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<html>
<head>
<link rel="icon" href="favicon.png"/>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css">
<title></title>
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width">
</head>
<body>
<div class="head">
<div class="headerobjectswrapper">
<div class="weatherforcastbox"><span style="font-style: italic;">Final project for Honors 392A: Cultural Ecosystems of the Pacific NW</span><br><span>Erika Wolfe and Claire Gupta</span></div>
<header>
<div>Female Environmentalists Throughout History:</div>
<div class="header2">Honoring the Women Who Walked the Path Before Us</div>
</header>
</div>
<div class="subhead1">
<div style="width:95%; display:table; margin:0 auto">
Through sharing the stories of overlooked female environmentalists, we contend that women have contributed to the American environmental movement in diverse and underappreciated ways. We focus on experiences in the American West, with a hope to reflect on the lives of women in the Pacific Northwest. Although the idea that there is a unique female perspective is false, we believe that the inclusion of women's stories and voices in environmental curriculum is a crucial step towards broadening the scope of American environmentalism to represent the true diversity of natural experiences.
</div>
</div>
<div class="subhead2">
<div style="width:75%; display:table; margin:0 auto">
<a href="#19thCentury">19th Century and Before</a> --
<a href="#Brandegee">A Hidden Voice: Kate Brandegee</a> --
<a href="#Contemporaries">Muir's Female Contemporaries: Martha Maxwell and Annie Montague Alexander</a>
<br>
<a href="#20thCentury">20th Century</a> --
<a href="#Carson">The Game-changer: Rachel Carson</a> --
<a href="#Zwinger">Defying Domestication: Ann Zwinger</a>
<br>
<a href="#21stCentury">21st Century</a> --
<a href="#LaDuke">A Force To Be Reckoned With: Winona LaDuke</a> --
<a href="#Peterson">A Born Naturalist: Brenda Peterson</a>
<br>
<a href="#ReadingList">Reading List</a> --
<a href="#Conclusion">Conclusion</a> --
<a href="Works Cited.pdf" target="_blank">Works Cited</a>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="content">
<div class="collumns">
<!-- COLUMN 1 -->
<div class="collumn">
<div class="head" id="19thCentury">
<span class="headline hl1" >19th Century and Before</span>
<p><span class="headline hl2">Clashing Cultures, Push for Change</span></p>
</div>
<p class="subtitle">Tribal Gender Relationships</p>
<p>
Euro-American settlement of the Pacific Northwest drastically changed the prominent gender relationships in the region. Records of women's roles in native Pacific Northwest tribes is unfortunately incomplete because most anthropologists prioritized the actions of men. It is known that most tribes approached large tasks in a collaborative way (Armitage 7). In the Plateau tribes, for example, women provided half of the food supply. Work in this family of tribes was divided by gender, but there was no systematic difference in the importance of the work by each gender. Women in these tribes weaved and decorated baskets that were very important for religious and cultural events (Armitage 8).
</p>
<figure class="figure">
<img class="media" src="http://historicaldesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMG_6864.jpg" alt="">
<figcaption class="figcaption">A traditional Tlingit basket</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
In general, the introduction of capitalism and the idea of private wealth was detrimental for women in these tribes. It is interesting to consider that this is also generally detrimental for the environment. As an example, the Nez Perce were introduced to horses in the 1730s. Personal status quickly grew in importance, and relied on the number and quality of one's horses. Because women could not own horses, their status became lower than that of men (Armitage 9).
</p>
<p>
The Coastal Tribes were known to be more hierarchical than other groups of tribes. The emphasis on private wealth also affected women's roles in these tribes, but some women were encouraged to pursue individual occupations like trading. Tribal women from the coast traded otter furs, services, and sex. In Chinook culture, trading sex was similar to trading any other service. This stark difference between Euro-American gender relationships and tribal gender relationships caused white settlers to devalue native women (Armitage 9). There is unfortunately very little literature by tribal women from this time period, especially when focused on the environment.
</p>
<figure class="figure">
<img class="media" src="https://www.wwu.edu/depts/skywise/indian/yakima.jpg" alt="">
<figcaption class="figcaption">A woman from the Yakima tribe</figcaption>
</figure>
<p class="subtitle">European Gender Roles</p>
<p>
White settlers began moving to the Pacific Northwest through the Oregon Trail in the 1840s. Through analyzing the journals of people who made the journey, it became clear that women were less eager than men to part with their previous lives (Armitage 12). As more white settlers came to the region, Euro-American women were motivated to "civilize" native women (Armitage 11). In this way a marginalized group aided the marginalization of another group.
</p>
<p>
Once they settled, women were in charge of many tasks in the home. This left little time to work outside of the household. As described by Abigail Scott Duniway, this work was all-encompassing without increasing the status of women.
</p>
<span class="citation2">
"To bear two children in two and a half years from my marriage day, to make thousands of pounds of butter every year for market, . . . to sew and cook, and wash and iron; to bake and clean and stew and fry; to be, in short, a general pioneer drudge, with never a penny of my own."" (Armitage 13) - Path Breaking
</span>
<p class="subtitle">Movement Towards Equality</p>
<p>
Still, women in the Pacific Northwest were successful at organizing women's groups in the late 1800s. These groups tackled a wide variety of topics, including health, suffrage, orphanages, libraries, arts, and education. This was more progressive than women in the eastern US, possibly because the west lacked established institutions (Armitage 15). Though women were beginning the fight to increase their rights in the 1880s, it is important to recognize that this was largely focused on white women. As Armitage notes on women's labor, "as limited as the choices were, there were further restrictions depending on one's race, ethnicity, and social class" (Armitage 17).
</p>
<p>
Learn more about this in <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1564539.Women_in_Pacific_Northwest_History?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Women in Pacific Northwest History</a>
</p>
<br>
<div class="head">
<span class="headline hl5" id="Zwinger">Defying Domestication: Ann Zwinger</span>
<p><span class="headline hl6">1925-2014</span></p>
</div>
<p class="subtitle">Meeting Expectations</p>
<p>
Ann Zwinger initially did not intend to become an environmental author. After receiving a degree in Art History from Wellesley College she married Herman Zwinger, an Air Force pilot. They eventually settled in Colorado, and Ann focused on raising their three daughters (Anderson 241). She lived an expected life of a woman at her time. Ann developed her appreciation for nature through interaction with her vacation home in the Colorado mountains. Still unaware of her future as an environmental author, she systematically sketched and catalogued the plants on their land. Ann eventually developed a desire to write about the landscape that she loved so much.
</p>
<figure class="figure">
<img class="media" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7208/6854291721_c7bc76434f_b.jpg" alt="">
<figcaption class="figcaption">An aspen grove in Colorado.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p class="subtitle">Literary Success</p>
<p>
In 1969 she was introduced by a friend to Rachel Carson's agent, Marie Rodell. With Rodell's encouragement, Zwinger published Beyond the Aspen Grove in 1970. She eventually published more than twenty books about a huge variety of natural places. Many books were accompanied by her own detailed sketches of the plants she was describing. Ann passed away in 2014, having won some awards for her writing and contributed pieces to many nature magazines (Anderson 241). It is unlikely that any of this would have happened if Zwinger had not had a connection to the publishing industry. Without a doubt there were women with the experience and talent to write meaningful pieces about nature, but without the connections or societal encouragement to get published.
</p>
<figure class="figure">
<img class="media" src="zwinger_sketch.jpg" alt="">
<figcaption class="figcaption">A sketch from Beyond the Aspen Grove</figcaption>
</figure>
<p class="subtitle">Beyond the Aspen Grove</p>
<p>
In Beyond the Aspen Grove, Ann displays her distinct ability to interleave personal experience in nature with ecological observations. Her descriptions are detailed but not clinical, reflecting the style of her field sketches. She portrays the landscape with care and affection, acknowledging that it has existed and will persist much longer than humans. She muses,
</p>
<span class="citation2">
"But when the lake has finally been absorbed, and the rock is surrounded and covered by soil, then perhaps larger animals will come padding and pawing and nosing about, their ancestors even now roaming the woods."
</span>
<p>
Ann also uses her family's vacation cabin as a microcosm of her ideal society. Her ideal of not altering nature is similar to Muir, though she is more open to people living consciously in nature. She described her family's effect on the nature around them, stating "We have tried to understand the patterns of the land at Constant Friendship. We have hoped to change it as little as possible. After all, we are only visitors to this mountain land." Although her philosophy extended on the foundations laid by Muir, her writings are not nearly as read.
</p>
<p>
Read one of Ann's books, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1008693.Beyond_The_Aspen_Grove?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Beyond the Aspen Grove</a>
</p>
<br>
<div class="head">
<span class="headline hl5" id="21stCentury">21st Century</span>
<p><span class="headline hl6">Looking Forward</span></p>
</div>
<p>
Today, women are an important and acknowledged part of both environmental activism and literature. Popular female environmental authors include Annie Dillard, Terry Tempest Williams, Winona LaDuke, and Joanna Macy. However, the representation of women of color and other diverse groups is still lacking, especially in the Pacific Northwest. While the modern voice of environmentalism is more inclusive than it has been in the past, it still does not reflect the complete range of experiences.
</p>
<p>
Many factors contribute to this phenomenon, including that natural spaces and environmental groups are in many ways not welcoming to minorities. People of color often report subtle racism when attending environmental activism events or spending time in the outdoors. Minda Honey details her experiences as a woman of color in natural locations in her piece "Women of Color in Wide Open Spaces." She describes the fears she has, the derogatory comments she hears, and the inequity she observes during her trip.
</p>
<span class="citation2">
"I'd seen enough horror movie commentary to know what "Black Folks Don't Do," and driving into some unknown woods at sunset alone without cellphone reception ranked high on that list."
</span>
<p>
After noticing the high number of European visitors compared to the near-zero number of black visitors, she asks "How was it possible that someone could have enough wealth and vacation days to transport their entire family across an ocean to revel in all the natural wonder our country has to offer, but brown bodies one zip code over would never be able to afford to do so?" Honey's experience is a single example of the widespread problem. There is obviously a lot of work to be done towards making environmental experiences accessible to all. Until natural spaces are accessible for people of color, we will see inequality among environmental groups and literature.
