A little Earth Day history

In 1970, U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson organized the first Earth Day event to bring national attention to conservation issues. A surprising 20 million people participated in peaceful demonstrations - including 10,000 grade and high schools, 2,000 colleges in approximately 1,000 communities. In 1995, Nelson was awarded the nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Through the 1970s, Indiana's Earth Day celebrations were held primarily at colleges. But in the late 1980s, a particularly hot summer produced serious air pollution problems, record-setting heat waves, and drought with devastating fires. Soon, the nation's agricultural belt began to take a greater interest in environmental concerns.

By the 20th anniversary of Earth Day in 1990, interest in environmental issues had spread across the globe. In Indiana, volunteers organized a 20th anniversary Earth Day celebration in downtown Indianapolis. A short time later, they formed a member-based, nonprofit organization to continue the event on the state level each year.

Today, Earth Day Indiana, Inc. provides a forum for environmental dialog and promotes environmental awareness. The festival has grown each year, to become what the national Earth Day Network calls one of the most successful annual Earth Day events in the country. The festival attracted an estimated 20,000 visitors in 2007 (an event record). The group also reaches more than a half-million people with environmental information. The Earth Day Indiana Festival is the largest one-day environmental event in the state, and is the first free, outdoor festival in Indianapolis each year.

The festival focuses on health and the environment with exhibits on air, water, land, quality of life, recreation, transportation, waste, wildlife, energy, and more. Support comes from all parts of our community including individual members, volunteers, not-for-profit organizations, government agencies, corporations and the news media.

Learn more about Earth Day and its history at the Earth Day Network.