A Modern Environmental History of PA

A Modern Environmental History of PA

Dr. Paul Rosier, Mary M. Birle Chair in American History at Villanova University

Recognize this? “The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment.” It’s the opening line of the Pennsylvania Constitution’s Environmental Rights Amendment (https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pennlive.com%2Fmidstate%2Findex.ssf%2F2014%2F04%2Fenvironmental_rights_5_shockin.html&data=02%7C01%7Cpaul.rosier%40villanova.edu%7C3d3c34ff725f49cd4c7808d4d5f3c31b%7C765a8de5cf9444f09cafae5bf8cfa366%7C0%7C0%7C636368690309107045&sdata=lNhtADYNWPA2PaBOAoc11%2Bh24F40shUk1UxOkrczgsI%3D&reserved=0), and it was broadly upheld in a State Supreme Court decision earlier this summer. Good news! Yet daily we are reminded of environmental peril: to our climate, water and air; to habitat, biodiversity and food sources. What does the future hold?

As we ponder our environmental prospects, let’s take a breath and pause for a fascinating and useful look back at environmental history, with renowned environmental historian, speaker and author Dr. Paul Rosier (https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww1.villanova.edu%2Fvillanova%2Fartsci%2Fhistory%2Ffacstaff%2Fbiodetail.html%3Fmail%3Dpaul.rosier%40villanova.edu%26xsl%3Dbio_long&data=02%7C01%7Cpaul.rosier%40villanova.edu%7C3d3c34ff725f49cd4c7808d4d5f3c31b%7C765a8de5cf9444f09cafae5bf8cfa366%7C0%7C0%7C636368690309107045&sdata=JdTmT6%2FIi4GRoMJ2xTKyzKQect0%2FQJnuWQmNeVveTrI%3D&reserved=0). History can help us understand change, and how the society we live in came to be. The past causes the present, and so the future. (Why Study History?) (https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.historians.org%2Fabout-aha-and-membership%2Faha-history-and-archives%2Farchives%2Fwhy-study-history-(1998)&data=02%7C01%7Cpaul.rosier%40villanova.edu%7C3d3c34ff725f49cd4c7808d4d5f3c31b%7C765a8de5cf9444f09cafae5bf8cfa366%7C0%7C0%7C636368690309107045&sdata=pWKsoKwhDSVXX%2BDidK0rTX%2FyBnAQyMZaQh31iVENubk%3D&reserved=0)

At our August meeting, Paul will share with us a broad picture of environmentalism, highlighting growth of the environmental movement in the 1950s and 1960s and bringing us home to Pennsylvania’s own rich environmental history.

This is an excellent topic for many backgrounds and interests, and all are invited. We hope you will join us for an enlightening discussion of Pennsylvania’s environmental history, as we prepare for our own parts in the next chapter, being written today.

The meeting is August, 29, at 7:00 at TEKPark (9999 Hamilton Boulevard, Breinigsville, PA 18031, between Kutztown and Allentown). Meetings are free and open to the public. After the meeting, please plan to stick around and chat with friends old and new. Light snacks will be served. Hope to see you there!

Paul C. Rosier received his Ph.D. in American History from the University of Rochester in 1998. Dr. Rosier currently serves as Mary M. Birle Chair in American History at Villanova University, where he teaches Global Environmental History, American Environmental History, Seminar in Sustainability Studies, Native American History, and History of American Capitalism. His books include, “Rebirth of the Blackfeet Nation,[masked]” (2001) and “Serving Their Country: American Indian Politics and Patriotism in the Twentieth Century” (2009), which won the 2010 American Indian National Book Award. His latest essay, entitled “Crossing New International and Historiographical Boundaries: American Indians and Twentieth Century American Foreign Policy,” appeared in Diplomatic History (October 2015). His current book project, to be published by Cambridge University Press, is entitled: “Citizens of the World: American Indian Citizenship from the Revolution to the Present.”

For questions, contact Vera Cole, [masked] .

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Free DVD with MAREA membership (https://www.themarea.org/join.shtml) While supplies last, all new and renewing MAREA members will receive a free copy of “Saving Sunshine, Keeping the Lights on with Batteries and Solar Power,” the 30-minute DVD produced by MAREA this year with funding from the Berks Community Foundation and distributed by Bullfrog Films. It’s terrific film, offering an interesting and easily understood explanation of the electricity grid and distribution generation, especially the role of batteries with solar. MAREA is a 501(c)3 non-profit. Donations and memberships are how we keep the lights on. You can join at the meeting or anytime online (https://www.themarea.org/join.shtml). Thanks for your help.