Category: History

Digging Up The Roots Of Modern Waste In Victorian-Era Rubbish

Read the full story at NPR.

Tom Licence has a Ph.D., and he’s a garbage man.

When you think of archaeology, you might think of Roman ruins, ancient Egypt or Indiana Jones. But Licence works in the field of “garbology.” While some may dig deep down to get to the good stuff — ancient tombs, residences, bones — Licence looks at the top layers, which, where he lives in England, are filled with Victorian-era garbage.

Studying what people threw away 150 years ago, Licence is getting to the bottom of an important issue: how much we throw away, and how to change that.

Explore Chicago Collections

Explore Chicago Collections lets researchers, teachers and students search many locations at once. Their unified search lets you locate thousands of archival collections and digital images at member institutions all over the Chicago area.

A search of the site for “pollution” yielded eighteen images, including pollution maps from the Forest Preserve District of Cook County Records (pictured below), and fifty-four archival collections, including records from neighborhood environmental groups.

Water Supply and Sewage Treatment: Sources of Pollution Along Little Calumet River
Water Supply and Sewage Treatment: Sources of Pollution Along Little Calumet River [FPDCC_00_01_0015_039, Forest Preserve District of Cook County Records, University of Illinois at Chicago Library.]

Rachel’s War

In the Spring of 1962, The New Yorker published Rachel Carson’s anti-pesticide manifesto, Silent Spring, in three installments. Carson’s message quickly transcended the magazine’s readership, eliciting a national response that would eventually lead to a federal ban on DDT for agricultural use and the creation of the EPA. In honor of Carson’s legacy and Women’s History Month, cartoonist David Gessner illustrates the pioneering writer’s final years as she fought for the environment and for her life. (Based on Linda Lear’s biography, Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature.)

[h/t The Sierra Club]

How America Forgot About the Lead in Its Water

Read the full story in Pacific Standard.

In the mid-1980s, a raft of new research found America’s children also ingested lead from paint chips and dust, shifting the public focus from tap water to paint.

Who Politicized the Environment and Climate Change?

Read the full story in FutureStructure.

Historically, environmental cause enjoyed bipartisan support — but gains by NGOs and the emergence of climate change as a social issue have created a sharp political divide.

Celebrating Women who make Environmental Protection Possible

Read the full post from U.S. EPA.

Over the last 45 years of EPA leadership, we’ve made tremendous progress—dramatically cutting air pollution, cleaning up our water and land, and protecting vulnerable communities from harm. This month, we honor the leaders who’ve paved the way for women to follow in their footsteps—from the four women who’ve previously served as this agency’s Administrators, to the countless others who overcame prejudice to transform society.

Women’s History Month: Contributions in Environmental and Conservation Fields

Read the full post from U.S. EPA.

March is Women’s History Month, and EPA is marking the event by highlighting the many contributions women have made to the environmental and conservation fields. To help get things rolling, we are sharing advice that EPA women scientists and engineers have for students looking to make their own mark in environmental and conservation history.