The Killer that Sparked a Green Tomorrow: Silent Spring’s Victory over DDT

By Elsa Fondrk Junior Division, Historical Paper

Word Count: 2,093

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“It was a spring without voices.”

- Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

Life in a different generation would be a foreign experience. Each generation has a

different view of the world, and in the 1950’s the view was that one pesticide could be a panacea.

Specifically, the pesticide DDT. This chemical was used to kill insects, which carried disease

and destroyed crops. Little did people know, this insecticide was a deadly poison that killed more

than just bugs. Nor did they know that one woman would write one of the most monumental

books of the twentieth century and spark a green revolution, doing so much more than stopping

the use of DDT. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring ended the tragic use of the pesticide DDT in the

United States and sparked an environmental movement that carries on today.

The Discovery and Quick Rise of DDT

The Use of DDT in WWII and in Agricultural Applications

In 1939, Swiss scientist Paul Hermann Müller discovered that the chemical

Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, or “DDT,” could be used as a pesticide, which won him the

Nobel Prize. (Moore, pg. 4.; Hile, pg. 31.) DDT was used in World War II to kill

disease-carrying mosquitoes and other insects, with great success. (Gillam, pg. 8.) It was

worshipped for its ability to stop the spread of deadly diseases such as typhus and malaria.

(Gillam, pg. 8.) Soldiers and civilians were doused in it, and, in some cases, entire islands were

covered in it.

After World War II, its applications expanded to include farming, where DDT was used

to kill pests that were a nuisance to crops. (Gillam, pg. 8.) By the 1950s, it was commonly

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sprayed even in areas used by the general public who wanted to be rid of mosquitos and other

insects. (Hile, pg. 30.) In fact, by 1957, it was found in more than 6,000 products used by

homes. (Heitkamp, pg. 22). As the crop industry boomed and insect-borne diseases diminished,

the public glorified the pesticide, not knowing that it was slowly killing their world. (Gillam, pg.

8-9.) Their panacea was a poison.

The Effects of DDT on Wildlife and the Environment

One of the early signs of the danger posed by the chemical was the sudden death of

songbirds, including robins, which had eaten earthworms contaminated by DDT. (Gillam, pg. 9,

81.) As Joseph Hickey, an ecologist at the University of Wisconsin explained during DDT

hearings held in Madison, Wisconsin in 1969, “the more elms sprayed per acre, the lower … the

bird population,” noting that the songbird population in one area that had been sprayed with

DDT was “depressed by about 90% below the level of other Wisconsin communities where no

DDT had been applied.” (Appendix 1, Hickey Testimony, pg. 1142-1143.) Later, Bald Eagle

populations thinned to near extinction by eating fish poisoned by DDT. (Gillam, pg. 9.) Even

birds in Antarctica were found with traces of DDT in their bodies, showing how far the chemical

spread. (Hile, pg. 33.)

Some later studies confirmed that when DDT was sprayed on trees, it didn’t just kill the

bugs. (Hile, pg. 34.) When a bug ate the tree’s leaves, the organism absorbed DDT in its body,

causing mineral deficiencies. (Hile, pg. 30,34.) If a bird ate the affected insect after that, it would

ingest the DDT as well. (Hile, pg. 34.) For example, a single robin could die after eating as few

as 11 earthworms poisoned by DDT. (Gillam pg. 81.) Any creature that then ate the bird also

assumed the DDT. The chemical worked its way up the food chain. (Hile, pg. 34.) While

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scientists knew about this growing problem, the public was clueless. What they needed was

someone who could link the two groups.

Rachel Carson’s Fight to Educate the Public About DDT

Rachel Carson’s Green View

Rachel Carson (May 27, 1907-April 14, 1964) was a gifted writer, publishing her first

story in a magazine at age 10. (Gillam, pg. 18.) Rachel Carson saw the ocean for the first time in

college, which fueled a love of nature that was established in her childhood. (Gillam, pg. 27.)

