Anna Koster
  • Home
  • About
    • Resume
    • Testimonials
    • Blog
  • Gallery
    • Anna's Art
    • Workshops
    • O'Keeffe Country
    • Mend-Patch-Repair
  • Three Things
  • Contact
Connect with me!

The Survival Faire preceded the first Earth Day in 1970

1/18/2018

2 Comments

 
Picture
Here I am in 1970! I worked alongside other San Jose State College (now University) students to make the weeklong "Survival Faire" happen (Feb. 16-20). That was two months before the first Earth Day. I organized and publicized the art exhibits that were part of the week's activities and recruited Philip Linhares to judge the exhibits;. He was enthusiastic about the quality of the art, which addressed environmental issues. The week's most remembered event was the sacrificial burial of a new car. It was never driven; we pushed it the full distance from the sales room. That got us attention from the New York Times.
I found the photo above through the SJSU Special Collections and Archives . Info there states: 
Two students pose for a photograph and are shown holding a large bag of rice from a truck. On the side of the truck is a sign that reads: "San Jose State Survival Rice." 
According to a press release dated 21 January 1970, Humanities 160, Contemporary Issues, organized a Survival Faire at San Jose State College, February 16-20. The purpose of the faire was to raise awareness to the college community and broader public on the problems of environmental survival. The Faire sponsored a week of activities that included events, exhibits, speakers, panels, workshops, films, exhibits, plays and a funeral procession and a nine hour wake to celebrate the burial of a 1970 car, among other events. See Civil Rights and Campus Protest Collection, Box 3. 
At right: Three students wearing face masks standing over the open hood of a car, with a sign that is propped up and reads: "Survival Faire." 
Picture
Picture
Images from San Jose State 
University Library Special 
​
Collections & Archives
2 Comments
Mark Tigan
7/7/2022 12:37:51 pm

Anna,
I am the guy in the under the hood picture. I am writing about S.Faire in my memoir. I would enjoy knowing your interest in the Faire.
Thx.Dr. Mark Tigan

Reply
Anna Koster
7/7/2022 04:20:25 pm

Mark, I was in the Humanities 160 class that organized the Faire. I was in charge of the visual art competitions and exhibitions -- not the films, but the others. I donated my papers from the Survival Faire to the the SJ State archives. Reply by email; that's better than through my blog. You can start an email conversation here: http://www.annakoster.com/contact.html

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    My thoughts about art, life, the environment, and more. 

    Archives

    September 2022
    November 2021
    May 2021
    March 2020
    December 2019
    January 2018

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly