Carson, Rachel (1907–1964)

Rachel Carson, considered to be the founder of the modern environmental movement, shattered attitudes toward the natural environment by proving the negative consequences of long-term use of chemical pesticides such as DDT among many kinds of living things, including humans. Carson is regarded as one of the most influential writers of the 20th century.

Rachel Carson (1907–1964) is considered to be the founder of the modern environmental movement.

Source: Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Rachel Carson was born in Springdale, Pennsylvania, on May 27, 1907, to Robert and Maria Carson. Her father, who was 43 years old when she was born, was often away from the family for long periods of time while he traveled and sold insurance. She was raised almost entirely by her mother, and as a small child, [Page 293]Carson spent her childhood engulfed in books and exploring the wooded areas around her home. Her love of nature as a child developed her interests in writing. She was often found writing and illustrating short stories about animals. Her first published work was a short story titled “A Battle in the Clouds”; it appeared in a St. Nicholas League magazine when she was only 11 years old. After graduating first in her class from Parnassus High School in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, Rachel was given an academic scholarship to an elite, private Christian college in Pittsburgh in 1925. At the Pennsylvania College for Women (later known as Chatham College), she studied English and changed her major to biology at a time when women were not typically thought of as being intellectually fit to study or physically capable to practice scientific procedures.

Carson continued on to Johns Hopkins University, where she received her master's degree in zoology in 1932. While teaching zoology at the University of Maryland shortly thereafter, she continued her education during the summer months by studying at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. While studying over the summers, Rachel developed an intense love for the sea and its natural wildlife. Even though her first passion was research in the field, she first began her professional career in the Bureau of Fisheries (later known as the Fish and Wildlife Services) in Washington, D.C., by writing science radio scripts. She later became chief of publications. This eventually led to a full-time job as an aquatic biologist. Carson was only the second woman hired by the Bureau of Fisheries for a nonsecretarial position. In addition to her work as a biologist, she wrote articles for newspapers on marine zoology; her writing served as an additional means of income.

With support from an editor, Carson submitted an article titled “Undersea” to the Atlantic Monthly, which was published in 1937. This article led to her first published book, Under the Sea Wind, in 1941. This work was critically acclaimed, but went publicly unnoticed in the wake of the uproar of the Pearl Harbor tragedy. Rachel's love for the oceans spawned her next literary venture, titled The Sea Around Us, in 1951. This book stayed on the bestseller list for 86 weeks, was noted in numerous books and magazines, and was translated into 33 different languages. In 1952, The Sea Around Us won the John Burroughs Medal and the National Book Award for nonfiction. Within its first year of publication, The Sea Around Us sold more than 200,000 copies in hardcover.

...