US SENATOR GEORGE MCGOVERN wasn’t exactly packing in the crowds when he spoke at Boston University on April 26, 1970.

With two politics-related articles in this issue of arts&sciences—what the web is doing to campaigns and the role of religion in politics—we asked our photo team to find us a slice of political history on Comm Ave. This photo intrigued us because we only have the date. What was McGovern, the longtime US senator from South Dakota, doing on campus? Testing his stump speech less than a year before announcing a run for president of the United States? Railing against the Vietnam War, of which he was a vocal opponent? In 1972, McGovern, the Democratic nominee for president, would lose the general election to Richard Nixon. It was a landslide: McGovern won just 17 Electoral College votes and 38 percent of the popular vote.

Did you see him speak on campus? We’d like to know more—the topic, whether he hung around after and shook hands, why you went to watch. If you spot yourself, or someone you know in the picture, let us know: are you the sandal-wearing sunbather on the bleachers, a scribbling scribe at the press table, or an attentive front-row listener? Email the editor at thurston@bu.edu. And if you’re wondering what readers told us about our last archival photo, a 1974 shot taken in BU’s computer and systems lab, read our letters to the editor.