This report is courtesy of IVU historian John Davis.
In 1975, the first IVU World Veg Congress to be held in North America convened at the University of Maine, at Orono. American historians have stated: "Arguably it was the most important gathering of vegetarians in the United States in the twentieth century."
The Congress attracted 1,500 participants, with up to 25 simultaneous lectures, activities and tours. It is seen as having kick-started the organized vegetarian movement in North America.
A couple of months ago, I was at Parkdale (VSUK HQ) where I was given a very large, thickly-stuffed, envelope that had been found in the cellar. It was strongly bound in tape, and simply marked 'IVU Congress 1975'. It soon became apparent that this had been sealed soon after the Congress by someone who had been there in person, and left untouched for the next 32 years.
The contents included four complete original copies of Vegetarian Voice (NAVS journal), starting with Vol 1, #2 (March 1974) - up to the late 1975 issue, which was devoted entirely to reviews and photos of the Congress. There also copies of articles from other journals, such as Ahimsa (American VeganSoc), and press reports from the New York Times, Washington Post, etc. In addition, there was a large quantity of correspondence between NAVS and IVU about the planning of the event, and a couple of texts of talks that were given, including the IVU president's personal copy of his opening address.
Almost all of this is now on the IVU website at www.ivu.org/congress/wvc75
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