Carnegie Mellon University Libraries

History:

Environmental History:

Primary Sources

Below are some primary sources that can be found at Hunt Library, Carnegie Mellon; Hillman Library, the University of Pittsburgh; the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh; and on the Web. Repositories of other primary sources can be found using the resources at History: Databases and Indexes: Archival Resources. If you need help finding primary sources, ask at the Hunt Library reference desk.

• Collections, Papers, and Diaries
• Government Documents

Primary Sources:

Collections, Papers, and Diaries

• "California As I Saw It:" First-Person Narratives of California's Early Years, 1849-1900
  Search or browse full texts and illustrations of 190 works documenting the formative era of California's history through eyewitness accounts from the Gold Rush to the turn of the twentieth century. It covers "the pioneer experience; encounters between Anglo-Americans and the diverse peoples who had preceded them; the transformation of the land by mining, ranching, agriculture, and urban development; the often-turbulent growth of communities and cities; and California's emergence as both a state and a place of uniquely American dreams."

• Core Historical Literature of Agriculture (Albert R. Mann Library, Cornell University)
  Scanned images of core agricultural books from the 19th and 20th century.

• The Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920 (American Memory, Library of Congress)
  Search or browse books and pamphlets, Federal statutes and Congressional resolutions, excerpts from the Congressional Globe and the Congressional Record, Presidential proclamations, prints and photographs, historic manuscripts, etc.

• Industrial Hygiene Collection (Mellon Institute Library, Carnegie Mellon University)
  Housed at Carnegie Mellon's Mellon Institute Library, the collection includes a wide variety of materials on the environmental health issues of workers, such as: publications from the Air Hygiene Foundation of America, Inc., (1936-1940); the Industrial Hygiene Foundation of America, Inc., (1941-1969); and the Industrial Health Foundation (1970-present). Materials also include journals, annual reports, information circulars, and bulletins from the Chemistry and Toxicology Series, Legal Series, Medical Series, Management Series, Nursing Series, Preventive Engineering Series, as well as Proceedings, etc.

• Journals of Lewis and Clark (University of Virginia)

• Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac, and Sketches Here and There. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987, c1949.
  ENGR&SCI STACKS QH81 .L56 1987

• Leopold, Aldo. The River of the Mother of God and Other Essays. Edited by Susan L. Flader and J. Baird Callicott. Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press, c1991.
  HUNT BMST QH81 .L557 1991

• Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery (PBS)

• Lewis, Meriwether, and William Clark. The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Gary E. Moulton, editor. 8 vols. [Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press], c1983-1996.
  HUNT STACKS-2 F592.4 1983

• Lewis, Meriwether, and William Clark. Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804-1806. Edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites. 8 vols. New York: Arno Press, 1969.
  HUNT STACKS-2 F592.4 1969B

• Love Canal Collection (University Archives, University Libraries, State University of New York at Buffalo)
  Documents, links to other sites, etc.

• McHenry, Robert, and Charles Van Doren, eds. A Documentary History of Conservation in America. New York: Praeger [1972].
  HUNT BSMT S930 .M18

• Muir, John. Letters from Alaska. Edited by Robert Engberg and Bruce Merrell. Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press, c1993.
  HUNT BSMT QH31 .M78 A3 1993
  Articles written for the San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin, 1879-80.

• Muir, John. My First Summer in the Sierra. San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books, 1988.
  HUNT OVRSZQ-2 QH31 .M9 A3 1988

• Muir, John. Our National Parks. New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1901.
  HUNT STACKS-2 E160 .M95

• Neimark, Peninah, and Peter Rhoades Mott. The Environmental Debate: A Documentary History. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1999.
  HUNT STACKS-2 GE197 .E7 1999

• Roosevelt, Theodore. Theodore Roosevelt's America; Selections from the Writings of the Oyster Bay Naturalist. Edited by Flarida A. Wiley. New York, Devin-Adair, 1955.
  HUNT STACKS-4 799 R78T

• The Thoreau Reader: The Works of Henry David Thoreau, 1817-1862. (Richard Lenat)
  Full text books, essays, links to other Thoreau sites, etc.

• New Perspectives on the West (WETA, PBS)
  Maps, photographs, documents, timeline, etc.

• Writings of John Muir (Sierra Club)
  Full text, quotations, articles, books, etc.

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Primary Sources:

Government Documents

Documents produced by the United States government can be a great source of information. Below are just a few examples of the types of government documents that are relevant to environmental history. To find more, use the databases and indexes listed at History: Databases and Indexes: Government Documents. If you need help locating government documents, ask for assistance at the Hunt Library reference desk.

• Department of the Interior
  History of the department, archives of press releases, photos, images, links to bureaus, etc.

• Environmental Protection Agency
  • History
    Interviews, press releases and clippings, administrative histories, statements, speeches, and other information on environmental laws, etc.

• National Hurricane Center: Tropical Prediction Center
  • NHC Archive of Hurricane Seasons
    Images showing: hurricane tracks, 1921-1994; ranks of hurricanes, 1900-1996, based on number of deaths, costs, intensity; hurricane season preliminary reports, 1959-1999, etc.

• United States Department of Agriculture
  Includes Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service History timeline, standards, links to agencies and programs, historical statistics, etc.

• United States. Congress. House. Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. Powerplant Siting and Environmental Protection: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Communications and Power. 92nd Congr., 1st sess., 4, 6, 7, 11, 13, 25, 27, May, 1971.
  HUNT REF-1 GOVDOC Y4.In8/4:92-31-3.

• United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science and Technology. The Costs and Effects of Chronic Exposure to Low-Level Pollutants in the Environment: Hearings before the Subcommittee on the Environment and the Atmosphere, 94th Congr., 1st sess., 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, November, 1975.
  HUNT REF-1 GOVDOC Y4Sci2:94-1/49

• United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the District of Columbia. Solid Waste Disposal: Hearings Before the Committee on the District of Columbia. 92nd Congr., 1st sess., 20, 21, October, 1971.
  HUNT REF-1 GOVDOC Y4.D63/2:So4

• United States. Department of Agriculture. Lumber Production in the United States, 1799-1946. Miscellaneous Publication No. 669. Washington, D. C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1948.
  HUNT REF-1 GOVDOC A1.38:669.

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Environmental History

History

August 2009 -- http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/sc24/History/enviprimary.html
Sue Collins, Senior Librarian, sc24@andrew.cmu.edu