Gaylord Nelson, the founder of Earth Day, was a senator from Wisconsin.
Nelson was born in Clear Lake, Wisconsin, in 1916 and built his political career there. He served in the Wisconsin State Senate, became the state’s governor in 1959, and then represented Wisconsin in the U.S. Senate from 1963 to 1981. His environmental advocacy helped make conservation a national political issue.
Nelson proposed a nationwide environmental teach-in after witnessing the growing influence of student activism and public concern about pollution. That idea became the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. Denis Hayes organized the national campaign, while Nelson remained its principal political inspiration.
A common mix-up is confusing Nelson’s state with California, where he studied at San Jose State University. Another neighboring fact is that Nelson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1995 for his environmental work.