12.1 CITIES, INDUSTRY,
AND POLLUTION
IN THE TWENTIETH
CENTURY
1900 -
1990
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2. Robert Gottlieb
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Occidental College.
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Forcing the Spring: The Transformation
of the American Environmental Movement (1993).
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Environmentalism Unbound: Exploring New
Pathways for Change (2001).
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In Major Problems: "Industrial Pollution
and Reform."
3. Rise of Cities
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Urban Population: cities over 2500.
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1800: 322,371 people; 6% of total.
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1860: 6, 216,518; 20% of total.
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1920: 54,157,973; 51% of total.
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1970: 149,325,000; 72% of total.
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1990: 187,053,487; 75.2% of total.
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2000: 225,956,060; 79.2% of total.
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Causes:
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Immigration, primarily from southern and eastern
Europe; 80% settle in northeast.
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Rural to urban migration: rural falls from
71.4% in 1880 to 48.6% in 1920 to 24.8% in 1990 to 20.8% in 2000.
4. Industrial Capitalism
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1890: U.S. surpasses Great Britain in industrial
output.
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Capitalist resource exploitation: coal, iron
ore, lumber, petroleum.
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Production:
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steel: major production after 1870.
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oil: distillation of kerosene, lubricants,
gasoline, commercial fuel.
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coal: high demand by steel, railroads, domestic
heating, manufacturing, transportation.
5. Industrial Cities
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Near markets, on rivers, canals, and
lakes.
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Pittsburgh on Allegheny and
Monongahela.
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Cincinnati on Ohio.
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St. Louis at junction of Mississippi and
Missouri.
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Chicago on Lake Michigan.
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Cleveland, Toledo on Lake Erie.
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Eastern seaport cities: Boston, New York,
Philadelphia, Baltimore.
6. The City as Wilderness
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Robert Woods: The City Wilderness
(1898).
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Upton Sinclair: The Jungle
(1905).
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Booth Tarkington: The Turmoil
(1914).
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Sigmund Freud: Civilization and its Discontents
(1930).
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Sam Bass Warner: The Urban Wilderness
(1972);
Street Car Suburbs (1962).
7. Urban Immigrants
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Humans and animals share a dwelling.
8. Air Pollution: Pittsburgh Smoke Stacks
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Air pollution.
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Pollution is part of progress.
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Prosperity.
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Smoke means jobs.
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A nuisance to be endured.
9. Women and Cinder Barrels
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Nose, throat, and lung contamination.
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"Barrels of cinders from parlor and kitchen
stoves send up dust clouds causing teary eyes."
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Soot-covered laundry; trees die.
10. Clean Air Reform
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Civic Groups: Chambers of Commerce; Smoke
and Dust Abatement leagues.
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State legislatures declare smoke a nuisance;
courts impose light fines.
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Womenís groups: Ladies Health Association
of Pittsburgh; Womenís Club of Cincinnati; Chicago Anti-Smoke League; Womenís
Organization, St. Louis.
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Engineers; smoke inspectors; furnaces.
11. Noise Pollution: Slum Dwellers
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Industrial and urban noise pollution.
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Philadelphia. Poor are unable to escape in
summer heat.
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No-one can sleep until after mid-night and
must rise again at 5 A.M.
12. Noise Reform
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Anti-noise groups cooperate with local Boards
of Health.
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Police Departments agree to suppress unnecessary
noise.
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Atlanta: Chamber of Commerce appointed an
anti-noise committee, 1918.
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New York: Society for Suppression of Unnecessary
Noise, Julia Barnett Rice.
13. Refuse Pollution: Throwing Slop
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Rural garbage disposal method.
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Urban garbage and rubbish pile up in alleys
and streets.
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Stench from dumps.
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Health hazards.
14. Main Street, Los Angeles
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Garbage and refuse accumulate faster than
they can be collected.
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Disposed in open dumps in population
centers.
15. Street Car Suburbs
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Horse car.
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Horse drawn carriages on rails.
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Health hazards and odors from waste.
16. Horse Car Terminal
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Horse cars on rails.
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Each horse discharges several gallons of urine
and 20 lbs. of feces per day.
17. Horse Cars, New York City
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Mid-1880s in U.S.: 100,000 horses and mules
pulling 18,000 horse cars on 3,500 miles of track.
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1900: 3.5 million horses in cities.
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Chicago: 82,000 horses produce 600,000 tons
of manure per year.
18. Garbage and Refuse Reform
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Health Boards: By 1880, in 94% of cities;
in 46% there is controlled refuse collection.
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American Public Health Association, 1890s:
Task force to gather statistics; compare European methods.
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Ladies Health Protective Association, 1894,
N.Y.C.; G.F.W.C.: lobbied for improved sanitary conditions; street cleaning;
housing; fire fighting; urban parks.
19. Incinerator
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First American garbage furnace at Governorís
Island, N.Y., 1885.
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Montgomery, Alabama, 1911.
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Cart on ramp at left approaches unloading
floor.
20. Traveling Garbage Burner
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Garbage burner cleans up alleys in Chicago,
1893.
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Cost: $20/day.
21. Garbage in the Cities
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Hand pushed trash carts.
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Migrants and blacks collect trash by
hand.
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Early clean-up efforts local, loose, and
short-lived.
22. George E. Waring, Jr.
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New York City.
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Street Cleaning Commissioner, 1895.
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"The Apostle of Cleanliness."
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Source separation: garbage, refuse, ashes
in different receptacles.
23. Sorting Refuse
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Hand sorting of refuse in New York City,
1903.
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Municipal rubbish sorting plant.
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Salvable materials picked out and sold to
offset collection costs.
24. Immigrants Sorting Paper
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Sorting various grades of paper, 1916.
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Employment for southern European
migrants.
25. White Wings
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New York City, 1905.
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Can carrier; broom.
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3-4 cans per sweeper.
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Core of sweepers with higher pay and improved
working conditions.
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2000 white-uniformed cleaners.
26. Flushing the Streets
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Horse-drawn water carts, St. Louis,
1905.
27. Garbage Scow
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Dumping ashes and rubbish from barges at Sandy
Hook, outside New York Harbor, 1900.
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Dilution is the solution to pollution.
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New dumping scows empty waste further from
shore.
28. Garbage Reform
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American Society for Municipal Engineers,
1894; American Society of Civil Engineers; conventions and panels.
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Society for Street Cleaning and Refuse
Disposal.
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American Public Health Association: Committee
on Garbage Disposal, 1897; national analysis of disposal methods.
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R. Hering and S. Greeley: Collection and
Disposal of Municipal Refuse, 1921.
29. Questions for Discussion
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Are social movements the most effective forces
for environmental reform?
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Is "nature" in the city a social
construct?
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