1 10 11 https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/9658c5eb5acf40ebe1a5bcf81be47700.jpg f8539e9057aec9a70e27525d0fa5df34 https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/3dad6a41c786c02e008adafb0385ea73.png 739c3dac52638094b9da03fe75a2c48b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Packaging, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Living in a World of Our Own Making Subject The topic of the resource <a href="http://www.igbp.net/images/18.950c2fa1495db7081ebd1/1421396650502/GreatAcceleration2015igbpsrclowres.jpg" title="IGBP - The Great Acceleration Dashboard" target="_blank">The Great Acceleration</a> <img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4721/40562555551_972c132773_o.jpg" 100="" width="100% height=" /> <span style="font-size: 3;"> </span> Description An account of the resource The Anthropocene means “The Age of Humans,” but what does it mean to live in a world of our own making? Humanity has flourished in past two centuries. Two thirds of every person ever born lived between 1945 and today. Scientists call this era of expanding population, economic development, and environmental impact the “Great Acceleration.” People are now more numerous and powerful than ever before. Mining moves more rocks and soils than all of the worlds rivers combined. Artificial fertilizers have doubled the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus in our soils. Plastics can now be found on mountain tops and the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Paradoxically, many of the most profound changes to global environments pass virtually unnoticed. Nuclear fallout, for instance, is invisible to the naked eye, but radioactive evidence of cold war weapons tests remains in soils around the world. Until recently, lead was one of the most common materials in industrial use. It was used to seal our foods, paint our homes, and power our cars. Lead is toxic, especially for children. Although invisible, lead is now in our soils, in our cities, and even in our blood. By contrast, concrete is virtually everywhere, yet we rarely think about it. We drive on it, work in it, and the foundations of this very museum are built using it. More than half of the concrete ever produced was manufactured between 1995-2015. Concrete requires enormous energy to mine, transport, and produce. These consequences are as invisible to us as the material is abundant. As you finish your journey through the exhibit, consider how many other “invisible” materials influence our lives and connect us to the global environment. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wooden Egg Crate Subject The topic of the resource This 1950 wooden egg crate reflects Omaha's local food system. It marks the end of pre-industrial poultry farming. Early settlers brought chickens to America. They were not a widespread food until the mid-1800s. Then chickens became more popular, and this increased the demand for eggs. After World War II, the need for cheap protein grew. Programs like the "Chicken of Tomorrow" Contest aimed to breed larger chickens in less time. Farmers also bred hens to increase egg production. New antibiotics and farming methods helped the U.S. lead a global rise in chicken production. Local farms fell behind the large companies. The use of chicken litter pollutes nearby ecosystems. Layer chicken litter is a mixture of waste, bedding, and leftover feed used for farming. This history shows the effects of industrial farming on labor and the environment. The human impact on chickens reveals how these systems are shaping the Anthropocene. Description An account of the resource The transition from small, local poultry farms to large, industrial operations represents a significant turning point in the environmental history of Omaha, the U.S., and the world. This transformation, driven by capitalism and the demand for cheap, mass-produced protein, led to chickens becoming the world’s most produced and consumed protein source. However, this industrialization came at a significant environmental cost, contributing to resource depletion, ecological imbalances, and widespread degradation. In this context, the wooden egg crate found in Omaha is a powerful symbol of the Anthropocene, reflecting the human-driven industrialization of chicken farming and its lasting impact on the environment and the biosphere. Chickens were introduced to the Americas by European settlers around the time of the establishment of Jamestown (Gordon, 1997). Their progenitor, the red junglefowl (Gallus gallus), was thinner than modern chickens and often nested in trees (Alder, 2012). These birds were practical companions on transatlantic voyages due to their resilience and ability to provide both meat and eggs. Despite their utility, poultry remained a peripheral part of the American diet through the early 20th century. For centuries, chickens roamed barnyards, foraging and mating naturally. They were a minor agricultural concern (Alder, 2012). The mid-19th century marked a turning point in poultry farming. The "hen fever" craze, which spread across Europe and America from 1845 to 1855, popularized ornamental poultry breeds. During this period, the U.S. imported a diverse range of chickens from around the world, and breeding and crossbreeding gained significant attention (Burnam, 1855). Technological innovations, such as the invention of incubators in the 1870s, transformed the breeding process. In the 1870s, the value of ornamental plumage declined, and plumbers were employed to focus on egg production (Bugos, 1992). Ultimately, while the chicken initially gained attention for its vibrant feathers, it was the egg that propelled the chicken in industrial farming. Like many parts of America, East Omaha was home to small, family-run farms that supplied the city with fresh produce, meats, and poultry in the 19th century (Fletcher, 2017). Poultry practices were casual and often managed by farmers' wives as chickens were largely self-sufficient. Families collected eggs year-round and consumed chickens seasonally, and surplus eggs were sold in local markets. Accordingly, in 1894, the Cummer Manufacturing Company patented the “Humpty Dumpty Egg Crate,” a wooden crate designed to carry up to 12 dozen eggs (Warshaw Collection, 2024) (Figure 2). Manufactured in Michigan, this particular crate, found in The Durham Museum Permanent Collection, is marked with the date December 1950. During the late 19th century and early 20th century, this egg crate would have been valuable to farmers traveling to local markets to sell their surplus eggs (Figure 1). The egg crate thus serves as a symbol of the pre-industrial poultry farming era, when small-scale, family-run farms were the primary source of food production. Egg production expanded and industrialized throughout the early 20th century, with chickens increasingly viewed as "mechanical oviducts," tools for efficient egg production rather than natural organisms. The introduction of electric lighting and artificial incubators further boosted production, allowing for extended laying seasons and year-round egg production. Competitions like the 1926 International Baby Chick Association (IBCA) contest in Georgia, which offered around $21,000 in awards, highlighted the industry's competitive drive. These competitions contributed to the growing trend of industrialized farming, encouraging breeders to push for greater egg yields at the expense of the hens' health. Methods to increase egg production negatively affected the genetic fitness of hens, leading to physical deterioration, including bone fragility, as many were unable to sustain their egg output through feed intake alone (Bryerly, 1976). The industrialization of egg production set the stage for the development of the broiler industry in the following decades, marking a significant shift from egg production to meat production. After World War II in America, red meats such as pork, beef, veal, and lamb were tightly rationed. This led to an increased interest in the development of poultry production. The "Chicken of Tomorrow" initiative in the 1940s and 1950s encouraged collaboration between government agencies, scientists, colleges, researchers, and volunteers across the country (Shrader 1952). These programs sought to create chickens that grew faster, had larger meat portions, and exhibited consistent quality. As a product of this program, the Vantress chicken became the industry standard by the 1950s (Breakthrough, 2022). Further selective breeding, coupled with the use of antibiotics and a modified diet, fundamentally altered the modern broiler’s skeletal morphology, pathology, bone geochemistry, and genetics (Bennett, 2017; Miller, 2022). As a result, while the average grocery store chicken in the 1920s weighed about 2.5 lbs, it now averages around 5.5 lbs and reaches that size in just seven weeks (Silberman, 1988). The industrialization of poultry production was marked by increased efficiency and large-scale production, driven by the vertical integration of major corporations. These companies quickly consolidated hatcheries, feed production, and slaughtering facilities, creating a streamlined, cost-effective model for mass distribution of chicken at lower prices (Macdonald 2009). Technological innovations such as vaccines, antibiotics, and mechanized slaughter processes played a significant role in this transformation, allowing for faster and more efficient production. The Packers and Stockyards Administration reported that the labor required to produce 1,000 broilers declined from 250 hours in 1940 to just 26 hours by 1965 (Lord 1971). The emergence of the "Broiler Belt" in the southeastern U.S. concentrated poultry production in specific regions also contributed to an increase in chicken production. The rise of poultry in America was largely driven by meat affordability and a significant increase in per capita chicken consumption in the U.S. Between 1939 and 1949, the U.S. population increased by 46%, while chicken sales rose by more than 600% (Lord, 1971). The rise of takeout and carryout chicken outlets in the 1950s and 1960s further fueled this trend. As a result, U.S. chicken consumption more than doubled from 1950 to 1980, and by the late 1990s, chicken had surpassed beef as the most consumed meat in the country (Ritchie, 2023) (Blazejczyk & Kantor, 2024). The success of the American poultry industry extended globally, with the United States surpassing European poultry industries (Godley, 2014). Driven by growing urban markets and improved access to inputs, many countries transitioned to large-scale, vertically integrated broiler operations from the mid-20th century. Today, the U.S. remains a leader in poultry production, with China and Brazil following closely behind. Together, these three countries account for approximately 46% of global poultry production and over 40% of global chicken consumption (Belova, 2012). The rise of mass production and agribusiness also boosted the production of other protein sources. From 1980 to 2006, total meat exports more than tripled (Park, Miyun, and Peter Singer, 2012). Today, chickens are the most abundant terrestrial vertebrate species, with a global population exceeding 20 billion. The widespread presence and altered morphology of modern chicken bones, shaped by decades of selective breeding, demonstrate the profound influence of human activity on the biosphere. Most of these chicken bones trace back to just four species, with commercial broilers descending from three lines of chickens and egg-laying poultry derived from a single specialized line (Muir, 2008). The genetic composition of the modern chicken has also been dramatically altered. Mutations linked to industrial farming, such as changes in the TBC1D1 gene, which accelerates growth rates, and in the TSHR gene, which enables year-round egg production, are clear examples of this shift (Rubin, 2010). Furthermore, comparisons between commercial breeds and native or non-commercial chickens show that, in some cases, up to 90% of genetic alleles have been lost. There are environmental degradation concerns that come from poultry farming, such as the effects that the layer’s chicken litter has on the environment. Chicken litter is considered to be “a compost of manure, feathers, and bedding,” (Gerlock, 2016). Agricultural farmers tend to use chicken litter to help their crops grow instead of expensive synthetic fertilizers as it adds organic nutrients. Many countries around the world use chicken litter due to how cheap it is, which allows for farmers to afford the large quantities that companies sell (Chicken Litter, n.d.). There are harmful chemicals that are found in the litter, as it is “rich in nitrogen and phosphorus but also contains other substances such as hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, pathogens, and heavy metals” (Zeynal et al., 2021). The issue doesn’t surround the fertilizer on crops but the runoff of chemicals that leads into the waterways (Gerlock 2016). Unclean water is not only dangerous to the environment, but severely unhealthy for humans due to the high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus. Unknown to most people, high nitrogen levels can have fatal reactions to living creatures. For example, these high levels can cause fatal conditions where people struggle to have enough oxygen in their blood flow (Gerlock, 2016). The quality of our waterways is essential for the functions of society and the environment. The continuation of using chicken litter from poultry farming can lead to further contamination of water for animals, humans, and crops. Water systems are able to filter out most contaminants through natural cycles, but groundwater poses a deeper issue. Companies that are incharge of water safety use sand and grit to filter our water, but when the concentration is potent, it runs into a problem. There is a natural saturation point that can be filtered out through our water system, but when the levels of nitrogen and phosphorus go over that natural level, it can end up in the drinking water supply, (Gerlock, 2016). Chicken litter has been correlated to the high levels of contaminants in water and soil, which lead to the understanding that industrial poultry farming can affect the environment. Without severe regulations on industrial farming, environmental degradation continues and ecological changes become more potent due to our choice of using chicken litter. Around the world, the depletion of local poultry farms grew over time. After World War II, the demand for chicken had increased significantly, but the number of farms had significantly decreased (Freshour, 2018). This demand led farmers to attempt to upgrade their farms, but with the rise of technology it ultimately caused farmers to go into debt. This change from local farms grew into a bulk movement for egg production (Kidd, 2021). There were specific types of eggs that sold best, such as the white shell eggs. The USDA shares that a dozen of large white shelled eggs on average are about $4.00 for retail supermarkets (Weekly Combined Region Shell Eggs, 2024). On the other hand, local egg producers are selling their farm fresh eggs at around $6.00 a dozen (Local Eggs, n.d.). This price discrepancy plays an important role in the consumers, as most people find it more convenient and cost effective to buy their eggs at a grocery store. The competition between the local markets and large companies is unfortunately impossible to achieve an even balance, due to the decreasing local poultry farms. These interrelated social and ecological costs are also taking place in Nebraska. In 2016, a chicken slaughterhouse for Costco in Fremont presented economic concerns for local farmers. This $300 million slaughterhouse took space from local farmers as well as potential businesses. Gerlock explains that the Costco plant would “surely be a boon to many farmers looking for new revenue sources in a down economy,” (2016). With the widespread production of poultry, farmers were driven out of business because people could get it from industries for cheaper. Large companies had the ability to boost their surplus efficiently and effectively, which decreased the need for smaller farmers (Fletcher, 2017). When it came to Nebraska, people worried about the contracts that companies sign because of the possibility of taking business from local sellers. The Nebraska Communities United group worried about unfair contracts that may come from specifically the Costco plant, which can lead to the failing business of local farmers (Gerlock, 2016). These contracts against the Nebraska Communities United as they were fighting for an environmental study and expressed their worries about the labor market (Knapp, 2016). Costco was showing how job opportunities would rise for the small community, but the group brought concern about an increase of population, as there wasn’t sufficient housing, schools, or other community resources (Knapp, 2016). Industrial companies posed issues by taking profits from local businesses, as well as driving resources out for the local inhabitants. Local farmers in Nebraska have tried to resist these changes through environmental studies and they have also promoted alternatives to this factory farming model. When it comes to soil, sustainable farmers talk about using and managing soil through “regenerative agricultural practices that can help protect crops” from climate change (“Background,” n.d.). These practices would be able to reduce the pathogens in soil and waterways, thus allowing other organic matter to be used instead of chicken litter. Local farmers have “implemented conservation techniques to save water and build soil organic matter,” to use as crop nutrients (“Background,” n.d.). There have been many threats to sustainable farmers, such as the environmental changes caused by industries. For example, carbon emissions that relate to climate change raised concerns for sustainable farmers, such as they began “to understand the threat of rising emissions to the planet to be serious… farmers and ranchers become leaders in efforts to drawdown rapidly rising emissions,” (“Background,” n.d.). Industrial competition led family farmers to be driven out of their farms, due to the lack of money and water sources nearby. Factories would take resources from local farmers to route them to the industrial companies, such as waterways and roadways (Fletcher, 2017). Since most local farmers lived a humble lifestyle, they had little money to push back against these corporations, leading them to be left with no other choice but to retire. The demand for poultry has allowed companies to take advantage of ecological resources that were essential for local farmers. These local farmers are unable to keep up with the prices, demands, and production time of industrial farming. Not only are they worried about the social aspects, but the environmental issues that are brought by the chicken litter. In Nebraska, poultry plants often have excess chicken litter that is used for agricultural processes. Nearby the Costco plant, an investigation was done to determine the health of nearby waterways. During a three-year investigation, upstream and downstream of litter deposits, there was an increase of select pathogens that violate the accepted limits provided by the Environmental Protection Agency (Hammel, 2022). This finding showed that chicken litter is correlated to pathogens found in our waterways that are used for crops and supposedly clean drinking water. The data from the three-year investigation led to a further look into the water quality which has shown that the data collected proves that the stream health is compromised (Hammel, 2022).The administration of the poultry firm admits that “contaminant fluctuations cannot be meaningfully estimated,” (Hammel, 2022). The poultry firms know that the contaminants can't be regulated, which is dangerous to the health and safety of our water and soil. Poultry farming, though a pivotal moment for economics and capitalism, brought proof of environmental degradation and ecological effects. The wooden egg crate is a marker of the Anthropocene, showing the rapid change from backyard chickens to slaughterhouses. As demand for poultry rose, local farmers were unable to keep up with the industrialization of chickens. These chickens were often cheaper, but also filled with antibiotics and other drugs to make them bigger. This sparked conflict in surrounding communities, as these chemicals had a high chance of affecting humans through the waterways and soil. In Omaha, poultry was a commodity that caused environmental changes, as well as ruining small businesses. The industrialization of chicken farms lead to resource depletion, ecological imbalances, and widespread degradation. These effects are still seen today and can be captured in the comprehensive background of the wooden egg crate. This marker of the Anthropocene is understood through Omaha’s history which has expanded to be a worldwide environmental issue. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Madeline Bushong, Sarah Fujiwara Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Adler, Jerry, and Andrew Lawler. 2012. “HOW THE CHICKEN CONQUERED THE WORLD: EBSCOhost.” June 2012. https://web.p.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=9d6f5d28-3c46-4fd8-ad0d-e9d2415ad66b%40redis&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPXNoaWImc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZl#db=ahl&AN=76154201. “Background - GC Resolve, LLC.” n.d. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://www.gcresolve.com/background. Belova, A. v., L. Smutka, and E. Rosochatecká. 2012. “World Chicken Meat Market - Its Development and Current Status.” Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis 60 (4): 15–30. https://doi.org/10.11118/ACTAUN201260040015. Bennett, Carys, Jan Zalasiewicz, Mark Williams, and Richard Thomas. “How Chickens Became the Ultimate Symbol of the Anthropocene.” The Conversation, August 24, 2023. https://theconversation.com/how-chickens-became-the-ultimate-symbol-of-the-anthropocene Blazejczyk, Andrzej, and Linda Kantor. 2024. “USDA ERS - Food Availability and Consumption.” September 9, 2024. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/ag-and-food-statistics-charting-the-essentials/food-availability-and-consumption. Breakthrough Institute. “ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF US AGRICULTURAL R&D.” GROWING GREEN: THE ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF PUBLIC AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT. The Breakthrough Institute, 2022. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep49577.5,. Byerly, T. C. “Changes in Animal Science.” Agricultural History 50, no. 1 (1976): 258–74. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3741922. Bugos, Glenn E. “Intellectual Property Protection in the American Chicken-Breeding Industry.” The Business History Review 66, no. 1 (1992): 127–68. https://doi.org/10.2307/3117055. Burnam, Geo.P. 1855. “The History of the Hen Fever : A Humorous Record : Burnham, Geo. P. (George Pickering), 1814-1902 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive.” 1855. https://archive.org/details/cu31924002972424/page/n45/mode/2up. Cernea, I., I. Sutura, M. Rusu, and C. Man. “Epidemiological Investigation of Colibacillosis in Chicken Farms and Identification of Pathogenic Serotypes.” EurekaMag, 1968. https://eurekamag.com/research/014/460/014460777.php?srsltid=AfmBOorrB0lHIQp58tHjqtepuJ2ErfPIQeeDhsos6xTxQbtnKo9rWhPs. Chicken Litter Fertilizer Market – global industry trends and forecast to 2028. Data Bridge Market Research. (n.d.). https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-chicken-litter-fertilizer-market?srsltid=AfmBOorvX7dgYRtVzBAwGfV5hFOm-WzmH46jTtArHIu8pgiUrP7agMCe Derry, Margaret E. 2015. “Chicken Breeding: The Complex Transition from Traditional to Genetic Methods in the USA.” Archimedes 40: 371–93. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12185-7_18. Fletcher, Adam. 2017. “A History of Truck Farms in East Omaha – NorthOmahaHistory.Com.” April 24, 2017. https://northomahahistory.com/2017/04/27/a-history-of-truck-farms-in-east-omaha/comment-page-1/. Freshour, C. (2018). Squeezing farmers in the poultry capital of the world [Book review]. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 8(1), 187–189. https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2018.081.008 Gerlock, Grant. “Growing Nebraska Poultry Industry Spurs Environmental Concerns.” KCUR, December 19, 2016. https://www.kcur.org/agriculture/2016-12-19/growing-nebraska-poultry-industry-spurs-environmental-concerns. Godley, Andrew. “The Emergence of Agribusiness in Europe and the Development of the Western European Broiler Chicken Industry, 1945 to 1973.” The Agricultural History Review 62, no. 2 (2014): 315–36. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43697983. Gordon, John Steele. 1997. “The Chicken Story: EBSCOhost.” 1997. https://web.p.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=18&sid=610d1b5a-11f6-4f6f-b360-9418ae2b56da%40redis&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPXNoaWImc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZl#db=ahl&AN=9608133794. Gržinić, Goran, Agnieszka Piotrowicz-Cieślak, Agnieszka Klimkowicz-Pawlas, Rafał L. Górny, Anna Ławniczek-Wałczyk, Lidia Piechowicz, Ewa Olkowska, et al. “Intensive Poultry Farming: A Review of the Impact on the Environment and Human Health.” Science of The Total Environment 858 (February 2023): 160014. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160014 Hammel, Paul. 2022. “Report Suggests That Litter from Chicken Farms Has Upped Contamination of Water | Nebraska Public Media.” December 7, 2022. https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news-articles/report-suggests-that-litter-from-chicken-farms-has-upped-contamination-of-water/. Kidd, M. T., & Anderson, K. E. (2019). Laying hens in the U.S. market: An appraisal of trends from the beginning of the 20th century to present. Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 28(4), 771–784. https://doi.org/10.3382/japr/pfz043 Knapp, F. (2016). Fremont Chicken proposal brings mixed reactions. Nebraska Public Media. https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news-articles/fremont-chicken-proposal-brings-mixed-reactions/ Local eggs Omaha, Nebraska. Benson Bounty-Omaha, NE. (n.d.). https://www.bensonbounty.com/shop/farm-fresh-eggs?srsltid=AfmBOooiaXrzf8IvH6qcgz0_zYCZL6IV3W-3apINhXGBuBJpQ8eiZVcY Lord, Jerry Dennis. “THE GROWTH AND LOCALIZATION OF THE UNITED STATES BROILER CHICKEN INDUSTRY.” Southeastern Geographer 11, no. 1 (1971): 29–42. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44370549. Macdonald, James M, and William D Mcbride. 2009. “Economic Information Bulletin Number 43 The Transformation of U.S. Livestock Agriculture Scale, Efficiency, and Risks.” www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/44292/10992_eib43.pdf Miller, Matthew, Adam Gerval, James Hansen, and Grace Grace Grossen. 