Exhaustive Notes on Florida Environmental History and Women’s Leadership

Marjorie Harris Carr and the Cross-Florida Barge Canal Fight - Carr was a pioneering Florida conservationist who led the grassroots effort against the Cross-Florida Barge Canal, a federal project threatening the Ocklawaha River. - She utilized the identity of a “Micanopy housewife” to navigate social spaces, while actually being a highly trained zoologist. - Her activism was built on three pillars: a love of wilderness, a belief in organized citizen action, and a faith in science as a political tool. - The Cross-Florida Barge Canal was a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project intended to cut across the state; it would have dammed the Ocklawaha, destroyed ecosystems, and altered aquifer hydrology. - Carr’s strategy was “Get the facts — and then act,” emphasizing credible scientific evidence over opinion. - In $1969$, she co-founded the Florida Defenders of the Environment (FDE) to stop the project and promote science-based policy. - Tactics used by FDE included commissioning ecological studies on biodiversity loss, public education via fact sheets and op-eds, and legal action. - In $1971$, President Richard Nixon halted construction; in $1990$, Congress officially deauthorized the canal project. - The canal lands became the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway in $1998$. # The Three Marjories: Pioneers of Florida’s Nature - The “Three Marjories” represent the evolution of women from garden clubs to scientific leadership in the mid-to-late $20 ext{th}$ century. - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings ($1896-1953$): Born in Washington, DC; moved to Cross Creek, Florida, to manage a $70$-acre citrus farm. - Despite losing her savings in the frost-prone citrus investment, she documented rural culture and nature using her journalism skills. - Key works: “The Yearling” ($1938$), which won the Pulitzer Prize in $1939$, and “Cross Creek” ($1942$), semi-autobiographical essays distributed to troops in WWII. - She observed the disappearance of Florida panthers and the decline of bear populations, using a Transcendentalist view of the natural world. - Marjorie Harris Carr ($1915-1997$): Trained zoologist with degrees from Florida State College for Women (now FSU) and the University of Florida. - She fought to save Payne’s Prairie and the live oaks of Micanopy before the Barge Canal fight. - The Barge Canal project, started in $1964$ with LBJ using ceremonial dynamite, destroyed thousands of acres of riverine forest via “crawler crushers.” - Carr’s FDE team included hydrologists and economists; they filed lawsuits and published a comprehensive environmental impact statement. - Marjory Stoneman Douglas: A former journalist and author of “The Everglades: River of Grass.” - Known as the “little old lady in tennis shoes,” she founded Friends of the Everglades and collaborated closely with Marjorie Carr. # Rachel Carson and the Concept of Ecology - Rachel Carson ($1907-1964$) was a marine biologist whose book “Silent Spring” ($1962$) catalyzed the modern environmental movement. - Her research focused on the devastating impacts of synthetic pesticides, specifically $DDT$, which bioaccumulated in body tissue and thinned the eggshells of birds like bald eagles. - The chemical industry attacked her as a “reactionary, emotional woman,” ignoring her scientific credentials. - “Silent Spring” led to congressional hearings, a federal ban on $DDT$, and the introduction of the term “ecology” ($ext{the study of all living things and their connections}$) to the public. # Industrial Pollution and Gendered Perspectives - In Cleveland, the Women’s City Club (founded $1900$) fought against smoke pollution, which reached levels of $90 ext{ pounds}$ per capita. - Industry leaders viewed smoke as the “price of production,” while women activists viewed it as a domestic and health crisis. - The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland and the American Lung Association of Northern Ohio partnered with women to reduce pollution through regulation. - In Florida, the state marketed itself as a health paradise for Tuberculosis ($ext{consumption}$) patients, yet hid industrial realities. - The $1949$ Jacksonville incident involved an industrial boiler releasing soot containing sulfuric acid, which melted the nylon stockings on women’s legs. - The city health officer dismissed the event, citing “dilution” as the solution