Rachel Carson :: Essays Papers

Rachel CarsonHello, my name is Rachel Lousie Carson. I was born on a farm in Springdale, daddy on May 27, 1907. My mother, Maria McLean Carson was a dedicated teacher and throughout my childhood she encouraged my interests in nature and in writing. She also encouraged me to declare my head start story A Battle in the Clouds in the St. Nicholas magazine while I was in fourth score.After graduating from Parnassus High School, I enrolled into the popCollege for Women. I major(ip)ed in English and continued to write but I also had to taketwo semesters of science, which changed my life. In my junior year I changed my major tozoology, even though science was not considered an appropriate avenue for women. After graduating college in 1928 I had earned a full one year intuition to JohnsHopkins University in Baltimore. This scholarship did not relieve me or my family of ourfinancial burdens, so I worked throughout graduate school in the genetics departmentassisting Dr. Raymond as tragal and Dr. H.S. Jennings and I worked as an assistant teacher inthe zoology department at the University of Maryland. In 1932 I received my masters inmarine zoology. I continued working part-time as a teacher after graduating to helpsupport my family through the early years of the Depression. In 1935 my father had aheart attack and passed away leaving me to provide for my mother. In 1936, my sisterMarion passed away at the age of forty leaving behind two recent daughters, and mymother encouraged me to take them in. That same year I took the civil serviceexamination necessary for promotion to full-time junior aquatic biologist. I scored higher than all the other candidates ( who were all male) and became the first female biologist ever hired by the Bureau of Fisheries whom I was employed by for sixteen years as a writer.My article entitled Undersea which had been published in the Atlantic Monthly,won praise from scientists, naturalists, and literary critics, inspiring me to write my first book. Under the Sea Wind debuted in 1941 to critical acclaim in both literary andscientific circles but sales plummeted with the bombing of Pearl Harbor. 1942 I began working for the Fish and Wildlife Service promoting fish as an alternative to foods in short supply because of the war. By 1948 I moved into an exclusively male domain, earning the grade of biologist, and becoming the editor-in-chief of the Information Division.