2022. “USDA ERS - Poultry Expected To Continue Leading Global Meat Imports as Demand Rises.” August 1, 2022. https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2022/august/poultry-expected-to-continue-leading-global-meat-imports-as-demand-rises/. Morrison, Joseph Louis. “Distribution of Arsenic from Poultry Litter in Broiler Chickens, Soil, and Crops.” Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 17, no. 6 (November 1969): 1288–90. https://doi.org/10.1021/jf60166a018. Muir, William M., Gane Ka Shu Wong, Yong Zhang, Jun Wang, Martien A.M. Groenen, Richard P.M.A. Crooijmans, Hendrik Jan Megens, et al. 2008. “Genome-Wide Assessment of Worldwide Chicken SNP Genetic Diversity Indicates Significant Absence of Rare Alleles in Commercial Breeds.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 105 (45): 17312–17. https://doi.org/10.1073/PNAS.0806569105. Nery, V. del, I. R. de Nardi, M. H.R.Z. Damianovic, E. Pozzi, A. K.B. Amorim, and M. Zaiat. 2007. “Long-Term Operating Performance of a Poultry Slaughterhouse Wastewater Treatment Plant.” Resources, Conservation and Recycling 50 (1): 102–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.RESCONREC.2006.06.001. Park, Miyun, and Peter Singer. “The Globalization of Animal Welfare: More Food Does Not Require More Suffering.” Foreign Affairs 91, no. 2 (2012): 122–33. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23217226. Peters, Joris, Ophelie Lebrasseur, Evan K. Irving-Pease, Ptolemaios Dimitrios Paxinos, Julia Best, Riley Smallman, Cecile Callou, et al. 2022. “The Biocultural Origins and Dispersal of Domestic Chickens.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 119 (24): e2121978119. https://doi.org/10.1073/PNAS.2121978119/SUPPL_FILE/PNAS.2121978119.SAPP.PDF. Ritchie, Hannah, Pablo Rosado, and Max Roser. 2017. “Meat and Dairy Production - Our World in Data.” August 2017. https://ourworldindata.org/meat-production Rubin, Carl Johan, Michael C. Zody, Jonas Eriksson, Jennifer R.S. Meadows, Ellen Sherwood, Matthew T. Webster, Lin Jiang, et al. 2010. “Whole-Genome Resequencing Reveals Loci under Selection during Chicken Domestication.” Nature 2010 464:7288 464 (7288): 587–91. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08832. Shrader, H. L. "The Chicken-of-Tomorrow Program: Its Influence on 'Meat-Type' Poultry Production." Poultry Science 31, no. 1 (January 1952): 3-10. https://doi.org/10.3382/ps.0310003. Silberman, Morton S. 1988. “Animal Welfare, Animal Rights: The Past, the Present, and the 21st Century.” The Journal of Zoo Animal Medicine 19 (4): 161. https://doi.org/10.2307/20094884. “Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Packaging | Collection: NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Packaging.” n.d. Accessed November 10, 2024. https://sova.si.edu/record/nmah.ac.0060.s01.01.packaging. Weekly Combined Regional Shell Eggs. USDA. (2024). https://mymarketnews.ams.usda.gov/filerepo/sites/default/files/2848/2024-12-06/891048/ams_2848_00250.txt Zeynal Topalcengiz, Amanda Moller, Sanjay Kumar, Manpreet Singh, Michelle Danyluk, “Chapter 30 - Preharvest food safety.” Foodborne Infections and Intoxications (Fifth Edition), Academic Press, 2021, Pages 495-521, ISBN 9780128195192, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-819519-2.00014-1. chickens https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/accd071b247ae2369fbcc1674273b2de.jpg bf31567dce618b9369418e57ba3b1def Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Living in a World of Our Own Making Subject The topic of the resource <a href="http://www.igbp.net/images/18.950c2fa1495db7081ebd1/1421396650502/GreatAcceleration2015igbpsrclowres.jpg" title="IGBP - The Great Acceleration Dashboard" target="_blank">The Great Acceleration</a> <img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4721/40562555551_972c132773_o.jpg" 100="" width="100% height=" /> <span style="font-size: 3;"> </span> Description An account of the resource The Anthropocene means “The Age of Humans,” but what does it mean to live in a world of our own making? Humanity has flourished in past two centuries. Two thirds of every person ever born lived between 1945 and today. Scientists call this era of expanding population, economic development, and environmental impact the “Great Acceleration.” People are now more numerous and powerful than ever before. Mining moves more rocks and soils than all of the worlds rivers combined. Artificial fertilizers have doubled the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus in our soils. Plastics can now be found on mountain tops and the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Paradoxically, many of the most profound changes to global environments pass virtually unnoticed. Nuclear fallout, for instance, is invisible to the naked eye, but radioactive evidence of cold war weapons tests remains in soils around the world. Until recently, lead was one of the most common materials in industrial use. It was used to seal our foods, paint our homes, and power our cars. Lead is toxic, especially for children. Although invisible, lead is now in our soils, in our cities, and even in our blood. By contrast, concrete is virtually everywhere, yet we rarely think about it. We drive on it, work in it, and the foundations of this very museum are built using it. More than half of the concrete ever produced was manufactured between 1995-2015. Concrete requires enormous energy to mine, transport, and produce. These consequences are as invisible to us as the material is abundant. As you finish your journey through the exhibit, consider how many other “invisible” materials influence our lives and connect us to the global environment. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Pumping Station Description An account of the resource The geoengineering of natural waterways has been a long-standing hallmark of the global Anthropocene.1 In fact, Donald Worster, a leading figure in environmental history, considered water management to be “the dominant symbol of humankind’s power over nature.”2 From ancient Mesopotamia to the 20th-century American city, the environmental histories of nearly every rapidly growing urban metropolis revealed some form of manipulation of hydrological systems.3 These modifications consistently raise questions about the power dynamics of resource ownership and management, specifically regarding private and public ownership models. The water municipalization debates in Omaha, Nebraska mirror these broader global discussions about public and private water ownership. As a result of growing sanitation concerns, the city of Omaha commissioned the development and construction of the Florence Water Works and Minne Lusa Pumping Station. Constructed approximately seven miles north of downtown Omaha in the town of Florence, the new water management facility included multiple high-service pumps and boilers that filtered out sediment, chemically treated, and dispersed clean water to meet the growing demand for water in Omaha.4 At its peak, the water treatment plant supplied upwards of 28 million gallons to the citizens of Omaha per day.5 The plant’s ability to provide water resources at a substantially lower cost, along with its improved quality, ultimately enabled the continued growth and development of the city of Omaha. However, as the rapidly urbanizing Omaha continued to grow, the privately owned and operated plant could not keep up. This contributed to rapidly declining infrastructure, sewage leaks, enormous amounts of wasted water, and, most concerning to the public, rising prices. As the problems continued to worsen during the early 20th century, the citizens of Omaha campaigned for the municipalization of Omaha’s water resources. This culminated in the creation of the Metropolitan Utilities District and their subsequent acquisition of the assets of the Omaha Water Company in 1912. This transition ultimately contributed to improved operations and crucial cost reductions, which expanded clean water access in Omaha. The story of the municipalization of the Florence Water Works and Minne Lusa Pumping Station revealed the growing desire across the United States and the globe for publicly owned and operated water resources. These global and national transitions demonstrated the comparative advantage of municipalized water, which consistently contributed to lower costs for households and improved service quality. These crucial improvements expanded water access to marginalized communities, who were otherwise unable to afford this basic necessity under the private, corporate model. Ultimately, with 21st-century initiatives to return to the corporatized natural resources model, ownership and distribution of water will continue to be one of the unique challenges faced throughout the Anthropocene, especially in the face of environmental degradation and the global depletion of freshwater resources. Making Minne-Lusa: The development and construction of the Florence Water Works and Minne Lusa Pumping Station reflected the importance of artificially controlled water resources for urban expansion and population growth. Throughout the late 1800s, Omaha’s population increased by 360%.6 This contributed to a hyper-concentrated urban center that lacked adequate sanitation systems to accommodate the growing, densely packed population.7 The absence of a working sewage system led residents to dump garbage and human waste into the streets.8 Furthermore, current waste management, primarily taking the form of privies and cesspools, contaminated the local drinking water supply.9 Public accounts from Omaha in the 1870s and 80s noted the rapid spread of communicable diseases such as dysentery, diarrhea, and typhoid fever, all of which finally prompted locals to draft over one hundred petitions and complaints aimed to garner the attention of the city council.10 The public upheaval generated by the contaminated drinking water convinced local politicians to commission the construction and development of the Florence Water Works and Minne Lusa Pumping Station in 1888. Constructed six miles up the river from Omaha due to the danger of contamination from the city, the plant was both an essential piece of infrastructure and an architectural marvel. Designed by the architectural firm Mendelssohn, Fisher, and Lawrie and managed by the American Water Works Company, the Pumping Station was constructed using Warrensburg sandstone: a material commonly found on the Missouri River and used frequently in construction throughout Missouri River states during the late 19th and early 20th century.11 With a distinctive four-story central tower and granite fountains adorned with monster heads, the facility’s architecture reflected the classical stylings of the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition.12 In addition to the actual pumping and treatment station, the compound also included a superintendent’s mansion and numerous worker housing units.13 Figure 1, taken by photojournalist of the Omaha World-Herald Robert Paskach, depicted the unique architecture of the main treatment facility along the Missouri River, the central tower, and the superintendent’s mansion, displayed off in the distance (Figure 1).14 Significantly, the extraordinary design of the treatment plant was a key factor in compelling the populace to care about the ownership of the facility. Initially, the Florence Water Works and Minne Lusa Pumping Station catalyzed Omaha’s urban transition as a result of the lower utility costs. Developer CW Martin and architect Everett S. Dodds surveyed the plot in 1915, initially attracted by the presence of the Florence Water Works facility.15 In fact, the development was strategically named the Minne Lusa development to capitalize on the positive associations people had with the waterworks.16 An advertisement in the Omaha Daily Bee in 1915 used the water station as the primary selling point, chronicling how the water station brought with it the economic redevelopment of roads, easy accessibility to utilities, and proximity to working-class jobs.17 The construction of a cable car route (Figure 2) that passed right by the plant, and the urban design of the city, which runs perpendicular to the treatment site as if branching out from it, illustrated how the Minne Lusa facility was the focal point of the redevelopment of Florence, Nebraska.18 Furthermore, plant operators knew that the unique design of the plant would attract public attention and began offering tours of the facility, thus drawing in new residents and tourists to the town of Florence, catalyzing its economic and population growth.19 Despite its initial positive benefits, the privately owned and operated plant could not keep up with Omaha’s rapidly growing population, much of which it catalyzed itself. Historians Larsen and Cottrell noted that immediately after its opening, “serious problems plagued the new works.”20 For one, the American Water Works Company did not have the resources to appropriately and sufficiently maintain the plant’s infrastructure. Customers often found dead fish in their water mains and frequent raw sewage leakage in their taps.21 Furthermore, the plant was constructed without water meters resulting in enormous wastes of water.22 In other words, the company did not track individual household consumption, charging a flat rate to all customers regardless of usage. The lack of financial incentive for water conservation led to over-excessive water use and undetected leakages, putting a further strain on the plant’s ability to operate while maintaining financial viability.23 These problems contributed to both rising water rates and the installation and maintenance of new water mains only in areas where consumers were willing and able to pay these rising fees.24 Ultimately, the residents of Omaha, embittered about the American Water Works Company’s inadequate service and rising costs, began to fight for public ownership of water. At the turn of the 20th century, the Minne Lusa Pumping Station’s inadequate operations generated considerable civil unrest in Omaha. Historians Larsen and Cottrell noted that “it was no longer possible or fashionable to blame inaction on rapid growth.”25 The citizens of Omaha demanded a solution to the emerging and expensive water crisis. Therefore, in March 1897, at an Omaha City Council settlement to postpone municipalization until 1917, hundreds of Omaha residents flooded the meeting hall.26 In an over three hour discussion, the public strongly opposed the council’s proposal citing the exorbitant water rates and the impediment of future municipal ownership as the primary reasons.27 This meeting, and the city’s subsequent acquisition of the plant in 1912, reflected the Omaha citizen’s belief that public ownership would be more economically feasible and just. The improved management of the Florence Water Works and Minne Lusa pumping station after 1912 demonstrated the benefits of public ownership of natural resources. First, public utility ownership eliminated the American Water Company’s profit obligations to shareholders, and therefore led to substantial decreases in water rates. For example, between 1912 and 1916, “water rates were reduced by 50%.”28 Moreover, by eliminating the profit generation goal and gaining access to municipal funds, grants, and bonds, the newly created Metropolitan Utilities District’s management could comparatively invest more into maintenance and facility upkeep. These improvements also cut service costs for small consumers by 50%.29 Ultimately, public control of water in Omaha contributed to enhanced operationally efficiency and more equitable distribution. History of US Waterworks: More than just a hallmark of the growth, expansion, and urbanization of Omaha, the Florence Water Works and Minne Lusa Pumping Station served as a microcosm for both national and international developments in water management. Omaha’s private to public utility transition represents broader trends in the global anthropocene regarding the control of water. In the United States, water provision before 1830 was generally considered to be publicly controlled, as urban expansion had not yet necessitated the development of uniform, complex systems. Water was primarily obtained through individuals’ own devices, public wells, and occasionally private water merchants.30 As American cities struggled with fire control, poor sanitation, and the threat of disease, the need for development became apparent. Concurrently, Europe was going through a water revolution of their own. Through the early modern period (1500 - 1800) water systems and provision became increasingly viewed as a subsidiary of the industrial sector throughout Europe. Though mainly manifesting itself in Britain, European water systems transitioned from basic gravitational supply from distant sources to mechanical and eventual steam engine pumping from rivers and other freshwater sources.31 In accordance with increased globalization, these technological developments in water management were brought to North America in the mid to late 18th century. Despite the first pumping station being opened in Philadelphia in 1754, it did not become recognized as an integrated and functional waterworks until 1801. This development was seen as a relative anomaly, as it did not spark an immediate nationwide trend of cities developing waterworks.32 However, the propagation of integrated waterworks began to spread during the early to mid 19th century as the traditional methods of water collection could not keep up with communal demands for larger quantities of clean water and increased fire security.33 Concurrent to these developments, the sanitary revolution, 1830 - 1880, began to sweep through American cities, as public health was correlated with the presence of waste and decay in natural resources. Both city officials and sanitarians, then, became invested in the connection between these water systems and the new goals of environmental sanitation in order to get a handle on waterborne diseases. The overwhelming majority of these new waterworks were privately owned, 80% of all works in 1830, and relatively small compared to the systems that would later gain popularity.34 While relatively inefficient in disease mitigation, as bacteria was later identified as the cause of disease, the increasing importance of effective water provision during this time correlated to increases in the complexity and number of waterworks. In support of this emerging trend, there were only 45 unique works in 1830, but 599 in 1880.35 Municipalization: The implementation of additional systems, newly invigorated civil needs, and the requirement that systems be integrated within the entire urban area led to the skyrocketing of the costs of establishing and maintaining waterworks. Therefore, many city leaders throughout the US concluded that the continued control of sanitary water systems by private entities would be difficult to maintain. Additionally, they came to believe that the control of the public water supply could be profitable for city governments and would benefit the public, as this vital resource would no longer be controlled by for-profit businessmen.36 Mirroring the sale of the Minne Lusa Pumping Station to the city of Omaha, this transition to public ownership of water systems through city governments led to the first major shift in the history of waterworks, municipalization.37 Between 1830 and 1924, the percentage of publicly owned waterworks increased from 20% to 80%, representing the uniform nature of these changes throughout the United States.38 This transition to municipal ownership was perceived as a public good throughout areas of implementation. Low-income American households would spend 4.39% of their income on water resources in privately controlled sectors and 2.84% of their income in publicly controlled sectors as of 2007.39 Additionally, numerous studies demonstrate how municipalized systems ensure equitable access to water. One such study examined the effects of municipal water ownership on black communities from 1889 to 1921. It identified that rates of typhoid fever decreased by 9% in black individuals under public ownership without substantial impacts on white communities, highlighting the general increases in water quality and uniform implementation under municipal ownership.40 Although this transition was driven by financial and operational factors, it raised fundamental questions regarding whether profit-oriented private corporations could effectively manage vital natural resources.41 Moreover, these debates coalesced around the core issue of whether water should be treated as a commercialized commodity or a basic human right. Conclusion: The environmental history of the Florence Water Works and Minne Lusa Pumping Station demonstrated the national and global shift toward municipal ownership. However, as contemporary corporate interests seek to regain access to municipal utilities, it is important to keep in mind the benefits of Omaha’s municipal shift. On a national level, the 2014 Flint water crisis spurred many Americans to distrust municipally controlled water sources. While current understandings have placed the majority of the blame on individual government officials and not municipal control in general, the transition away from sourcing water from Lake Huron without modernized infrastructure under the Karegnondi Water Authority has raised the question of reprivatization in the face of aging infrastructure.42 On an international level, public opinion has generally aligned with municipal water resources. In regions of Latin America specifically, several instances of remunicipalisation have occurred from 2000 to 2005, as water prices spiked without increases in the availability or quality of the water provided through private ownership transitions a few years prior.43 By considering the themes of urbanization, globalization, and the consideration of natural resources as inherent human rights, the history of the Minne Lusa Pumping Station and the global municipal water transition should be taken into account. Though the immediate infrastructure boost under private ownership may be beneficial in the short term, public control of water sources will be essential in maintaining the supply of clean water to all individuals in the face of climate change, pollution, and the commodification of natural resources.   Figure 1: Robert Paskach, Missouri River Trip, 1967, Robert Paskach Collection, Durham Museum, Omaha, NE. Figure 2: Map of Florence in 1923 from: (Omaha: North Omaha History Blog, 2017), Minne Lusa Pumping Station Collection, North Omaha History Blog, Omaha. https://northomahahistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/florence-1923.jpg Figure 3: Tables recording the number of waterworks, the breakdown of ownership style, and the number of cities with waterworks (1800-1830 only) from 1800 to 1924 in the United States. From: Melosi, Martin. “Full Circle? Public Responsibility versus Privatization of Water Supplies in the United States.” In Urban Water Conflicts, edited by Bernard Barraqué, 39–56. Taylor and Francis, 2011. Endnotes 1) Donald Worster, “The Flow of Empire: Comparing Water Control in China and the United States,” RCC Perspectives, no. 5 (2011): 5. 2) Worster, “The Flow of Empire,” 15. 3) Worster, “The Flow of Empire,” 15. 4) “Omaha from the Air,” Omaha World-Herald, 1947. 5) Robert Lee Rayl, “A Study of Warrensburg Sandstone,” University of Missouri, (June 1952): 85-95. 6) Michael J. Harkins, “Public Health Nuisances in Omaha, 1870-1900.” Nebraska History 56 (1975): 478. 7) Raymond A. Mohl and Neil Betten, “The History of Urban America: An Interpretive Framework.” The History Teacher 3, no. 3 (March 1970): 30. 8) Mohl and Betten, “The History of Urban America,” 29. 9) Harkins, “Public Health Nuisances in Omaha,” 478. 10) Harkins, “Public Health Nuisances in Omaha,” 478. 11) Robert Lee Rayl, “A Study of Warrensburg Sandstone,” University of Missouri, (June 1952): pg. 85-95. 12) Federal Writers’ Project Nebraska, Omaha: A Guide to the City and Environs (Omaha: Omaha Public Library, 1939), 45. 13) Federal Writers’ Project Nebraska, Omaha: A Guide to the City and Environs, 25-27. 14) Robert Paskach, Missouri River Trip, 1967, Robert Paskach Collection, Durham Museum, Omaha, NE. 15) "Big Land Deal is Brought to Close," Omaha Daily Bee, April 3, 1915. 16) Jennifer Honebrink, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Minne Lusa Residential Historic District, register form, November 2013, national Reigster of Historic Places, accessed November 5, 2023, https://preservation.cityofomaha.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/HD-021-N_-Minne-Lusa-Residential-HD.pdf. 17) “The Water Board Appraisal,” Omaha Daily Bee, July 15, 1906, https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn99021999/1906-07-15/ed-1/?sp=10&q=florence+water+works&r=0.266,0.048,0.151,0.165,0. 18) Florence 1923 (Omaha: North Omaha History Blog, 2017), Minne Lusa Pumping Station Collection, North Omaha History Blog, Omaha. https://northomahahistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/florence-1923.jpg 19) “Purity of the City’s Water Supply and How it is Attained for Omaha” Omaha Daily Bee, April 5, 1908, p. 4F. 20) Lawrence Harold Larsen and Barbara J. Cottrell, The Gate City: A History of Omaha (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1982), 104. 21) Larsen and Cottrell, The Gate City, 104. 22) Larsen and Cottrell, The Gate City, 104. 23) Larsen and Cottrell, The Gate City, 104. 24) Larsen and Cottrell, The Gate City, 750. 25) “Talk About Water Works,” Omaha Daily Bee, March 16, 1897. https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn99021999/1897-03-16/ed-1/?sp=8&q=florence+water+w orks&r=-0.008,0.02,0.258,0.28,0. 26) “Talk About Water Works.” 27) “Talk About Water Works.” 28) Earl Alexander Everret, “Municipal versus Private Wwnership of Public Utilities,” (Masters thesis, University of Nebraska Lincoln, 1919), 11. https://www.proquest.com/openview/158d820bbab6df2d9689a78bdca47b91/1?cbl=18750&diss=y&pq-origsite=gscholar 29) Everrett, “Municipal versus Private Ownership,” 9-10. 30) Martin Melosi, "Full Circle? Public Responsibility versus Privatization of Water Supplies in the United States," in Urban Water Conflicts, ed. Bernard Barraqué (Taylor and Francis, 2011), 40. 31) James Douet, The Water Industry as World Heritage: Thematic Study (TICCIH, 2018), 26-35. 32) Melosi, “Full Circle?”, 40-41. 33) Charles Jacobson, Ties That Bind: Economic and Political Dilemmas of Urban Utility Networks, 1800-1990 (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2000), 33-34. 34) Melosi, Martin. The Sanitary City: Environmental Services in Urban America from Colonial Times to the Present. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2008, 73-89 35) John Croes, Statistical Tables from the History and Statistics of American Water Works (New York: Engineering News, 1884), 4-69. 36) Charles Jacobson, Steven Klepper, and Joel A. Tarr, "Water, Electricity and Cable Television: A Study of Contrasting Historical Patterns of Ownership and Regulation," Cahier / Groupe Réseaux 1, no. 3 (January 1985): 9. 37) Jacboson, Klepper, and Tarr, “Water, Electricity and Cable Television,” 8. 