Rachel Carson
Presentation By: Keerthana Rameshbabu
Biographical Sketch
Upbringing
- Born: Springdale, Pennsylvania May 27, 1907
- She grew up in a rural river town near the Allegheny on a plot of farmland.
- She had two loving parents and an older sister.
- When she was young, her mother would teach her the names of plants and teach her to recognize animal calls.
- She always knew she was going to be a writer, and at age 11, she had a story published in the St. Nicholas Magazine.
- When the family became financially burdened, her father started to sell parts of their farm and she felt a great sense of loss.
- Attended Parnassus High School and graduated with honors and a scholarship to Pennsylvania College for Women
- Originally intended to major in English and become a teacher, but changed her major to biology.
- After graduating from Pennsylvania College for Women in 1929, she studied at Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory on a scholarship. This is where she was first acquainted with the ocean.
- She then got an MA in zoology at Johns Hopkins in 1932.
- Briefly taught at the University of Maryland to support her family as the sole wage earner. During the Depression, her family had to survive on nothing but apples.
- In 1935, her father died. In 1937, her sister followed and she was left to care for her mother and two young nieces alone, which was often exhausting and frustrating.
- Was hired by the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries to write radio scripts during the Depression. Also wrote about natural history for the Baltimore Sun.
- Her most influential work: 15 years at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as an aquatic biologist and editor. She soon rose to editor-in-chief. While working here, she still worked as a freelance writer and was published in many magazines, including prestigious ones such as the Yale Review.
- In her free time, she turned her government research into lyrical prose.
- In 1941, she published her first book, Under the Sea Wind.
- Went on many adventures to research/explore such as sailing on the SS Phalanthrop and SS Albatross III.
- In 1951, she resigned from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to be a full-time writer.
- She won many awards including the National Book Award for Non-Fiction and the New York Zoological Society Gold Medal.
- in 1953, she met and fell in love with Dorothy Freeman and two exchanged love letters secretly until Carson's death.
- In 1958, her mother died at age 81.
- In 1960, Carson had a radical mastectomy for breast cancer. She kept her illness a secret because she didn't want chemical companies to think her work was motivated by personal problems.
- Horrified by the excessive and careless use of pesticides, Carson wrote Silent Spring in 1961 educate people on the effects of chemicals.
- Her book became an instant bestseller but also caused much controversy. Because of her influential words, DDT was banned in many places and malaria made a comeback, killing millions of children. Because of this, some called her a mass murderer and said it was environmental regulation gone too far. She was also largely criticised because she was a woman questioning men's work. Many misogynists called her book an emotional outburst and claimed her facts were incorrect.
- In August 1962, Presiden JFK says that the President's Scientific Advisory Committee is researching misuse of pesticides because of Carson's book.
- In June 1963, testified in front of Senate while weakened from battling cancer.
- Died: April 11, 1964, in Silver Spring, Maryland due to breast cancer that had spread through her body.
- Her work made the world become more environmentally aware and she inspired the creation of many environmental organizations and acts, the most prominent one being the Environmental Protection Agency which was formed in 1970.
- In 1980, President Carter awarded Carson the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Influences:
- Mother: Carson inherited her love of nature from mother Maria McLean. Her mother also worked to put Carson through college and typed out Carson's poems and books.
- Mary Skinker: A biology professor at Pennsylvania College for Women. Skinker convinced Carson to change her major from English to biology. She also coached Carson for her Federal Civil Service Exams to be able to work at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Helped Carson become the highest scoring female of the time.
- Grace Lippy: A fellow student of zoology at Johns Hopkins who shared interests with Carson. The two women encouraged each other and worked together. Lippy was an inspiration to Carson as one of the few other women in science.
- Shirley Briggs/Kay Roberts: Colleagues and close friends of Carson. They were artists and ecologists who worked and explored with Carson. After Carson's death, Briggs became the director of the Rachel Carson Council.
- Jeane Davis: Helped Carson writes parts of Silent Spring when Carson was too sick to but downplayed her role in the book.
- Henry David Thoreau's Walden Pond
- WWII: Carson was horrified by the use of pesticides during after WWII, and it was this that inspired her to write Silent Spring and become an advocate for regulation of pesticides.
Motivations
- As a child, she spent a great deal of time exploring the forests and streams around her 65-acre farm. Here she stoked her love of nature and grew to be a great observer.
- She conducted research on the effects of pesticides on animals by studying the food chain as a zoologist/biologist.
- Went on many trips in the ocean on the east coast.
- During WWII, she studied undersea sounds with the Navy as a diver.
- As an aquatic biologist, she was able to see the effects of harmful chemicals first because abnormalities showed up in fish first.
- She had more than a few failed attempts at trying to get articles about DDT published/noticed, but she didn't give up.