</p>
<p>
Read Honey's complete article, <a href="https://longreads.com/2017/03/29/woman-of-color-in-wide-open-spaces/" target="_blank">"Women of Color in Wide Open Spaces"</a>
</p>
</div>
<!-- COLUMN 2 -->
<div class="collumn">
<div class="head">
<span class="headline hl3" id="Brandegee">A Hidden Voice: Kate Brandegee</span>
<p><span class="headline hl4">1844-1920</span></p>
</div>
<p class="subtitle">From Medicine to Botany</p>
<p>
Educated women in the 19th century were not well-regarded. Born in 1844, Kate Brandegee was a high-achieving woman that lacked a place for her intellect to thrive. She moved to California was she was nine years old and earned her medical degree at UC Berkeley. Despite her qualifications, Brandegee did not have much success in the field because, as reported by Marcia Myers Bonta in In Women in the Field: America's Pioneering Women Naturalists, female doctors were not seen as legitimate at the time so she left medicine for her other passion: botany (Bonta, 85).
</p>
<p class="subtitle">Included in the West, Hidden in the East</p>
<p>
Many institutions in the West included female scientists. As a botanist, Brandegee was offered a position at the California Academy of Botany in 1883. In comparison to the East, the Academy was relatively accepting of women: their policy was " 'we highly approve the aid of females in every department of natural history, and that we earnestly invite their cooperation,' " which was incredibly accepting and liberal for the time period (Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences).
</p>
<p>
Often the actions of Western scientists were influenced by their desire to be accepted on the East Coast, which influenced their acknowledgement of women. Although Brandegee participated in many publications, she was not given visible credit for her work because the Academy did not want her findings to be discredited in the East because she was a woman. For example, In Women in the Field: America's Pioneering Women Naturalists by Marcia Myers Bonta, Bonta reports that when a New York botanical botanist found out that a publication with the initials "KB" were that of a woman, he relentlessly criticized Brandgee's work. Her publications, therefore, were instead often under her husband's name or that of her professor. All in all, Bonta describes Brandegee's writing as:
</p>
<span class="citation2">"overlooked, even camouflaged, because she was a woman"</span>
<p>
Brandegee's plight demonstrates a reason as to why it is hard to find publications written by 19th century women, particularly western women like Brandegee (Bonta, 85).
</p>
<p class="subtitle">A Lasting Impact</p>
<p>
Similar to the plight of many women of her time, though Brandegee was hidden, her impact on her field is indisputable. Countless plants were discovered by her or named after her. Additionally, after an earthquake in 1906 destroyed the California Academy of Botany's herbarium, Kate Brandegee and her husband donated their entire botanical collection and library to UC Berkeley. This generous donation gave the University a nearly complete collection of Western Pacific Coast flora-one hundred thousand plants in total (Bonta, 91).
</p>
<p>
Like Brandegee, many 19th century western women were "camouflaged" due to pressures from the East and gender tensions nationwide. The way in which Brandegee was perceived regionally is indicative of how gender was perceived on the East and West Coast, and how the West Coast's desire for legitimacy trumped its respect for women's work in the field. Likewise, her story demonstrates why we cannot believe that women did not publish pieces or participate in environmental work simply because their names are not mentioned. There is a hidden narrative behind publications and Brandegee's story challenges us to seek it.
</p>
<p>
Read more about women like Kate in <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2419428.Women_in_the_Field?from_search=true" target="_blank">Women in the Field: America's Pioneering Women Naturalists</a>
</p>
<br>
<div class="head">
<span class="headline hl1" id="LaDuke">A Force to be Reckoned With: Winona LaDuke</span>
<p><span class="headline hl2">1959 - present</span></p>
</div>
<p class="subtitle">Multicultural Roots</p>
<p>
Today, women have come a long way, but they still face the barriers of the women before them, which is experienced even more so women of color. These barriers, however, did not stop Winona LaDuke. LaDuke was born in 1959 in Los Angeles, California, but was primarily raised in Ashland, Oregon. Her father was an Anishinaabeg Indian and member of the White Earth Tribe, and her mother was a first generation Jewish American. Although she could have been ostracized due to her heritage, Winona, whose name means "First Daughter" in Dakota language, refused to be ignored.
</p>
<span class="citation2">
"I think about white people every day," she says, "but white people don't think about us [people of color], because they don't want to face reality" (Vaughn).
</span>
<p>
She attended Harvard University for her undergraduate education and went to Antioch University for her masters. She did not grow up on a reservation, but she chose to move to one as an adult.
</p>
<p class="subtitle">A Fierce Advocate</p>
<p>
LaDuke extended on the work of Helen Hunt Jackson, a poet and author of A Century of Dishonor as well as an activist on behalf of Native Americans. Her poetry, written under "H.H.", was admired by Ralph Waldo Emerson (Tursi). She was particularly troubled with settlers' tendency to re-name places that once had Indian names in the Pacific Northwest, which she called in Atlantic Monthly a "perverse injustice...[because names will be] the only mementos which, soon, will be left of a race that has died at our hands" (HH). It is women like LaDuke that have taken after Jackson and worked hard to boost Native representation and protection; her work has made sure that indigenous people and their culture will not "di[e] at our hands."