38) Melosi, “Full Circle?”, 41-42. 39) X. Zhang, M. González Rivas, M. Grant, and M. E. Warner, "Water Pricing and Affordability in the US: Public vs. Private Ownership," Water Policy 24, no. 3 (March 2022): 500-516. 40) Werner Troesken, "Race, Disease, and the Provision of Water in American Cities, 1889-1921," The Journal of Economic History 61, no. 3 (September 2001): 750-776. 41) Debora Spar and Krzysztof Bebenek, "To the Tap: Public versus Private Water Provision at the Turn of the Twentieth Century," Business History Review 83, no. 4 (2009): 675-702. 42) Benjamin J. Pauli, "The Flint Water Crisis," WIREs Water 7, no. 3 (March 2020): 1-3. 43) Germà Bel, "Public versus Private Water Delivery, Remunicipalization and Water Tariffs," Utilities Policy 62 (February 2020): 1-2. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ben Jackson Logan Yogi Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Bel, Germà. “Public versus Private Water Delivery, Remunicipalization and Water Tariffs.” Utilities Policy 62 (February 2020): 100982. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jup.2019.100982. "Big Land Deal is Brought to Close." Omaha Daily Bee, April 3, 1915. Croes, John. Statistical Tables from the History and Statistics of American Water Works. New York: Engineering News, 1884. Douet, James. The Water Industry as World Heritage: Thematic Study. TICCIH, 2018. Federal Writers’ Project Nebraska. Omaha: A Guide to the City and Environs. Omaha: Omaha Public Library, 1939. Florence 1923. Omaha: North Omaha History Blog, 2017. Minne Lusa Pumping Station Collection. North Omaha History Blog, Omaha. https://northomahahistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/florence-1923.jpg. Harkins, Michael J. “Public Health Nuisances in Omaha, 1870-1900,” Nebraska History 56 (1975): 471-492. http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/NHOmaHealth.pdf. Honebrink, Jennifer. National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Minne Lusa Residential Historic District. Register form, November 2013. National Register of Historic Places. Accessed November 5, 2023, https://preservation.cityofomaha.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/HD-021-N_-Minne-Lusa-Residential-HD.pdf. Jacobson, Charles. Ties That Bind: Economic and Political Dilemmas of Urban Utility Networks, 1800-1990. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2000. Jacobson, Charles, Steven Klepper, and Joel A Tarr. “Water, Electricity and Cable Television: A Study of Contrasting Historical Patterns of Ownership and Regulation.” Cahier / Groupe Réseaux 1, no. 3 (January 1, 1985): 2–31. https://doi.org/10.3406/flux.1985.1615. Larsen, Lawrence Harold, and Cottrell, Barabara J. The Gate City: A History of Omaha. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1982. Melosi, Martin. “Full Circle? Public Responsibility versus Privatization of Water Supplies in the United States.” In Urban Water Conflicts, edited by Bernard Barraqué, 39–56. Taylor and Francis, 2011. Melosi, Martin. The Sanitary City: Environmental Services in Urban America from Colonial Times to the Present. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2008. Mohl, Raymond A., and Neil Betten. “The History of Urban America: An Interpretive Framework.” The History Teacher 3, no. 3 (March 1970): 23-34. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3054423. “Omaha from the Air.” Omaha World-Herald. 1947. https://www.historicomaha.com/aerial5.jpg. Pauli, Benjamin J. “The Flint Water Crisis.” WIREs Water 7, no. 3 (March 12, 2020). https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1420. “Purity of the City’s Water Supply and How it is Attained for Omaha.” Omaha Daily Bee. April 5, 1908. p. 4F. Rayl, Robert Lee. “A Study of Warrensburg Sandstone.” University of Missouri (June 1952): 1-108. https://mospace.umsystem.edu/xmlui/handle/10355/87444. Robert Paskach. Missouri River Trip. 1967. Robert Paskach Collection. Durham Museum, Omaha, NE. Spar, Debora, and Krzysztof Bebenek. “To the Tap: Public versus Private Water Provision at the Turn of the Twentieth Century.” Business History Review 83, no. 4 (2009): 675–702. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007680500000878. “Talk About Water Works.” Omaha Daily Bee, March 16, 1897. https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn99021999/1897-03-16/ed-1/?sp=8&q=florence+water+works&r=-0.008,0.02,0.258,0.28,0. Accessed October 9, 2024. “The Water Board Appraisal.” Omaha Daily Bee, July 15,1906. https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn99021999/1906-07-15/ed-1/?sp=10&q=florence+water+works&r=0.266,0.048,0.151,0.165,0. Accessed October 9, 2024. Troesken, Werner. “RACE, DISEASE, and the PROVISION of WATER in AMERICAN CITIES, 1889–1921.” The Journal of Economic History 61, no. 03 (September 1, 2001): 750–76. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022050701030066. Worster, Donald. “The Flow of Empire: Comparing Water Control in China and the United States.” RCC Perspectives, no. 5 (2011): 1-23. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26240326. Zhang, X., M. González Rivas, M. Grant, and M. E. Warner. “Water Pricing and Affordability in the US: Public vs. Private Ownership.” Water Policy 24, no. 3 (March 17, 2022): 500–516. https://doi.org/10.2166/wp.2022.283. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Fall 2024 Subject The topic of the resource Should water be publicly or privately owned? For centuries, cities across the world have asked this question, and Omaha is no different. In the 1800s, Omaha’s waste flowed into the river, leading to dirty drinking water and disease spread. To fix this, Omaha took inspiration from other US cities. In 1889, they built the Florence Water Works and Minne Lusa Pumping Station. The privately owned plant could provide 28 million gallons of clean water to the growing Omaha city. The private company, however, could not keep up with the growing population. This led to sewage leaks and rising costs. In 1912, the people of Omaha finally took control of the plant’s operation, and with it came better management and lower costs. The history of the Minne Lusa Pumping Station shows that when people around the world control water, it's cheaper, easier to get, and better for the entire public. pumping station Water treatment https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/b55c2345327dfc6b59fff90a60d34a0c.jpg 7a95a61fce027b54d790d6b85d88ee4d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Description An account of the resource This is an image of our object, a Memorex VHS tape with a recording of Merry Tuba Christmas, 1991. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Durham Museum Permanent Collection, Merry Tuba Christmas, 1991 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Living in a World of Our Own Making Subject The topic of the resource <a href="http://www.igbp.net/images/18.950c2fa1495db7081ebd1/1421396650502/GreatAcceleration2015igbpsrclowres.jpg" title="IGBP - The Great Acceleration Dashboard" target="_blank">The Great Acceleration</a> <img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4721/40562555551_972c132773_o.jpg" 100="" width="100% height=" /> <span style="font-size: 3;"> </span> Description An account of the resource The Anthropocene means “The Age of Humans,” but what does it mean to live in a world of our own making? Humanity has flourished in past two centuries. Two thirds of every person ever born lived between 1945 and today. Scientists call this era of expanding population, economic development, and environmental impact the “Great Acceleration.” People are now more numerous and powerful than ever before. Mining moves more rocks and soils than all of the worlds rivers combined. Artificial fertilizers have doubled the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus in our soils. Plastics can now be found on mountain tops and the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Paradoxically, many of the most profound changes to global environments pass virtually unnoticed. Nuclear fallout, for instance, is invisible to the naked eye, but radioactive evidence of cold war weapons tests remains in soils around the world. Until recently, lead was one of the most common materials in industrial use. It was used to seal our foods, paint our homes, and power our cars. Lead is toxic, especially for children. Although invisible, lead is now in our soils, in our cities, and even in our blood. By contrast, concrete is virtually everywhere, yet we rarely think about it. We drive on it, work in it, and the foundations of this very museum are built using it. More than half of the concrete ever produced was manufactured between 1995-2015. Concrete requires enormous energy to mine, transport, and produce. These consequences are as invisible to us as the material is abundant. As you finish your journey through the exhibit, consider how many other “invisible” materials influence our lives and connect us to the global environment. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource VHS Tape Subject The topic of the resource This is a VHS tape of a 1991 Christmas concert in Omaha. It was donated to the Durham Museum by the Omaha Musician’s Society. This tape serves as a record of people's experience that Christmas in 1991 and many recordings like this one help keep people’s memories alive. This VHS tape connects Omaha’s history to global environmental history because of what VHS was and how it was used. VHS gave people a new way to access and share information. As this technology progressed, people everywhere became able to preserve their lives on tape. VHS is no longer used today but it stands as an example of cycles of consumption and growth during the Anthropocene. Now we have phones and the internet to record and share our experiences but ultimately the modern media appetite is thanks to the humble VHS. Description An account of the resource The VHS tape is a significant artifact in Omaha’s environmental history because VHS was an important medium people used to record their lives and preserve the events happening in Omaha. It links Omaha’s environmental history to the global history of the Anthropocene because it was a major step in informatics and consequently, human cultural evolution as it increased the average person’s ability to record and consume information through media. It was used widely to preserve the past, including here in Omaha, as well as around the world. Dating back to their conception, magnetic strip cassette tape recorders were first developed by Ampex in the 1950s for the news media industry (Mix Staff 2011, others). However, it was not until later that VHS arose out of a hard won “format war” in corporate competition with the Betamax format developed by Sony in 1975 (Knight 2015). While bulkier and of lower image quality, VHS ultimately won out over Betamax as the dominant home video system format because of its greater recording duration. VHS was developed by JVC in 1976 and became the leading technology with a majority market share by 1980, for use both by businesses and private households (Knight 2015). The tape itself consists of plastic and metal pigment layers, “the plastic layer consisting mainly of polyethylene terephthalate” (Pontynen, 2019). PET is the most common polymer used in the production of the various components of a VHS unit. The metal pigment layers supported the analog technicolor capabilities of early VCR sets. The plastic shell of a VHS tape is also of a basic hard plastic; a “semicrystalline thermoplastic that comes from refining petroleum as most all plastics do” (Aslan et al, 1997.). These plastic components of VHS beg their own environmental impact analysis, given the effects of oil refining on the Anthropocene. A majority of plastics are made of fossil fuel hydrocarbons which comes from an industry that has uniquely contributed to the anthropogenic climate crisis to an unequivocal extent. The polymer used is also a very durable form of plastic which makes it more difficult to reuse and recycle. It will not naturally degrade on its own. Despite the materials argument, it is the social impact which has made the VHS such an interesting lens through which to view the Anthropocene. VHS was a landmark technology especially given its broad availability and novelty to customers across the globe. Counting Betamax too, it was the first readily available means for people to record themselves or the things they experienced for later viewing. Earlier mediums like photography, phonography and silent film could capture reality in one or two dimensions (imagery, audio and time, and imagery and time), but this was the first time imagery, audio, and time were all able to be recorded onto a single analogue record. As explained in the 1992 article “Camcorders'', this technology would put portable recording devices in the hands of anyone who could afford it, at first supporting only the bulky VHS format, but then eventually shrinking down to the more manageable VHS-C format that offered video recording devices that could be operated with one hand weighing in at only 2lbs (“Camcorders'', 1992.) The artifact we have in particular is a tape recording of a 1991 Christmas Pageant that occurred here in Omaha at the Western Heritage Museum. This object was in the collection at Durham because it was donated by the Omaha Musician’s Association, the tape is titled Merry Tuba Christmas Western Heritage Museum 1991. The Omaha Musician’s society was originally chartered on November 19th, 1897, and has continued to provide music and culture to the Omaha community for 125 years (〖American Federation of Musicians〗^). This particular Christmas concert in Omaha was recorded as a piece of Omaha’s history and how the community gathered together for the holidays and for music. The VHS tape itself is not especially unique to Omaha’s history. VHS tapes were ways for people temporally or spatially displaced from the actual recorded event to gain or relive experiences both commercially and privately. In particular, the ability to record audio and video dramatically changed the way people experienced music (Mallinder 2015). This is evident here as well, the Christmas concert that was played in Omaha in 1991 is recorded on this tape and to experience it you neither have to time travel nor have been alive in Omaha in 1991. It is a connection to the past for the people of Omaha and a glimpse into life here 30 years ago. This tape is simply an example of thousands like it that were created here in Omaha and of many more like it around the world that are now relics of a previous era. VHS in its time was exceptionally commonplace and could be found in every American’s home (Boucher, 2008). Although not especially unique due to its ubiquity, VHS was culturally impactful and quickly became a part daily life with commercial movies and home videos. Part of its appeal and rise to popularity was the accessibility of the tapes and the multiplicity of their purpose. VHS allowed people to record and rewatch their favorite shows, games, and events in a way like never before. While this one contains a Christmas concert, going to any thrift store or estate sale around the country, one could find someone's eighth-grade musical from the 80s or a 1979 championship game. The ubiquity of VHS is what solidified its impact and although it finally died its commercial death in 2008, it remains relevant to so many people due to the moments and memories stored on them. Although VHS was deeply relevant to people around the country, including Omaha, the manufacturing was done elsewhere. This tape was made by Memorex which was a major technology start-up corporation in Silicon Valley. Their products were widely distributed around the world so this was not made in Omaha, but it could easily have been purchased at a Nebraska retailer. The financial impact of VHS in Omaha did not come from production but rather from distribution. Video stores such as Blockbuster, and electronics stores like RadioShack, used to be found all around the city commercially distributing movies and VCR technology. A search through the Yellow Pages reveals that there were once at least nine different video stores in the city of Omaha. They have all since closed. The last reviews on the Saddle Creek Blockbuster were left in 2008 before they shut their doors for good after 32 years in business (C., Crystal, 2008). The death of the VHS was also effectively the death of video stores and the commercial economy of personal media, but this corner of the market was naturally replaced with cellphone stores as the technology passed onto better things. While they did eventually fade from common use, VHS was once a major form of entertainment and record keeping for people and organizations alike. VHS tapes were used recreationally in two major ways; the first was through home video recordings where people documented special moments in their lives, and the second was for Hollywood. The preservation of the human experience and all it entails such as weddings, concerts, or something as simple as playing with the dog were a part of this first use. The 1982 Memorex commercial's slogan was “Is it live or is it Memorex?” was an attempt to sell customers on the clarity and the vividness of their VHS tapes (Memorex VHS Tapes Ad from 1982). The second way VHS tapes were used recreationally was for entertainment through recorded movies, television, and music. Hollywood mass-produced and distributed its films and recorded its TV series for the public to consume. Either through purchase or rent, VHS tapes became the main form of multimedia consumption at home for many people, being the preferred option to going out to the movies etc. For the people living in the VHS era; “going to the movies meant staying home” (Yue, 2013) and this became an widely popular choice. Video recording was an important tool occupationally from Hollywood scales to local businesses. VHS allowed movie video productions to make larger profits by selling their films rather than simply playing in theaters. Businesses were also able to record commercials and presentations and distribute those changing marketing practices. New occupations even came about from the invention of VHS ranging from production to television shows like America’s Funniest Home Videos. The tapes are continuing to create new occupational uses as they are recycled and digitized now that their format has gone out of style. While hotly debated, it’s simple enough to say that the Anthropocene is the accumulated impact of anthropogenic cycles of consumption and production, from the use of wood for the fire that dates back over 120,000 years ago, to the industrialized production paradigm of capitalism. The production paradigm is the notion that cycles of production and consumption are the end goal of a growth oriented self-replicating system. How the VHS is situated in this greater socio-ecological constellation is up to interpretation. VHS tapes can serve as a symbol of technology and industrial capitalism in a western media-based society as it represents the first practical commodification of AV multimedia. As a marvel of western consumerism, it stands conceptually as a ledger, a testament of record, to the happenings of a time of anthropocentric thought and social-economic development as well as to itself (evident in the Memorex commercial being recorded on Memorex). The VHS, a symbol of the 1980s and 90s, represented a global urge to gather, store and disseminate visual information. The VHS was originally developed for use by News agencies but came to represent a ubiquitous item common to all “western” idyllic households. Now it stands as a relic of the mistakes and achievements of a time of rapid global industrialization and commodification. As referenced in a number of articles (Boucher, 2008. Knight, 2015. Paige, 1998. Verna, 1996. Solheim, 2003. Wloszczyna, 2002.) This is largely an object of the past, albeit the recent past, but the past nonetheless. Sony ceased Betamax equipment production in 2002 (Knight, 2015.) while the best-known date for the end of VHS seems to be 2016 (Walton, 2016.). I think it’s best to say that the historical relationships that link VHS to the Anthropocene have accelerated since its heyday as today media is recorded, shared, and consumed at an unthinkable rate. To demonstrate this point, if you can excuse a brief disregard for formality, I’ll step out of the writing to cite myself as evidence: even I can’t even fully realize how incredible it is that I can just search up topical articles in a heartbeat for the research component of writing this very piece! So, if VHS represents the personalization and commodification of media catered recreationally to individuals, then what we have today with smartphones, YouTube, DVD, and streaming is that same concept on crack, if you’ll excuse my colloquial language. In some sense the VHS was unique, it was somehow more idealistically pure than the hodgepodge that is contemporary media. It obviously was a commodity that cornered the market that was produced and licensed by private enterprise but, at the same time, it represents something greater today, abstracted from what it physically was, the object itself an artifact of something that has more or less disappeared from the cultural diet. The anthropogenic socioecological connection has infinitely broadened from the product it once was but if we forget the connections it has to the development of the modern media appetite, as a plastic, highly industrialized, commodity good; it still had an impact that may not have disappeared when it ceased to be physically produced. On a different note, one could argue that as long as a single VHS exists out there, the material basis for judging its anthropological importance remains. Plastic is a product of the technology and innovation that has marked the Anthropocene as an anthropogenic (possibly a capital-o-genic) epoch and few things are as idyllically plastic as a VHS tape which is made almost entirely of plastic polymers and can be used, molded, into any shape the user pleases whether it be documentary or a silly video of one’s child playing with their dog. So, this argument that the plastic itself physically has to disappear for the connection to truly be severed, or under the argument that the VHS tape was symbolically plastic (moldable and long lived) made it unique for one reason or another for which reason it hasn’t completely disappeared with its usefulness. The VHS tape was invented as a direct reaction to capitalism and industrialization. These two themes are very closely related and intertwined throughout the Anthropocene and its many creations and inspirations. The VHS was initially developed and rapidly advanced to fill the consumer need for video technology and information consumption that it could provide (Shiraishi, 1985). The first form of commercial VHS hit the market in 1956 and only 15 years later the technology had advanced from expensive commercial equipment to home video recorders. Just as quickly as it rose though, VHS tapes would fall out of favor to be replaced by DVDs and later streaming (Yue, 2013). These fast-paced changes are a result of the consumer-driven capitalistic society which is always looking to advance and find the next best thing. This mass production and distribution of the VHS is also related to the Anthropocene in its own way. The materials that make up VHS and the production process were costly both financially and environmentally. The tapes are made up of plastics formed from polyester resins (Aslan, 1997). Plastic production has undoubtedly had a major impact on the environment. The plastics in the VHS were chemically synthesized and, as a result, tend to be difficult to recycle leading to pollutant factors on both ends. The production of the resins also results in carbon outputs which contributed to the carbon-climate crisis we face today. The mass production and subsequent decline of VHS tapes is evidence of cyclical obsolescence, which is a critical component of the production paradigm of the Anthropocene. This VHS tape is a representation of both human culture and innovation. Industrialization and technological advancements made it possible for its invention. On the other hand, its practical use in the media and in individual homes made it a valuable means of record keeping and sentimental value. This is connected to the Anthropocene because it changed the way humans interacted with each other with the addition of personal recordings and a societal shift to multimedia. These same kind of records also contributed to the global economies and capitalist infrastructures of the present which today drive the ongoing global environmental impact of humans and consequently the Anthropocene. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Donald Brorson Victoria Farrington Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Aslan, S, B. Immirzi, P. Laurienzo, M. Malinconico, E. Martuscelli, M. G. Volpe, M. Pelino, and L. Savini. “Unsaturated Polyester Resins from Glycolysed Waste Polyethyleneterephthalate: Synthesis and Comparison of Properties and Performance with Virgin Resin.” Journal of Materials Science 32, no. 9 (May 1997): 2329–36. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1018584519173. Boucher, Geoff. “VHS Era Is Winding Down.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, December 22, 2008. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-dec-22-et-vhs-tapes22-story.html. “Camcorders.” 1992. Consumer Reports 57 (3): 161–69. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=aph&AN=9204131129&site=ehost-live. C., Crystal, and nape9393. “Blockbuster - Closed in Omaha , NE.” YP.com, June 4, 2008. https://www.yellowpages.com/omaha-ne/mip/blockbuster-4821900. Knight, Shawn. “Sony Finally Decides It's Time to Kill Betamax.” TechSpot. TechSpot, November 10, 2015. https://www.techspot.com/news/62733-sony-finally-decides-time-kill-betamax.html. Mallinder, S. “Live or Memorex? Changing Perceptions of Music Practices.” The Digital Evolution of Live Music, July 28, 2015, 55–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-08-100067-0.00005-1. Memorex VHS Tapes Ad from 1982 - Is It Live Or Is It Memorex? YouTube. YouTube, 2008. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZyFcJcZiaU. Mix Staff. “1956: Ampex VRX-1000 First Commercial Video Recorder.” Mixonline, January 1, 2011. https://www.mixonline.com/technology/1956-ampex-vrx-1000-first-commercial-video-recorder-383723. Myers, Fred, and Lisa Stefanoff. “‘We Never Had Any Photos of My Family’: Archival Return, Film, and a Personal History.” Language Documentation and Conservation Volume Special, no. Issue 18 (2020): 217–38. "Visual Deficiencies of Digitized Analog Video-a Study of a Video Home System (VHS) Archive.". “Omaha Musicians' Association.” Local 70-558 - Omaha Musicians' Association :: Official Website of the American Federation of Musicians. Accessed November 3, 2022. https://members.afm.org/locals/info/number/70-558. Paige, Earl. “Used-Tape Business Flourishes.” Billboard 110, no. 22, May 30, 1998. Pöntynen, Simo. “Chemical Recycling of Magnetic Tape.” LUTPub, January 1, 2019. https://lutpub.lut.fi/handle/10024/160223. “The Rise and Fall of the VHS.” Southtree. Accessed November 3, 2022. https://southtree.com/blogs/artifact/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-vhs. Sawyer, T., R. Anderson, and G. McCuaig. 