APPENDIX 1 RACHEL CARSON CHRONOLOGY (Adapted from The Linda Lear Collection of Rachel Carson Books and Papers at the Shain Library, Connecticut College, New London, CT) 1907 Rachel Louise Carson born, 27 May, in Springdale, PA to Maria McLean and Robert Warden Carson 1913 Rachel Carson starts school 1918 “A Battle in the Clouds” in St. Nicholas Magazine. Carson receives Silver Badge, $10 prize 1919 Two more stories in St. Nicholas Magazine 1925 Starts Pennsylvania College for Women 1929 Graduates magna cum laude; summer at Woods Hole Biological Lab (on fellowship); starts MS in marine zoology at Johns Hopkins 1930-31 Teaches ½ time at University of Maryland College Park; teaches summer school at Johns Hopkins until 1936 and zoology at University of Maryland until 1933 1932 Receives M.A. degree in zoology from Johns Hopkins University 1935 Earns $19.25 a week writing radio scripts about fish 1936 Only woman to take junior aquatic biologist exam; scores 97%--the top score; sister Marian dies; Rachel and Maria Carson raise Marian’s two daughters, Virginia and Marjorie 1936 Earns $10-20 per article for features in Baltimore Sunday Sun 1938 Spends summer at Woods Hole writing Under the Sea Wind 175 APPENDIX 1 1940 Bureau of fisheries merges with Bureau of Biological Survey to become Fish and Wildlife Service. 1942-3 moves to Chicago temporarily to work at Office of Information, Fish and Wildlife Service for wartime work 1942-52 Promotions to Assistant Aquatic Biologist (42-43); Associate Aquatic Biologist (43-45); Aquatic Biologist (45-46); Information specialist (46-49); Biologist and Chief Editor (49-52). 1942-44 Edits Progressive Fish-Culturist 1943-45 Writes and edits government booklets on eating fish (Conservation bulletins #33, 34, “Food from the Sea”) 1946 Visits Chincoteague for “Conservation in Action” booklets; Rents cabin on Sheepscot River, Boothbay Maine 1948 Hires Marie Rodell as literary agent 1949 Diving in Florida; descends 15 feet; with Marie Rodell goes on voyage to Georges Bank 200 miles off coast of Boston on the Albatross III 1949 Receives Saxon Fellowship 1950 “Birth of an Island” in Yale Review wins $1000 George Westinghouse Award from American Association for the Advancement of Science for best science writing in a magazine in that year 1951 Guggenheim Fellowship for Edge of the Sea research 1951 The Sea Around Us voted by NY Times “outstanding book of the year” translated into more than 32 languages 1952 Wins National Book Award for best nonfiction book of 1951; The Henry Grier Bryant Gold Medal, Geographical Society New York; Zoological Society Gold Medal. Awarded a Simon Guggenheim Fellowship for research on tidal life. 1952 Wins John Burroughs Medal for natural history book of outstanding literary quality. 1952 Receives honorary doctorate degrees from Pennsylvania College for Women, Oberlin College, and Drexel Institute for Technology 176 RACHEL CARSON CHRONOLOGY 1952 Resigns from government job at Bureau of Fish and Wildlife 1954 Elected to Theta Sigma Phi the national fraternity of women in journalism and to the Royal Society of Literature in England 1955 Edge of the Sea serialized in New Yorker; condensed version in Readers Digest; best seller for 23 weeks 1956 Writes script for “Omnibus” television program on clouds; “Help Your Child to Wonder” published in Woman’s Home Companion 1957 Niece Marjorie dies; Rachel Carson adopts her son Roger Christie, age 5 1958 The Sea Around Us edition for children; Publishes “Our Ever-Changing Shore” in Holiday 1958 Signs contract with Houghton Mifflin for pesticide book (tentative title “Control of Nature”) 1958 (Dec) Maria Carson dies 1959 Lump in breast removed; Hires Jeanne Davis as assistant and secretary 1959 Cranberry pesticide scare indicates dangers that Carson points out 1960 Serves on Natural Resources Committee of the Democratic Advisory Council. Writes about pollution, radioactive waste in sea and chemical poisoning for the platform; Learns cancer is spreading— undergoes mastectomy and radiation treatment 1962 New Yorker serializes Silent Spring; Book of the Month Club selects Silent Spring for October; Chemical companies try to stop publication of Silent Spring; allocate $250,000 to discredit the book 1962 Jerome B. Wiesner sets up Pesticides Committee of the Office of Science and Technology, Special Panel of the President’s Science Advisory Committee (PSAC) (report released May 15, 1963) 1963 Awarded Albert Schweitzer Medal of the Animal Welfare Institute; National Wildlife Foundation names Carson Conservationist of the Year; April 3 CBS broadcasts “Silent Spring of Rachel Carson” 1963 (June 4) Carson testifies before Senate Government Operations Committee on pesticides; June 6 testifies before Senate Commerce Committee 177 APPENDIX 1 1963 Monarch butterfly letter to Dorothy Freeman 1963 Audubon Soc Medal (1st to a