The Genius of Earth Day: How a 1970 Teach-In Unexpectedly Made the First Green Generation (2013) by Adam Rome

In The Genius of Earth Day: How a 1970 Teach-In Unexpectedly Made the First Green Generation author Adam Rome, a former journalist, who is currently a history professor at the University of Delaware, in Newark, Delaware, introduces his readers to the "roots" of Earth Day.Many, in fact most, Americans of the current generation know that we mark Earth Day every April 22nd and celebrate the event, particularly if Mother Nature obligingly blesses the celebrants with mild weather, by getting out and enjoying the day.Rome, however, digs deeply into the historical, cultural, and sociological origins of Earth Day, and he tells his story with verve and passion.Rome argues that the first Earth Day, celebrated in April of 1970, was not a simple feel-good demonstration of the 1960s type.It was, instead a massive grassroots "teach-in" involving hundreds of thousands of people.Rome further contends that the inaugural Earth Day actually created the first "Green" generation by mobilizing thousands of volunteers for activism, pressure, and social change.Rome takes pains to explain to the reader that Earth Day, while originating during and emerging from the ferment of the late-1960s, was not the product of a well-established social movement.He notes that liberal politicians, (mostly Democrats), conservationists, scientists, upper middle class women, and those described as "young critics of American institutions" (p.10) formed the core of the early "Green" movement.However, they never saw themselves as such and did not partner together for a common purpose.Rome argues, in fact, that while Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-Wisconsin) started the movement by proposing a "national environmental Teach-In," his decentralized and largely hands-off approach allowed local organizers the freedom to take control of the movement and make it their own.The volume is structured in a straight forward fashion.Rome begins with a prologue, then a chapter on the "pre-history" of the movement, and he then proceeds to chronicle the organizers, events, and speakers.The concluding chapters deal with the eco-infrastructure and there is an epilogue on the first Green Generation.The complete volume runs to 280 pages of text, and over 50 pages of source notes.As noted above, Rome tells his tale with enthusiasm, zeal, and sprightly prose.The main criticism that a reviewer could credibly offer is the fact that Rome does seem to be more of a cheerleader for rather than a chronicler of Earth Day.He has written the story with a distinctly favourable slant, which on occasion slips into near-triumphalism.According to the

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