</p>
<figure class="figure">
<img class="media" src="http://sacredecology.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Sacred_Ecology_Honor_the_Earth_01.jpg" alt="">
<figcaption class="figcaption">An image from Honor the Earth</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
Not only is LaDuke active in the Standing Rock Movement, she founded a national initiative called Honor the Earth which works on issues such as climate change, renewable energy, and environmental justice in indigenous communities. It also supports grassroots indigenous environmental groups. Additionally, LaDuke is also the founder of one of the largest reservation-based nonprofits called the Land Recovery Project. She is a board member for GreenPeace USA and is also an advisory board member for the Trust for Public Native Lands Program. She sits on the Board of the Christensen Fund as well. Honor the Earth's website reports that Laduke is passionate about indigenous food sovereignty and uses these platforms to advocate for her cause (Honor the Earth).
</p>
<p>
Her advocacy did not stop there--Winona ran in the Green Party ticket with Ralph nader in both 1996 and 2000. Then, in 2016, she became the first indigenous woman given an electoral vote for vice president after Robert Satiacum Jr. from Washington cast his vote for her. As a result of her achievements she was nominated by Time Magazine as one of America's 50 most promising leaders under forty in 1994. She also won Thomas Merton Award in 1996, Ms.Woman of the Year in 1997, Reebok Human Rights Award, and 2003 International slow food award for biodiversity for the White Earth Land Recovery Project's work to protect wild rice from patenting and genetic engineering.
</p>
<p class="subtitle">A Powerful Voice</p>
<p>
Not only is LaDuke known for her advocacy work, but she is also a prominent author and has participated in numerous documentaries. Most notably, she is the author of Last Standing Woman, a novel that chronicles the plight of seven generations of Anishinaabe women in a fictional tale. She also published All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life: about the plight to reclaim tribal land ownership. Likewise, LaDuke is also featured in documentary "First Daughter and the Black Snake," which covers her work regarding the Enbridge pipeline.
</p>
<p>
LaDuke's achievements are incredible. She demonstrates how powerful and valuable women's voices can be and how much one person can make a difference for a community. Her work demonstrates the progress that has occurred and will continue to break down barriers for the women who come after her.
</p>
<p>
Read one of LaDuke's most popular novels, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/734850.Last_Standing_Woman?from_search=true" target="_blank">Last Standing Woman</a>
</p>
<br>
<div class="head">
<span class="headline hl5" id="Conclusion">Conclusion: Tracing the Paths of Women Who Came Before Us</span>
<p><span class="headline hl6">A Reflection on Our Journey</span></p>
</div>
<p>
Our inspiration for this project was the lack of female voices that were included in our course's curriculum. As we learned about famous male environmentalists and writers such as Thoreau and Muir, wondered what women were doing at the time. Through this project we hoped to articulate the importance of women's voices by uncovering something distinctive about female perspectives. We wanted to use this to highlight the value of integrating women's voices in an environmental curriculum. What we learned, however, was something different entirely.
</p>
<p>
The idea of a distinctly feminine perspective is false. After some tenacious digging to uncover the stories of women in the field, we were overwhelmed by the range of their contributions and perspectives. Some women, like Kate Brandegee, focused on scientific findings while others, such as Winona LaDuke, are fierce advocates for a cause. Some women grew up in nature, like Brenda Peterson, while others found their passion after life as a housewife, like Ann Zwinger. The spectrum of experiences led to a diverse range of contributions, from groundbreaking literature like that of Rachel Carson, to successful expeditions, like those of Annie Montague Alexander. We cannot generalize the value of female perspectives in the environmental movement because each woman has something different to bring to the table. Attempting to summarize these unique women's experiences would do them a disservice. Despite their many achievements, these women's stories have often been largely overlooked in environmental history.
</p>
<p>
One must wonder: had women's opinions been more valued, what would the state of the earth be? What would the conservation movement look like? Would society be less exploitative of the land? We have concluded is that we will never know. Although we wish women's contributions, writings, and stories were more thoroughly documented, these resources are scarce. The only way to know how women might have affected our interaction with the landscape is to work to better integrate women in environmental fields. US News and World Report documents that, although women make up 47% of the total US workforce, only 28% of environmental scientists and geoscientists are women (Camera). This shows that there is still a long road to equality despite the drastic improvements in representation over time.
</p>
<p>
Representation of marginalized groups in targeted fields is an important step towards increasing future participation of those groups. Our project aims to normalize female participation in the environmental movement by sharing these stories. Professor Tim Billo at the University of Washington reflects on how he, as a white male, may have been able to imagine a future in the environmental field more easily. He says,
</p>
<span class="citation2">
"it's a lot easier for someone like me to see myself in the field when presented with people like Leopold and Thoreau. It is like I have a kinship with them. I could imagine how a woman or person of color would not feel like they were a part of that club... I have never not been able to see someone who looks like me doing what I want to do" -Billo
</span>
<p>
White males have the privilege of having role models in their respective fields, while other groups often lack that representation. Although our project has chosen to focus on women, this issue rings true with people of color as well. Role models for marginalized groups should be included in environmental coursework, and this project takes the first step.
