Era of Activism

Era of Activism

Period: Jan 1, 1960 to Apr 1, 1973

Publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring

Sep 27, 1962

Silent Spring is a book written by Rachel Carson and published by Houghton Mifflin on 27 September 1962. The book is widely credited with helping launch the environmental movement

Publication of Betty Friedan’s Feminine Mystique

Feb 19, 1963

Is a nonfiction book written by Betty Friedan. It is widely credited with sparking the beginning of second-wave feminism in the United States. In 1957, Friedan was asked to conduct a survey of her former Smith College classmates for their 15th anniversary reunion; the results, in which she found that many of them were unhappy with their lives as housewives, prompted her to begin research for The Feminine Mystique

Congress passes the Clean Air Act

Dec 17, 1963

Law passed in 1970 that aimed to control pollution caused by industrial and auto emissions. To control air pollution on a national level. It requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop and enforce regulations to protect the general public from exposure to airborne contaminants that are known to be hazardous to human health.

Publication of Ralph Nader’s Unsafe at Any Speed

Nov 30, 1965

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

NOW is founded

Jun 30, 1966

the largest feminist organization in the United States. It was founded in 1966 and has a membership of 500,000 contributing members. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

UFW’s Nationwide Boycott of grapes picked on nonunion farms

Aug 22, 1966

a labor union created from the merging of two groups, the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) led by Filipino organizer Larry Itliong, and the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) led by César Chávez. This union changed from a workers' rights organization that helped workers get unemployment insurance to that of a union of farmworkers almost overnight.

Protesters from the AIM take over the reservation at wounded Knee

Mar 6, 1968

Organization formed in 1968 to help Native Americans

Woodstock

Aug 15, 1969

1969 music festival in upstate New York It was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969. Bethel, in Sullivan County, is 43 miles southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, in adjoining Ulster County

First Earth Day Celebration

Apr 22, 1970

Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment. Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970. While this first Earth Day was focused on the United States, an organization launched by Denis Hayes, who was the original national coordinator in 1970, took it international in 1990 and organized events in 141 nations.

The EPA is established

Dec 2, 1970

Government organization formed in 1970 to set and enforce national pollution-control standards.

Supreme Court rules to legalize abortion in the Roe v. Wade case

Apr 22, 1973

landmark, controversial decision by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion. The Court decided that a right to privacy under the due process clause in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution extends to a woman's decision to have an abortion, but that right must be balanced against the state's two legitimate interests for regulating abortions: protecting prenatal life and protecting the mother's health.