woman); Cullum Medal , American Geographic Society; elected to American Academy of Arts and Letters (3 of 50 members are women) 1964 Houghton Mifflin publishes 600,000 copies of Silent Spring paperback printing 1964 (March 23) NY Herald Tribune photo of Rachel Carson and article on massive fish kills 1964 (April 14) Rachel Carson dies 1964 Rachel Carson Trust for the Living Environment set up by Marie Rodell, Ruth Scott, and Shirley Briggs. Name later changed to Rachel Carson Council 1965 A Sense of Wonder published with photos by Charles Pratt 1970 Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge established in Maine 1972 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established; DDT banned from sale in US 1980 President Jimmy Carter awards Presidential Medal of Freedom to Rachel Carson 1981 Ruth Scott establishes Rachel Carson Homestead and Trust; Rachel Carson stamp issued by Post Office, May 28 178 APPENDIX 2 HISTORY OF DDT (DICHLORO(DICHLORO---DIPHENYLDIPHENYLDIPHENYL-- TRICHLOROETHANE) 1874 PhD student Othmar Zeidler synthesizes DDT in a laboratory at the University of Strasbourg 1939 Paul Müller discovers insecticidal properties of DDT in laboratory of J. R. Geigy pharmaceutical company in Switzerland 1944 DDT used as part of the control of a typhus epidemic in Naples, Italy. Subsequently used widely on soldiers and civilians 1945 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service undertakes experiments about DDT’s effect on wildlife at Patuxent Research Refuge; Carson proposes article about this to Reader’s Digest; the magazine does not answer 1945 On August 1, DDT released in U.S. for civilian use; September 9 Gimbels Department Store in New York advertises sale of DDT to public; 1945—1960s DDT widely used in sprays, powders, in homes and agriculture in U.S. 1948 Paul Müller receives Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for work with DDT 1950s U.S. government agencies carry out insecticidal spraying programs against gypsy moths, beetles spreading Dutch Elm disease, and other insect pests 1950-51 U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the Use of Chemicals in Food Products (Delaney Committee) holds hearings on pesticides; Beech-Nut Packing Company testifies that it can’t find residue-free vegetables for the baby food it produces 1954 Miller Amendment requires manufacturers to provide evidence of the safety of agricultural chemicals 1955 World Health Organization (WHO) starts spraying interior walls of homes in anti- malarial campaign in Africa, Mexico, Sardinia and elsewhere. The campaign meets with initial success. 179 APPENDIX 2 1957 Marjorie Spock and others file suit in Long Island, New York court to prevent spraying for gypsy moths. Judge dismisses the suit. 1957 Olga Huckins writes letter to the Boston Herald about DDT spray killing birds at her bird feeder, sends Carson a copy. Carson begins work on Silent Spring. 1962 Silent Spring published; parts of it are serialized in The New Yorker; it is a Book of the Month Club selection; best-seller for 31 weeks 1963 CBS Broadcasts “The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson”; Carson testifies twice in Congress 1967 The Environmental Defense Fund formed; aims to stop DDT spraying 1969 WHO ends anti-malaria campaign; widespread agricultural use has contributed to development of DDT resistance in mosquito populations 1969 the state of Michigan bans DDT from agricultural use. The New York Times magazine prints an obituary for DDT: "died, DDT, at age 95" 1969-70 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) cancels registration for most uses of DDT, with exceptions for disease prevention 1972 William Ruckelshaus, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prohibits domestic use of DDT in the U.S., permits manufacture and export 1983 Last DDT manufacturing plant in U.S. dismantled and sold to Indonesia 2001 The Stockholm Convention, a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from DDT and eleven other persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The “Dirty Dozen”: aldrin, chlordane, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, Hexachlorobenzene, mirex, toxaphene, Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), DDT, dioxins. All but DDT are to be eliminated; DDT is allowed restricted use in vector control. The convention has met repeatedly and added other POPs to its list, after scientific investigations. 2004 Stockholm Convention enters into force on 17 May, when 50th country ratifies it. 2006 WHO declares support of indoor use of DDT (and 11 other pesticides) to control malaria in Africa, but restricts agricultural use 2009 Indonesia signs Stockholm agreement; no longer manufactures DDT 180 HISTORY OF DDT 2008 Eugene Kenaga International DDT Conference issues the Pine River Statement on the Human Health Consequences of DDT 2011