On Rachel Carson's Continuing Legacy: How Students at the University of Maryland Aim to Commemorate Carson in 21st Century Environmental Activism

Abstract

This paper explores gender discrepancies in public commemoration rhetoric in the context of current environmental activism. Simply who deserves to be remembered reveals a long history of gender inequality in the United States. In 2017, a group of students at the University of Maryland recognized the same pattern of the unequal representation of men to women in building dedications and attempted to reform that by starting a petition to dedicate the Plant Sciences building to ecologist and writer, Rachel Carson. Though the final result was unsuccessful, the recognition of this problem of unequal representation and taking action to reform is a step forward towards a more equitable future. Through this case study, this paper also looks at the wider uprise of youth-lead environmental activism.