Rachel Carson
1907 – 1964
Marine biologist, conservationist, and author whose book Silent Spring launched the modern environmental movement
From Rachel Carson’s essay The Sense of Wonder (link below)
Background Information and Connection to Maine (3)
Virtual Visit: Click here to see Rachel Carson’s summer retreat in Southport, Maine. Read how Carson once gave a friend a note asking: “Would you help me search for a fairy cave on an August moon and low, low tide? I would love to try once more, for the memories are precious.” (4)
Virtual Visit: Click here to visit the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in Wells, Maine (5)
Visual Text: A reenactment from the film Tree of Life, a documentary about the use of the synthetic pesticide DDT which was sprayed in neighborhoods around the United States to kill the insects that could cause malaria and typhus (6)
Rachel Carson’s Writings
Click here to read from Silent Spring, Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking book that brought attention to the dangers of pesticides. First published in 1962, Silent Spring is responsible for launching the Environmental Movement, the creation of the EPA, and bringing about the ban of DDT (7)
Click above to read reactions to Silent Spring, including accusations and attacks on Rachel Carson’s character (18).
Virtual Exhibition: Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, a Book that Changed the World (19)
Click here to read Rachel Carson’s statement before Congress in 1963 after President John F. Kennedy appointed a committee to look into the use of pesticides (8)
Click here to hear what Gina McCarthy, former head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), had to say about Rachel Carson (9)
Click here to read the article The Story of Silent Spring (10)
Search the Internet Archive for Rachel Carson’s 1955 essay on the importance of sharing the wonders of nature with children as she describes walks with her young nephew in Maine (11)
Rachel Carson’s obituary from 1964 (12)
Rachel Carson’s ashes were spread at this spot near her beloved seashore in Southport, Maine (13)
If you’d like more to explore…
Click here to read the Letters of Rachel Carson and her friend Dorothy Freeman (Create a free account to read from the book) (14)
New York Times Article on Rachel Carson’s Lessons, 50 Years After Silent Spring (15)
Lessons For Our Time From Rachel Carson (16)
Click here to read “Reflections on Rachel: Friends and family discuss the summer Southport resident who woke up the world” (17)
Photo Credits and Sources from Top to Bottom of Page:
1. Rachel Carson portrait: https://hrexach.wordpress.com/2014/04/16/silent-spring-rachel-carson/
2. https://quotefancy.com/quote/1009252/Rachel-Carson-A-rainy-day-is-the-perfect-time-for-a-walk-in-the-woods
3. “Rachel Carson.” Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors, Gale, 2017. Gale Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1000016120/LitRC?u=brun84057&sid=bookmark-LitRC&xid=2992ce2e. Accessed 21 Mar. 2022.
4. http://www.islandjournal.com/articles/remember-the-monarchs/
5. https://www.stateparks.com/rachel_carson_national_wildlife_refuge_in_maine.html
6. https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/06/27/ddt-is-good-for-me-e-e/
7. http://ejcj.orfaleacenter.ucsb.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/1962.-Rachel-Carson-Silent-Spring.pdf
8. https://rachelcarsoncouncil.org/about-rcc/about-rachel-carson/rachel-carsons-statement-before-congress-1963/
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gina_McCarthy)
10. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/story-silent-spring
11. https://archive.org/
12. http://www.brunswick.k12.me.us/bhslibrary/files/2020/04/Carson-Obituary.pdf
13. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/travel/rachel-carsons-rugged-shore-in-maine.html
14. https://archive.org/details/alwaysrachellett00cars
15. http://www.brunswick.k12.me.us/bhslibrary/files/2020/04/Rachel-Carson%E2%80%99s-Lessons-50-Years-After-%E2%80%98Silent-Spring%E2%80%99-The-New-York-Times.pdf
16. https://billmoyers.com/story/lessons-for-our-time-from-rachel-carson/
17. https://www.wiscassetnewspaper.com/article/reflections-rachel/474
18. https://learn.saylor.org/mod/book/tool/print/index.php?id=26872
19. https://www.environmentandsociety.org/exhibitions
