Making a Living: Work and Environment in the United States

190 Pages·2008·1.01 MB·English

by  Chad Montrie

making a living
Chad Montrie
The University of North Carolina Press * Chapel Hill
Making a Living
work and environment in the united states
∫ 2008 the university Library of Congress Cataloging-in-
of north carolina press Publication Data
All rights reserved Montrie, Chad.
Set in Carter + Cone Galliard Making a living : work and environment in
by Keystone Typesetting, Inc. the United States / by Chad Montrie.
Manufactured in the United States p. cm.
of America Includes bibliographical references and
index.
The paper in this book meets the guide- isbn 978-0-8078-3197-7 (cloth: alk. paper)
lines for permanence and durability of isbn 978-0-8078-5878-3 (pbk.: alk. paper)
the Committee on Production Guide- 1. Labor—United States—History.
lines for Book Longevity of the Council 2. Environmentalism—United States—
on Library Resources. History. I. Title.
hd8072.5.m66 2008
Portions of this book are based on previously 331.0973—dc22
published articles: ‘‘Continuity in the Midst 2007044718
of Change: Work and Environment for
West Virginia Mountaineers,’’ West 12 11 10 09 08 5 4 3 2 1
Virginia History 1 (Spring 2007): 1–22;
‘‘ ‘Men Alone Cannot Settle a Country’: Title page illustration: J. W. Barber,
Domesticating Nature in the Kansas- ‘‘East View of Lowell.’’ Courtesy of the
Nebraska Grassland,’’ Great Plains Center for Lowell History, University of
Quarterly 25 (Fall 2005): 245–58; ‘‘ ‘I Think Massachusetts Lowell.
Less of the Factory Than of My Native
Dell’: Labor, Nature, and the Lowell ‘Mill
Girls’,’’ Environmental History 9 (April
2004): 275–95. Used by permission of the
publishers.
For Bob Foreman
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Acknowledgments * ix
Introduction * 1
1. I Think Less of the Factory Than of My Native Dell * 13
Labor, Nature, and the Lowell Mill Girls
2. Living by Themselves * 35
Slaves’ and Freedmen’s Hunting, Fishing, and Gardening in the Mississippi Delta
3. Men Alone Cannot Settle a Country * 53
Domesticating Nature in the Kansas-Nebraska Grasslands
4. Degrees of Separation * 71
Nature and the Shift from Farmer to Miner to Factory Hand in Southern West Virginia
5. A Decent, Wholesome Living Environment for Everyone * 91
Michigan Autoworkers and the Origins of Modern Environmentalism
6. A Landscape Foreign and Physically Threatening * 113
Southern California Farmworkers, Pesticides, and Environmental Justice
Conclusion * 129
Notes * 133
Bibliography * 159
Index * 173
This page intentionally left blank
Acknowledgments
As is always the case with a book, I could not have written this one but for the
support, assistance, patience, and good humor of many di√erent people. I
now have been privileged to work with Sian Hunter at the University of
North Carolina Press on two separate projects. This time around, like before,
she helped me broaden the scope of my research and deepen my interpreta-
tion. Anonymous readers also provided several sets of reviews that challenged
me to make critical, necessary changes. And other sta√ at unc Press, includ-
ing Nathan McCamic, Paul Betz, Ellen Bush, and Liz Gray, were models of
professional competence when it came to an appraisal, copy editing, and all
the additional, important steps along the road to publication.
The archival research for this book was generously funded by the History
Department, Division of Social Sciences and Humanities, and Provost’s Of-
fice at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. I received one of the univer-
sity’s Healey Grants, as well, and an O≈ce of Research Administration/
Scholarly Research Forum Grant, which allowed me to make one last trip to
Detroit. Archivists at the Center for Lowell History, National Archives, Kan-
sas State Historical Society, West Virginia University, and Walter Reuther
Library at Wayne State University were kind and knowledgeable, especially
Martha Mayo, a walking trove of Lowell history. For articles, books, and
various primary sources acquired through interlibrary loan and virtual cata-
logue, I relied on the diligent labors of Rose Paton and Debbie Friedman.
My dual interest in labor and environmental history was first nurtured at
the University of Louisville, where I had the good fortune as an undergradu-
ate to be mentored by John Cumbler. Taking his courses and engaging him in
many conversations outside of class convinced me that the two fields could
and should be brought together. I also received early encouragement for the
endeavor from the late Hal Rothman. In his last year as editor at Environmen