Martin V. Melosi

Equity, Eco-racism and Environmental History

Influenced by European Romanticism, Americans have thought and written about their relationship to the natural world at least since the beginning of the nineteenth century. The earliest works of environmental history-concerning the United States at least-were written primarily in the 1930s and 1940s and focused on the West.2 But American environmental history as a distinct field of study-possessing a wide range of nuance and topic-did not take shape until the late 1960s with the emergence of the modem environmental movement. Although it drew enthusiastic support from college students and others caught up in the political and social turmoil of the 1960s, the modem environmental movement was rooted more deeply in the American experience. Attracting major support from the middle and upper-middle classes, and bolstered by the maturing of ecological science, it functioned politically as a coalition of groups with a variety of interests, including natural-environment issues such as outdoor recreation, wildlands, and open space, and in concerns over public health and environmental pollution.

Humans, Cities, and Nature: How Do Cities Fit in the Material World?

This paper explores how historians—and others—continue to create a barrier between the natural world and the city, and why the so-called declensionist narrative—humans as agents of harmful physical change—still dominates our understanding of the urban environment. It suggests several ways to reconsider the declensionist narrative; to evaluate the connection between “first nature” and “second nature;” to better understand the relationship between urban and ecological systems; and to assess how cities are natural.

Pure and plentiful: the development of modern waterworks in the United States, 1801–2000

Abstract This paper treats major themes in the development of urban water supply in the United States from the Fairmount Waterworks in Philadelphia (1801) to modern systems in the late twentieth century. Technical changes in sources of supply, distribution networks, filtration, and treatment are central to the discussion with an eye to the environmental implications of the evolving systems.

Public History and the Environment

This volume has essays by public and academic historians with working experience on topics, which describe and analyse linkages between public history and the environment and treat some of the ways that historians present environmental issues to the public.

Waste Management: The Cleaning of America

The history of solid waste collection and disposal is traced from the 19th Century, when public health was the major factor, to modern programs. Once regarded as a nuisance, solid wastes are now looked upon as the third pollutant and an ecological hazard because they are so closely interrelated with air and water pollution. Solid wastes were recognized as a national problem that was not responding to current treatment in 1965 with the passage of the Solid Waste Disposal Act. This Act focused on disposal, however, and is weak in the area of collection and its failure to mandate a regulatory authority. Efforts to correct these weaknesses led to the Resource Recovery Act of 1970, which shifted the emphasis from disposal to recycling, conversion to energy, and hazardous waste storage. The Office of Solid Waste was created in 1970, but federal and state interest and involvement in street cleaning and sanitation has been inconsistent. New technologies, such as in-house garbage grinders and compacters have not resolved the basic political and economic problems of collection and treatment or of the wasteful packaging and overconsumption habits of Americans and the associated litter epidemic. 49 references. (DCK)

GARBAGE IN THE CITIES: REFUSE, REFORM, AND THE ENVIRONMENT, 1880-1980

As recently as the 1880s, most American cities had no effective means of collecting and removing the mountains of garbage, refuse, and manure - over a thousand tons a day in New York City alone - that clogged streets and overwhelmed the senses of residents. In his landmark study, Garbage in the Cities, Martin Melosi offered the first history of efforts begun in the Progressive Era to clean up this mess. Since it was first published, Garbage in the Cities has remained one of the best historical treatments of the subject. This thoroughly revised and updated edition includes two new chapters that expand the discussion of developments since World War I. It also offers a discussion of the reception of the first edition, and an examination of the ways solid waste management has become more federally regulated in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Melosi traces the rise of sanitation engineering, accurately describes the scope and changing nature of the refuse problem in U.S. cities, reveals the sometimes hidden connections between industrialization and pollution, and discusses the social agendas behind many early cleanliness programs. Absolutely essential reading for historians, policy analysts, and sociologists, Garbage in the Cities offers a vibrant and insightful analysis of this fascinating topic.

What should we remember : A global poll among environmental historians

lective environmental memory of the world, what would it be?” In the spring of 2013, scholars from around the world found themselves confronted with this pointed question, and many of them – 22 in all – sent a reply. The original idea was that, in a volume dedicated to the merger of memory studies and environmental history, such a poll would broaden our perspective beyond the individual articles. The result is a colorful mix. It includes animals and bombs, dust and climate, organic and mineral resources, the old conservation movement and the new post-1970 environmental movement. From a geographical per“ What Should We Remember? A Global Poll Among Environmental Historians

Designing America's Waste Landscapes (review)

main question, “Why did the cleanup take so long?” is not entirely appropriate. Boston actually acted swiftly compared to cities like San Diego, which recently celebrated the renewal of its secondary treatment waiver with yet another season of beach closings. The author does very little to place Boston’s story within a national context. While Dolin consulted most of the relevant secondary literature, he fails to integrate this very well into his own work. There are smaller irritations. Although the book is well documented, Dolin tends not to footnote concepts drawn from the work of others. He should perhaps have asked more questions about water-quality problems in Los Angeles, the biggest champion of waivers. He wrongly credits the New York–New Jersey Port Authority with inventing the semi-autonomous “metropolitan district.” In all, Political Waters is not appropriate for a history classroom—but it needs to be added that this is not what Dolin intended. What his book does provide is a superior case study of policy implementation. It deserves wide readership among those interested in contemporary Massachusetts politics and, specifically, the history of Boston.

The Sanitary City: Urban Infrastructure in America from Colonial Times to the Present. By Martin V. Melosi. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999. xii + 578 pp. Illustrations, notes, bibliographic essay, index.

environmental history students appreciated this organizational strategy, noting that it helped keep the book’s arguments fresh in their minds. The book works well as a teaching tool: it reveals complex causation while maintaining clarity and readability. As environmental history, the book is extremely satisfying. As Native American history, however, it gives rise to a couple of concerns. First, Isenberg refers to the bison-hunting peoples of the Plains as “nomads.” In the introduction, he acknowledges that “nomad” carries negative connotations, but he tries to rehabilitate the term by correcting the misperception that nomadic equals primitive (9). Nevertheless, he might have been wiser to choose a more neutral (even if more cumbersome) phrase. Second, Isenberg generalizes about cultural and economic patterns on the Plains, oattening the experiences of diverse bison-hunting communities. In Chapter 2, the reader is left with the impression that Indians responded in unitary fashion to the opportunities provided by horses, the fur trade, and disease. However, Isenberg appreciates the dynamism of culture, economy, and environment on the Plains. His treatment of Indian experiences, though overgeneralized, is still subtle and complex. Is there a moral to the bison story? According to Isenberg, pursuit of wealth through bison was an exercise in futility (122, 163). Both Indians and Euroamericans ignored the unsustainability of bison hunting in an unpredictable environment. In the end, they undercut their own livelihoods rather than increasing their prosperity.

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Incineration has too often been perceived as a potential disposal panacea rather than one of several disposal options that meet varying criteria. Rather than trying to explain its advantages and disadvantages vis-à-vis other methods, we should first attempt to determine under what circumstances incineration best serves what disposal needs. The historical trend lines from 1885—when incinerators first appeared—to the present suggest that, in practice, incineration has been most notably a niche technology. To measure its success or failure in terms of aggregate numbers in the total pool of disposal options is to insufficiently understand its function over time, as part of a more complex system of solid waste disposal affected by several variables, including economic, environmental, and regulatory externalities.