Which university hosted Project Survival before the first Earth Day?

Northwestern University hosted Project Survival before the first Earth Day.

Project Survival took place on January 23, 1970, at Northwestern University's Technological Institute in Evanston, Illinois. It was organized by Northwestern Students for a Better Environment, a student group formed after discussions about pollution in Lake Michigan. The event was designed as a public “teach-out,” bringing environmental concerns beyond the campus and into the wider community.

More than 4,000 people attended talks, panels, and discussion sessions. Speakers included Illinois State Treasurer Adlai Stevenson III, Lieutenant Governor Paul Simon, scientist Barry Commoner, and other environmental experts. Folk singer Tom Paxton led a midnight sing-in, adding a cultural element to the program.

Project Survival was not itself the first Earth Day. It was one of several campus events that helped build momentum for April 22, 1970. Sessions addressed overpopulation, resource depletion, pollution, nuclear power, and threats to the oceans. Its location is sometimes confused with Columbia, Stanford, or Michigan because environmental organizing spread quickly across American universities, but the documented event was held at Northwestern.