</p>
<p>
This piece is published online for a reason. We imagine teachers and professors using this as a resource to help to include the plight of female environmentalists and voices in their curriculum. Through our historical context, specific stories, and reading list, we believe that they can do just that.
</p>
<p>
Read our sources in our <a href="Works Cited.pdf" target="_blank">Works Cited</a>
</p>
</div>
<!-- COLUMN 3 -->
<div class="collumn">
<div class="head">
<span class="headline hl1" id="Contemporaries">Muir's Female Contemporaries: </span>
<span class="headline hl6n">Martha Maxwell and Annie Montague Alexander</span><p>
<span class="headline hl6">1867-1950, 1831-1881</span></p>
</div>
<p class="subtitle">Similar, yet Unaccepted</p>
<p>
Though they may not have published their journals, many 19th century women naturalists thrived exploring untouched wilderness in solitude just as John Muir, an American naturalist and advocate of preservation who ventured primarily in the West, did. It was not socially acceptable, however, for women to go on adventures like Muir. In "Race, Class, Gender, and American Environmentalism" by Dorceta E. Taylor, Taylor writes that, while 19th century men mountaineering, hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities were praised among men, these endeavors were "frowned on when undertaken by women" (Taylor, 23). Society's conflicting expectations for women thus created an obstacle for those who yearned to explore the unknown.
</p>
<figure class="figure">
<img class="media" src="http://www.summitpost.org/images/original/463170.jpg" alt="">
<figcaption class="figcaption">Mount Shasta, the destination of one of the many expeditions Annie Alexander joined</figcaption>
</figure>
<p class="subtitle">Secret Travels</p>
<p>
Due to society's disproval of their expeditions, many women chose to explore and let few people know. Annie Montague Alexander (1867-1950) was an adventurous woman who grew up in Oakland, California. Like Muir, as reported by Marcia Myers Bonta in In Women in the Field: America's Pioneering Women Naturalists, Alexander loved the outdoors with a fervent passion (Bonta, 51). Fascinated with paleontology, Alexander yearned to travel the discover new findings, but she had to face massive disapproval from her family. She wrote to her close friend, Martha Beckwith that her loved ones " 'do not seem to quite approve my new ambition. I do not want to be selfish yet it seems to me we have the right to a considerable extent of disposing our lives as we think fit;' " she was headstrong and would not let her family sway her from her passion (Bonta, 50). As a result, Alexander often traveled without letting anybody know except for a few close friends. She subsequently took part in expeditions mainly in Hawaii, Oregon, Alaska, and Northern California.
</p>
<figure class="figure">
<img class="media" src="https://paleonerdish.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/alexanderfield.gif?w=618&h=793" alt="">
<figcaption class="figcaption">Annie Montague Alexander on an expedition</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
Society's expectations of women like Alexander also seem to have influenced her legacy. Alexander collected many fossils, but seems to mostly be known for establishing the University of California Museum Paleontology and the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. Her role in the museums is notable and by all means a fantastic achievement; however, her work in museums posits her as more social acceptable rather than the Muir-like headstrong explorer.
</p>
<p class="subtitle">Redefining "Women's Work"</p>
<p>
Women also had duties at home that they were expected to fulfill. Martha Maxwell (1831-1881) was a Colorado naturalist and taxidermist. She became famous for her exhibit of stuffed wild animals titled "Women's Work" at the Philadelphia Centennial in 1876, which pioneered the idea of habitat grouping in museum work (Bonta, 30). The collection is currently in the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Museum. Though accomplished, Maxwell was criticized for her feminine shortcomings. Marcia Myers Bonta in Women in the Field: America's Pioneering Women Naturalists writes that, like Muir, Maxwell often camped outside alone and traveled to places such as California for her work-all of which were "very rough affairs" for a woman (Bonta, 35). She observed and hunted animals, engrossed in the behavior of wildlife, but despite her achievements, these attributes were viewed as shortcomings to those around her. In her book, Thanks to Abigail, Maxwell's daughter, Mabel, wrote that Maxwell
</p>
<span class="citation2">
"lacked any very strong maternal qualities. They may have been swallowed up in her artistic and scientific interests"
</span>
<p>
as if Maxwell did not have the capacity to fulfill both her duties as a naturist as well as a wife and mother (Bonta, 35).
</p>
</p>
<p>
Many women, such as Maxwell and Alexander, had the impulse to explore the untouched wilderness by themselves just as men like Muir did; however, women were not expected to act on this impulse, making it hard for them to explore and be given adequate credit for doing so. Women naturists, such as Alexander and Maxwell, subsequently pushed the boundaries of what it meant to be a woman in the 19th century. Their achievements are remarkable considering the barriers they were up against.
</p>
<p class="subtitle">Women Were There</p>
<p>
It is also important to note that women also subtly influenced men like Muir. In "Race, Class, Gender, and American Environmentalism," Dorceta E. Taylor claims that "some of the most revered male environmentalists of the period-Thoreau, Olmsted, and Muir-had female friends who played important roles in directing, mentoring, or shaping their intellectual growth and political activism" (Taylor, 23). In addition to recognizing that Muir had little-known contemporaries that approached the study of nature like he did, one must also note that women also influenced what men like Muir did. For example, in John Muir And the Ice That Started The Fire by Kim Heacox, he writes how Muir's wife, Louie, supported him passionately. When Muir fell ill before going to Alaska in 1890, Heacox credits Louie for pushing her husband to continue his journey:
</p>
<span class="citation2">
"Go, Louie told him. Go north" (Heacox, 67)
</span>
<p>
One cannot give credit to men like Muir without acknowledging the role of those around him in his work.
