29. Letter to Dr. George Crile, Jr., February 17, 1963. Rachel Carson Papers.
30. The Pollution of Our Environment. Speech given to the Kaiser-Permanente Symposium, “Man Against Himself,” October 18, 1963, San Francisco, California. Rachel Carson Papers.
31. Letter to Dorothy Freeman, September 10, 1963, from Always Rachel: The Letters of Rachel Carson and Dorothy Freeman, edited by Martha Freeman (Boston: Beacon Press, 1995).
Acknowledgments
In the course of writing Rachel Carson’s life I discovered the varied tapestry of her formal and informal writing that for one reason or another was lost to the archives or which had once been published but was now long forgotten and out of print. From the freshness of her early nature writing to the richness of her speeches as a mature literary figure, the body of this writing impressed me and made me think that others might find in these, as in her other published writing, much to treasure.
Happily Deanne Urmy, Executive Editor of Beacon Press, shared my enthusiasm for this unknown collection and lent her own deep interest in the subject so that this anthology could become reality. She has enriched the always difficult process of selection by her perceptive editorial eye and her literary discernment for which I am deeply grateful. Working with her has been a gift.
My literary agent and the trustee of Carson’s literary estate, Frances Collin responded to this project with appreciation and insight, and willingly lent her invaluable archives. To Marsha S. Kear, administrative assistant to Collin, I owe a debt of several years’ standing for finding obscure letters and accurate data whenever I came up empty handed.
Shirley A. Briggs always deepens my understanding of Rachel Carson’s life and literary process by document, memory, and opinion. She graciously and enthusiastically responded to my desire to republish Howard Frech’s wonderful charcoal and pencil drawings that originally graced the pages of Carson’s first book, Under the Sea-Wind. Frech was a colleague of Carson’s at the Baltimore Sun and a splendid artist whose work was widely appreciated in Baltimore art circles. Carson commissioned Frech to draw specific marine life and paid him out of her own pocket for approximately nine drawings, several of which are used here for the first time.
As in my earlier work on Carson, Paul Brooks has once again graciously and with unfailing literary taste led the way. Several of Carson’s unpublished excerpts first appeared in whole or in part in his splendid literary biography The House of Life: Rachel Carson at Work. I have chosen to republish them here because of the quality of Carson’s writing they exhibit, and the insight they give on her development as a natural scientist.
Almost all of the writing I have selected first came to my notice during the years I spent working on the Papers of Rachel Carson at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. I continue to owe the curators and archivists there a debt of gratitude for their knowledgeable assistance.
Several selections required scientific annotation in order to bring currency to Carson’s original research. I am indebted to the following scientists who helped me verify material and introduced me to the latest thinking on scientific issues that remain controversial: David G. Smith, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, and Christopher Milensky, Division of Birds, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution; Richard H. Backus and William Watkins, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and especially George M. Woodwell, Woods Hole Research Center, who patiently responded to my inquiries and always knew where to send me; Tom Cochran, National Resources Defense Council; Cliff Curtis, World Wildlife Federation; and Matthew Perry, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, who continually expands my understanding of wildlife management.
I was able to work on this project with the assistance and collegiality of Pamela Henson, Office of Smithsonian Institution Archives, and in the good company of the staff of the Joseph Henry Papers, Office of Smithsonian Institution Archives, to whom I continue to owe many happy debts.
My two Ruths, Ruth Brinkmann Jerome and Ruth Jury Scott, have graced my life in different ways but with infinite richness. Ruth Scott was one of Carson’s compatriots but she is also a mentor and guide without whose support my world and Rachel Carson’s would never have coincided so seamlessly or so happily. Ruth Brinkmann Jerome, my dear friend of forty years, began nurturing me as a young undergraduate. She remains my guide to how to live one’s life with grace, humor, courage, and faithfulness.
My husband, John W. Nickum, Jr., to whom this book is dedicated, knows the richness of the support he has given to me day by day and year by year so that I could have the freedom to create and the discipline to persevere. I hope he knows some measure of my love and gratitude as well.
Index
Please note that page numbers are not accurate for the e-book edition.
