by Nan Lee

This past July, W.E.B.B. and the North Haven Historical Society (NHHS) co-sponsored a powerfully moving film based on Rachel Carson’s writing about her own life, followed a few days later by a talk about her work to eliminate the use of the toxic pesticide DDT.  Drawing on his new book, Women Who Invented the Sixties, historian and activist, Steve Golin, spoke powerfully of Carson’s involvement in efforts to uncover the dangers of DDT and its deathly effects on our world: the water, the earth, the bugs, the birds and us. At first Carson was reluctant to court controversy, but later she emerged as a national leader in getting DDT banned in the USA. Along with many others in the audience, I had a very personal response to Golin’s presentation.

Growing up on Long Island, New York, in the 1950’s, my friends and I literally danced and played ‘hide and seek’ in the clouds of DDT that were sprayed in our neighborhood to reduce the presence of mosquitoes. We were not alone as towns all over New York and across the country embraced the inexpensive chemicals that manufacturers promised would be life changing. “ Better living through modern chemistry” was the overarching theme that directed our post WWII lives. We might still be singing that song and dancing innocently in those clouds except for the courage and perseverance of scientist, Rachel Carson, whose controversial book, Silent Spring convinced the public of the toxic damage of DDT.

Groundbreaking as Silent Spring was, it was deeply informed by the anecdotes and data collected by many ordinary people who gathered information for Carson. Backyard birders reported the deaths of robins and other songbirds whose silence was shocking to them. Others sent her detailed accounts of the deaths of eagles and other raptors. Garden Clubs sent her information they had recorded and which they thought might help. Carson not only became an activist, she convinced others of the necessity of acting personally, too. Carson’s approach was an ecological one in which no fact or insight existed in isolation; for her all life was connected. She used this approach as a conservationist, but also to attack a public health problem of devastating consequences. As Golin suggests, her approach was in contrast “to the masculine ideal of dissecting nature in his lab”.  She understood the complex interrelations among different forms of life and used that understanding to explain the ravages of DDT.

Today, decades after DDT was finally banned here, we continue to live in a toxic stew of other pesticides and chemicals that remain legal in the USA. Organophosphates, the fire retardants in our clothing, heavy metals in the soil, and even toxic chemicals from common household products, are pervasive in our water and our air.  Knowledge and activism remain essential. Each of us can make a difference if we follow the model Carson gave us. Just see the connections.