</p>
<p>
Read more about women like Maxwell and Alexander in <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2419428.Women_in_the_Field?from_search=true" target="_blank">Women in the Field: America's Pioneering Women Naturalists</a>
</p>
<br>
<div class="head">
<span class="headline hl3" id="Carson">The Game-Changer: Rachel Carson</span>
<p><span class="headline hl4">1907-1964</span></p>
</div>
<p class="subtitle">Making Science Accessible</p>
<p>
Possibly the most famous figurehead of women in environmentalism, Rachel Carson's monumental books made the ability of women to analyze complex environmental issues indisputable. Carson worked for the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries after receiving her masters in zoology from Johns Hopkins University. She eventually became a federal ecologist, and the editor-in-chief for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Having previously written many articles, Carson published her first book, Under the Sea-Wind, in 1941. She wrote many influential books and articles, the most famous of which are The Sea Around Us and Silent Spring (Anderson 214).
</p>
<span class="citation2">
"It is a curious situation that the sea, from which life first arose should now be threatened by the activities of one form of that life. But the sea, though changed in a sinister way, will continue to exist; the threat is rather to life itself." - The Sea Around Us
</span>
<p>
She found the most success and influence with her 1962 book, Silent Spring. In this book Carson expresses her concern for wildlife, and questions the effects of the widespread use of pesticides. Carson carefully frames these environmental issues in an accessible way, describing how they affect ordinary Americans. Because of this approach, Silent Spring prompted public outcry about the ever increasing pollution and use of pesticides in the US. In the aftermath of this book, Carson even testified before Congress to demand stricter health and environmental policies (Lear).
</p>
<figure class="figure">
<img class="media" src="http://www.environmentandsociety.org/sites/default/files/carsonwchildren.jpg" alt="">
<figcaption class="figcaption">Rachel Carson in Life magazine</figcaption>
</figure>
<p class="subtitle">Facing Sexism</p>
<p>
Carson's writings faced stark criticism, much of which included overt and covert sexism. Most of these attacks were personal, rather than a critique of her writing. Critics claimed that she was unscientific, disloyal, and a communist. Some tried to link her to "faddists" and radicals. At the time women were seen as less rational than men, and this carried into criticisms of Carson. She was described as "hysterically overemphatic" and as having a "mystical attachment to the balance of nature" in one review in Time magazine (Stoll). Even positive reviews of her books painted Carson in a domestic light, as shown by a Life magazine editorial that features a picture of her on a nature walk with her children. Even after overcoming many of the obstacles that faced female environmental writers at the time, Carson could not wholly escape the sexism surrounding her.
</p>
<p>
Despite the sexist criticisms that she faced, her books were overall quite influential. She won the John Burroughs Medal for The Sea Around Us, which discusses the ocean from a scientific and poetic perspective. On accepting the award she argued for the respect of her craft, stating "if we are the true spirit of John Burroughs, or of Jefferies or Hudson or Thoreau, we are not imitators of them but-as they themselves were-we are pioneers in new areas of thought and knowledge. If we are true to them, we are the creators of a new type of literature as representative of our own day as was their own" (Bonta). Carson's writings were so thorough and groundbreaking that she could not be overlooked sheerly because of her gender.
</p>
<figure class="figure">
<img class="media" src="http://www.environmentandsociety.org/sites/default/files/styles/640-wide/public/mauldinneverunderestimatethepowerofawoman_0.jpg" alt="">
<figcaption class="figcaption">A cartoon by Bill Mauldin, published in the Chicago Sun-Times on 27 October 1963.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p class="subtitle">Influencing Political Action</p>
<p>
In part influenced by this historic book, environmental issues came to the forefront of American politics in the 1960s and 1970s. Membership in environmental organizations such as the Sierra Club, the National Audubon Society, and the Wilderness Society increased by about 500,000 members in the sixties (Bonta). The success of Carson's writing also inspired and opened the door for the next generation of female environmental authors.
</p>
<p>
Read Carson's revolutionary book, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27333.Silent_Spring?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Silent Spring</a>
</p>
</div>
<!-- COLUMN 4 -->
<div class="collumn">
<div class="head">
<span class="headline hl5" id="20thCentury">20th Century</span>
<p><span class="headline hl6">Victories and Roadblocks</span></p>
</div>
<p>
During the 20th century, there was an overall increase in women in both the workforce and in environmental activism. In the early 20th century, women had both victories and roadblocks. Women were given the right to vote in 1920, which allowed for their increased participation in society and politics. During the Depression, however, women were among some of the first people to be laid off from their jobs, triggering a decline in working women. Then the job climate changed during World War II, since many male soldiers were overseas, leaving openings for women. Women subsequently took over the workforce while the men were gone.Working allowed for women to take care of their families in their husband's absence. On top of that, the feminist movement in the 1960s prompted women to enter the workforce in unprecedented numbers.
