Skip to main content

Rachel Louise Carson

Rachel Louise Carson
Usage Conditions Apply
Artist
Una Hanbury, 1904 - 9 Feb 1990
Sitter
Rachel Louise Carson, 27 May 1907 - 14 Apr 1964
Date
1965
Type
Sculpture
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
With Base: 48.6 x 21 x 15.6cm (19 1/8 x 8 1/4 x 6 1/8")
Without Base: 28.3 x 21 x 15.6cm (11 1/8 x 8 1/4 x 6 1/8")
Base: 20.3 x 15.2 x 15.2cm (8 x 6 x 6")
Topic
Rachel Louise Carson: Female
Rachel Louise Carson: Literature\Writer\Scientific writer
Rachel Louise Carson: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Environmentalist
Rachel Louise Carson: Science and Technology\Scientist\Naturalist
Rachel Louise Carson: Science and Technology\Scientist\Biologist
Rachel Louise Carson: Science and Technology\Scientist\Biologist\Marine Biologist
Rachel Louise Carson: Presidential Medal of Freedom
Portrait
Place
United States\District of Columbia\Washington
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Object number
NPG.66.19
Exhibition Label
Alarmed by the widespread use of chemical pesticides like DDT, Rachel Carson helped spark a mass movement for environmentalism with Silent Spring (1962). A forceful critique of the chemical industry and agribusiness, the bestselling book also faulted the government for allowing the use of such pesticides without considering their long-term effects. Carson insisted on the public’s right to know how they impacted ecosystems and human health. “If we are going to live so intimately with these chemicals— eating and drinking them, taking them into the very marrow of our bones,” she warned, “we had better know something about their nature and their power.”
Alarmada por el extendido uso de pesticidas químicos como el DDT, Rachel Carson contribuyó a encender la chispa de un movimiento ambientalista masivo con Primavera silenciosa (1962). El exitoso libro, una fuerte crítica a la industria química y la agroindustria, culpaba al gobierno de permitir el uso de tales pesticidas sin considerar sus efectos a largo plazo. Carson insistía en que el público tenía derecho a saber cómo impactaban estas prácticas los ecosistemas y la salud humana. “Si vamos a vivir tan íntimamente con estas sustancias, comiéndolas y bebiéndolas, asimilándolas hasta la médula de nuestros huesos”, advirtió, “será mejor que sepamos algo sobre su índole y su poder”.
Provenance
Una Hanbury [1904-1990]; purchased NPG 1966
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Exhibition
Forces of Nature: Voices that Shaped Environmentalism
On View
NPG, North Gallery 220