Abyss, abyssal plains, 104–5
Acadia National Park, 115
Agricultural agencies, authoritarian control of, 217
Agriculture, U.S. Department of, 205, 213
Air Pollution Conference, 232
Alaska, 67
Albatrosses, 68–69, 72
Albatross III (research vessel), 151–54
Albemarle Sound, 42
Aldrin, 204
Alewife, 16
Algæ, 10, 144, 145
Algonquin tribes, 42
Allee, W.C., 144
Alligators, 157, 158, 159
Amazon River, 66
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 64; Symposium, “The Sea Frontier,” 133
American Medical Association (AMA), 208, 221
American Museum of Natural History, 64
Anchovy, 7
Anemone Cave, 115
Angler fish, 154
Animal(s): experimentation, opposition to, 192; inhumane treatment of, 192, 193; livestock, inhumane methods of raising, 192, 194–96
Animal Machines (Harrison), Carson’s preface to, 192, 194–96
Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), 189, 192–93
Antelope, 16; pronghorn, 17
Ants, fire, 159, 205
Archeozoic Era, 84
Arctic Ocean, 103
Aristotle, 20
Ascophyllum, 145
Associated Press, 98, 205
Asters, wild, 122
Atlantic Monthly, the, 1, 3, 54–55, 150
Atlantic Naturalist, The, 209–10
Atlantic Ridge, 106
“Atlantic water,” flooding of south coast of England with, 143
Atomic Age, 102, 107, 228, 242; Carson’s references to anxieties of living in, 83, 89
Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), 107, 240
Atomic waste: dumping of, at sea, 101, 106–9, 228, 232, 235–37; tragic consequences of dumping of, 237–43
Audubon, John James, 16
Audubon Societies, state, 95, 220–21
Audubon Society of the District of Columbia, 30, 63
Audubon Society Screen Tour, 96
Avocet, 47
Baltimore Sun, 1, 14, 15, 24
Banding, of chimney swifts, 28–29
Barnacles, 6, 120, 174
Bayberry, 40
Bear, grizzly, 17 and 17n
Bear River Refuge (U.S. National Wildlife Refuge), 41
Beauty, natural, 160, 163, 173; destruction of, 161–62; enjoyment of, 165
Beechnuts, 16
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, 118
Beetle: Japanese, 216; white fringed, 216
Bennington Banner, 202
Berrill, John [N.J.], 137, 138
Big Bear Lake, 235
Bigelow, Henry Bryant, 133, 137–38
Bikini bomb test, 109
Biological Station at St. Andrews, 137
Biology: instruction, need for reform of, 192; understanding, 193–94
Bird clubs, 46
Bird’s nest soup, 26
Bison, 16
Bittern, 121; American, 47; least, 47
Bluefish
, 7
Bobwhite, 13
Bok, Curtis, 172; Carson’s letter to, 173
Bok, Nellie Lee, Carson’s letter to, 173
Boothbay Regional Land Trust, 173
Brant, 15–16
Brazilwood, 70
Briggs, Shirley, 30, 33, 64, 155–56
Brown, John Mason, 90
Bugula, 120
Bureau of Fisheries, U.S., 3, 14, 33, 149
Bureau of Land Management, 99
Burroughs, John, 94. See also John Burroughs Memorial Association, John Burroughs Memorial Medal
Buzzards Bay, 54, 120
Calanus, 145
Calcium, 10
California, University of, Citrus Experimental Station of, 208
Callianassa, 127–28
Cancer, 226; breast, 187, 223–24; liver, 219
Canvasbacks, 16, 17 and 17n
Cape Cod, 118–20, 138, 148
Cardinals, 71
Caribou, 237, 238
Carson, Rachel, works of The Edge of the Sea, 111, 125, 147
“Help Your Child to Wonder,” 246
“Our Ever-Changing Shore,” 113–24
The Sea Around Us, 33, 34, 53, 63, 83, 151, 163; dedication of, to Henry Bryant Bigelow, 133; John Burroughs Medal for, 93; money from, 173; National Book Award for, 90; preface to second edition of, 101–9; success of, 34, 51, 76