1986. "Is it Live Or is it Memorex?". doi:10.1145/324239.324295. Shiraishi, Yuma. “History of Home Videotape Recorder Development.” SMPTE Journal 94, no. 12 (December 1985): 1257–63. https://doi.org/10.5594/j03317. Solheim, Mark K., and Joan Goldwasser. 2003. “From Grooves to Gigabytes.” Kiplinger’s Personal Finance 57 (9): 98. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=aph&AN=10515105&site=ehost-live. Verna, Paul. “`No Format Reigns Forever,' but Tape's Future Is by No Means a Wrap.” Billboard, July 13, 1996, Vol. 108 edition, sec. Issue 28. Walton, Mark. “Last Known VCR Maker Stops Production, 40 Years after VHS Format Launch.” Ars Technica, July 21, 2016. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/07/vcr-vhs-production-ends/. Whiteman, W. and B. Mathews. 2007. "Is it Real Or is it Memorex: A Distance Learning Experience." Wloszczyna, Susan. “VHS Is so Familiar, It Can Be Scary.” USA Today. October 15, 2002. Yue, Genevieve. “Book Review: Killer Tapes and Shattered Screens: Video Spectatorship from VHS to File Sharing.” Film Quarterly 67, no. 1 (2013): 91–92. https://doi.org/10.1525/fq.2013.67.1.91. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The Durham Museum Permanent Collection media memory Plastic VHS https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/47352be44c6d1d9492e3d1fce2233952.jpg 850808ec128222fb6cadcd5eb79af5b0 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Byron Reed Realty Housing Advertisement Description An account of the resource The original Bee-News housing ad that we are focusing on in this paper. We use this ad to connect suburbanization to the global Anthropocene. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Durham Museum Permanent Collection Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Living in a World of Our Own Making Subject The topic of the resource <a href="http://www.igbp.net/images/18.950c2fa1495db7081ebd1/1421396650502/GreatAcceleration2015igbpsrclowres.jpg" title="IGBP - The Great Acceleration Dashboard" target="_blank">The Great Acceleration</a> <img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4721/40562555551_972c132773_o.jpg" 100="" width="100% height=" /> <span style="font-size: 3;"> </span> Description An account of the resource The Anthropocene means “The Age of Humans,” but what does it mean to live in a world of our own making? Humanity has flourished in past two centuries. Two thirds of every person ever born lived between 1945 and today. Scientists call this era of expanding population, economic development, and environmental impact the “Great Acceleration.” People are now more numerous and powerful than ever before. Mining moves more rocks and soils than all of the worlds rivers combined. Artificial fertilizers have doubled the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus in our soils. Plastics can now be found on mountain tops and the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Paradoxically, many of the most profound changes to global environments pass virtually unnoticed. Nuclear fallout, for instance, is invisible to the naked eye, but radioactive evidence of cold war weapons tests remains in soils around the world. Until recently, lead was one of the most common materials in industrial use. It was used to seal our foods, paint our homes, and power our cars. Lead is toxic, especially for children. Although invisible, lead is now in our soils, in our cities, and even in our blood. By contrast, concrete is virtually everywhere, yet we rarely think about it. We drive on it, work in it, and the foundations of this very museum are built using it. More than half of the concrete ever produced was manufactured between 1995-2015. Concrete requires enormous energy to mine, transport, and produce. These consequences are as invisible to us as the material is abundant. As you finish your journey through the exhibit, consider how many other “invisible” materials influence our lives and connect us to the global environment. Physical Object An inanimate, three-dimensional object or substance. Note that digital representations of, or surrogates for, these objects should use Moving Image, Still Image, Text or one of the other types. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Housing Advertisement Subject The topic of the resource This housing ad from the 1920s represents the growth of Omaha’s suburbs. It advertises a house in Benson, which was a suburb of Omaha that was annexed into the city in 1917. Suburban growth in the early 1900s laid the foundation for the more famous boom of suburbanization that took place after World War II. This dramatic growth had negative effects on the environment. Automobile use increased because suburbs were more spread out and people had to drive farther to work in the city. People also lived in bigger houses that required more energy to heat and cool. Per capita greenhouse gas emissions remain higher in the suburbs than in urban cities. Greenhouse gas emissions are one of the major contributors to climate change. The housing ad reminds us of the connection suburban life has to the Anthropocene. Description An account of the resource <p>At 6520 Bedford Avenue, a two-story home stands equipped with seven bedrooms, fresh oak and maple floors, a brand new kitchen, and a garage that can accomodate a car comfortably. In the early 1990s, this house was sure to sell on sight, as described in the advertisement looking for new tenants. (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/admin/files/show/256">Figure I</a>) This paper analyzes that very Bee-News ad for the house at 6520 Bedford Avenue. The ad symbolizes the multiple annexations that took place in the Omaha area in the early nineteenth century, the city’s first period of suburbanization. Like most cities in the United States, Omaha grew tremendously during the period of 1880 to 1920, both in regard to population and area. From 1880 to 1920, Omaha’s population grew from 30,000 people to 200,000 people (Chudacoff 1972, 9). This first period of suburbanization laid the foundation for the more famous boom in suburbanization that took place after World War II. By serving as a reminder of suburbanization and its negative environmental effects, the housing ad connects Omaha to global environmental change in the age of the Anthropocene.</p> <p>The housing ad likely appeared in the 1920s. The house itself was built in 1912, but the ad reads that the house is “as good as new,” so it is likely the ad took place a few years later. The real estate company that put this house on the market was The Byron Reed Company. The history of The Byron Reed Company dates back to 1856 when the company was first founded, but Byron Reed had a significant presence in Omaha’s political councils long before establishing his company (Durham). The total price of the home is set at $4,650 with $40 monthly payments. These prices mirror the housing prices of the 1920s. Additionally, the house is referred to as a “Benson bargain.” Given that Benson was annexed into Omaha in 1917 in addition with all of the other factors, it is reasonable to assume the housing ad took place in the 1920s.</p> <p>Omaha’s public transportation system at the turn of the twentieth century drove Omaha’s increased land usage. (Chudacoff 1972, 9). It included <a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/admin/items/show/32">horse railways</a> and <a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/admin/items/show/2">railway lines</a>. The housing ad even mentions that the home is located near the Benson carline. The number of houses and total value of buildings in Omaha reflect this change in land consumption. By just 1884, there were 1174 new homes in Omaha (Chudacoff 1972, 14). In 1810, the total value of buildings was one million dollars. By 1890, the total reached 8 million (Chudacoff 1972, 14). Omaha experienced a construction boom from 1900 to 1920. Specifically, there were many lots available in Benson and Dundee, most of these being “ready-built” houses built by a single building firm with a standardized plan (Chudacoff 1972, 121).</p> <p>Initially, Benson was connected to the city by trolley lines (Chudacoff 1972, 18). In 1917, what was once “Benson Place” was annexed into the city of Omaha. This occurred simultaneously with annexation of Florence and two years after the annexation of South Omaha and Dundee. Benson and Florence were the first two suburbs that surrounded Omaha to be annexed under the state law, passed in 1917, that permitted annexation without a popular vote (Omaha World Herald 1977). The annexation movement during these years was driven by both business leaders and public administrators in an effort to grow Omaha and its tax revenue (Persigehl 2017). These annexations sometimes faced public opposition. For example, many people opposed annexing the city of South Omaha. In an article written in the Omaha World Herald titled <em>South Omaha Business Men Fight Annexation</em>, the author interviewed the president of the South Omaha Commercial club. In this interview, he expressed deep concern for the future of the city’s education system, real estate value, and economic debt (Omaha World Herald, 1906).</p> <p>Neighborhoods such as Benson and the growth of Omaha demonstrate the first stages of suburbanization. Today, the house advertised in the ad is be considered much closer to the center of Omaha than the metropolis’ western suburbs. Omaha now sits at 127.09 square miles with more suburban areas on the outskirts (United States Census Bureau). Omaha, like many industrial cities experienced suburbanization in the late 1800s and early 1900s and its first major suburban expansion took place in the 1920s. In 1922, 1,500 new houses were created in western neighborhoods (Larsen 2007, 197-198). The rich started to move to the suburbs around this same time. Larsen writes, “Builders, emphasizing the advantages of the automobile and the prospects of a cycle of rising land prices, lured rich Omahans away from the older north-side enclaves of Kountze Place and Miller Park to Fairacres and other western areas” (Larsen 2007, 197). As the Larsen quote hints at, the first few decades of the 1900s also saw an increase in the number of cars. In 1913 Nebraska had 25,617 registered vehicles and by 1920 there were 100,534 (Larsen 2007, 193). The increased popularity of the automobile caused a drastic reduction in the use of Omaha’s public transportation in the 1920s.</p> <p>Omaha’s first period of annexation and slight suburbanization is comparable to other cities across the United States as well. The increased popularity of the automobile across the country meant that people did not need to stay near streetcar lines. Because of this, urban development began to spread outward (Williams 2000, 5). Donald C. Williams writes in <em>Urban Sprawl: A Reference Handbook</em>, “Some of these early suburbs were absorbed by the older cities as each grew ineluctably toward the other over the ensuing decades” (Williams 2000, 5). Just like in Omaha, Williams argues that many of these suburbs were resistant to urban annexation (Williams 2000, 5). Additionally, the increase in houses being built in Omaha parallels the national scene. Under the Hoover administration, developers built twice as many homes in 1925 (937,000) than in 1922 (Rome 2001, 23). Though major suburbanization took place in the post World War II era, this large jump would not have taken place if it was not for the initial suburbanization in the early 1900s.</p> <p>The boom in suburbanization after World War II was much bigger than the first. Before WWII a mere 13% of Americans lived in the suburbs but, just over seven decades later, that number would rise to half of the U.S. population (Nicolaides and Wiese 2017, 1). The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History states that there were “two key chronological stages in suburban history since 1945: the expansive, racialized, mass suburbanization of the postwar years (1945–1970) and an era of intensive social diversification and metropolitan complexity (since 1970)” (Nicolaides and Wiese 2017, 1). During the first era of post-WWII suburbanization, the rise in populations that invaded the suburban neighborhoods caused a dramatic boost in real estate production. (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/admin/files/show/257">Figure II</a>) This likely resulted in an increase in housing ads similar to the one examined in this paper and certainly accelerated the environmental impacts of development.</p> <p>Though suburbanization was especially prevalent in the United States, the trend of suburbanization is not isolated to the United States. It was felt by many cities in different countries across the world. Cities in Europe, New Zealand, Japan, and Australia have all witnessed a decline in city populations due to increased popularity of the suburbs (Mason and Nigmatullina 2011, 317). For example, in West Germany, the average living area per person grew from from 22 square meters to 42 square meters from 1965 to 2010 because of suburbanization (Rontos et al. 2006). However, in places like Western Europe, the social and spatial segregation that is present in suburbanization in the United States, is less prevalent (Leetma and Tammaru 2007, 129). Though not every country has experienced suburbanization to the same extent as the United States has, the effects of it are still felt globally.</p> <p>Suburbanization is a major contributor to earth systems change in the Anthropocene. Various agricultural systems experienced change during suburbanization periods due to the overuse of rural and agricultural lands for the purpose of commercial real-estate (Wood 1988). A specific example of this can be seen through the conversion of farm lands in the state of New Jersey to urban establishments during the postwar period (Lopez et al. 1988). Once rich, fertile lands used to harvest economically and environmentally essential crops increasingly transformed into lightly populated suburbs. In hindsight, the transition from rural land to populated neighborhoods could have been beneficial for the regions surrounding high-density cities. It has been theorized that living in cities where there are smaller homes and public transportation is heavily utilized can be very beneficial for the environment (Owen 2009, 2-4). However, because of the supplemental costs, like those involving increased gasoline consumption and household energy footprints, the benefits of suburbanization did not outweigh the consequences.</p> <p>Construction efforts reached new levels in the years following the war and in order to meet the increased housing demand many trees and nearby forestry had to be utilized (Wells 2012, 255). This depleted vital natural resources such as vegetation that provided an oxygen supply and destroyed ecosystems that were important in many biological processes such as the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles (Grimm et al 2008). During the second era of suburbanization after 1970, the amount of land used for real-estate development skyrocketed. Around 43 million acres of rural land was being consumed and an estimate stated that “the United States was losing two acres of farmland per minute to suburban development” (Nicolaides and Wiese 2017, 19). Land resources were quickly exhausted in many suburban communities to make way for houses similar to the “Benson Bargain.”</p> <p>The move to suburbia expanded commuting distances for those who still retained jobs in the urban city but relocated their families to the suburbs. Commuting back and forth from homes, such as the one in the housing ad, used to involve public transportation. However, once reliance on personal automobiles increased, there was a shift away from public transportation in the suburbs. Norman G. Palhous and Jerry D. Ward argue that this is because with the further development of the suburbs, less travel is aimed at the city center (United States Department of Transportation 74, 25). Global car use rose significantly as suburbanization expanded through some of the nation’s most populated urban cities. As put by David J. Cieslewicz, “To a large extent, to determine the environmental impact of sprawl we need to simply follow the cars” (Cieslewicz 2002, 24).</p> <p>In an article titled <em>The Environmental Impact of Suburbanization</em> by Matthew Kahn, he states that “suburbanites drove 31 percent more than central city residents in 1995” (Kahn 2000, 4) and contributed to the higher emissions that were reported in his study. The release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere has detrimental effects on many of Earth’s ecosystems. As private car use transitioned from a luxury to a necessity in the U.S., the atmosphere and the environment began to deteriorate. Cieslewicz argues that the increased use of cars cannot be attributed simply to population growth, since the number of automobile miles traveled increased 140 percent from 1950 to 1990 while the United States population only grew 40% (Cieslewicz 2002, 24).</p> <p>Suburbanization and all its effects are still present today. By now, many are aware of the environmental impacts of urban sprawl, however the benefits of suburbia keep the suburbs populated and ever growing. To this day, it still rings true that the suburbs furthest from the city cause the most environmental damage. In 2013, Christopher Jones and Daniel M. Kammen conducted a study on this very issue. They found that US households contribute 20 percent of annual global greenhouse gas emissions (Jones and Kammen 2013, 895). The Environmental Protection Agency states that 11 percent of greenhouse gas emission has commercial and residential causes and that 28% comes from transportation (EPA). The increased size of houses also plays a key role in elevated energy consumption in the suburbs. The housing ad boasts that the second floor has three large bedrooms. More spacious bedrooms means more space to heat and cool, requiring more energy. (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/admin/files/show/258">Figure III</a>)</p> <p>Using Atlanta as an example, Jones and Kammen (2013) argue that even when factors such as pricing and weather are the same, “The zip codes with the highest energy-related emissions are concentrated in a tight band of suburbs between 15 and 45 miles from the city center” (Jones and Kammen 2013, 898). To provide an example from Omaha, central Omaha has an average of household carbon footprint of 27.40, compared to 57.45 in West Omaha (Jones and Kammen 2013). The difference is even more noticeable in regard to transportation related emissions, ranging from &lt;10 tCO2e per household in the center of the city to &gt;25 tCO2e in the suburbs farthest from the city (Jones and Kammen 2013, 898). As for Omaha, residents of Central Omaha drive an average of 9,392 miles per year while residents of West Omaha drive an average of 24,057 (Jones and Kammen 2013).</p> <p>Depicting suburbanization in Omaha, the housing ad also represents the the connection Omaha has to global history and the Anthropocene. Suburbs demanded increased energy and land consumption, releasing more greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere than city cores. Our best bet at combating the negative environmental effects of suburbanization might be a return to city life. Jones and Kammen argue that in large metropolitan areas with dense populations, even if the city center has low household carbon footprints, the surrounding suburbs with large household carbon footprints “more than [offset] the benefit of low carbon areas in city centers” (Jones and Kammen, 899). It is thus clear that the conversion of rural lands, increased car use, and increased energy consumption are all result in negative environmental change caused by suburbanization in the age of the Anthropocene.</p> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kealohi Corpos Emery Staton Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived “Benson and Florence Were Annexed in ‘17”. Omaha World Herald. (Omaha, NE). December 7-8, 1977. <br /><br />Chudacoff, Howard P. 1972. Mobile Americans: Residential and Social Mobility in Omaha 1880-1920. New York: Oxford University Press. <br /><br />Cieslewicz, David. J. 2000. “The Environmental Impacts of Sprawl.” In Urban Sprawl: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Responses, edited by Gregory D. Squires, 23-38. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute Press. <br /><br />The Land Grab 1855. Permanent Exhibit, Durham Museum. <br /><br />Environmental Protection Agency. “Greenhouse Gas Emissions.” Environmental Protection Agency. Accessed November 6, 2018. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions. <br /><br />Grimm, Nancy B., David Foster, Peter Groffman, J. Morgan Grove, Charles S. Hopkinson, Knute J. Nadelhoffer, Diane E. Pataki, and Debra PC Peters. 2008. "The Changing Landscape: Ecosystem Responses to Urbanization and Pollution Across Climatic and Societal Gradients." Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 6, no. 5 (June): 264-272. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20440887 <br /><br />Jones, Christopher and Daniel Kammen. 2014. “Spatial Distribution of U.S. Household Carbon Footprints Reveals Suburbanization Undermines Greenhouse Gas Benefits of Urban Population Density.” Environmental Science and Technology 48, no. 2 (December): 895–902. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es4034364. <br /><br />Kahn, Matthew E. 2000.“The Environmental Impact of Suburbanization.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 19, no. 4 (Autumn 2000): 569-586. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3325575. <br /><br />Lawrence Harold. 2007. Upstream Metropolis: An Urban Biography of Omaha and Council Bluffs. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. <br /><br />“Leave Omaha Suburbs Alone”.Omaha World Herald. (Omaha, NE) January 2, 1902. <br /><br />Leetma, Kadri and Tiit Tammaru. 2007. “Suburbanization in Countries in Transition: Destinations of Suburbanizers in the Tallinn Metropolitan Area.” Geografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography 89, no. 2: 127-146. <br /><br />“Little Strip of Land May Keep Benson Out”. Omaha World Herald. (Omaha, NE). March 14, 1915. <br /><br />Lopez, Rigoberto A., Adesoji O. Adelaja, and Margaret S. Andrews. 1988. “The Effects of Suburbanization onAgriculture.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 70 (2), 346-358. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1242075 <br /><br />Mason, Robert J. and Lylia Nigmatuillna. 2011. “Suburbanization and Sustainability in Metrpopolitan Moscow.” Geographical Review 101, no. 3 (July): 316-333. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4130363 <br /><br />Nicolaides, Becky, and Wiese, Andrew 2017. "Suburbanization in the United States after 1945." Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History. 7 Nov. 2018. http://americanhistory.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/acrefore-9780199329175-e-64. <br /><br />Owen, David. 2009. Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less are the Keys to Sustainability, New York: Riverhead Books. <br /><br />Persigehl, Linda. 2017. “Battle for Benson: The 100th Anniversary of its Annexation.” Omaha Magazine, October 18. Accessed November 5, 2018. http://omahamagazine.com/articles/battle-for-benson/. <br /><br />Rome, Adam. 2001. The Bulldozer in the Countryside: Suburban Sprawl and the Rise of American Environmentalism. New York: Cambridge University Press. <br /><br />Rontos, Kostas &amp; Mavroudis, Christos &amp; Georgiadis, Theodore. 2006. “Suburbanization: A Post World War II Phenomenon in the Athens Metropolitan Area, Greece.” https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23732333_Suburbanization_A_Post_World_W ar_II_Phenomenon_in_the_Athens_Metropolitan_Area_Greece <br /><br />“South Omaha Business Men Fight Annexation”. Omaha World Herald. (Omaha, NE). November 28, 1906. <br /><br />United States Census Bureau. “Quick Facts: Omaha city, Nebraska.” United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 2, 2018. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/omahacitynebraska. <br /><br />United States Department of Transportation. 1974. Suburbanization and its Implications for Urban Transportation Systems, by Jerry D. Ward and Norman G. Paulhus, Jr. Washington DC. Wells, Christopher W. 2012. Car Country: An Environmental History. Seattle: University of Washington Press. <br /><br />Whitney, Kristoffer. 2010. “Living Lawns, Dying Waters: The Suburban Boom, Nitrogenou Fertilizers, and the Nonpoint Source Pollution Dilemma.” Technology and Culture 51, no. 3 (July): 652-674. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40927990. <br /><br />Williams, Donald C. 2000. Urban Sprawl: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2000. <br /><br />Wood, Joseph S. 1988. "Suburbanization of Center City." Geographical Review 78, no. 3: 325-29. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The Durham Museum Permanent Collection Advertisement Benson Greenhouse Gasses Housing Suburban Development https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/87df9f7bf92cfc1cedeec88c6c2fac25.jpg 4344c0b4d7c5d46a149539929e450029 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eric Crouch Commemorative Football Subject The topic of the resource The Eric Crouch Husker commemorative football housed in the Durham museum. This is a symbol of Husker football fandom and the impacts that sports fandom has on the environment Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Durham Museum Permanent Collection https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/f0aed36c61c18447fea6772d86e04cc7.jpg 7cc6fee1e18c67e334546c955b6455ff Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eric Crouch Commemorative Football Subject The topic of the resource The Eric Crouch Husker commemorative football housed in the Durham museum. This is a symbol of Husker football fandom and the impacts that sports fandom has on the environment Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Durham Museum Permanent Collection https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/d7775a82a8b00f024362d0cd9499d344.jpg 12bffd66c33bd78284e1b024df4714cb Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eric Crouch Commemorative Football Subject The topic of the resource The Eric Crouch Husker commemorative football housed in the Durham museum. This is a symbol of Husker football fandom and the impacts that sports fandom has on the environment Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Durham Museum Permanent Collection Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Living in a World of Our Own Making Subject The topic of the resource <a href="http://www.igbp.net/images/18.950c2fa1495db7081ebd1/1421396650502/GreatAcceleration2015igbpsrclowres.jpg" title="IGBP - The Great Acceleration Dashboard" target="_blank">The Great Acceleration</a> <img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4721/40562555551_972c132773_o.jpg" 100="" width="100% height=" /> <span style="font-size: 3;"> </span> Description An account of the resource The Anthropocene means “The Age of Humans,” but what does it mean to live in a world of our own making? Humanity has flourished in past two centuries. Two thirds of every person ever born lived between 1945 and today. Scientists call this era of expanding population, economic development, and environmental impact the “Great Acceleration.” People are now more numerous and powerful than ever before. Mining moves more rocks and soils than all of the worlds rivers combined. Artificial fertilizers have doubled the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus in our soils. Plastics can now be found on mountain tops and the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Paradoxically, many of the most profound changes to global environments pass virtually unnoticed. Nuclear fallout, for instance, is invisible to the naked eye, but radioactive evidence of cold war weapons tests remains in soils around the world. Until recently, lead was one of the most common materials in industrial use. It was used to seal our foods, paint our homes, and power our cars. Lead is toxic, especially for children. Although invisible, lead is now in our soils, in our cities, and even in our blood. By contrast, concrete is virtually everywhere, yet we rarely think about it. We drive on it, work in it, and the foundations of this very museum are built using it. More than half of the concrete ever produced was manufactured between 1995-2015. Concrete requires enormous energy to mine, transport, and produce. These consequences are as invisible to us as the material is abundant. As you finish your journey through the exhibit, consider how many other “invisible” materials influence our lives and connect us to the global environment. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Husker Football Subject The topic of the resource Sports and sport fandom have played a major role in US and global history. Fandom produces a bond between people in communities, but it also produces environmental impacts. This commemorative Husker football is an artifact of Nebraska fandom. Omaha has a history of producing great athletes, including Eric Crouch, a quarterback for the University of Nebraska between 1998 and 2001. The large crowds typical of Power 5 collegiate football require thousands of megawatts of energy used to run the stadiums. This along with the negative impacts of fans traveling to games are all examples of how sports culture affects the environment. In this sense, this Husker football is an important artifact that connects the passionate football community of Nebraska to the Anthropocene. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Chris Aleti Brody Methven Description An account of the resource <p>Sport fandom is a universal language that unite communities, evoking passionate response among its participants. In Nebraska, college football is king. On game day, upwards of 90,000 people attend home games. It is not unfair to imagine that most fans pay little attention to the environmental impacts of their sport. Historians have studied the impacts of sports and its importance to different cultures. The sports fandom culture it creates has a major impact on the Anthropocene. Global sport fandom has become a phenomenon, and its expansion since the mid-1900s has had profound environmental effects. The sport of football has a significant environmental impact in the anthropocene through the waste it creates, the ecosystems it alters, and its overall carbon footprint it generates. The significance of sports fandom as a global cultural phenomenon is only matched by its environmental significance in the Anthropocene.</p> <p>This Nebraska Huskers commemorative football, housed in the Durham Museum lists the career awards and achievements of Eric Crouch. (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/admin/files/show/208">Figure I</a> and <a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/admin/files/show/210">II</a>) Eric Crouch is not only relevant in terms of his importance in the history of Husker football, but he is relevant in the history of the city of Omaha, as this is his hometown. Crouch grew up as the son of a single mother who was a medical technician by day and a waitress by night in Omaha (Lapointe, 2001). One of his biggest mentors was a Creighton faculty member, Dr. Jim Brown, who was a radiologist (Lapointe, 2001). Crouch went on to become a very well-known and successful Husker football player, known by Husker fans for two major scoring plays in his Junior season. One being a 95-yard touchdown scramble, the other being a trick play against Oklahoma to seal what was a close game (Lapointe, 2001). Being from Omaha, Crouch was a fan favorite and ties Omaha into Husker football history.</p> <p>College football fandom feeds from and builds upon cultural and social norms that support a team. (Satterfield and Godfrey 2011). Like many sports cultures around the world, football culture operates through a set of rules. Rules such as showing loyalty on game days by wearing school colors and team jerseys (Satterfield and Godfrey 2011). A community develops that defines itself by the wins and losses of its team. The success of the team’s performance affects the behavior of the community. A successful team is more likely to draw in more supporters and increase their fanbase. The connection between the team and the community is especially strong in a small college town (Satterfield and Godfrey 2011). The importance of college football to Nebraskans is amplified by the absence of professional sports teams in the state. The lack of competition among other sports and a large student population results in attendances regularly over 90,000 for Nebraska home games (Satterfield and Godfrey 2011).</p> <p>Nebraska football fandom in particular has been found to not be primarily rooted in the team’s success, or its geographic location, or even a fan’s association with the university. Rather, their fandom and attachment to the Husker football team is due to what it stands for. The team stands for the state of Nebraska and what Husker fans believe to be their way of life or set principles that represent the state’s dominant agrarian culture. As a result, Husker fans tend to equate their fandom of the football team to being part of what it means to be a Nebraskan (Earnheardt et al, 2013).</p> <p>The historic growth of Nebraska football fandom is most clearly expressed in the construction and expansion of Memorial Stadium. <a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/admin/files/show/211">Figure III</a> shows the initial construction of the Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1923. The stadium was built to replace Nebraska Field which previously hosted all Husker home games. The construction of buildings by Nebraska Field reduced its seating capacity. As Nebraska’s fan base grew in popularity, a new stadium with more seating arrangements were required (“Memorial Stadium” 2005). (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/admin/files/show/213">Figure IV</a>) The use of a horse drawn plow alters the soil and the cutting down of trees to clear the area for construction also changes the landscape and the ecosystem. The altering of the ecosystem can result in loss of many habitats for the local fauna. The construction of the stadium also contributes to urbanization and the subsequent loss of farmland.</p> <p>College football had its roots in America in the late 18th century. Schools in the Northeast each had a different version of football (PFRA). The first official college football game wasn’t until 1869 between Princeton and Rutgers. This game attracted about a hundred supporters cheering on their team despite the cold, windy conditions (PFRA). The game soon spread to other ivy league schools such as Harvard, Yale, and Columbia. The popularity of the game was noticed by colleges around the nation and many other schools began to start programs dedicated to football (PFRA). College football has managed to retain its passionate fanbase that initially made it popular. A survey from September 2, 2007 indicates that college football is the third most popular sport after professional football and baseball with thirteen percent of the sample (PR Newswire 2007). This indicates that even after the introduction of new sports such as basketball and soccer, college football has managed to retain its popularity among the public.</p> <p>By the 2000s, college football transformed into a big business. Football games around the nation recorded an attendance of 36 million over the course of 129 games in the NCAA Division I-FBS subdivision with an average of 42,000 spectators for each game (NCAA 2017). (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/admin/files/show/214">Figure V</a>) NCAA Division I football also recorded a median revenue of $63 million in 2015 (NCAA 2016). These figures are also expected to increase every year. The increasing demand led to many stadiums expanding their capacity. For example, Texas A&amp;M spent an incredible $485 million to expand their stadium (Patterson 2018). The expansion projects are designed to increase seating capacity and provide more facilities for the fans. The new stadium also provides increased facilities to players and in hopes of attracting new recruits. Many colleges rely on their football programs as their main source of revenue (Patterson 2018).</p> <p>Football, ranging from high school to the professional level, has become a billion-dollar industry (Massengil 2016). This industry provides entertainment and jobs for thousands of people across the nation. Historian Taylor Rhodes argues that college sports are especially significant in geographically isolated cities like Lincoln, Nebraska. These cities experience a significant increase in employment and tax revenues from hosting college football games (Rhodes 2013). Major sporting events such as the NFL Super Bowl, the Olympics, and the FIFA World Cup promise fame and fortune to host cities (Warren 2017). This large economic benefit results in the negative environmental impacts being overlooked (Massengil 2016).</p> <p>One negative impact is air pollution. Environmental scientist Tanushree Dutta and colleagues explain that large scale assemblies of people gathering in confined spaces can have significant impacts on the local air chemistry due to human emissions of volatile organics (Dutta et al, 2016). These variations in air quality in such a small scale can be studied by quantifying fingerprint volatile organic compounds such as acetone, toluene, and isoprene. All of these can be found in large scale assemblies of people such as concerts, movie screenings, and of course sporting events such as the Olympic or the FIFA World Cup (Dutta et al, 2016). During the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, average attendance of over 50,000 fans per game totaled more than 3.4 million people during the whole event (Dutta et al, 2016). Large scale attendance numbers aren’t just restricted to events such as the Olympics and the World Cup but can also be seen on local scales as well. Nebraska Cornhusker football games are just one of many examples of this local scale gatherings in the United States. Roughly 90,000 people attended Husker football games on game days in Lincoln, NE in 2016 (KETV, 2016). Overall, 631,000 fans total attended home games that season, and over 1 million fans total attended home and away games (KETV, 2016). The sheer number of fans that attend these sports teams makes sense as to why teams nationally and globally would expand and further construct their stadiums to meet these capacities. This expansion of stadiums can relate back to the environmental impacts of gameday.</p> <p>Stadiums produce significant waste during game days. (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/admin/files/show/215">Figure VI</a>) In addition to the waste generated, stadiums also use up a great amount of energy. For example, the 2012 Super Bowl in Indianapolis was estimated to have consumed 15,000 megawatt hours of electricity (Massengil 2016). This is enough electricity to power 1,400 homes across the nation for an entire year. In addition to the energy consumption by the stadium itself, 111.3 million viewers consumed more electricity to watch the game (Massengil 2016). The carbon emissions that result from game day are also a significant concern. Carbon emissions are a major proponent of climate change. A study conducted by researchers at Cardiff University in the U.K. in 2007 examined the ecological footprint of an FA Cup Final, the premier event of English domestic soccer. The footprint included traveling energy consumption, food and drinks consumed at the end, and the stadium infrastructure. The results showed that the estimated event footprint was about 3000 global hectares with more than half comprising of travel energy consumption (Collins et al, 2009).</p> <p>The footprint estimate would be similar to a major football bowl game in the United States. Construction projects, which include sports stadiums, consume 60 % of the nation’s raw materials annually (Grant, 2014). The construction projects failed to use local or recycled product that could reduce their environmental impact addresses Thomas Grant Jr. (Gant, 2014). The construction and personal vehicle of stadiums contribute to air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions. This was evident after the construction of the new Yankee stadium which significantly increased air pollution in an already congested part of New York City (Porteshawyer 2009).</p> <p>Fandom is also expressed in travel. In the post-realignment era in Division I sports, teams of all sports (not just football) have had to travel larger distances due to a growing geographical footprint of these conferences. One way that college football in the United States has had an effect on the environment in terms of energy used on game days can be seen when the NCAA Division I athletic conferences underwent conference realignments. Conferences such as the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), the Big Ten Conference (B1G), the Big 12 Conference, the Pac-12 Conference (Pac-12), and the Southeastern Conference (SEC) make up what is known as the Power 5 Conferences in division I college football (Farley et al, 2017). What Farley and his colleagues found during their study was that sports do, in fact, have a major impact on the environment. In almost every case in their study, the expansion of the Power 5 Conferences caused average emissions to rise. The only conference that did not rise in emissions was the one that already had the largest average emissions per game and highest total emissions, the Pac-12 Conference (Farley et al, 2017). While colleges have focused more attention on the sustainability of their campuses and at stadiums, travel-related environmental impacts have risen (Farley et al, 2017). This problem of transportation related emissions on game days can also be seen in Husker football, as many fans travel from Omaha to Lincoln and back in their cars to attend these home games. For their first home game in 2018, stadium officials expected a turnout of 100,000 with thousands driving from Omaha to attend the game (Patterson 2018). The large number of commuters impacts the transportation related emissions.</p> <p>The impact of sport fandom occurs globally and is not just restricted to America. The Olympics is an event that unites sports fans worldwide. It can also lead to environmental problems for the host country. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil hosted the summer Olympics in 2016. This was an exciting venture for the city, but it also led to many environmental concerns. This included the 3.6 million tons of carbon dioxide emitted during the duration of the event (Frontier 2016). In addition to this, there was an estimated 17,000 tons of waste produced, 23,500 liters of fuel consumed, along with almost 30,000 gigawatts of electricity used throughout the Olympics (Frontier 2016). The environmental impacts of global sport fandom such as carbon dioxide emissions and waste produced have lasting impacts on the anthropocene.</p> <p>To avoid such traffic congestion, there was once even an attempted ban of a football stadium in New York City in 2004. Groups such as the Straphangers Campaign and the Tri-State Transportation Campaign were arguing that the city’s environmental review underestimated the number of fans that would travel to the stadium on the West side of New York on game days via cars or taxis. The groups argued that this would result in traffic congestion and pollution in a neighborhood that already had problems in both of those areas (Bagli, 2004). The review estimated that anywhere between 68 and 75 percent of the fans would travel to games by foot, but they were mistaken. The actual percentage of fans that travel on foot ranges from 52 percent at Pacific Bell Stadium in San Francisco, to 17 percent at Shea Stadium in Queens (Bagli, 2004). A reason for choosing car travel over other methods was explained by Robert Paaswell, director of the University Transportation Research Center at City College. He said that going to a football game is considered, “leisure travel, not business travel, so people don't have to travel by transit. They go with friends, go out for lunch or for beers afterward. You want to get there early, and you don't want to deal with a fixed schedule. A car is the most attractive way to go” (Bagli, 2004). This incident is yet another example of the concerns of traffic congestion and air pollution that can be seen on football game days.</p> <p>Despite all of the negative impacts that can be seen from football game days, or mass sporting events in general, there is still some positive things students and fans can do to try and make these events greener. According to Kristen Domonell, successful efforts at campuses across the country include: solar arrays at 10 sporting facilities at Arizona State University, wind turbines that supply 30% of the power to North Texas University’s football stadium and nearby buildings, and the switch to all compostable or recyclable concession packaging at the University of Washington’s Husky Stadium (Domonell, 2013). If more universities, including the University of Nebraska at Lincoln Cornhuskers, would be able to implement efforts such as these, then it would help cut down the environmental effects that are seen on game days.</p> <p>The sport of football brings joy to millions of people across the nation. While we are celebrating a victory or enjoying the unity of supporting a team, we must remember the environmental effects caused by football and other major sports and work to address them.</p> Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <p>Collins, Andrea, Calvin Jones, and Max Munday. "Assessing the Environmental Impacts of Mega Sporting Events: Two Options?" <em>Tourism Management</em> 30, no. 6 (2009): 828-37. Accessed November 7, 2018.</p> <p>&nbsp;KETV. "Nebraska Football Team Ranks in Top 10 in Average Attendance in 2016."</p> <p>Lapointe, Joe. 2001. “FOOTBALL; Crouch Has Matured Beyond His 23 Years”. <em>New </em><em>York Times, </em>December 28</p> <p><em>Memorial Stadium Construction June 30 2006</em>. In <em>Huskers.com</em>. Accessed October 9,<a href="http://www.huskers.com/PhotoAlbum.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&amp;PALBID=105">&nbsp;http://www.huskers.com/PhotoAlbum.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&amp;PALBID=105</a>.</p> <p><em>Memorial Stadium Picture after a Nebraska Touchdown</em>. In <em>Huskers.com</em>. Accessed October 9, 2018. <a href="http://www.huskers.com/PhotoAlbum.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&amp;PALBID=105">http://www.huskers.com/PhotoAlbum.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&amp;PALBID=105</a>.</p> <p>&nbsp;"2017 Football Attendance." NCAA. 2017. Accessed December 13, 2018. <a href="http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/Attendance/2017.pdf">http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/Attendance/2017.pdf</a>.</p> <p>&nbsp;"Revenues and Expenses." NCAA. 2016. Accessed December 13, 2018. <a href="http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D1REVEXP2015.pdf">http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D1REVEXP2015.pdf</a></p> <p>&nbsp;<em>Construction on Memorial Stadium took place during the summer of 1923. </em>In <em>Huskers.com</em>. Accessed October 9, 2018.<a href="http://www.huskers.com/PhotoAlbum.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&amp;PALBID=105">http://www.huskers.com/PhotoAlbum.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&amp;PALBID=105</a></p> <p>Patterson, Thom. "Eye-popping College Football Stadium Pricetags." CNN. September 28, 2018. Accessed December 14, 2018.</p> <p>"While Still the Nation's Favorite Sport, Professional Football Drops in Popularity." Razor Tie Artery Foundation Announce New Joint Venture Recordings | Razor &amp; Tie. Accessed December 13, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20070902220050/http://sev.prnewswire.com:80/sports/20070109/NYTU17309012007-1.html.</p> <p>Bagli, Charles V. 2004. “Environmental Review Stirs Doubt About Stadium Plan.” <em>New York Times</em>, December 22.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>Collins, Andrea, Andrew Flynn, Max Munday, and Annette Roberts. 2007. “Assessing the Environmental Consequences of Major Sporting Events: The 2003/04 FA Cup Final.” <em>Urban Studies (Routledge)</em> 44 (3): 457–76. <a href="https://login.cuhsl.creighton.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&amp;db=aph&amp;AN=24827727&amp;site=ehost-live"></a>&nbsp;</p> <p>Dutta, Tanushree, Ki-Hyun Kim, Minori Uchimiya, Pawan Kumar, Subhasish Das, Satya Sundar Bhattacharya, and Jan Szulejko. 2016. “The Micro-Environmental Impact of Volatile Organic Compound Emissions from Large-Scale Assemblies of People in a Confined Space.” <em>Environmental Research</em> 151 (November): 304–12.</p> <p>Domonell, Kristen. 2013. “Sustainable Game Days.” <em>University Business</em> 16 (10): 16.</p> <p>Earnheardt, A. C., Haridakis, P. M., &amp; Hugenberg, B. S. (2013). <em>Sports fans, identity, and socialization exploring the fandemonium</em>. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.</p> <p>Farley, Bradley, Lisa M. DeChano-Cook, and Lucius F. Hallett IV. 2017. “Environmental Impact of Power Five Conference Realignment.” <em>Geographical Bulletin</em> 58 (2): 93–106.</p> <p>Frontier. "The Environmental Impact Of The Olympics." HuffPost UK. August 19, 2017. Accessed December 14, 2018.</p> <p>Grant, Thomas, Jr. "Chapter 2. Impact Studies and Other Quantitative Analyses: Inconclusive Conclusions." <em>The Sports Franchise Game</em> 25, no. 1 (January 1, 2014). Accessed October 9, 2018. doi:10.9783/9780812209150.13.</p> <p>&nbsp;Massengill, Mitchell. "Tackling Football's Environmental Impact." Energy and Environmental Policy 2016. November 28, 2016. Accessed October 10, 2018.</p> <p>"Memorial Stadium." UNL Historic Buildings - Burnett Hall. Accessed December 13, 2018. <a href="http://historicbuildings.unl.edu/building.php?b=38">http://historicbuildings.unl.edu/building.php?b=38</a>.</p> <p>Patterson, Thom. "Eye-popping College Football Stadium Pricetags." CNN. September 28, 2018. Accessed December 14, 2018.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>Porteshawver, Alex. "Green Sports Facilities: Why Adopting New Green-Building Policies Will Improve the Environment and the Community." <em>Marquette Sports Law Review</em>20, no. 1 (2009).&nbsp;</p> <p>PFRA Research. "No Christian End! The Beginnings of Football in America." <em>Professional Football Researchers Association</em>. Accessed December 13, 2018. http://www.profootballresearchers.com/articles/No_Christian_End.pdf.</p> <p>Rhodes, M. Taylor, 2013. "Pigskin, Tailgating and Pollution: Estimating the Environmental Impacts of Sporting Events," UNCG Economics Working Papers 13-19, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics.</p> <p>Satterfield, J., &amp; Godfrey, M. (2010). The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Football: A Metaphorical,Symbolic and Ritualistic Community Event. <em>Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 12</em>(1). <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.17169/fqs-12.1.1425"></a>&nbsp;</p> <p>Rhodes, Taylor. "Pigskin, Tailgating and Pollution: Estimating the Environmental Impacts of Sporting Events." October 21, 2013. Accessed November 7, 2018. http://faculty.lawrence.edu/rhodesm/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2013/10/draft_v48_environ_jmp_10_2013.pdf.</p> <p>Warren, Gina. "Big Sports Events Have Big Environmental Footprints. Could Social Licenses To Operate Help?" Forbes. December 11, 2017.</p> Construction Fandom Greenhouse Gasses Lincoln https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/641ef90e4aaf51c6a3bcfc20365e5544.jpg 65ec376ee30ef15bc60c203e79b16a53 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Monkey Wrench Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Durham Museum Permanent Collection https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/6964d1b20d929b6457a8f37e8c418e04.jpg 100f5ae3f7bb429e3184cf4a5039a953 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Map of Omaha City and Environs Description An account of the resource Lithographed map. Hand colored. Shows tracts, block numbers, townships, sections, quarter sections, railroads, roads, owners of large parcels, etc. With Jan. 19, 1885 certification with facsimile signature of Geo. Smith. Oriented with north toward left. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Adin Mann Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived David Rumsey Map Collection https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~29081~1130186:Omaha-City-&-environs-?showTipAdvancedSearch=false&showShareIIIFLink=true&showTip=false&helpUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fdoc.lunaimaging.com%2Fdisplay%2FV73D%2FLUNA%2BViewer%23LUNAViewer-LUNAViewer&title=Search+Results%3A+List_No+equal+to+%272719.186%27&fullTextSearchChecked=&dateRangeSearchChecked=&advancedSearchUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fdoc.lunaimaging.com%2Fdisplay%2FV73D%2FSearching%23Searching-Searching&thumbnailViewUrlKey=link.view.search.url# Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1885 https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/4544288d8e133e3b674b3000d43312df.png fa8834f000a70555decfb52f5645ea0f Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Political Cartoon Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <em>The Creightonian</em> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Living in a World of Our Own Making Subject The topic of the resource <a href="http://www.igbp.net/images/18.950c2fa1495db7081ebd1/1421396650502/GreatAcceleration2015igbpsrclowres.jpg" title="IGBP - The Great Acceleration Dashboard" target="_blank">The Great Acceleration</a> <img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4721/40562555551_972c132773_o.jpg" 100="" width="100% height=" /> <span style="font-size: 3;"> </span> Description An account of the resource The Anthropocene means “The Age of Humans,” but what does it mean to live in a world of our own making? Humanity has flourished in past two centuries. Two thirds of every person ever born lived between 1945 and today. Scientists call this era of expanding population, economic development, and environmental impact the “Great Acceleration.” People are now more numerous and powerful than ever before. Mining moves more rocks and soils than all of the worlds rivers combined. Artificial fertilizers have doubled the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus in our soils. Plastics can now be found on mountain tops and the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Paradoxically, many of the most profound changes to global environments pass virtually unnoticed. Nuclear fallout, for instance, is invisible to the naked eye, but radioactive evidence of cold war weapons tests remains in soils around the world. Until recently, lead was one of the most common materials in industrial use. It was used to seal our foods, paint our homes, and power our cars. Lead is toxic, especially for children. Although invisible, lead is now in our soils, in our cities, and even in our blood. By contrast, concrete is virtually everywhere, yet we rarely think about it. We drive on it, work in it, and the foundations of this very museum are built using it. More than half of the concrete ever produced was manufactured between 1995-2015. Concrete requires enormous energy to mine, transport, and produce. These consequences are as invisible to us as the material is abundant. As you finish your journey through the exhibit, consider how many other “invisible” materials influence our lives and connect us to the global environment. Physical Object An inanimate, three-dimensional object or substance. Note that digital representations of, or surrogates for, these objects should use Moving Image, Still Image, Text or one of the other types. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Monkey Wrench Subject The topic of the resource Tools like this twentieth-century monkey wrench tuned machines and shaped environments during the Second Industrial Revolution. Associated with railroading in the nineteenth century, the monkey wrench symbolizes industrial progress. Later in the twentieth century, the monkey wrench became a symbol of environmental resistance to industrial progress. In his novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, Edward Abbey popularized an ideology of direct action against environmental destruction, which later inspired environmental organization such as Earth First! and the Earth Liberation Front. This wave of environmentalism found its way to Omaha and led to the formation of the Quality Environment Council and acts of environmental protest on Creighton University’s campus in the 1970s. The monkey wrench is an important artifact of the Anthropocene, symbolizing both industrialism and environmentalism. Description An account of the resource First created in nineteenth-century England, the monkey wrench is an adjustable tool used in many areas of industry to insert screws and fasten materials together (Geesin 2015). As such, the monkey wrench is a symbol of the innovation, industrialization and in the context of the Anthropocene, the humans on the earth system. Ironically, the monkey wrench symbolizes resistance to these changes as well. Since the publication of American author Edward Abbey’s novel, The Monkey Wrench Gang in 1975, the tool has become a symbol of radical environmentalism as well. This is the paradox of the monkey wrench: a tool created for use in industry and the taming of the natural world by mankind, has also become a totem for those who radically oppose the very same industrial advancement. The monkey wrench, thus tells us two contrasting stories of the Anthropocene. The first, industrial progress and the second, questioning and active resistance to that “progress”. <br /><br />The monkey wrench in the collection of the Durham Museum (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/641ef90e4aaf51c6a3bcfc20365e5544.jpg">Figure 1</a>) bears no distinctive markings or indicators as to when or where it was made. However, it was likely manufactured in the early 20th century due to its similarity to examples from that time (Geesin 2015). Its proximity to Omaha, Nebraska is unsurprising, as similar wrenches were utilized and modified in the Omaha area in the 1920s. The elongated handle and ratchet for size adjustment are common features of period wrenches (Inventions New and Interesting). The development of new and improved versions of the monkey wrench tailored the tool to different areas of industry. By the mid-nineteenth-century, the manufacturing of such wrenches was a thriving and competitive industry on its own (Greeley 1874). <br /><br />Although different iterations of the monkey wrench were in various areas of industry, one of the most common uses was in the construction and maintenance of steam locomotives. The monkey wrench would have been widely employed in Omaha’s many railroad shops. Omaha was and continues to be the headquarters of the Union Pacific Railroad from the nineteenth-century (Monkey Wrench). <a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/6964d1b20d929b6457a8f37e8c418e04.jpg">Figure 2</a> is a map of Omaha from 1885 depicting the transformational effect that the Union Pacific railroad imparted on the city after only two decades of prevalence. The pink area on the lower-right portion of the map shows the expanse of the Union Pacific Shops. <br /><br />The city grew and developed in the nineteenth-century largely as a result of its relationship with the Union Pacific Railroad. After the railroad construction began in the 1860s, an influx of employment opportunities in Omaha allowed for its growth to surpass its neighbor cities and the city became a gateway to the Western portion of the United States. The project of building the railroad brought thousands of jobs to the Omaha area and this opportunity to make a living working on it saw Omaha’s population increase at an incredible rate (Bristow 2000). By the twentieth-century, Omaha had become a railroad hub and central city of the second industrial revolution in the United States. <br /><br />The growth of Omaha’s railroad industry transformed Omaha and Nebraska with dramatic environmental consequences. In an 1867 book, The Union Pacific Railroad from Omaha, Nebraska, Across the Continent, the Union Pacific Railroad Company outlines the economic opportunities afforded by the construction of the railroad. These opportunities were headlined by the opportunity to expand the areas in which people live westward, bridging the gap between the Eastern and Western United States. In addition, natural resources such as untapped land for farming, mining, hunting and harvesting lumber were held as the most lucrative of opportunities. During this time period, the Union Pacific railroad transported 460,000 tons of freight across the continent each year (The Union Pacific Railroad Company 1867). This industrial expanding of the railroad to the West would manifest itself through an immense impact on the environment of the Great Plains. <br /><br />As the railroad stretched West towards the Rocky Mountains, populations and land usage in the Great Plains region increased at an incredible rate. The further that the railroad stretched, the more settlements were established along it. These settlements enabled the land to be used by the new people in an area where it had been nearly impossible to receive supplies and contact with the East prior to railroad construction (Whitney 1994). <a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/23598e7fe45a0b6d110faa984b789628.png">Figure 3</a> shows measured usages of land for raising livestock and crops, as well as the population in the Great Plains region after construction on the Transcontinental Railroad from Omaha began. Once a small number of individuals had begun to populate the Great Plains and begin to tame the land, the success of their agricultural endeavors coupled with the ease of communication with the rest of the country established by the railroad and the transcontinental telegraph brought people seeking prosperity in the region (Hartman 2011). As the region was further developed throughout the decades following the establishment of rural communities, the impact of large-scale agriculture took its toll on the local and global environments. <br /><br />In addition to the establishment of a booming agriculture industry in the Great Plains, the railroad enabled transnational and international trade of hides and furs of animals. One striking example was the systematic destruction and near extinction of the North American Bison. <a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/9e930674cc1bd5e8bafcd27de827333a.png">Figure 4</a> demonstrates the marked spike in the number of bison hide exports almost immediately after the beginning of railroad construction from Omaha, along with the consistent rise in cattle population in the Great Plains (Taylor 2011, Bozell 1995). Bison hide exports declined significantly in the late 1870s as the population of bison dwindled in the region, while the cattle population maintained its steady rise through the late 1880s. The hunting of bison to virtual extinction is an example of the devastating damage that the increased accessibility to the Great Plains established by the railroad had on its environment (Taylor 2011). There is a stark increase and subsequent decrease in the number of bison hides exported as the population dwindled in the 1870s (Hartman 2011). <br /><br />As a tool and symbol of industry, the monkey wrench represented the growth of progress and urbanization and taming of their surrounding landscapes. In Omaha and Nebraska, the railroad played an important role in these changes that also resulted in significant environmental consequences, especially in grassland environments. However, this rampant industrialization was no longer accepted uncritically as “progress” by the mid-twentieth-century. “Monkey Wrenching” came to embody active resistance to industrial growth at the expense of the environment. This term entered public discourse upon publication of Edward Abbey’s The Monkey Wrench Gang in 1975. In his novel Abbey tells the fictional story of a group of activists who commit acts of sabotage in the name of environmentalism. The group destroys bridges, billboards and makes plans to destroy a dam. Their activities, called “monkeywrenching,” lauded the destruction of industrial property for the sake of saving the natural world from development (Abbey 1975). <a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/ffdc6157e4715c6d9d4f9f5d4c332dde.png">Figure 5</a> is an&nbsp; example of illustrations by Robert Crumb from The Monkey Wrench Gang. Abbey’s characters saw industry, government-sponsored or corporate, as a threat and promoted uncompromising resistance. <br /><br />After the release of The Monkey Wrench Gang, the monkey wrench was a widely recognized symbol for radical environmentalism as it had been described in the book. The writing itself became a handbook for those looking to shake up the industrial establishment through acts of monkeywrenching. From the ideology of Edward Abbey sprung a variety of radical environmental groups, most notably the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and Earth First! of which Abbey was a member. The actions of destroying machines in an attempt to slow the progress of industry harken back to the attempted Luddite revolution in late 18th century England. Although the Luddites were motivated by the prospect of keeping their own jobs in industry, the consequences of destroying machinery were much the same (Horn 2005). <br /><br />The ideology established by Abbey in the late twentieth-century was one of resistance to industrial development of the environment. This ideology manifested itself in acts of direct and indirect resistance. In the vain of direct resistance, groups such as Earth First! And the ELF, established in 1980 and 1992 respectively, committed acts of sabotage in the United States. Bombings claimed by ELF have targeted ski resorts, animal testing facilities, fishing operations and other sites of humans meddling with the environment. This led to ELF’s listing as the greatest domestic threat in the United States by the FBI in 2001 (Taylor 2008). Earth First! did not claim responsibility for destructive crimes, although some of their members have been personally indicted for various acts of sabotage. In 1983, an editorial in the journal Environmental Ethics personally addressed Edward Abbey and his friends for actively encouraging the destruction of industrial resources, thus endangering the lives of workers. Abbey responded directly, claiming that Earth First! is little more than a disorganized group of environmentalists who come together for acts of civil disobedience in the face of the destruction of nature. He also plainly stated that he believes that the destruction of nature is an act of terrorism (Abbey 1983). Foreman takes matters a step further, openly denying acts of monkeywrenching in Earth First! while directly stating that he believes that such acts are completely morally justified (Foreman 1983). <br /><br />The direct actions of groups such as Earth First! and ELF coupled with a new ideology of environmentalism had a massive impact on the United States throughout the late 20th century. Other citizens intent on protecting the environment practiced indirect resistance to industrial progress. In Omaha, these effects manifested in the creation of the Quality Environment Council (QEC). Established in the 1970s, the Omaha QEC protected the parks and open spaces in Omaha against development. Its original goal was to prevent the construction of a mall in downtown Omaha. They managed to prevent further development within the city in this case, however this simply diverted the same development to the suburbs (Taylor 1973). The QEC also vehemently opposed the release of extremely hot waste water into the Missouri river by the Omaha Public Power District in 1972. They succeeded in the city imposing a required cooling time for all water being disposed of in the river to prevent destruction of the environment within (Omaha World Herald 1972). <br /><br />On the campus of Creighton University, students reacted negatively to the environmental policies of the Nixon administration in the 1970s. Although Nixon was the president who established the Environmental Protection Agency, students at Creighton did not believe that this was enough, given the publication of a study claiming that 73% of all water in the United States is contaminated with industrial byproducts. <a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/4544288d8e133e3b674b3000d43312df.png">Figure 6</a> displays a political cartoon published in <em>The Creightonian</em>, the school newspaper. This is an example of civil disobedience within the student population against large companies and government policies. The article published with this cartoon admonishes the industrial domination of nature, providing examples of deforestation, water contamination and animal populations nearing extinction (Meyer 1970). In a further article from The Creightonian, the newspaper announces the beginning of seemingly the first ecology class at the university. With its purpose to study the physical and social implications of the environment and the factors which contribute to damaging it, this certainly shows a shift in the mindset of people in Omaha towards at least some form of environmentalism (Lohr 1972). <br /><br />The monkey wrench, through its contributions to industry primarily through the railroad, has historically been a tool and symbol of industrial progress. The meaning of progress changed over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth-centuries, however. By the Green Decades of the 1960s and 1970s, and drawing upon criticisms of corporate and state “development,” the monkey wrench became a symbol of resistance. Direct resistance of the type advocated by Edward Abbey and radical groups such as Earth First! and the ELF, though these strategies found little support in Nebraska or Omaha. In Omaha, indirect resistance was the primary mode of fighting industrial progress for the betterment of the natural environment. The dual symbolism of the monkey wrench, promoting progress and simultaneously symbolizing resistance to it, is a fitting artifact of the Anthropocene. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Brad MacDonald Hasan Lari Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Abbey, E. “Earth first! And the Monkey Wrench Gang.” Environmental Ethics 5, no.1 (1983): 94-95. https://www.pdcnet.org//pdc/bvdb.nsf Abbey, E. The Monkey Wrench Gang (Salt Lake City: Dream Garden Press, 1975). Bozell, J. “Culture, Environment, and Bison Populations on the Late Prehistoric and Early Historic Central Plains.” Plains Anthropologist. 40, no. 152 (1995): 145-163. Bristow, D. A Dirty, Wicked Town: Tales of 19th Century Omaha (Omaha: University of Nebraska Press, 2000), 152-154. Foreman, D. “More on Earth First! And The Monkey Wrench Gang.” Environmental Ethics. 5, no.1 (1983): 95-96. Geesin, R. Adjustable Spanner: History, Origins and Development to 1970 (Crowood: Antiques & Collectibles, 2015). George M. Smith, Omaha Central. 1885. Lithographed map, 40 x 69 cm. David Rumsey. From: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection, www.davidrumsey.com (Accessed April 4, 2018). Greeley, H. The Great Industries of the United States (Hartford: J.B. Burr & Hyde, 1874), 875-876. Gutmann, M. “Beyond Social Science History: Population and Environment in the US Great Plains.” Social Science History, 42, no. 1 (2018). Hartman, M. “Impact of Historical Land-Use Changes on Greenhouse Gas Exchange in the U.S. Great Plains, 1883-2003.” Ecological Applications. 21, no. 4 (2011): 1105-1119. Horn, J. “Machine-breaking in England and France during the Age of Revolution.” Labour 55, (2005): 143-166. “Hot Water Dumping Is Protested,” The Omaha World Herald (Omaha, NE), July 19, 1972. "Inventions New and Interesting." Scientific American 127, no. 2 (1922): 117-20. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24993964 Lohr, J. “Ecology Course To Study Physical, Social Environment,” The Creightonian (Omaha, NE), October 27, 1972. Meyer, M. “Environment: Student Issue,” The Creightonian (Omaha, NE), January 9, 1970. “Monkey Wrench.” America on the Move, last modified 2018, http://amhistory.si.edu/onthemove/collection/object_137 Crumb, Robert. The Monkey Wrench Gang. 1975. Source: JohnShalek.com, 2009, Digital Image. Available from: http://www.joshshalek.com/tag/the-monkey-wrench-gang/ Taylor, Bron. "The Tributaries of Radical Environmentalism." Journal for the Study of Radicalism 2, no. 1 (2008): 27-61. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41887590. Taylor, J. “Leahy: River Critics ‘In A Dream World’,” The Omaha World Herald (Omaha, NE), July 25, 1973. Taylor, S. “International Trade and the Virtual Extinction of the North American Bison.” American Economic Association. 101, no. 7 (2011): 3162-3195. Union Pacific Railroad Company, The Union Pacific Railroad from Omaha, Nebraska, Across the Continent (Chicago: Press of Wynkoop & Hallenbeck, 1867), 7. Whitney, G. From Coastal Wilderness to Fruited Plain (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 188-190. Zalasiewicz, J. “Stratigraphy of the Anthropocene.” Philosophical Transitions. 396 (2016): 1036- 1055. https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/57c3b92572055907be2967d0d4e2732d.jpg dced4ac5255b04a61ce0dacdbb29ba31 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Living in a World of Our Own Making Subject The topic of the resource <a href="http://www.igbp.net/images/18.950c2fa1495db7081ebd1/1421396650502/GreatAcceleration2015igbpsrclowres.jpg" title="IGBP - The Great Acceleration Dashboard" target="_blank">The Great Acceleration</a> <img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4721/40562555551_972c132773_o.jpg" 100="" width="100% height=" /> <span style="font-size: 3;"> </span> Description An account of the resource The Anthropocene means “The Age of Humans,” but what does it mean to live in a world of our own making? Humanity has flourished in past two centuries. Two thirds of every person ever born lived between 1945 and today. Scientists call this era of expanding population, economic development, and environmental impact the “Great Acceleration.” People are now more numerous and powerful than ever before. Mining moves more rocks and soils than all of the worlds rivers combined. Artificial fertilizers have doubled the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus in our soils. Plastics can now be found on mountain tops and the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Paradoxically, many of the most profound changes to global environments pass virtually unnoticed. Nuclear fallout, for instance, is invisible to the naked eye, but radioactive evidence of cold war weapons tests remains in soils around the world. Until recently, lead was one of the most common materials in industrial use. It was used to seal our foods, paint our homes, and power our cars. Lead is toxic, especially for children. Although invisible, lead is now in our soils, in our cities, and even in our blood. By contrast, concrete is virtually everywhere, yet we rarely think about it. We drive on it, work in it, and the foundations of this very museum are built using it. More than half of the concrete ever produced was manufactured between 1995-2015. Concrete requires enormous energy to mine, transport, and produce. These consequences are as invisible to us as the material is abundant. As you finish your journey through the exhibit, consider how many other “invisible” materials influence our lives and connect us to the global environment. Physical Object An inanimate, three-dimensional object or substance. Note that digital representations of, or surrogates for, these objects should use Moving Image, Still Image, Text or one of the other types. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Plastic Cup Subject The topic of the resource Omaha has been home to the College World Series since 1950. This great baseball event brings in thousands of fans from across the world every summer. Consumers buy souvenirs like this cup at high volumes to bring home with them from the event. When reused or recycled, consumer plastics like this cup can drastically decrease waste sent to landfills. If patrons throw this cup away, however, its durability ensures long-lasting environmental impact. Up to 79% of plastic waste is disposed in landfills or the environment. Because of this, plastic pollution has a significant negative impact on the environment. Consumer plastic is now a bedrock material of the Anthropocene. Description An account of the resource Since 1967, the College World Series has drawn countless baseball fans from across the country to the streets of Omaha for two weeks every summer. They arrive as consumers both of baseball and the countless products they use, abandon, or take home as souvenirs. One of these objects is a plastic souvenir cup from the 1988 CWS. This plastic cup is not an extraordinary object, however, it is imperative to look beyond the surface and imagine what this object truly represents: the global use of consumer plastic both in Omaha and worldwide. Consumer plastics have had dramatic effects on the environment on both a local and global scale; however, they have also positively contributed to progress toward a more sustainable society. Our object points to the fact that while plastics can embody negative effects of the Anthropocene, they can also exemplify the positive aspects of humanity’s technological and scientific development. <br /><br />Plastic is a polymer; a substance made up of repeating chemical units. As explained by Andrea Sella, a professor at University College London, “you take a simple organic molecule react it with yourself again and again and again, a little bit like a bicycle chain; you attach one link, and you click on the next one and the next one… almost ad infinitum.” (Knight, 2014) Plastics were not the first manufactured polymer, though. While looking for a cheap substitute for ivory for use in billiards balls, John Wesley Hyatt created the first synthetic polymer in 1869. This scientific innovation was the first of its kind, and importantly did not require the contribution of the products directly extracted from natural resources. (SHI, 2016) Humans now had the complete control of the process for the production of plastic polymers. <br /><br />Hyatt’s substance was an early predecessor today’s durable plastic. The more immediate precursors to modern-day plastics were substances retrospectively known as “proto-plastics”, such as vulcanized rubber produced in the mid-19th century. (Fenichell, 1996) During World War II, shortages in rubber, brass and aluminum incentivized the substitution of plastic, which became favored following the war for many of its newfound uses. Plastic production expanded exponentially during and after the war. (Meikle, 1995) During WWII, production of synthetic plastic within the United States of America increased by 300%. (SHI, 2016) Due to its immense popularity and economic potential, companies began investing in plastic research to produce new types of plastics “for their own sake and worried about finding uses for them later.” (SHI, 2016) The consumerist vision of plastic had begun. <br /><br />Innovations of plastics have drastically changed its properties. Modern plastics are now heat resistant, elastic, and can avoid scratches and cracking. These new updates add unknown chemicals to the polymerization process. New societal fears about potential toxicity and easy disposability of plastics have begun to turn plastics use into a cultural and environmental question. (Mossman, 2008) Plastic’s main ingredient is one of the most precious materials on earth: oil. This sought after commodity price has fluctuated greatly through the years, and has affected the progression of plastic research and societal acceptance. (Swallow, 1951) <br /><br />Plastic “combines the ultimate twentieth-century characteristics - artificiality, disposability, and synthesis - all rolled into one.” (Mossman, 2008) American society now has unlimited access to plastic goods ranging from hula-hoops to lawn furniture. Susan Frienkel describes the United States’ obsession with plastic simply. “In product after product, market