to pollution. # Environmental Justice: Love Canal and Warren County - Environmental Justice is the fair treatment of all people regarding environmental laws, regardless of race or income. - Love Canal ($1970 ext{s}$): In Niagara Falls, NY, Hooker Chemical dumped $22,000 ext{ tons}$ of chemicals ($200 imes ext{ different types}$) into an abandoned canal. - Lois Gibbs, a stay-at-home mother, organized the community after her son developed respiratory issues. - Her activism led to the total evacuation of $900 ext{ families}$ and the creation of the Superfund program (CERCLA) in $1980$. - Warren County, NC ($1982$): Considered the birth of the formal Environmental Justice movement. - The state buried $PCB$-contaminated soil in a rural Black community with a shallow aquifer. - Protesters used non-violent civil disobedience, including lying in the streets to block trucks. - Robert Bullard, the “father of environmental justice,” documented that $3 ext{ out of } 4$ commercial hazardous waste landfills in the Southeast were in minority communities. # Significant Florida Environmental Injustice Cases - Pensacola: Margaret Williams and Citizens Against Toxic Exposure (CATE) successfully fought for the relocation of a Black neighborhood near two toxic plants. - Perry: Joy Ezell led a $30$-year campaign against the Foley Cellulose (formerly Buckeye) mill. - The mill dumped dioxin and waste into the Fenholloway River, which the state legislature legally designated as an “industrial river.” - Ezell received death threats and carried a pistol for protection while documenting dead zones where $10 ext{ square miles}$ of seagrass died in the Gulf. - Lake Apopka: Historically Florida’s second-largest lake, it was contaminated by WWII-era agricultural projects and pesticide runoff. - Farmworkers (historically Black, now Latinx) suffered “generational contamination,” including lupus, kidney disease, and miscarriages. - The Apokan Nuns and the Florida Farm Workers Association have advocated for these workers amidst linguistic and legal barriers. # Pioneers in Marine Biology and Conservation - Eugenie Clark ($1922-2015$): Known as the “Shark Lady,” she founded Mote Marine Laboratory. - She discovered “sleeping sharks” in Mexico, proving sharks don’t always have to move to breathe, and worked to change the “monster” perception created by the film Jaws. - Sylvia Earle: Known as “Her Deepness,” she was the first female chief scientist of NOAA and founder of Mission Blue. - She holds the record for a deep-sea walk at $1,250 ext{ feet}$ and has spent over $7,000 ext{ hours}$ underwater. - Nancy Foster ($1941-2000$): A pioneer at NOAA who created the Office of Habitat Conservation and the Restoration Center. # Environmental and Social Justice Intersections - Black Women Activists: Mary McLeod Bethune (founded Bethune-Cookman College), Eartha M.M. White (established Clara White Mission and parks in Jacksonville), and Blanche Armwood (first Black woman to graduate from law school in Florida). - Gwendolyn Cherry ($1923-1979$): The first Black woman elected to the Florida Legislature, advocating for the ERA and prison reform. - Deb Haaland: The first Native American Cabinet Secretary (Interior), who protected $12.5 ext{ million}$ acres of land and investigated federal Indian boarding schools. - Erin Brockovich: A legal clerk with an Associate’s degree who won a $ext{333 million dollar}$ settlement against PG&E for Chromium-$6$ contamination in Hinkley, CA. # Early Conservation and Indigenous Advocates - The Conservation Movement arose in the late $19 ext{th}$ century as a response to disappearing forests and the near-extinction of bison (reduced to $200$). - Theodore Roosevelt created $150$ national forests, $51$ bird reserves, and $5$ national parks. - Seminole Advocates: I.D. Strannahan (educated Seminole children), Minnie Moore Wilson (lobbied for land rights), and Harriet Bedell (promoted marketing of native crafts to eliminate Japanese counterfeits). # Final Review and Key Concepts - Municipal Housekeeping: An early movement bringing women into civic life to “clean up” the city. - Ecology: Popularized by Rachel Carson, emphasizing the interconnection of all organisms. - Carol Browner: Miami native who became the longest-serving EPA Administrator and later Obama’s “Climate Czar.” - Modern themes for exam: Suburbia’s rise, the “mama bear” protective instinct in environmental policy, and the transition of women from garden clubs to political powerhouses.