Not So Silent: A New Conservationism in Mid-Century Montgomery County
by Rebecca Henson
The modern environmental movement as we recognize it today primarily took shape in the middle of the 20th century, formed by a community of local nature-loving civil servants skilled in science, communication, and the arts and through key events taking place in Montgomery County, Maryland. The activities of the independent Audubon Society of the District of Columbia—the organization that brought many of these individuals together and would eventually find its permanent home in the county—both reflected and furthered the conservation values and ambitions of many of its leading members, including Rachel Carson, Roger Tory Peterson, and Shirley Briggs. Major flash points in the burgeoning environmental movement—including the highly-publicized hike to preserve the C&O Canal and its towpath and Carson’s penning of the groundbreaking and perspective-widening Silent Spring—were intrinsically connected to the natural areas where they took place, from the county’s western edge along the Potomac River to the verdant woods and vibrant creeks of Silver Spring.