Adrift in the Sound Historical Events

Adrift in the Sound is set in Seattle and Puget Sound in 1973,

 a tumultous time in America.

Notable Events*

1973

January

·       The Marine Mammal Protection Act, passed in October 1972, begins protection for all marine mammals in U.S. waters in 1973, including orcas and seals.

·       U.S. President Richard Nixon inaugurated for second term.

·       Roe v. Wade: The U.S. Supreme Court overturns state bans on abortion, legalizing the procedure nationwide.

·       U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War officially ends with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords on January 27.

February

·       The U.S. dollar devalued by 10%.

·       The American Indian Movement occupies Wounded Knee, South Dakota.

March

·       The last U.S. soldier leaves Vietnam.

April

·       The World Trade Center officially opens with a ribbon cutting in New York City.

·       Watergate Scandal: President Nixon announces that top White House aides and others have resigned.

May

·       The 71-day standoff at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, ends between federal authorities and American Indian Movement activists.

·       Skylab, the United States' first space station, is launched.

·       Watergate Scandal: Televised hearings begin in the U.S. Senate.

June

·       The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is founded and the War on Drugs launched.

·       The U.S. Congress passes the Education of the Handicapped Act (EHA), ushering in rights for the disabled.

·       Martial artist and actor Bruce Lee dies and is buried in Seattle.

 August

·       Top-grossing movie “American Graffiti” released.

·       The U.S. bombing of Cambodia ends, halting 12 years of U.S. combat activity in Southeast Asia.

September

·       The Battle of the Sexes: Tennis professional Billie Jean King defeats male tennis pro Bobby Riggs, making a statement about women’s equality.

·       United Farm Workers union opposes sanctions on employers who hire undocumented immigrants.

October

·       U.S. Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigns and then, in federal court pleads no contest to income tax evasion.

·       The Arab Oil Embargo against several countries that support Israel triggers the 1973 U.S. and global energy crisis.

·       Watergate Scandal: “Saturday Night Massacre” leads to dismissal of Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, raising calls for President Nixon's impeachment.

·       The Oakland Athletics win baseball's World Series, defeating the New York Mets 4 games to 3.

November

·       Congress overrides President Nixon's veto of the War Powers Resolution, which limits presidential power to wage war without congressional approval.

·       President Nixon signs the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorizing construction of the Alaska Pipeline.

·       Watergate Scandal: In Orlando, Florida, U.S. President Nixon tells 400 Associated Press managing editors "I am not a crook."

·       The U.S. Senate votes 92–3 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States.

December

·       The American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its list of mental disorders.

·       OPEC doubles the price of crude oil.

·       Congress passes the Endangered Species Act.

January 1970-1976:

In the late 1960s, millions of American teenagers left home and headed out on a grand hippie adventure. By the early 1970s, many of these young people—now in their early- to mid-20s— were beyond the reach of social programs for children. Many were strung out on alcohol and drugs, living on the streets, working as prostitutes, physically maimed, and/or suffering from mental illness. An untold number of them, including young women and, in some cases the children they bore, did not survive.

Karen M. Staller, author of Runaways: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped Today’s Practices and Policies (2006, Columbia University Press) writes that passage of the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1971 lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. One result was that rules governing runaways, dropped to below age 18.

The severe U.S. economic recession of the era, followed by soaring inflation, halted new U.S. initiatives to expand medical care and other social programs, which likely could have helped the walking casualties of the late1960s. Midwives were not licensed to practice in Washington State until 1976.

Due to the winding down of the Vietnam War and the ongoing recession, the Seattle-based Boeing aerospace company cut its workforce from 80,400 to 37,200 between early 1970 and October 1971. By1973, unemployment in the Puget Sound area topped 17 percent (Seattle Times). Seattle suffered massive home foreclosures and severe urban blight. During the economic bust, a famous Seattle billboard asked: "Would the last person leaving SEATTLE — turn out the lights?"

Sources: Seattle Times, University of Washington Library, Worldwide Web

*Adrift in the Sound is a work of fiction and, while the social-political events mentioned in the novel took place in 1973, the occurrence of events in the story is not historically precise as to month and day.  

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