</p>
<figure class="figure">
<img class="media" src="https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2016-06/14/14/asset/buzzfeed-prod-fastlane02/sub-buzz-29754-1465928406-11.jpg?downsize=715:*&output-format=auto&output-quality=auto" alt="">
<figcaption class="figcaption">An American suffragette in 1917</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
The 20th century also marked an increase in environmental activism across genders. Rachel Carson's Silent Spring was published in 1962. By framing environmental issues in a way that was relevant to ordinary Americans, this book, as reported in "Race, Class, Gender, and American Environmentalism" by Dorceta E. Taylor, prompted unprecedented mobilization around environmental issues (Taylor, 8). As more people joined the movement, its focus broadened to include more issues, such as the urban environment and community. This change in climate allowed for women to play more prominent roles in environmental fields. Despite the drastic change, however, men still dominated the field.
</p>
<figure class="figure">
<img class="media" src="http://clerk.seattle.gov/~photos/23/400/2378.gif" alt="">
<figcaption class="figcaption">Women boating in Skagit Project Canyon in 1931, taken from Seattle archives</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
Taylor reports that a study by the Conservation Leadership Foundation in 1992 found that of the 248 chief executive officers in environmental organizations, 79% of these leaders were men, which is reportedly similar to the demographics of the 1960s and 70s (Taylor, 9). Also, 61% of the volunteers at environmental organizations were found to be men as well. Although this marks a change since the 19th century, women were not completely equal of represented in the field.
</p>
<br>
<div class="head">
<span class="headline hl3" id="Peterson">A Born Naturalist: Brenda Peterson</span>
<p><span class="headline hl4">1950 - present</span></p>
</div>
<p class="subtitle">A Wild Upbringing</p>
<p>
The closeness that Brenda Peterson feels to the Earth and all of its beings is rare. She developed this relationship in early childhood, having lived in a remote cabin in the Sierras with her Forest Serviceman father until the age of seven (Anderson 347). She describes this with eloquence in Nature and Other Mothers. "I first memorized the forest with my hands, crawling on all fours across prickly pine needles. Like a blind girl's reading braille, my stubby fingers traced sworls of pine bark, searching for congealed sap. I'd chew its fragrant pine gum -- more flavorful than any bland baby food" (Peterson). With this rugged upbringing, Peterson was exposed to nature and was less influenced by traditional societal expectations for women. Peterson eventually settled in Seattle (Anderson 347), but she kept the nonconformist ideals and her love of nature that she had developed during childhood.
</p>
<figure class="figure">
<img class="media" src="http://www.mountainprofessor.com/images/Sierra-Nevada2.jpg" alt="">
<figcaption class="figcaption">The high Sierras, where Peterson spent her childhood</figcaption>
</figure>
<p class="subtitle">Nature and Other Mothers</p>
<p>
Nature and Other Mothers cements Peterson as a unique point of view in the environmentalist community. As a child, Peterson thought it was "obvious" that all plants and animals - including humans - were related. This view - which was a direct result of her growing up in the forest - caused her to see trees as our elders. Using this idea as a foundation Peterson describes the wisdom and strength of old trees, often blurring the line between human and tree. Like Thoreau, she forms an anti-capitalist view and argues for the inherent value of life. She laments "The nowadays notion that people, like parts, are replaceable and that old parts are meant to be cast aside for newer models is a direct result of an industrial age that sees the body and the Earth as machines."
</p>
<p>
Like Muir, Peterson personifies nature to build empathy for it from the reader. She uses this personification and evaluation of nature to motivate her criticism of logging. Peterson blames the economic motivations of logging, pointing out that the individual loggers seem to appreciate trees as she does. She notes that "They, too, grew up in the forest; their small hands also learned that bark is another kind of skin."
</p>
<figure class="figure">
<img class="media" src="http://imgc.allpostersimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/43/4363/8GUSF00Z/posters/scott-t-smith-old-growth-forest-cascade-mountains-opal-creek-wilderness-willamette-national-forest-oregon-us.jpg" alt="">
<figcaption class="figcaption">Old growth forest, like those revered by Peterson</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
The casual, storytelling style of this selection camouflages the complex connections and metaphors that Peterson makes. She references the viewpoints of many other cultures, including Paganism and some native tribes. She compares the death of her grandfather to death of an old-growth tree, remarking that both have invaluable wisdom. "Old trees like old people survive the ravages of middle-age competition for light or limelight; they give back to their generations more oxygen, more stories; they are tall and farsighted enough to see the future because they are so firmly rooted in the past." This chapter which starts as a description of her childhood eventually delves into sharp criticism and investigation; "As a nation are we still so young, do we still worship what is newborn or newly invented so much that we will be eternal adolescents, rebelling against the old order of trees or people?"
</p>
<p>
Read more of Peterson's essays in <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/703529.Nature_and_Other_Mothers" target="_blank">Nature and Our Mothers</a>
</p>
<br>
<div class="head">
<span class="headline hl5" id="ReadingList">Reading List</span>
<p><span class="headline hl6">Recommended Reads by Remarkable Women</span></p>
</div>
<p class="subtitle">Books</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2419428.Women_in_the_Field?from_search=true" target="_blank">Women in the Field: America's Pioneering Women Naturalists</a> by Marcia Bonta: This piece demonstrates the often unrecognized role that women have played in environmental research and discovery through the mini biographies of twenty-five women from the 18th to mid-20th centuries.