Silent Spring, 101, 187, 189, 212, 216, 227; fable opening, 197–200; inaccurate statements in reviews of, 206, 207, 215; insect control set forth in, 214; reactions to, 201, 202, 203; serializing of, in the New Yorker, 201, 202
“Undersea,” 1, 3–11, 150
Under the Sea-Wind, 3, 15, 33, 51, 150–51; background of, 54–55; Book I (Edge of the Sea), 56–58; Book II (The Gull’s Way), 58–60; Book III (River and Sea), 60–62; general plan and viewpoint of, 55–56; memo to Mrs. Eales on, 53–62
Cats, 69
Cattle, 69, 71, 74, 205–6
Caulk, Ralph, 223n, 225–26
Caves, in sea cliffs, 115
CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), 71
Cesium137, 237, 238
Chace, Fenner, 137
Chemagro Corporation, 208
Chemical industry, funding of research universities by, 201, 207–8, 221–22
Chesapeake Bay, 19, 20, 22, 23
Chickadees, 47
Chincoteague Refuge (U.S. National Wildlife Refuge), 41
Clams, 5, 6, 59, 137
Clark University, 27
Clava, 138
Clawson, Marion, 99
Clear Lake, 235
Cleveland Clinic, The, 223 and 223n
Clouds: Carson’s TV script on, 175–85; cirrus, 184–85; cumulus, 182–84; lenticular, 178–79; stratus, 181–82
Coastline: Carson’s observations and description of, 113–23; Carson’s plea for preservation of, 123–24
Cods, 8, 59, 154
Comb jellies, 7, 121
Committee for Nuclear Information, 240
Committee on Atomic Energy, 239
Commoner, Barry, 232
Composite family, 67
Congo River, 66
Conservation in Action booklets, 1, 41, 42
Continental shelf, 4, 8, 60
Cook, Captain James, 71
Copepod, 145
Coral reefs, 10, 134
Coral rock, 156
Corals, 10, 80
Cormorants, 34–35, 38; flightless, 68
Coronet magazine, 25
Council on Environmental Quality, U.S., 109n
Court of Appeals, U.S., 217
Cows, 216, 233, 239, 240
Crabs, 5, 9, 56, 59, 153; blue, 136; fiddler, 57; ghost, 6, 57, 126; green, 136–37; hard, 23; horseshoe, 116–17
Crayfish, 20
Crepidula, 145
Crile, George “Barney,” Jr., 223n; Carson’s letter to, 223–26; More Than Booty (with J. Crile), 224
Crile, Jane, 223, 224, 226; More Than Booty (with G. Crile), 224
Cuckoo, 13
cummings, e. e., 12
Cunners, 7
Cuttlefish, 9
Cypress(es), 42–43, 157; Monterey, 116
Cystoidean tube, 128
Daisy (brig), 68
Darwin, Charles, 67–68, 69, 244–45; The Origin of Species, 245
Day, Albert M., dismissal of, from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 98–100
DDD, 235
DDT, 204, 205, 213–14, 217, 233–34
Debussy, Claude, 84; La Mer, 83, 84–88
Deer, 74, 121
Development: private or commercial, 124; sordid transformation of, 123
Diamond Black-Leaf Co., 208
Diapatra tubes, 128
Diatoms, 6, 10, 130, 139, 144, 145
Dickinson, Emily, 148
Dieldrin, 204, 216
Dinoflagellates, 121, 139, 143
Dodo, 68
Dogfish, 7
Dogs, 69
Drainage operations, 18
Drift, 234
Driftwood, 174
Duck(s), 18, 171; black, 45; marsh or dabbling, 45; at Mattamuskeet Refuge, 45–47, 48; pintail, 45; redhead, 17 and 17n
Dumping, 109n. See also Atomic waste
Dunes, 115, 118–20, 121, 122, 130–32
Dust bowl, 19
Eagle(s), 183; bald, 204
Earth: exploring interior of, 104; temperature of, 135
Earthworms, 190–91
Ebony, 70
Echo sounding instruments, 81
Ecology, 135, 231; and conservation, 167; defined, 166
Ecosystem, 231, 244
Ectocrines, 142, 143, 144, 145
Eels, 7, 56; American, 22, 61; effect of sea water on behavior of, 15; European, 22–23, 61; seeking Sargasso Sea, 19–23, 60–62
Egret: American, 47; snowy, 127
