from local, state, and federal officials, as well as business and civic leaders.

One goal of the fair was to have a civic center in place once the event was over. The site chosen for the fairgrounds was close to downtown, and had structures that could be modified for reuse. Older and in some cases derelict buildings had to be torn down, but more people were concerned over the loss of homes less than a mile away that were being demolished for the construction of Interstate 5. As planning progressed, Seattleites watched as the Space Needle grew and the monorail pylons were put in place. The night before the fair opened, a twist party was held downtown, and after that it was fun, fun, fun, all summer long and into the fall. Once the fair had ended, a civic center was indeed in place and remains a lasting legacy well into the twenty-first century.