Elizabeth Grant Kingwill
Mental health counselor, Former EC Board of Directors member, Sierra Club local chapter
In the fall of 1969, Elizabeth Grant (Kingwill) was a graduate student in Rackham, the School of Natural Resources, in the Environmental Education Program. In her first semester in SNR, she saw an opportunity to include the local community of Ann Arbor and the State of Michigan in the planning for the ENACT Teach-In and took on the responsibility of Chairmanship of Community Relations. After the ENACT Teach-In in March 1970, she stayed in Ann Arbor for the summer where she was hired to help start the Ann Arbor Ecology Center as a non-profit. She found the building to house the offices of the Center and hired the first director. Her intention was to have the Center be a place that environmental groups could come together, work, meet and hopefully begin to cooperate on common goals. In 1972, Elizabeth worked as a U of M Consultant for her master’s thesis with the Girl Scouts of Metropolitan Detroit. Her role there included writing environmental manuals, directing an environmental program for girls, and conducting leadership training for their adult leaders. Thousands of girls and women were involved in the program. Elizabeth went back to school in Durango, Colorado in 1976, completing an undergraduate and masters degree in Psychology. Her work as a change agent moved from organizing environmental groups to changing minds and healing hearts. She was also Vice-President of a local environmental group, and later served on the Board of Directors of the local chapter of the Sierra Club. She moved to Jackson, Wyoming in 1980. She worked for the local Mental Health Center for nine years and has been in private practice as a counselor for the last thirty years. Creating the Ecology Center as a non-profit inspired a lifetime of working for and running non-profits in Colorado and Wyoming.
Clips
1:58-2:57
Elizabeth discusses how she got involved in ENACT and how it was difficult for some due to the time commitment.
#ENACT #TeachIn #BuildingAMovement
3:09-3:43 & 17:40-18:49
Elizabeth discusses the role of women in ENACT and what it was like being one of two women working on the Teach-In.
#ENACT #TeachIn #BuildingAMovement #women
7:23-9:32
Elizabeth explains that the biggest struggle she faced while planning the Teach-In was gaining the attention of those on campus and in the greater Ann Arbor community. She talks about how important Doug Fulton, a writer for the Ann Arbor News, was for spreading the word about the Teach-In. #ENACT #TeachIn #BuildingAMovement #community
10:00-11:26
When asked what was the lasting impact of the Teach-In, Elizabeth talked about how it raised awareness throughout the community and across generations.
#ENACT #TeachIn #BuildingAMovement #community #GenerationalTransformation
12:12-12:35
Looking back on the Teach-In, Elizabeth recalls how it was awe-inspiring to see how much support and help was given freely by those at the university and within the greater community. #ENACT #TeachIn #BuildingAMovement #community
15:03-17:36
Elizabeth describes the difficulty she faced keeping up involvement and enthusiam for ENACT after the Teach-In was over. She talks about the founding of the Ecology Center and how its goal was to educate and be a contuing legacy of the Teach-In.
#ENACT #TeachIn #BuildingAMovement #EcologyCenter