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Gaylord Anton Nelson (June 4, 1916 – July 3, 2005) was an American politician from Wisconsin who served as a United States Senator and governor. The sponsor of several significant environmental bills, Gaylord Nelson is best known as the founder of Earth Day, currently celebrated on April 22 world-wide.
First elected Governor of Wisconsin in 1958, he guided state legislation providing funding for statewide conservation efforts in 1961. A year later he was elected to the U.S. Senate – the same year Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" sparked a world-wide grass-roots movement of environmentalism.
Nelson directly tied creation of the first Earth Day in 1970 with persuading U.S. politicians that environmental legislation had a substantial, lasting constituency. Like Octavia Hill, a social and environmental activist from a generation earlier, Nelson continued bi-partisan work on a wide variety of environmental and social issues. "Our goal," he said, "is not just an environment of clean air and water and scenic beauty. The objective is an environment of decency, quality, and mutual respect for all other human beings and all other living creatures." Gaylord Nelson on the 25th anniversary of Earth Day
Married
1916 |
June 4, 1916
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Clear Lake, Polk, Wisconsin, United States
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1930 |
1930
- 1934
Age 13
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Clear Lake High School
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1935 |
1935
- 1939
Age 18
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San Jose State College
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1939 |
1939
- 1942
Age 22
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University of Wisconsin
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