Project Survival

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Project Survival was an early environmental education event held at Northwestern University on January 23, 1970. Organized by Northwestern Students for a Better Environment (NSBE), a group formed after a 1969 meeting about Lake Michigan pollution, the event aimed to involve the public in understanding pollution and how to address it. It was the first in a series of campus events leading up to Earth Day, designed to bring environmental ideas into public talk. It was described as a “teach-out” to share the message with the wider community outside the university.

The event took place in Northwestern’s Technological Institute and drew more than 4,000 attendees. Speakers included Illinois State Treasurer Adlai Stevenson III, Illinois Lt. Gov. Paul Simon, and scientists such as Dr. Lawrence B. Slobodkin and Dr. Barry Commoner. Folk singer Tom Paxton led a midnight “sing-in” and performed the song “Whose Garden Was This?” months before it became associated with Earth Day.

During the lectures, about thirty members of the Native American Committee of Chicago interrupted Dr. Slobodkin to demand action on pollution of Indian lands and cultures. They called for the university to challenge federal agencies, create job and scholarship opportunities for Indians, and hire speakers to share “the truth about the American Indian.” Afterward, discussion groups met from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. to talk about topics such as overpopulation, resource depletion, pollution, and nuclear power. Panel topics included “Surplus People and Instant War,” “Life or Death for the Oceans,” and “Radioactivity & Prenatal Fatalities.”

A film of the event was made to help other schools prepare for Earth Day, and the speeches were published in a limited Northwestern edition. Following Project Survival, the organizing group continued to promote environmental study and public information at the university. NSBE later organized Sunrise ’78 to promote solar energy and other alternatives, and the group remained active in Earth Day-related events, eventually changing its name to Students for Ecological and Environmental Development (SEED) and supporting ongoing efforts like the Green Cup competition.