Rachel Carson, Gender, and Environmental Citizenship H U M A N I T I E S C E N T E R 2 7 J a n u a r y 2 0 16 M A R S H A L . R I CH M O N D A S S O C I A T E P R O F E S S O R D E P A R T M E N T O F H I S T O R Y
Background Before World War II, scientists were regarded as “experts” whose knowledge guided society and benefitted the state With the coming of the atomic age, this relationship began to break down, especially over the issue of nuclear fallout During the Cold War, a climate of distrust arose over the possible threats posed by nuclear fallout, with scientists themselves (especially geneticists) disagreeing about the danger
Argument The discord among scientists provided a particular opening for women scientists, who as “outsiders” could gain the public trust, as individuals who were not just “authorities” but also had the public’s best interest at heart Rachel Carson, as a trained biologist, accepted the duty to speak out publicly with knowledge and conviction about an issue she believed was critical, and in so doing challenged vested interests in government and industry I argue that gender played a significant role in the persona she adopted, the public reception of her message, and her campaign to create a new kind of “environmental” citizenship
The U.S. Government’s Postwar Advocacy of Atomic Energy The Atomic Energy Commission consistently emphasized the promise of nuclear energy, downplaying the harm posed by radioactivity (See Angela Creager, Life Atom ic ) Albert Q. Maisel, “Medical Dividends,” Collier’s Weekly , 3 May 1947
WWII and the Environment • At the same time, the federal government in the immediate postwar period promoted the ubiquitous use of DDT, not just in agriculture but also cities • This initiative was couched in terms of fighting a “war against insects” and especially directed at housewives Dated March 1947
Chemical Industry The American chemical industry rushed to market household pesticides to housewives as well
Department of Agriculture Not only was DDT used on crops, but it was freely sprayed in cities, not just to kill insects but also as a preventative measure Neighborhoods and children were especially targeted
Rachel Carson Carson was born near Pittsburgh and graduated from the Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham University) with a duel major in biology and English She did graduate work in genetics and marine biology at Johns Hopkins, aiming for a Ph.D. but leaving with a master’s owing to the Depression Rachel Carson In 1936, she was appointed to the (1907-1964) U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, only the second woman hired fulltime as an aquatic biologist
Women in Science, 1920-1960 All the major players in postwar scientific debates were males—not surprising given that science in the 1950s was completely male-dominated Carson was a member of the third generation of women to receive university training in science, and among the new cohort holding advanced degrees
Carson the Scientist During her time with the Fish and Wildlife Bureau, Carson, much of her work focused on problems in Chesapeake Bay: overfishing, pollution, destruction of habitat She wrote regular features for the Baltim ore Sun and sometimes in the Atlantic Monthly
Carson the Popular Writer Carson published her first popular book about the seashore during the war In 1951, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship which allowed her to quit her job and devote herself 1941 fulltime to writing 1951 In 1952, she won a National Book Award for her second book 1955
Silent Spring In 1958, she began a new book, with the theme, as she told her friend Dorothy Freeman, similar to that of her previous works: “Life and the relations of Life to the physical environment,” though now she had to face the troubling realization that man had “the power to change drastically – or even destroy – the physical world” Prompted by reports of a die-off of birds in a nature preserve recently sprayed with DDT, Carson began to think deeply about the impact not just postwar radiation but also chemicals were having on humans and other organisms After researching the book for four years, it appeared in September 1962, preceded by an abridged The New Yorker series in June and July
“More valuable than individual life is our genetic heritage” Carson had been trained in genetics in college and graduate school, but since then the science had advanced: DNA was established as the material of heredity in 1953 In researching Silent Spring, she began to scour all the evidence she could find about the danger of pesticides for ecosystems, individuals, and human heredity (thus, future generations) In the absence of direct evidence, Carson frequently invoked scientific data on the harm of radioactive fallout and chemical mutagenesis to build her case against the indiscriminate use of DDT
Human Exposure to “Dangerous Chemicals” As she wrote in Silent Spring , “For the first time in the history of the world, every human being is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals from the moment of conception until death. . . . these chemicals are now stored in the Preliminary results of the “baby tooth bodies of the vast majority of human survey” of the Greater beings, regardless of age. They occur St. Louis Citizens' Committee for Nuclear in the mother’s milk, and probably in Information was the tissues of the unborn child.” (p. 15) published in 1961, indicating the presence of strontium 90 in children’s teeth
The “Authoritarian” versus the “People” “Who has made the decision that sets in motion these chains of poisonings, this ever- widening wave of death that spreads out, like ripples when a pebble is dropped into a still pond? . . . Who has decided—who has the rig ht to decide—for the countless legions of people who were not consulted that the suprem e value is a world without insects, … The decision is that of the authoritarian temporarily entrusted with power; he has made it during a moment of inattention by millions to whom beauty and the ordered world of nature still have a meaning that is deep and imperative.” (127)
The Controversy In April 1963, CBS Reports aired “The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson,” hosted by Eric Severeid Carson explained her assumption of “the balance of nature” Robert White-Stevens (Rutgers chemist and Assistant Director of Agricultural Research at American CBS Reports, “The Silent Cyanimid, the leading manufacturer Spring of Rachel Carson,” with of agricultural chemicals) spoke for Eric Severeid “modern science”
Spreading Her Message Immediately after Silent Spring appeared in September 1962, Carson began spreading her message in a series of talks she gave, primarily on the East Coast The majority of these speeches were given to women’s groups National Council of Women (10 October 1962) Women’s National Press Club (5 December 1962) Federation of Homemakers, November 1962 John M. Lee, New York Tim es , 22 July 1962
All-Women Conference, October 1962 National Council of Women on the United States: “It is truly inspiring to see so many of you assembled here to discuss the matter of conscience. It is perhaps particularly appropriate for wom en to consider this them e, for wom en are traditionally the custodians of fam ily welfare, the guardians of the health and happiness of their children. . . . To my mind the word conscience implies not only an evaluation of what we are doing in the present --it reaches out into the future to embrace the generations of the unborn.”
Federation of Homemakers, November 1962 One woman journalist reported Carson’s remarks: “` I am quite sure that democracy still works if we will allow it to,’ she said in a soft mild voice that belies her strength and determination. Pesticides poison our soil, kill our wildlife and threaten to deform future generations, she continued. ` But it is a threat that Am erican wom en can help to Federation of stop.’ Miss Carson suggested that the Homemakers in ladies write letters to congressmen, Bethesda, Maryland, senators, state and local government November 1962 agencies and newspaper editors.”
Congress and the President’s Science Advisory Committee Carson was asked to testify before President Kennedy’s Science Advisory Committee “Carson’s appearance was a historical milestone for PSAC, which had by then been largely a world without wom en . It was no accident that the first major PSAC report on a topic other than Carson (far left) speaking at a the masculine military technology, meeting of the President’s space, and science policy, was Scientific Advisory Committee. instigated by a wom an scientist In 1963 the committee and science writer, belonging to a recommended banning DDT m arginal group in the hierarchical scientific com m unity .” (Zuoyue Wang, In Sputnik’s Shadow )
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