American Environmentalisms

American Environmentalisms

As rapacious as Americans' relationship with their natural world has been over the past two centuries, there is also a strong tradition in the U.S. of advocating for the health and sustainability of the non-human world. This exhibit traces the many forms that American environmentalism has taken, from nature writing and conservationism in the 19th and early 20th centuries to the regulatory campaigns of the post-Silent Spring era to the climate justice movement of today.

A homemade flag carried by Illinois high school students on April 22, 1970, the first national Earth Day.