Elk, 16, 17; pronghorn, I7n
Elvers, 23. See also Eels
English Channel, 139
Enteromorpha, 145
Equator, 180
Eskimos, Alaskan, levels of radioactivity in, 237, 238
Everett, Constance, 29
Everett, E. A., 29
Everglades, 154–59
Everglades National Park, 155
Evolution, theories of, 244–45
Fable, opening Silent Spring, 197–200
Faulkner, William, 12
Fawns, 121
Federal Aviation Agency, Civil Aero-medical Unit of, 206
FIFRA, 205
Finneran, Fred, 158–59
Fir, 174
Fireflies, 169–70
Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), U.S., 136, 137, 147, 151, 155, 158; and banded chimney swifts, 29; Carson’s employment with, 24, 30; Carson’s resignation from, 51, 111; and Conservation in Action, 1, 41; Albert Day’s dismissal from, 98–100; on decline of bald eagle, 204; and Mattamuskeet Refuge, 49
Fitzgerald, F. Scott, 12
Flounders, 8
Fly, screwworm, 213
Flycatchers, 69
Fog, 181–82
Food and Drug Administration, U.S., 204, 219–20, 234
Foraminifera, 10
Ford Foundation, TV Radio Workshop of, 175
Fosberg, F. Raymond, 63, 74
Fowl, 21
Foxes, 58, 126
Framingham Reservoir, 205
Frances Hutchinson Medal, 212. See also Garden Club of America
Freeman, Dorothy, 172; Carson’s letters to, 168–71, 172–73, 246–47
Freeman, Stanley, Carson’s letters to, 168–71
Fucus, 145
Galapagos Islands, 67–68, 69
Galathea (research vessel), 106
Ganges River, 66
Garden Club of America, 220–21, 223; Carson’s address to, 211–22
Gardenia, 75
Garnet, 122
Geese, 15–16, 42; blue, 47; Canada, 44, 46–47; Hutchins, 47; at Mattamuskeet Refuge, 42, 44–45, 46–47, 48, 49; white-fronted, 47
Genetic damage, 243–44
Georges Bank, 151, 152, 153–54
George Washington University, 63
Glades buggies, 155, 156, 158
Glassworms, 7
Glasswort, 121
Globe Times, 202
Gnats, 235
Goat(s), 69, 70, 71, 74; mountain, 17 and I7n
Goldenrod, 122
Good Reading, 164
Goosefish, 154
Goteborg Laboratory (Sweden), 145
Grass(es): beach, 119; dune, 131; marsh, 42, 121; prairie, 19
Great Lakes, 16
Grebe(s), 47; western, 235
Griffiths Head, 247
Grouse, 16
Guam, 73
Gulf Stream, 22, 106, 152
Gulls, 35–38, 120, 131, 247
Gums, 42, 48
Gumwood, 70
Gypsy moth, 217
Haddock, 8
Halibut, 8
Halle, Kay, 223n, 224, 226
Halley, Edmund, 70
Halos, around sun or moon, 184
Hammocks, 157
Hanford Laboratories, 238
Hardwoods, 174
Harrison, Ruth, Animal Machines, 192, 194–96
Harvard University, 133, 137
Hawaiian Islands, 67, 70–72, 74–75
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, 30
Hawk(s), 30–32, 69, 183; duck, 27
Heezen, Bruce, 105
Hemlock, 174
Hen, heath, 17
Heptachlor, 205
Heron(s), 47, 121; great blue, 35, 47; green, 47, 120; little blue, 47; night, 120
Herring, 7, 21, 143, 144, 145; migration of, 36–37; river, 16; round, 137–38; sea, 137
Hexachlorobenzene, 219
Hogs, 69–70
Holiday magazine, 111, 113
Honouliuli Forest Reserve, 71
“Hot spots,” 239
Howe, Kay, 41
Howe, Quincy, 55, 150
Howlett, Duncan, 246
Hudson, William Henry, 94, 166
Hueper, W. C., 219
Humane Biology Projects, Carson’s introduction to, 192
Hummingbird, 13
Hurricane, 182
Hydroids, 138
Ianthina, 7
Illinois Natural History Survey, 208
Industry, liaison between science and, 207–9, 210, 221
Insect control, 212–14
Insecticides. See Pesticides
Intensivism, 194–96
Interior, U.S. Department of, 24, 100, 234
International Geophysical Year, 103
Iodine, radioactive, entrance of, into food chains, 239–41