</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2251473.At_Home_on_This_Earth?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">At Home on This Earth: Two Centuries of Women's Nature Writing</a> edited by Lorraine Anderson and Thomas S. Edwards: An anthology of women's writing on the environment that includes over fifty American female authors from the early 19th century to the present. It includes excerpts from authors' writing, which includes a variety of styles from journal entries to essays.
</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1564539.Women_in_Pacific_Northwest_History?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Women in Pacific Northwest History</a> edited by Karen J. Blair: An anthology of essays that capture the spectrum of women's experiences in the Pacific Northwest throughout time.
</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/703529.Nature_and_Other_Mothers" target="_blank">Nature and Our Mothers</a> by Brenda Peterson: Peterson writes about both nature and human nature in this piece. Focusing on the female body, Peterson uses sophisticated storytelling to chronicle birth, death, animals, and both human and non-human beings.
</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1008693.Beyond_The_Aspen_Grove?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Beyond the Aspen Grove</a> by Ann Haymond Zwinger: Zwinger writes about the Colorado Rockies in this poignant personal piece.
</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/213347.The_Living?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">The Living</a> by Annie Dillard: Written by Pulitzer-Prize winning author Annie Dillard, this historical fiction novel is about the life of European settlers and Lummi natives in the Pacific Northwest in the late 19th century. Mainly takes place in current-day Bellingham Washington. Dillard lived in Bellingham for five years to research for this novel.
</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/340134.Lost_Woods?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">The Lost Woods: The Discovered Writing of Rachel Carson</a> edited by Linda Lear: A collection of writings spanning Carson's career and giving insight into her personal development as an environmentalist.
</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27333.Silent_Spring?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Silent Spring</a> by Rachel Carson: By framing environmental issues in a way that was relevant to ordinary Americans, this book prompted unprecedented mobilization around environmental issues. Carson writes about her concern for wildlife and questions the effects of widespread spraying of pesticides, prompting public outcry over pollution.
</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/542766.The_Sea_Around_Us?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">The Sea Around Us</a> by Rachel Carson: A prize-winning and best-selling poetic account of the science of the sea.
</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/734850.Last_Standing_Woman?from_search=true" target="_blank">Last Standing Woman</a> by Winona LaDuke: a novel that chronicles the plight of seven generations of Anishinaabe women in a fictional tale.
</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/183893.All_Our_Relations?from_search=true" target="_blank">All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life</a> by Winona LaDuke: a book about the plight to reclaim tribal land ownership.
</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1738465.A_Century_of_Dishonor" target="_blank">A Century of Dishonor</a> By Helen Hunt Jackson: A nonfiction book that chronicled the injustices that have faced Native Americans throughout time.
</p>
<p>
<a href="http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=atla;cc=atla;rgn=full%20text;idno=atla0051-2;didno=atla0051-2;view=image;seq=0224;node=atla0051-2%3A9" target="_blank">Puget Sound</a> by Helen Hunt Jackson in Atlantic Monthly: Hunt writes of the injustices faced by Native Americans in the Puget Sound area.
</p>
<p class="subtitle">Films</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.blacksnakefilm.com/" target="_blank">"First Daughter and the Black Snake"</a>: a documentary that covers Winona LaDuke's work regarding the Enbridge pipeline.
</p>
<figure class="figure">
<img class="media" src="http://prod3.agileticketing.net/images/user/mfsf_3683/mspiff-2017-first-daughter-black-snake-still-1.jpg" alt="">
<figcaption class="figcaption">A still from First Daughter and the Black Snake</figcaption>
</figure>
<p class="subtitle">Articles</p>
<p>
<a href="https://longreads.com/2017/03/29/woman-of-color-in-wide-open-spaces/" target="_blank">"Women of Color in Wide Open Spaces"</a>
by Minda Honey: A personal and eye-opening description of her personal experiences as a black woman in natural places.
</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.hcn.org/issues/48.21/how-the-park-service-is-failing-women" target="_blank">"How the NPS is Failing Women"</a>
by Lyndsey Gilpin: The National Parks service has a history of excluding and marginalizing female employees. Gilpin frames current complaints of uncurbed sexual misconduct in the context of this disappointing history.
</p>
<p>
<a href="http://catalogs.rei.com/forceofnature/app.php?RelId=6.11.5.0.2" target="_blank">REI Force of Nature Magazine</a>
: A factual and motivational magazine issue about the modern woman's relationship with nature. It features individual stories, interviews, and recreational and activism tips.
</p>
<p>
<a href="https://qz.com/797467/outdoor-research-responded-to-gqs-sexist-rock-climbing-photo-shoot-with-a-perfect-parody/" target="_blank">"An outdoor clothing brand mockingly fixed GQ's sexist photoshoot"</a>
: Selina Cheng explains the problem with GQ's original photoshoot which featured female friends as accessories, and Outdoor Research's opposite version. The importance of this article is mostly on the pictures that she highlights.
</p>
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