The Rachel Carson Homestead is a

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

site that is located in

Springdale, Pennsylvania Springdale is a borough in northeastern Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, northeast of Pittsburgh along the Allegheny River. The population was 3,400 at the 2020 census. The borough became official in 1906, after breaking away fro ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, eighteen miles northeast of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

and near the

Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ; ; ) is a tributary of the Ohio River that is located in western Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York in the United States. It runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border, nor ...

History

The original four-room farmhouse was the birthplace and childhood home of

Rachel Carson Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) was an American marine biologist, writer, and conservation movement, conservationist whose sea trilogy (1941–1955) and book ''Silent Spring'' (1962) are credited with advancing mari ...

, whose 1962 book ''

Silent Spring ''Silent Spring'' is an environmental science book by Rachel Carson. Published on September 27, 1962, the book documented the environmental harm caused by the indiscriminate use of DDT, a pesticide used by soldiers during World War II. Carson acc ...

'' launched the modern

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

movement. The Carson family moved to this home in 1901 with plans to live in the home temporarily, and to sell lots from the 65-acre land to finance building a modern home. Rachel was born here in 1907. The house underwent few improvements during the Carson residence, as financial difficulties prevented the family from accomplishing their plan. Carson and her family remained in this home until she completed her studies at the Pennsylvania College for Women (now

Chatham University Chatham University is a private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally founded as a women's college, it began enrolling men in undergraduate programs in 2015. It enrolls about 2,110 students, including 1,002 undergraduate students and ...

) in 1929. She continued her studies in Baltimore at

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

. Her family soon followed her to Baltimore. The house was sold to a local high school English teacher who updated utilities and added rooms, extending the footprint of the original home. The original four rooms used by the Carsons remain substantially unchanged. The grounds are reduced to a little more than a half-acre, but a small hiking trail accesses adjoining municipal property. A springhouse, still standing, was the source of water for the Carsons. The homestead is managed by the Rachel Carson Homestead Association, Inc. (RCHA), a

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

. Established in 1975, the RCHA maintains the home, and welcomes visitors to tours and events. The mission of the Rachel Carson Homestead Association is to preserve, restore, and interpret Rachel Carson's birthplace; to design and implement environmental education programs; and to educate the community, guided by her

environmental ethics In environmental philosophy, environmental ethics is an established field of practical philosophy "which reconstructs the essential types of argumentation that can be made for protecting natural entities and the sustainable use of natural resourc ...

and sense of wonder. The organization established the Rachel Carson Legacy Challenge, which challenges individuals, government, industry and institutions to lessen their

ecological footprint The ecological footprint measures human demand on natural capital, i.e. the quantity of nature it takes to support people and their economies. It tracks human demand on nature through an ecological accounting system. The accounts contrast the biolo ...

. The challenge uses Carson's environmental ethic as the benchmark for permanent and measurable change. The Rachel Carson Challenge, a thirty-five-mile wilderness hike on the Saturday closest to the summer solstice, was established in honor of Rachel Carson's contribution to the environment and passes by the Homestead. The Rachel Carson Trail is managed by the Rachel Carson Trails Conservancy. Rachel Carson wrote her influential book ''

'' at Rachel Carson House in Colesville, Maryland.

References

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External links

Rachel Carson Homestead
a visual history curated by the

Michigan State University Museum The Michigan State University Museum most commonly referred to as the ''MSU Museum'' is Michigan State University's oldest museum formed in 1857. It is the state of Michigan's first Smithsonian Affiliate. It was formed to support the work of the ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carson, Rachel Homestead Houses completed in 1870

Homestead Homestead may refer to: *Homestead (building), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses * Nguni homestead, a cluster of houses inhabited by a single extended family, typically with a kraal ...

Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Museums in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Historic house museums in Pennsylvania Biographical museums in Pennsylvania Literary museums in the United States Women's museums in the United States Houses in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmarks National Register of Historic Places in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Birthplaces of individual people

History

See also

References

Sources

External links