Her first job was working at the Bureau of Fisheries where she combined her love of writing and

her passion for science. (Gillam, pg. 35 - 38.) She later became chief editor of publications for

the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. (Gillam, pg. 96.) She wrote several award-winning

books about the ocean, including Under the Sea-Wind, The Edge of the Sea and The Sea Around

Us, before moving on to her masterpiece: Silent Spring. (Gillam, pg. 54, 65, 38.)

The Publication of Silent Spring

Rachel Carson’s interest in DDT was sparked when, in 1958, she received a letter from a

friend, Olga Huckins, who had a private bird sanctuary on her land in Massachusetts. (Hile, pg.

30.) Huckins reported that all of her treasured birds had “died horribly” after a plane sprayed

DDT on her land without her permission; the mosquito population, however, was not affected.

(Hile, pg. 30; Heitkamp, pg. 28; Levine, pg. 145.) Soon after, Carson talked to scientists and

researchers around the globe about the chemical; many revealed they were concerned that it was

a danger to the earth. (Hile, pg. 31.) As she continued researching about it, she realized she had

enough information to write a book. (Hile, pg. 31.) After four years of research, Rachel Carson

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published Silent Spring in 1962, having sample chapters previewed in the popular magazine The

New Yorker. (Heitkamp, pg. 28.) In her book, she describes the potential dangers of pesticides

and DDT and advocates for testing new chemicals before releasing them into the environment.

(Carson, Miller, pg. 92 - 94.) She said that humans do not control nature but are merely part of it.

(Carson, pg. 297.) What they do to the world around them, they do to themselves.

One of the reasons the book was so successful was because of her beautiful writing. In

her first chapter, “A Fable for Tomorrow,” Carson describes a beautiful town that was connected

to nature: “There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in

harmony with its surroundings.” (Carson, pg. 1.) After describing the picturesque town, Carson

talked about how, seemingly without explanation, everything died out and the birds that once

sung were dead and silent, hence the name “Silent Spring.” Then she struck a chord among

readers with the warning: “No witchcraft, no enemy action had silenced the rebirth of new life in

this stricken world. The people had done it themselves.” (Carson, pg. 3.)

Opposition to Silent Spring The general public was shocked by the horrors that the book revealed. It immediately

became Number 1 on the New York Times Bestseller List. (Miller, pg. 11.) While the public

loved it, the chemical companies that profited from DDT did not. They accused Ms. Carson of

being a communist for ruining the image of DDT, and they threatened to sue the publisher. (Hile,

pg. 36.) As the chemical companies became more angry, some magazines and newspapers

started to believe that Rachel Carson was a misguided zealot. (Hile, pg. 36.) However, most of

the general public saw it from Rachel Carson’s perspective and started the fight to ban the killer.

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Attempts to ban DDT were opposed by powerful chemical companies. For example,

Montrose Chemical Company published a statement in 1969 arguing that “The opponents of

DDT have chosen to exaggerate its dangers and ignore its benefits,” and that “DDT opponents

are capitalizing, quite cynically, on man's inherent fear of the unknown."(Appendix 2, Montrose

Statement, pg. 1,12.) The company added that “Pesticides are a convenient scapegoat on which

to blame almost any ecological changes that lead to a disappearance of wildlife when no obvious

explanation is immediately perceptible.... Representatives of bird-loving organizations have

been known to collect the corpses of birds, causes of death unknown, and exhibit them as victims

of pesticides.” (Appendix 2, Montrose Statement, pg. 10.) Despite these statements, the attempts

to ban DDT continued.

The Legacy of Silent Spring

The Birth of an Environmental Movement

In 1964, Rachel Carson died of cancer not knowing the lasting impacts of her

revolutionary book. (Heitkamp, pg. 38.) After her death, DDT did not miraculously go away.

Much of the battle to ban the poison was left to fight. However, a short time after her death the

Federal Wilderness Act was passed, which protected large areas of nature. (Hile, pg. 40.) In 1970

the Environmental Protection Agency (or EPA) was formed, which helped to eventually ban

DDT in 1972, 10 years after the publication of Silent Spring. (Hile, pg. 40; Levine, pg. 191.)