- Her father and sister had failed careers but her mother still believed in her and encouraged her.
- She was overall motivated by her love of nature and her desire to protect it and help people live healthier, more worldly lives. She got this caring/motherly quality from many years of caring for her family members.
Parallels/Conclusions
Exploring the land around her home helped her find her sanctuary in nature. She could spend hours sitting in the woods observing her surroundings and reveling in the peace. She was encouraged by her mother to be one with the natural world; her mother acted as an encouraging figure in her life who supported her decisions. In a time period where it was uncommon and frowned upon for women to be scientists, Carson broke records and won awards, showing the world that women could do extraordinary things, and she was influenced by other strong and intelligent women (such as Mary Skinker) to accomplish these things. By surrounding herself with great minds, Carson was able to create countless amazing and revolutionary works.
Defining Quote
Man is a part of nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself.
Time Period Synthesis
If Rachel Carson lived in the 21st Century (the 2000s to now) and continued to publish works like she did at the height of her career, she would be even more popular and loved. Since today the world better understands the effects of pesticides and other chemicals, her work would be believed by many more, and she would not face as much of a struggle due to her gender as today's society is more accepting of women in science.
- Public Perception: Carson would often appear in scientific and environmental magazines and have a great reputation in the environmental community. She would probably not be featured in the mass media as often because, in the present day, she would simply be an environmental scientist, not a scandalous figure who questioned men. She was only featured in the mass media in the 60s because her book as so controversial at the time.
- Success of Carson: She would likely be even more successful in the present day than she was in her time period because today people are more aware of environmental issues and trust in scientists more. She would continue to write bestsellers about modern day issues and be well respected.
- Carson's Impact on the 21st Century: Carson would probably focus on issues more pertaining to the modern day, such a climate change, food waste, farming practices, the treatment of livestock, etc. She would still write beautiful yet informative pieces of writing that leave readers thinking about their footprints for the rest of their lives. Carson would influence millions to live more sustainably.
If I had Carson's skills, I would do exactly what she does, as she is someone I admire greatly. I would use my writing skills to create journalistic pieces that are informative yet delightful to read and focus on environmental issues. I would focus mostly on environmental issues, but I would also occasionally use my writing skills to talk about societal and political issues as well.
Political Cartoon
This cartoon shows many faceless figures (that represent critics in the media, public, and government) yelling insults at Rachel Carson, who is sitting in the center, ignoring the critics' words and finding peace in nature. This shows how after Silent Spring was released, Carson faced much criticism for the controversial things in her book but did not become upset when hearing the words of these critics. Carson often sat in the woods for long periods of time simply enjoying the natural world, which is shown in the cartoon. The cartoon also shows the negative effects of pesticides that were prevalent in the time period. The nest is empty except for a few eggs; there is no bird in it. The tree on the right has a hole suggesting that an animal once lived there, but no longer does.
Historiography
Book Review Video
Additional Requirements
Context
- The 1960's was a prosperous time and in order to keep the middle class living comfortably and support a large and growing population, farmers used pesticides and herbicides in excess to help crops grew faster and in larger quantities.
- After discovering DDT's ability to kill disease spreading mosquitos and lice in WWII, it was largely used in farms and suburbs to keep away insects. (about 80 million lbs of DDT was being sprayed in the US alone). It was also used in third world countries to combat malaria. It soon became marketed and advertised for household use.
- There were no regulations or limits when these chemicals were first used because they were new and people weren't aware of their devastating effects.
- DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) is an extremely toxic substance, but they weren't aware of it at that time. It also broke down into still toxic chemicals. It washed into waterways and spread through the food chain, harming fish, birds, and humans.
- The bald eagle suffered as well: DDT made eagle shells easily breakable so the population was declining.
- Mosquitos soon became DDT resistant and the spraying of the pesticide was doing more harm than good.
- Bioaccumulation: as DDT moved along the food chain, the top consumer (humans) received the highest dose of it since it is fat soluble. The average American had more DDT in their system than permitted in fish and meat.
Imitation of Figure's Style
I tried to imitate Carson's style of using imagery and vivid descriptions of nature scenes while also using scientific language subtly.
Conclusion
Rachel Carson was an ecologist, biologist, writer, journalist, educator, and all around extraordinary woman. She challenged the idea that humans could exert their power over nature without consequences. She was truly ahead of her time and disillusioned the world from thinking that the excessive use of things marketed as benevolent could bring no harm. If Carson had to describe her American Experience, she would say she is saddened by American's ignorance and carelessness, but she still has hope for humanity. She would say that some parts of her life were difficult to endure, especially her cancer which was likely brought on by the many chemicals she was devoted to getting banned. She would also say that some aspects of her life were extremely successful, such as all of her published books and articles, and awards she won; these things are even more of an accomplishment since she was one of the few women in science at the time.