Rachel Carson, Writer of Wonder
The Rachel Carson Homestead in Springdale is the birthplace and childhood home of environmentalist and author Rachel Carson (1907-1964). Originally preserved by a teacher, the home has been deeply cared for by a community dedicated to showcasing her life and work. Springdale is a small rural town, northeast of Pittsburgh and nestled along the Allegheny River.
Rachel Carson was ahead of her time as a woman scientist. She battled skeptics and fierce criticism through most of her adult life. Equipped with a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, she began her career in the 1930s.
She was a scientist in an era when it was a rare choice for women. This may explain why her four books gained more success decades after they were published than near their original publication date. The timing of their success coincides with increasing awareness of environment issues and professional opportunities for women.
Silent Spring
Carson’s best known book is Silent Spring, published in 1962, which is a wake-up call for the issues that were central to her concerns. She especially wanted the general public to know and address the danger of pesticides and pollution, particularly their impact on natural water, like rivers, bays and oceans.
“Embedded within all of Carson’s writing was the view that human beings were but one part of nature distinguished primarily by their power to alter it, in some cases irreversibly,” according to her biography at RachelCarson.org.
Her childhood home is open to the public by appointment and tours are free. (It can also be rented as an event or meeting venue.) When she grew up there, as the youngest of a family of five, the house had no indoor plumbing or central heat.
“Celebrate Rachel’s life and legacy by visiting her birthplace and early home: the place she lived and discovered the outdoors, developed her own ‘sense of wonder,’ drew water from a spring-house, read and dreamed of becoming a writer,” according to the Rachel Carson Homestead website.
Silent Spring is still highly respected today. As one example, it has a distinct feature in the young adult novel by Carl Hiaasen entitled Skink No Surrender.
More to See
You can also read about her home in our Maryland section. Her Maryland home is under the authority of the National Parks Service.
On the Path
If you are traveling east-west, this can be the final stop or next-to-last stop on our Pennsylvania Author Adventures Trail, depending on whether you detour northward on your way to the last Fred Rogers stop or circle back eastward to Springdale after the last Fred Rogers stop in Pittsburgh.
Patricia Smart
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