Rachel Carson’s work inspired many other laws including The Toxic Substances Control Act;

The Environmental Pesticides Control Act; The Safe Drinking Water Act; The Insecticide,

Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; The Clean Water Act; and The Clean Air Act. (Levine, pg.

190.)

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Lasting Effects of Rachel Carson’s Dream

While Rachel Carson’s bestseller sparked many federal regulations, it also inspired a new

idea. People started to realize that they could think for themselves about the interactions between

mankind and nature. (Heitkamp, pg. 40 - 41.) They would no longer blindly accept what Rachel

Carson called the “false assurances” of the chemical industry and their “sugar coating of

unpalatable facts.” (Carson, pg. 13.) They would reject the “current vogue for poisons” and

demand more testing of pesticides. (Carson, pg. 297.)

Rachel Carson stood alone at first, but now countless others carry on her legacy. Her

work is far from done, for it is not a simple task to undo negative human impacts on the earth.

We face many environmental challenges today, and the tragic events described in Silent Spring

are a brutal reminder of the damage one pesticide can do. With the wisdom of one book,

however, Rachel Carson helped return a silent spring to a vociferous one with not only the

chatter of birds, but the battle cries of an army of passionate environmentalists.

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Appendix 1

Excerpts of Testimony by Joseph Hickey

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Appendix 2

Excerpts of Statement by Montrose Chemical Company

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Works Cited

Primary Sources

Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1962. This was a good primary

source. I learned about Silent Spring by reading the book. Lots of information.

Montrose Chemical Corporation of California. "Statement by Montrose Chemical Corporation of

California." Received by Department of Health, Education and Welfare Secretary Robert

H. Finch's Commission on Pesticides and Their Relationship to Environmental Health, 8

Sept. 1969. Department of Natural Resources DDT Hearings 1968-1969, The State

Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison, Series 2214, Box 5. Memo. This showed the

conflict after Silent Spring as well as the impacts of DDT. It was a nice primary source.

Wisconsin State, Department of Natural Resources. Petition of Citizens Natural Resources

Association, Inc. and Wisconsin Division, Izaak Walton League of America, Inc. for a

Declaratory Ruling on Use of Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloro-Ethane, Commonly Known

as DDT, in the State of Wisconsin. Testimony of Joseph J. Hickey. Government

Publishing Office, 15 Jan. 1969, pp. 1141-53. 3-DR-1 Legislature. This showed the

effects of DDT as well as the attempts to ban it and the conflict that came afterwards.

This was a connection to my home state as well, showing the very widespread use of

DDT.

Secondary Sources

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Gillam, Scott. Rachel Carson: Pioneer of Environmentalism. Edina, ABDO Pub., 2011. This had

a lot of information about DDT and Rachel Carson. It also showed the lasting legacy

of Silent Spring.

Heitkamp, Kristina Lyn. Rachel Carson: Pioneering Environmental Activist. Rosen Publishing

Group, 2018. This had an okay amount on DDT and Silent Spring.

Hile, Lori. Women in Conservation: Rachel Carson, Environmental Pioneer. Heinemann

Library, 2015. This talked about Rachel Carson and Silent Spring. It was good for

reference.

Levine, Ellen. Rachel Carson. New York, Viking, 2007. This had information on Rachel Carson

and Silent Spring. It was a good book for reference.

Miller, Marie-Therese. Conservation Heroes: Rachel Carson. Chelsea House, 2011. This had a

fair amount on DDT and a lot about Rachel Carson. It was good for reference and effects

of Silent Spring.

Moore, William. "The Wisconsin Ban on DDT." University of Wisconsin Law School Forum -

Gargoyle, vol. XVI, no. 2, Fall 1985. This had a lot about the conflict after DDT and the

legacy of Silent Spring. It talked about the hearings held and laws about DDT.

Hile, Lori. Women in Conservation: Rachel Carson, Environmental Pioneer. Heinemann

Library, 2015. This talked about Rachel Carson and Silent Spring. It was good for

reference.

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