Rachel Carson Timeline
- May 27, 1907: Rachel Carson was born in Springdale, Pennsylvania.
- 1915: By the age of 8, Rachel Carson was a published author with many of her articles being sold to newspapers and magazines.
- 1918: Rachel Carson wins prize for story published in magazine at age 11.
- 1921-1925: attends Parnassus High School and wins a scholarship to Pennsylvania College for Woman
- 1927: Rachel changes her major from English to Biology
- Admitted to Johns Hopkins University in 1928, but was unable to attend.
- Attended Pennsylvania College for women 1929.
- 1929: Carson graduated from Pennsylvania College for Women, which is now known as Chatham University
- 1930: Teahces Zoology at Johns Hopkins Summer School.
- 1931: Took an assistantship at Raymond Pearl's Institute for Biological Research, School of Hygiene and Public Health.
- 1932: Teaches at the Dental and Pharmacy School University of Maryland.
- Studied at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory, and received her MA in zoology from Johns Hopkins University
- 1934: Lack of funds during the Great Depression forced Carson to drop out of graduate school.
- 1935: Father suddenly died.
- Took the Federal Civil Service Exams for junior wildlife biologist and junior aquatic biologist. Hired at US Bureau of Fisheries in Washington D.C.
- 1936: Rachel Carson taught at the University of Maryland for five years before joining the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- Went on to become Editor-in-Chief of all publications for the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
- September 1937: Carson’s article “Undersea” is published in the Atlantic Monthly
- Carson's sister died and left her to care for two nieces. The family had to move to a house in Silver Spring Maryland.
- 1938-1939: Rachel Carson works on a book which was called “Under the sea-wind”
- September 1st, 1939: Start of World War II
- DDT was first used as an insecticide and became the first of the modern synthetic insecticides
- DDT is used by the military during World War II to help combat diseases like malaria and typhus.
- Scientists took notice to this powerful insecticide.
- The bombing of the Pearl Harbor, resulted in DDT being brought over to protect many from insect born diseases.
- November 1941: Under The Sea-Wind was published. This was Carson's first book
- 1944: Carson proposes an article on DDT to Reader's Digest but it is turned down.
- Mid 1945: Carson first encounters the subject of DDT.
- Supervised a small writing staff in the fish and wildlife service.
- End of World War II.
- 1948: Carson's mentor Mary Scott Skinker dies of cancer.
- Paul Müller received Nobel Prize for discovering DDT.
- Summer 1949: Carson did research on the coast of Florida and did undersea diving for her information.
- 1950: Carson’s confirmed breast tumor is removed
- 1951 Rachel Carson resigns from the US Fish and Wildlife Service to write full time.
- Malaria had been eliminated from the United States.
- Wrote “The Sea Around Us” which was considered a biography for the sea.
- 1952: Carson is honored for the National Book Award for Nonfiction.
- Carson moves into a beachside residence in Maine.
- Carson meets Dorothy Freeman.
- 1955: Vietnam War.
- New Yorker helps Carson publish work “The Sea Around Us."
- "The Edge of the Sea” brought Carson’s focus on the ecosystems of the eastern coast from Maine to Florida.
- 1956: Published “Help Your Child to Wonder”.
- Marjorie, Carson’s niece, dies leaving her 5 year old son Roger in her care. Carson legally adopts him the same year.
- 1957: More than 6,000 types of DDT and other pesticide products had been made.
- Published “Our Ever-Changing Shore”.
- DDT gave the thought that science could do more than get rid of diseases. Therefore, they tried eradication of mosquitoes.
- 1958: Carson’s mother dies
- 1959: Cranberries sprayed with toxic chemical aminotriazole before harvesting found to be linked to throat cancer in rats. USDA takes cranberries off market before Christmas.
- 1961: In late January, Carson became extremely ill due to exposure to pesticides that she could no long walk.
- 1962: The Cold War was at its peak.
- Published Silent Spring 1962 warned of the dangers to all natural systems from the misuse of chemical pesticides such as DDT, and questioned the scope and direction of modern science, initiated the contemporary environmental movement.
- 1963: Testified before Congress calling for new policies to protect human health and the environment.
- April 14, 1964 died in Silver Spring Maryland
- June 9, 1980: Former President Jimmy Carter presented her nephew and adopted son with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her amazing work that cause a “spring of awareness across America and beyond”.
- 1981: US Postal Service issues a Rachel Carson postage stamp in her memory.