after market, plastics challenged traditional materials and won, taking the place of steel in cars, paper and glass in packaging, and wood in furniture.” (Freinkel, 2011) Americans integrated plastic into nearly every aspect of their lives and it is now one of the primary materials in American everyday life. <br /><br />The industrial and consumer growth has had profound environmental implications. Environmentalists describe plastic as “one of the most ubiquitous and long lasting recent changes to the surface of our planet.” (Fischer, 2017) The explosion of plastics usage has largely paralleled the exponential growth referred to by Anthropocene scholars as the Great Acceleration. Plastic became common in the 1940s, and its use has increased exponentially ever since. The amount of plastic created in the first ten years of this century is greater than the amount produced in the prior century. (Fischer, 2017) Additionally, numbers skyrocketed between the 20th and 21st centuries. In 2007, 230 million tons of plastic were produced globally. (Mossman, 2008) Consumer demand propelled its production and disposal of this product into a great hindrance upon the global environment. <br /><br />Plastic’s effect upon the earth system is unprecedented. While people can theoretically reuse it, most plastics are created for single-use product, such as disposable water bottles. This has led to incredible amounts of plastics in landfills and the oceans which will remain there unless otherwise removed by humans. Plastics debris found in oceans has rattled the complete acceptance of plastic within American culture. (Meikle, 1997) Plastic objects are held as having three different ends; recycling or reprocessing, thermal destruction which is often done without energy recovery, or disposal in either “a managed system, such as sanitary landfills, or uncontained in open dumps or in the natural environment.” (Geyer, Jambek and Law, 2017) <br /><br />The image of sea life trapped in plastic has achieved iconic status in environmental critiques of consumerism. Additionally, the negative impact of plastics upon the ocean is not limit to its solidified state. Oil, the primary ingredient of plastic, is always a danger to spilling within some of the world’s major bodies of water. This impending risk has become a reality on numerous occasions, hindering and destroying oceanic life as society knows it. <br /><br />Furthermore, scientists have discovered that chemicals used in plastics production are detrimental to humans when absorbed, often through consumption of foods and beverages in plastic packaging. (Fischer, 2017) Some of the commonly used chemicals are hazardous due to their toxicity, sensitization, ability to corrode the skin and eyes, carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, and teratogenicity. (Wiberg, 1976) All organisms are susceptible to these effect, not just humans. Due to the great penetration of plastics into everyday life of humankind plastics are a negative component of the everyday life of oceanic, avian, and terrestrial animals. (Wallace, 2016) Due to its shear longevity, the negative implications of plastics within the earth system is significant and perpetual. <br /><br />On the other hand, plastic does have many benefits. According to the American Chemistry Council, which is admittedly the research arm of the plastics industry, it is beneficial to the environment. Its high strength-weight ratio allows for lighter packaging, resulting lower fuel usage during transportation of products. It takes two pounds of plastic to create an 8 gallon container. The same container would require three pounds of aluminum, eight pounds of steel, or 27 pounds of glass. (ACC, 2018) Plastic products can often reused, recycled, or reimagined as containers, rug fibers, composite lumber, or new pipe products. (EPA, 2016) Plastics-to-oil, or PTO, production is a process which has recently begun gaining traction as a way to gain use from plastic in situations where it is not feasible to recycle plastics. PTO facilities first heat plastic to a gaseous state and then distill the gas into liquid fuel for sale or further refinement. (ACC, 2014) Researchers who represent the plastics lobby believe PTO facilities could divert 20% of the 32.5 million tons of plastic that enter US landfills each year and turn it into fuel. <br /><br />Plastic is often superior to its substitutes due to superior efficiency, both in terms of money and energy. While plastic began to be widely during WWII due to shortages in other materials, its use continued postwar because for many uses it was cheaper than the original materials. (Meikle, 1995) Plastic use lowers costs for distributors and retailers, thereby lowering the cost of goods packaged in it. (Belasco and Bronner, 2017) A 2010 study conducted by Plastics Europe, a research arm of a plastics lobby, found that the “substitution of plastic products by other materials wherever possible would need about 57% more energy than currently used in the total life cycle of all plastic products today”- the same amount of energy carried by approximately 205 oil tankers. That action would increase would increase annual greenhouse gas emissions by 124 megatons- about the same as Belgium’s total CO₂ emissions in 2000. This is because plastics are less costly to produce and use in terms of energy used. Only 18% of plastic’s energy demand is linked to the period of time the product is being used for its intended purpose relative to an average of 24% for other materials, largely because of its weight savings in packaging and the resulting lowered transportation energy costs. (Denkstatt GmbH, 2010) This is because of plastic’s relatively high strength to weight ratio not found in other common packaging materials. (Andrady and Neal, 2009) These numbers are easily demonstrated in the figure “Life Cycle Energy Consumption of Plastic Products and Their Potential Substitutes” found in the <a href="http://www.steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/635cb95b1b7c07aaea81f84d228c9d6d.jpg">Figure 2</a>. It was estimated that the emissions savings of using plastic products in 2007 rather than its substitutes were 5-9 times the emissions used to produce and dispose of plastic. Furthermore, the negative environmental effects of plastics have often been greatly exaggerated; only 1.3% of an average person’s carbon footprint comes from plastic products whereas recreation and leisure accounts for the largest share of the carbon footprint at 18%. (Andrady and Neal, 2009) It is worth noting again that pretty much all benefits research is done on the behalf of plastics lobbies. <br /><br />One might ponder the significance of plastic cup in a history museum, as one should. Could it be the familiarity of the object that makes you question its importance? For most people, a common plastic cup from the 1988 College World Series may not reveal much history. In fact, the true historical value of theses cups is surprisingly within the plastic of which it was made. It’s undeniable that humans see and use plastics in almost every aspect of our lives yet the importance of plastic is often overlooked because of its commonality. Moreover, the history of plastic illustrates an ongoing, interconnected relationship between humans, objects, and nature. In fact, Omaha is a great example of this interconnected relationship as it harks back to when railways were used as means for transporting goods and commodities between the east and west. Think about where this plastic originated (St. Louis, Missouri), how it was made, how was it brought to Omaha, what resources were needed to make it, how it was disposed, and how has nature become affected as a result. Plastic has evolved throughout history in order to better benefit human use. However, it is important to understand that with all benefits come costs. This cup emphasizes the importance of personal awareness that our actions often have unforeseeable consequences on nature. Organizations like “Recycling Green Team” serve to promote the proper disposal of plastic cups and other recyclable objects at sports events. (NRDC, 2014) Individual efforts and the acceptance of accountability has shown significant improvement in the amount plastic being recycled. However, more is required, as in 2010 41% of the waste collected from the Douglas County landfill could have been recycled instead. (Sierra Club, 2017) Humans undeniably cause damage to nature, yet our current preservation and understanding of our involvement highlights the importance of sustainability in the survival of the human race. <br /><br />Consumer plastic has left an immense footprint upon the foundation of the local and global environment. It has negatively impacted the environment through factory emissions, pollution of oceans, and longevity within landfills. This problem persists today, even with stronger recycling efforts in place. The overproduction of plastics, such as our College World Series collectible cup, is a byproduct of our consumerist society. Though there are many costs associated with the production, distribution, and waste of plastic, there have also been great societal benefits as well. The advancement of humanity’s technological and scientific development has helped countless lives across the world. When used with intention, plastic may help reduce waste created and slow the progression of human induced pollution. Awareness is imperative in this potential change. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Emily Newcomb Duncan Riley Craig Schmerbach Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived American Chemistry Council. Economic Impact of Plastics-To-Oil Facilities in the US. (American Chemistry Council, Oct. 2014). Accessed February 27, 2018. plastics.americanchemistry.com/Product-Groups-and-Stats/Plastics-to-Fuel/Economic-Impact-of-Plastics-to-Oil-Facilities-in-the-United-States-Full-Study.pdf. Andrady, Anthony L., and Mike A. Neal. “Applications and Societal Benefits of Plastics.” Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences 364, no 1526 (2009): 1977-1984. Accessed February 27, 2018. Belasco, Warren J. and Simon J. Bronner, ed. “Foodways.” Encyclopedia of American Studies, (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017). Accessed February 27, 2018. The Cavanaugh Law Firm, P.C., L.L.O. “Omaha Metropolitan Area Solid Waste Management Study.” The Nebraska Sierra Club. Last modified March 13, 2017. Accessed February 6, 2018.https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/sce-authors/u2978/Sierra%20Club%27s%20%20Omaha%20Metropolitan%20Area%20SWM%20Study%20%20March%2013%20%202017.pdf “Concessions > Reusable Bags and Cups.” National Resources Defence Council, (2014). Accessed March 26, 2018. Denkstatt GmbH. “The Impact of Plastics on Life Cycle Energy Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Europe.” Vienna, Austria. June 2010. Edwards, Bryant. Process and Apparatus For Forming Plastic Cups or the Like. (Nov. 1965). Fenichell, Stephen. Plastic: The Making of a Synthetic Century. (HarperCollins., 1996). Fischer, Douglas. “The Environmental Toll of Plastics.” Environmental Health News. Last modified October 26, 2017. Accessed February 6, 2018. http://www.ehn.org/plastic-environmental-impact-2501923191.html Freinkel, Susan. Plastic: A Toxic Love Story. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011. Geyer, Roland, Jenna R. Jambeck, and Kara Lavender Law. "Production, Use, and Fate of All Plastics Ever Made." Science Advances3, no. 7 (2017). doi:10.1126/sciadv.1700782. "How Our Trash Affects the Whole Planet." Green Living Ideas. March 24, 2016. Accessed May 04, 2018. https://greenlivingideas.com/2015/04/24/how-our-trash-affects-the-whole-planet/. Knight, Laurence. “A Brief History of Plastics, Natural and Synthetic.” BBC News, BBC, 17 May 2014, www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27442625. Meikle, Jeffrey L. American Plastic: A Cultural History (Rutgers Univ. Press: 1995). Accessed February 27, 2018. Meikle, Jeffrey L. "Material Doubts: The Consequences of Plastic." Environmental History 2, no. 3 (1997): 278-300. Accessed February 27, 2018. Mossman, Susan, Fantastic Plastic: Product Design + Consumer Culture (Black Dog Publishing: 2008). Accessed February 27, 2018. NRDC. “Guide to Recycling Green Teams at Sports Venues.” National Resources Defense Council, July 2014. “Plastics: Plastics in Packaging and Consumer Products.” American Chemistry Council. Accessed February 6, 2018. https://plastics.americanchemistry.com/Plastics-in-Packaging-and-Consumer-Products/ Regan, Jennifer, Allen Hershkowitz, Darby Hoover, Alice Henly, and James Hands. “Guide to Recycling Green Teams at Sports Venues: A Roadmap to Help Sports Teams and Venues Develop a Successful Recycling Green Team.” National Resources Defence Council, (2014). Accessed March 26, 2018. Science History Institute. “The History and Future of Plastics.” Science History Institute, (Dec. 2016). Accessed February 27, 2018. Swallow, J. C. "The Plastics Industry." Journal of the Royal Society of Arts 99, no. 4843 (1951): 335-81. United States, Congress, EPA. “2016 Recycling Economic Impact Report.” 2016 Recycling Economic Impact Report (Oct. 2016). Accessed February 27, 2018. Wallace, Molly, ed. “Letting plastic have its say; or, Plastic’s tell.” Risk criticism (University of Michigan Press, 2016): 123-153. Accessed February 27, 2018. Wiberg, G. S. “Consumer Hazards of Plastics.” Environmental Health Perspectives 17 (1976): 221-225. Accessed February 27, 2018. Consumer Revolution Consumption Oceans Plastic Pollution Recycling Waste https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/d622e95e2b1007c4c9be61d5cda06fcf.JPG 166fd91f80494ebd11804a519ee76631 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Figure 2: Fallout Shelter Sign Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Durham Museum Collections https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/c4d64cfc7c010abfbd3cbfc33b463775.jpg 91394355eaddbc4f69ebf88835617c48 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Figure 1: Little Boy Bomb Subject The topic of the resource This is an image of the Little Boy bomb that was used on Hiroshima being loaded onto a B-29 Enola Gay Bomber. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Originals from National Archives "Little Boy and Fat Man." Atomic Heritage Foundation. July 23, 2014. Accessed November 06, 2017. https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/little-boy-and-fat-man Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Living in a World of Our Own Making Subject The topic of the resource <a href="http://www.igbp.net/images/18.950c2fa1495db7081ebd1/1421396650502/GreatAcceleration2015igbpsrclowres.jpg" title="IGBP - The Great Acceleration Dashboard" target="_blank">The Great Acceleration</a> <img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4721/40562555551_972c132773_o.jpg" 100="" width="100% height=" /> <span style="font-size: 3;"> </span> Description An account of the resource The Anthropocene means “The Age of Humans,” but what does it mean to live in a world of our own making? Humanity has flourished in past two centuries. Two thirds of every person ever born lived between 1945 and today. Scientists call this era of expanding population, economic development, and environmental impact the “Great Acceleration.” People are now more numerous and powerful than ever before. Mining moves more rocks and soils than all of the worlds rivers combined. Artificial fertilizers have doubled the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus in our soils. Plastics can now be found on mountain tops and the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Paradoxically, many of the most profound changes to global environments pass virtually unnoticed. Nuclear fallout, for instance, is invisible to the naked eye, but radioactive evidence of cold war weapons tests remains in soils around the world. Until recently, lead was one of the most common materials in industrial use. It was used to seal our foods, paint our homes, and power our cars. Lead is toxic, especially for children. Although invisible, lead is now in our soils, in our cities, and even in our blood. By contrast, concrete is virtually everywhere, yet we rarely think about it. We drive on it, work in it, and the foundations of this very museum are built using it. More than half of the concrete ever produced was manufactured between 1995-2015. Concrete requires enormous energy to mine, transport, and produce. These consequences are as invisible to us as the material is abundant. As you finish your journey through the exhibit, consider how many other “invisible” materials influence our lives and connect us to the global environment. Physical Object An inanimate, three-dimensional object or substance. Note that digital representations of, or surrogates for, these objects should use Moving Image, Still Image, Text or one of the other types. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Nuclear Fallout Sign Subject The topic of the resource The nuclear age began in the New Mexico desert on July 16, 1945 with a mushroom cloud of radioactive gases. The U.S. performed hundreds of nuclear bomb tests in the American Desert and Southern Pacific during the 1950s and 1960s. The radioactive fallout from these nuclear tests and the threat of nuclear war produced fear in America. FS2 fallout shelter signs remain as material evidence of this fear. Nuclear fears influenced environmentalism world-wide. In 1989, on the anniversary of the first atomic bomb, a large Omaha crowd protested at SAC. Today, we can still identify traces of this nuclear past in the earth’s crust. Few changes of the earth can be so directly observed and as a result, many scientists point to nuclear tests as the best starting point for the Anthropocene. Description An account of the resource The American bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan on August 1945 inaugurated the nuclear age. Few historical transitions have such a clear beginning, and the consequences of that moment reverberate today (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/show/61" title="Figure 1" target="_self">Figure 1</a>). Fear of nuclear devastation and resulting radioactive fallout produced a culture of apocalyptic fear during the Cold War, and although nuclear annihilation no longer holds saw over our collective consciousness, nuclear power continues to be a factor in our globalized 21st century. Scientists continued to test nuclear weapons after 1945, to observe the consequences of nuclear detonations as well as the longer lasting effects of nuclear fallout. As a result of these tests, fear shifted from the apocalypse to more insidious threats. New invisible pollutants that were capable of not only impacting their health, but of irreversibly damaging the biosphere assumed center stage. This fear was a significant influence on the development of modern American environmentalism and the rising public influence of ecological sciences. Growing scientific awareness of global environmental change, the Anthropocene itself, were direct consequences of these historical changes. <br /><br />This FS2 fallout shelter sign is an object that reveals much about the Anthropocene. It is a ten by fourteen-inch sign composed of galvanized steel (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/show/59" title="Figure 2" target="_self">Figure 2</a>). During 1962, the Department of Defense produced one million of these FS2 signs. (Civil Defense Museum) They can be found inside public fallout shelter facilities. The distribution of these signs was an important component of the National Fallout Shelter Program. The U.S. Department of Defense developed the National Fallout Shelter Program in an attempt to improve the dilemma of national security in the event of a nuclear attack. Later nuclear testing would demonstrate the inadequate ability to withstand an atomic bomb detonation or to effectively prevent radiation exposure. Interior signs had to be posted in a position of good visibility to the public and placed in such a way as to avoid vandalism. (Dept of Defense, 1977) FS1 signs were also developed to be posted on the exterior of fallout shelter facilities, these signs were slightly larger at fourteen by twenty inches and were made of the same galvanized steel. FS2 signs were emblazoned with the Civil Defense fallout shelter trefoil and adhesive tape displayed the capacity of the shelter and indicated their starting point. The civil defense fallout shelter symbol was designed to be readily identifiable from a long distance and visibly different than the radiation hazard symbol. Civil defense fallout shelter symbols represented safety while the older radiation symbol represented hazard (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/show/60" title="Figure 3" target="_self">Figure 3</a>). (ORAU) Public fear of nuclear attack stemmed not only from the thought of an initial blast that could vaporize an entire city but also from the notion of the invisible particles of radioactive fallout. FS2 signs were public representations of that fear. <br /><br />A blinding flash of light followed by a towering mushroom cloud of radioactive gases signaled the first atomic bomb detonation in the desert of New Mexico on July 16, 1945. (Worster, 1977) The beginning of the nuclear age began with this detonation, while unconscious of the detrimental effects, nuclear states would persist with nuclear testing for decades. Previous technological developments such as railroads had already generated controversy regarding the effects on the environment, but the scale of a nuclear bomb’s impact produced a new, more resounding challenge. Could humanity be trusted with such power? The fear of rendering the earth a radioactive wasteland invoked fear in the public as well as in many of the primary developers of the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer, a leading Los Alamos scientist, was shaken to his core and questioned his humanity. (Fiege, 2012) Oppenheimer later reflected on this experience by reiterating a quote from the Bhagavad Gita, “now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.” (Atomic Archive) As the United States continued testing in American deserts, scientists confirmed the catastrophic destruction of explosions, as well as radionuclide drift. For the vast majority of Americans, including “downwinders” living in the path of airborne radioactive particulates, recognition of this second threat emerged very slowly. <br /><br />Among the first public intellectual to sound the alarm about the effects of radiation was Barry Commoner. Government scientists conducted studies, but were typically reticent to publicize them for reasons of “national security” A significant shift occurred in 1963 when Eugene P. Odum presented several claims about the ecological effects of nuclear war in the closing of the Ecological Society of America’s Symposium. Odum claimed that the removal of biomass from the soil as a result of coniferous and deciduous tree species’ sensitivity to ionizing radiation would likely result in an increase in nutrient loss from several ecosystems. Grover and Harwell used atmospheric tests to provide evidence of the limited plausibility for plant recovery following a nuclear war (Grover and Harwell, 1985). Reestablishment of several larger plant species would be dependent on seed banks, as well as the acute and chronic stresses acting on the particular environment (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/show/63" title="Figure 4" target="_self">Figure 4</a>). Lakes, estuaries, and tropical forests are among the environments that experience change in temperature, sunlight reduction, precipitation reduction, less significantly fallout radiation, and increased UV-B from ozone depletion as a result of nuclear bomb detonation. Grover and Harwell conclude that a nuclear war imposes the same environmental effects that alternative forms of man’s exploitation of nature can impose, but the scale is drastically larger. Reestablishment of several larger plant species would be dependent on seed banks, as well as the acute and chronic stresses acting on the particular environment. Lakes, estuaries, and tropical forests are among the environments that experience change in temperature, sunlight reduction, precipitation reduction, fallout radiation (small effect), and increased UV-B from ozone depletion as a result of nuclear bomb detonation. Grover and Harwell conclude that a nuclear war imposes the same environmental effects that alternative forms of man’s exploitation of nature can impose, but the scale is drastically larger. The ecological consequences of nuclear war must be of higher concern than our global security. (Grover and Harwell, 1985) Scientific evidence of fallout pollution inspired a public fear; ecological studies of the consequences of nuclear warfare made the public realize that ecological mindfulness of “invisible pollutants” was necessary to avoid environmental devastation. <br /><br />It was perhaps no coincidence that fear of invisible pollutants and the rise of ecological thinking arose in the 1960s. Nuclear fallout wasn’t the first invisible pollutant that had persistently found its way into food chains and impacted human health. In 1962, Rachel Carson published her blockbuster expose about the effects of pesticide use, called Silent Spring. In this book, she demonstrated how dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) moved through food webs, polluting the environment and threatening public health. Exposure to fallout played into similar fears. In the years following the Hiroshima detonation, many survivors developed leukemia. (Carson, 2015) The development of cancer can arise from diverse exposure to mutagens, but indelible evidence of Leukemia development just two years after the Japan nuclear attack demonstrates the extent of radiation-induced health detriments that arise from nuclear bomb detonations. (K1 Project)<br /><br />As scientists, particularly ecologists, uncovered more of the human and environmental consequences of fallout, public sentiment shifted. Collaboration between scientists and major publications was necessary to overcome public apathy. Scientists began drawing information on the ecological impact of nuclear explosions from test sites in the American desert and the South Pacific. Reader’s Digest began to publish doomsday articles in the late 1940s, these publications had titles like “What the Atom Bomb Would Do to Us” and “What the Atomic Bomb Really Did.” (Egan, 2009) These articles presented scientific findings in the context of the atomic bomb used in Hiroshima, even though other more lethal bombs had subsequently been developed and tested. In 1947, Reader’s Digest collaborated with credible scientists to describe a realistic hypothetical nuclear bomb attack in the heart of major American cities with the publication of “Mist of Death Over New York.” They began by describing the violent deaths of those in the explosive zone. What resonated more with the public was the description of those who managed to escape the blast but were struck with radiation sickness and eventually died from the exposure to the gamma rays. The public began to understand the health repercussions that would result from fallout exposure, which included sterility, birth rate decline, and limited access to essential resources. From that understanding arose a great public fear about said repercussions. Politically active scientists had become an instrument of peace with the increase in the scale of hazards. (Egan, 2009) Politicized fear had become a potent agent for change, one that could push the public to demand environmental sustainability. <br /><br />Fallout shelters represent this transition. Fallout shelters were not built to withstand the impact of a nuclear explosion; they were made to prevent exposure to radioactive fallout. The Department of Defense issued twenty-five million booklets on the construction parameters for fallout shelters. (Berrien, Schulman and Amarel, 1963) Private fallout shelters were not common; among people that had the financial means to build a fallout shelter, only a small percentage built them. Failure to build private fallout shelters wasn’t due to their lack of protection, but due to the attitude that the “government should place a greater emphasis on efforts to secure the peace through diplomacy.” (Berrien, Schulman and Amarel, 1963) In an attempt to encourage the public to build private fallout shelters, The Science News-Letter described the construction of fallout shelters as dual purpose rooms in the lower level of a home. Several scientists studied the effectiveness of fallout shelters to provide a safe environment in the event of a nuclear attack while performing nuclear bomb testing at the Nevada site. The Federal Department of Defense Administration conducted Operation Plumbbob; after testing several fallout shelters in the event of a nuclear bomb, the examiners concluded that fallout shelters were not always effective at preventing the respiratory hazard caused by dust leakage. (White, Wetherbe and Goldzien, 1957) Initially, the government promoted fallout shelters as a temporary solution to the impending war. Nevertheless, as the public became more aware of the ineffectiveness and lack of the feasibility of fallout shelters, they demanded social change. <br /><br />Omaha, and Nebraska in general, have had an interesting history with regards to the threat of nuclear fallout, and thus are major players in the fight against nuclear weapons. During the Cold War, Omaha and its surrounding areas were strategic targets for nuclear attack due to military installations such as the Offutt military base, which houses the Strategic Air Command (SAC) for the United States. Additionally, SAC began construction of Atlas Missile Complexes in the areas surrounding Omaha and Lincoln in 1959. (Neb Educational Telecommunications) These developments prompted organizations such as the Committee for Nonviolent Action (CNVA) to organize protests at SAC to denounce the use of nuclear weapons and encourage resistance against the sites’ construction (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/show/62" title="Figure 5" target="_self">Figure 5</a>). Through acts of civil disobedience, protesters would attempt to stall the construction however they could, by blocking trucks, for instance.