Before the Clean Air Act (1970), the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (1970), and the Clean Water Act (1972), there were few regulations for industrial pollution and very limited enforcement. As a result, it was not uncommon for polluted rivers to catch fire. 

For example, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio, was continually polluted from the 1880s through the early 1970s. It suffered a major fire in 1952. Finally, an oil spill in Santa Barbara, California pushed Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin to create the first Earth Day in 1970. 

Earth Day 1971 at UNCW was a full day of special events, including programs on the impact of pollution on Southeast North Carolina. Over the years, Seahawks have raised Earth Day awareness with films, guest speakers from industry and science, environmental education, and a “filthy” photo contest.  

Fifty-two years after the EPA opened, industrial pollution remains a problem for the country, compounded by our growing climate crisis. Earth Day empowers everyone to contribute to a cleaner environment. What small steps can we take to benefit our communities? For example, as consumers, we could stop throwing trash outside car windows. Our apartment complexes could provide proper outdoor trash and recycling containers for residents. Local business can discourage waste, help the bottom line, and promote our shared environment. 

What action steps should we take for our planet and our people? Let us know how to end the contamination of America! 

Bibliography 

https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/evolution-clean-air-act#caa70

https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/history-clean-water-act 

https://www.history.com/news/epa-earth-day-cleveland-cuyahoga-river-fire-clean-water-act 

https://www.earthday.org/history/ 

https://digitalcollections.uncw.edu/digital/collection/p17190coll1/id/1519/rec/20 

https://digitalcollections.uncw.edu/digital/collection/p17190coll1/id/1824/rec/5

COVID-19 is not the first virus to affect American college students. We are just beginning to learn about the long-term health effects of COVID. Another life-threatening virus was polio.

First some background information from the Mayo Clinic: Polio is a contagious viral illness that in its most severe form causes nerve injury leading to paralysis, difficulty breathing and sometimes death. Poliovirus can be transmitted through direct contact with someone infected with the virus or, less commonly, through contaminated food and water. People who have polio but don't have symptoms can pass the virus to others.

Polio came to United States in 1894. The first successful vaccines—developed by Dr. Jonas Salk and Dr. Albert Sabin—were not available until the 1950s.

_{^{Dr. Albert Sabin, inventor of the oral polio vaccine / Photograph from Hauck Center, University of Cincinnati Libraries}}

Caring for the health of all the students at Wilmington College, Dr. Samuel Ravenel sent a letter to college president, Dr. William M. Randall, recommending that the college require polio vaccines for all students before admission (Board of Trustees minutes, 14 Jan. 1959 p. 2). After review by the executive committee, the board decided not to make the vaccine mandatory for students (Board of Trustees minutes, 11 Feb. 1959 p.3).

Later, at the Board of Trustees meeting on 26 January, 1965 (p. 3), Dr. Randall recommended that enrolled students meet “... certain physical examination entrance requirements .... This would require smallpox vaccination, tetanus toxoid, polio immunization, serology, and a chest x-ray.” 

Bibliography

The History of Polio Vaccines. Available at https://www.historyofvaccines.org/timeline/polio.

Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Trustees of Wilmington College. (14 January, 1959). Available at https://digitalcollections.uncw.edu/digital/collection/bot/id/207/rec/1.

Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Trustees of Wilmington College. (11 February, 1959). Available at https://digitalcollections.uncw.edu/digital/collection/bot/id/208/rec/3.

Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Trustees of Wilmington College. (26 January, 1965). Available at https://digitalcollections.uncw.edu/digital/collection/bot/id/285/rec/4.

Photograph of Albert Sabin. Courtesy of Hauck Center for the Albert B. Sabin Archives, University of Cincinnati Libraries. 

Polio. The Mayo Clinic. Available at https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/polio/symptoms-causes/syc-20376512.

In 1973, the book collection of the William M. Randall Library of the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) reached 100,000 volumes. To celebrate, the library acquired a first edition Huck Finn by Mark Twain (published in 1885) and held a special ceremony. This first edition is in Special Collections.

An announcement for the Nov. 30 ceremony was in the Seahawk student newspaper.

For comparison, according to 2012/2013 statistics, Randall Library has 481,134 books. 

A couple notes from the library's history:

*Wilmington College Library moved from a few rooms in Alderman Hall to its own building during winter break of 1968. It opened in January of 1969 and the official dedication was March 30.

*Randall Libray began planning an expansion in 1985, which was completed in 1987. 

This model of Randall Library, circa 1985, is in University Archives in Randall Library at UNCW.