American Women! exhibit--Rachel Carson

"The human race is challenged more than ever before to demonstrate our mastery-
not over nature but of ourselves."

The wonder and beauty of the natural world fascinated marine biologist and writer Rachel Carson. Among the first to be alarmed by reckless use of chemical pesticides, her 1962 book Silent Spring sent shock waves throughout America.

There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings.Then a strange blight crept over the area and everything began to change.It was a spring without voices. On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of scores of bird voices there was now no sound; only silence lay over the fields and woods and marsh.

Giant chemical corporations threatened lawsuits or dismissed Rachel Carson as an 'hysterical woman.' But the public took notice, and Carson's Silent Spring launched our modern environmental movement.

FIRST EDITION of SILENT SPRING by Rachel Carson, 1962
PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS for Silent Spring with period graphics
PHOTO of Rachel Carson
-- On loan from the Rachel Carson Homestead, Springdale PA

Return to the "From Fifties to Feminism, 1950-1990" index page
Continue the story--NEXT... ."Into the 21st Century, 1990 onward" or visit:"
	From Colony to Country, 1600-1800	"From Prairie to Polls, 1870-1920"
	From Growth to Civil War, 1800-1870	"From Jazz to War 1920-1950"

View an alphabetical list of all 106 women included in American Women! with links to photos and biographies for selected women
View a Thank You to over 100 lenders to Ameican Women!
Return to American Women! index page
Return to Hoover Library-Museum virtual exhibits page
Return to Hoover Library-Museum main index page