There are some moments in history that become powerful touchstones, revisited to reflect and inform a better understanding of the present day. The Russell Library has developed a periodic exhibit series, Now and Then, to revisit pivotal years in modern American history. We begin with a trip to 1973.
1973 was the year of the Roe v. Wade decision and the return of POWs from the Vietnam War. It was the year President Nixon proclaimed he was not a crook, even as the Watergate scandal unfolded on national television. It was the year of the Yom Kippur War, and the Arab Oil Embargo; the year of Skylab, the Endangered Species Act, and Hank Aaron’s quest to surpass Babe Ruth’s career homerun record.
Forty years later, take a look back at this pivotal year in American history and the lasting legacy of the events that filled the public mind for a moment in time.