&nbsp;(Neb Educational Telecommunications) There was also a major campaign to encourage civilians to resist the construction: suggesting that the people can refuse to work on the construction, scientists can refuse to create such weapons, unions can strike against military projects, and church members can use their faith as a means to limit their involvement in these military projects.&nbsp;(Neb Educational Telecommunications) Nebraskans feared that cities like Omaha and Lincoln would become targets if nuclear war was to break out, and the resulting fallout would devastate human health and the environment for generations. In a letter to President Eisenhower in 1959, A.J. Muste of the CNVA argued: <br /><br />"Man did not create the land. It was given to him as a heritage to use for the production of food and clothing and shelter, and that he might enjoy its beauty. Men are now preparing destruction, which can hardly be called war in the old sense at all, which may actually wipe out vegetation and poison the soil." (Nebraska Historical Society)<br /><br />In this small way, Omaha took part in a much larger social movement intended to call attention to this new, catastrophic threat. <br /><br />Human nuclear activity has changed the world in ways unlike any other time in recorded history. The mass proliferation of particles in the atmosphere from nuclear weapons has changed the world in ways that are only possible through human action, which is why the nuclear age is the epitome of the Anthropocene. With the onset of the nuclear age we started a new epoch, the Anthropocene, where the evidence of our profound impact is indelible. The proliferation of radioactive particles from nuclear bomb detonations serves as the best candidate for the golden spike of the Anthropocene. We have observed cycles of elevated carbon dioxide, elevated animal extinctions, and changing levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in the soil during several time periods. (Carrington, 2016) Yet, in no other time have we observed the presence of ionizing radioactive particles in the atmosphere and the associated environmental and health consequences. We live in an age where our actions have lasting consequences. The Anthropocene is only possible with the rise of the environmentalist movement; it is only after reflecting on the interconnectivity between man and the environment that we can begin to define the Anthropocene. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jesus Perez Wade Peyou Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Berrien, F. K., Carol Schulman, and Marianne Amarel. "The Fallout-Shelter Owners: A Study of Attitude Formation." The Public Opinion Quarterly 27, no. 2 (1963): 206-16. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2746915. Boyer, Paul . By the Bomb's Early Light: American Thought and Culture at the Dawn of the Atomic Age. University of North Carolina Press, 1994. Carrington, Damian. "The Anthropocene epoch: scientists declare dawn of human-influenced age." The Guardian. August 29, 2016. Accessed December 10, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/aug/29/declare-anthropocene-epoch-experts-urge-geological-congress-human-impact-earth. Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. London: Penguin Books, in association with Hamish Hamilton, 2015. "Civil Defense Fallout Shelter Sign." Civil Defense Fallout Shelter Sign (ca. 1960s). May 24, 2011. Accessed November 08, 2017. https://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/civildefense/sheltersign.htm. Egan, Michael. Barry Commoner and the Science of Survival: The Remaking of American Environmentalism. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2009. "Fallout Shelters' "Lived-in" Look." The Science News-Letter 80, no. 16 (1961): 258-59. doi:10.2307/3943848. Fiege, Mark. The Republic of Nature: An Environmental History of the United States. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press, 2012. Frame , P. "Radiation Warning Symbol (Trefoil)." Origin of the Radiation Warning Sign (Trefoil). Accessed November 07, 2017. http://www.orau.org/ptp/articlesstories/radwarnsymbstory.htm. Glass, Bentley. "The Biology of Nuclear War." The American Biology Teacher 24, no. 6 (1962): 407-25. doi:10.2307/4440018. Grover, Herbert D., and Mark A. Harwell. "Biological Effects of Nuclear War II: Impact on the Biosphere." BioScience 35, no. 9 (1985): 576-83. doi:10.2307/1309966. Interactive Media Group - Nebraska Educational Telecommunications. NebraskaStudies.Org. Accessed December 10, 2017. http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0900/frameset_reset.html?http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nebr skastudies.org%2F0900%2Fstories%2F0901_0126.html. "J. Robert Oppenheimer "Now I am become death..."." J. Robert Oppenheimer | Media Gallery. Accessed December 10, 2017. http://www.atomicarchive.com/Movies/Movie8.shtml. "Little Boy and Fat Man." Atomic Heritage Foundation. July 23, 2014. Accessed November 06, 2017. https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/little-boy-and-fat-man. Muste, Abraham. Swarthmore College Peace Collection. 1920-1967. Nebraska Historical Society. Accessed November 4, 2017. http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0900/media/0904_0704letter.pdf. Nebraska Educational Telecommunications. “Missiles on Land and Sea: Protests against Nuclear War.” Nebraska Studies 1950-1974. 2001. Accessed November 4, 2017. http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0900/frameset_reset.html?http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0900/stories/0901_0126.html. Prăvălie, Remus. "Nuclear Weapons Tests and Environmental Consequences: A Global Perspective." Ambio. October 2014. Accessed October 10, 2017. "Standard Fallout Shelter Signs ." Fallout Shelter Sign Page. Accessed October 08, 2017. http://www.civildefensemuseum.com/signs/. United Press International. “208 Detained in Nuclear Protest At Air Force Base Near Omaha. “ The New York Times. August 8, 1983. Accessed November 4, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/08/us/208-detained-in-nuclear-protest-at-air-force-base-near-omaha.html. United States of America. Defense Civil Preparedness Agency. Department of Defense . October 1977. Accessed November 3, 2017. http://www.civildefensemuseum.com/signs/CPG1-19A.pdf. United States of America. “EPA Facts About Strontium-90.” Environmental Protection Agency. Accessed November 4, 2017. https://semspub.epa.gov/work/HQ/175430.pdf. United States of America. The Internal Environment of Underground Structures Subjected to Nuclear Blast: Operation Plumbbob, Project 33.5. By C. S. White, M. B. Wetherbe, and V. C. Goldizen. Albuquerque, NM, NM: Lovelace Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 1957. Woodwell, G. M. Ecological Effects of Nuclear War . Vol. 917. (1963): Brookhaven National Laboratory. Worster, Donald. Nature's Economy: A History of Ecological Ideas . Cambridge University Press, 1977. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The Durham Museum Fallout Shelter Invisible Pollutants Mead NE Nuclear Bombs Nuclear Testing Protest Radiation https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/296a0278f26102801617d860eb334553.jpg ccf7a5edefa676e1834d0a0787a0eb37 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Figure 2: American Smelting And Refining Company Taken from Aksarben Bridge Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bostwick, Louis Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Bostwick-Frohardt, Durham Museum, Omaha, NE. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1930 https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/d732722c3eaeca84e785e9576c1503c8.jpg bba2c362bdfc21578cdc3805b10c6c88 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Figure 3: Omaha Lead Pollution Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Omaha Lead Registry http://www.omahalead.org/ Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Living in a World of Our Own Making Subject The topic of the resource <a href="http://www.igbp.net/images/18.950c2fa1495db7081ebd1/1421396650502/GreatAcceleration2015igbpsrclowres.jpg" title="IGBP - The Great Acceleration Dashboard" target="_blank">The Great Acceleration</a> <img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4721/40562555551_972c132773_o.jpg" 100="" width="100% height=" /> <span style="font-size: 3;"> </span> Description An account of the resource The Anthropocene means “The Age of Humans,” but what does it mean to live in a world of our own making? Humanity has flourished in past two centuries. Two thirds of every person ever born lived between 1945 and today. Scientists call this era of expanding population, economic development, and environmental impact the “Great Acceleration.” People are now more numerous and powerful than ever before. Mining moves more rocks and soils than all of the worlds rivers combined. Artificial fertilizers have doubled the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus in our soils. Plastics can now be found on mountain tops and the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Paradoxically, many of the most profound changes to global environments pass virtually unnoticed. Nuclear fallout, for instance, is invisible to the naked eye, but radioactive evidence of cold war weapons tests remains in soils around the world. Until recently, lead was one of the most common materials in industrial use. It was used to seal our foods, paint our homes, and power our cars. Lead is toxic, especially for children. Although invisible, lead is now in our soils, in our cities, and even in our blood. By contrast, concrete is virtually everywhere, yet we rarely think about it. We drive on it, work in it, and the foundations of this very museum are built using it. More than half of the concrete ever produced was manufactured between 1995-2015. Concrete requires enormous energy to mine, transport, and produce. These consequences are as invisible to us as the material is abundant. As you finish your journey through the exhibit, consider how many other “invisible” materials influence our lives and connect us to the global environment. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource ASARCO Lead Refinery Subject The topic of the resource Louis Bostwick took this photograph in the 1930s, presenting a stark contrast to Omaha’s beautiful riverfront we see today. Lewis and Clark Landing was once home to a lead refinery controlled by the American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO), which operated for over 100 years. People later learned about lead’s threat to human health and the environment. In 1997, escalated public pressure closed ASARCO, but it had already left a lasting mark on the local community. In 2004, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) declared the area a Superfund site. A Superfund uses federal funds to aid the cleanup of hazardous areas. Since then, the EPA and local government have worked to restore the contaminated soil. Despite such efforts, exposure to lead continues to threaten local and global health. Omaha’s rejuvenated riverfront is an example of how communities can combat the lasting impacts of harmful practices and heal a toxic past. Description An account of the resource In a world where half of the population is urbanized, connecting to nature is essential for good mental health. (Bratman et al, 2015) The Midwest is a great place for people to find balance in their fast paced lifestyles by staying connected to the environment while living in a city. When the weather is suitable, downtown Omaha, Nebraska has several outdoor activities to enjoy.<br /><br />Many tourists and locals choose to spend time at the riverfront of the vibrant and historic Old Market. Every summer, thousands of baseball fans gather for the College World Series. On any given day it is quite common to see people enjoying a relaxing stroll through the Lewis and Clark Landing or walking across the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. It is shocking to think about what the area looked like just 30 years ago (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/show/53" title="Figure 1" target="_self">Figure 1</a>). The park and greenspace on the riverfront disguises an unexpected and toxic history. Bostwick, Louis. American Smelting And Refining Company Taken from Aksarben Bridge”. 1930’s. Bostwick-Frohardt, The Durham Museum, Omaha, NE. <br /><br />Omaha is one of the many communities that experienced incredible expansion during the late 1800s. The establishment of this plant and the history that came to follow its opening, particularly at this time and location, was not coincidental. At this time, the “Second Industrial Revolution” was flourishing in Europe and the United States. Between 1870 and 1890, Omaha’s population jumped from 16,000 to 140,000. (Omaha, Nebraska Pop History) Omaha’s growth was driven by lead manufacturing, and other growing companies like the Union Pacific Railroad. (Larsen, 2007) This industrial agglomeration can be attributed to the waterfront advantage that the Missouri River provided these companies, as well as the development of the railroad enabling companies to connect resources across the country. <br /><br />This photograph captures the former location of one of the American Smelting and Refinery Company’s (ASARCO) lead refineries, which was taken by Omaha World-Herald photographer Louis Bostwick in the 1930s (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/show/50" title="Figure 2" target="_self">Figure 2</a>). (O'Connor, 2015) The plant was originally opened on the banks of the Missouri River in 1870 under the ownership of the Omaha Smelting Company. In 1882, the Omaha Smelting Company merged with the Grant Smelting Company to form the Omaha and Grant Smelting and Mining Company. This new ownership lasted for over 10 years, until another merger, including 16 companies in total, led to the formation of ASARCO. (Curry, 1949) <br /><br />The Omaha plant was part of a larger corporation, ASARCO, which was formed in 1899. (ASARCO) This corporation still operates today, but it does so as a subsidiary of Grupo Mexico. (ASARCO/Grupo Mexico) It is heavily involved in the mining of copper, lead, zinc, silver and gold. It is considered to be a global mining giant. Not only is it far reaching in its operations, which extends across several countries worldwide, but also regarding its total contributions to the respective metal markets. (ASARCO/Grupo Mexico)<br /><br />By 1925, ASARCO was the largest lead refinery in the world. It produced lead, but also radiation shields, bismuth and antimony oxide. (Rasmussen, 1992) The Omaha-World Herald reported that during 1924, the plant produced 165,000 tons of lead, 198,000 ounces of gold, 10,945 tons of antimonial lead and 148,711 pounds of refined bismuth. (OWH, 1925) While this plant was operational for a considerable amount of time in Omaha’s history, its existence was eventually met with strong resistance as the political battle for community and environmental health secretly raged in the heartland. In this discussion, we emphasize the effects of lead production and its significance in relation to the Anthropocene narrative. <br /><br />Lead mining and smelting is not a newly realized process. Human manipulation of lead has been traced back as far as 6000 years ago and its threat to human health was recognized dating back to 2000 BC. It’s negative impacts can be found scattered throughout history. For example, during the time of the Roman Empire, it could be found in many common household items of the wealthy such as dishes, utensils and food storage containers. In 17th century Germany, it was blamed for causing colic when litharge, a different form of lead, was used as a sweetener in wine. (Needleman, 1999) In more recent history, lead’s most common uses were in leaded gasoline, batteries, paints and plumbing pipes. Despite a plethora of historical knowledge available regarding the threat lead poses to human health, ASARCO continued its operations along the riverfront throughout a greater part of the 20th century. <br /><br />Starting in the early 1970s, human and environmental health risks came to light and the battle between Omaha and ASARCO began. Important environmental concerns at that time included air and potential water pollution. There was a great deal of attention drawn to the airborne threat due to the extensive exposure employees received, therefore significantly affecting their health. In one particular legal battle the company faced, three officials representing the Secretary of Labor visited the plant to investigate claims of hazardous levels of airborne lead. (LOC, 1974) The delegation found that airborne concentrations of lead in five of the seven areas tested were above the minimum threshold to be considered hazardous which was 0.2 mg/cm3. (LOC, 1974) As a result of this investigation, ASARCO received a citation with a sixty day reparation period and had to pay a fine of $600. (LOC, 1974) Another instance of this airborne threat was discovered in the elevated blood levels of workers in the plant. In 1985, the Omaha World-Herald reported that there were workers found to have blood lead levels above 50 μg/100 g blood.(OMH, 1985) These workers were sent home until the levels in their blood dropped to 40 μg/100 g blood. Additionally, these blood lead levels have significant consequences on the central nervous system. Employees reported to experience body tremors and tiredness. (LOC, 1974) <br /><br />Water pollution was another concern requiring investigation, specifically from the time the plant was operational to the demand for remediation. In the past, intense ambiguity revolved around the levels of toxicity and the overall impacts of the discharge into the river when the plant was in operation. In 1994, a toxicologist from the Nebraska Department of Health suggested that there had not been enough studies completed in order to completely understand how discharge from the plant affected both human and aquatic life. (Thomas, 1994) Although researchers lacked any concrete evidence that ASARCO polluted the water, there was a lawsuit in the works at the time to fine ASARCO $25,000 per day should they continue discharging waste into the Missouri River without installing a specialized filter. (Thomas, 1974) In 2001, the US Geological Survey published a technical report regarding toxic metals in the Missouri River adjacent to the plant site. (Chapman, 2001) Though there were elevated levels of lead in sediment at one of the areas studied, the sediments, pore water and river water did not reach exceed maximum acceptable levels set by the EPA. <br /><br />Considering the negative environmental and health consequences discussed above, it is easy to demonize the ASARCO, but its employees continued to stand with this destructive company. The ASARCO plant was recognized as a positive economic force in the Omaha area. In 1995, officials estimated that the plant annually contributed $15 million to the Omaha metro economy. (Powell, 1995) The ASARCO’s economic contributions played a significant role in the battle against site closure. It was estimated that closure would result in a loss of $22 million in taxes and wages. (Anderson, 1996) There were many people who wanted to keep the plant to prevent job loss and preserve economic profits that ASARCO contributed to Omaha. Despite the knowledge of the significant health risks imposed on employees, the reliable income ASARCO provided was enough for the union to fight to keep the company alive. (Anderson, 1996)<br /><br />Before the final closing of the plant, there was considerable deliberation regarding which actions should take place in order to ensure effective cleanup of the contaminant. In early 1996, the Omaha World-Herald reported that there were ten possible plans in deliberation. At that time, ASARCO wished to use a six foot cap on the soil to prevent further contamination, and would cost the company $15 million. (Anderson, Manager, 1996) On September 4, 1997, the city of Omaha approved ASARCO’s proposal to tear down the plant and cap the soil. After decades of tension, the ASARCO lead refinery was finally closed in 1997. (OPL)<br /><br />Throughout its long history in the Omaha area, the ASARCO was subjected to a great deal of public debate, legal battles, fines and reparations with specific scrutiny on its lead smelting activities. To this day, the Omaha metro area experiences environmental and human health effects from the ASARCO emissions of the past. The establishment of this specific region of Omaha as a Superfund site was finalized on December 15, 2004. (EPA Omaha Lead Site) The particular focus of the Superfund program is remediation of lead proliferation, which was heavily attributed to this particular ASARCO plant. A map of this area today shows that there are various sites that have experienced said remediation, but some areas have not been tested at all, and some are known to be contaminated and yet to be cleaned up (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/show/51">Figure 3</a>). (Omaha Lead Registry) Omaha’s cleanup efforts impact the economy from the decreasing property values in the area. (Decker, 2005) The contaminated areas experiencing a decline in the housing market is due to “Right-to-Know” laws, which require the homeowner to know the environmental hazards they are exposing themselves to. (Decker, 2005) <br /><br />Although ASARCO boasts a large presence on the mining industry stage, they are not alone in the collective effort to gain access to natural resources through various extraction methods. There are many other resources that are have been long mined and remain so to this day. These include: copper, silver, iron, etc. When viewing the mining industry from a broader perspective, it is important to understand the impacts that these activities have on the environment to better understand how the threat to public health is driven. <br /><br />Today, lead exposure continues to be a significant environmental threat to human health. Lead smelting itself has been linked to increases in ADHD in children living close to smelting operations. (Kim, 2013) Across the board, children have been seen as the primary concern in regards to elevated lead levels and the health impacts it may cause. Some reasons for this heightened threat include: children take in a higher ratio of lead versus their body weight because they are smaller, they are likely to ingest lead more than adults do simply based on the amount of times they put their hands in their mouth, and also the fact that they are still going through physical development and it makes them more susceptible to the effects of lead. (Shilu and Prapamontol, 2000) A more comprehensive description of effects of lead poisoning include harm to cognitive, behavioral and nervous system health. (Sullivan, 2015)<br /><br />While it is important to address the human related health issues related to mining practices, it is also important to understand the human driven force behind these operations in the first place. The Industrial Revolution and the years following it are recognized as a significant contributor to the human impacts on the environment. The increased mechanization allowed for more efficient and large scale methods to extract the planet’s natural resources. The Industrial Revolution increased human’s desire to gain capital through the continued and expanded extraction operations, particularly in the mining industry. The consequences of these extractive activities are often only recognized in response to crisis, but only when such activities and their impacts cannot be successfully swept under the rug. Examples may include but are not limited to large scale mining disasters, pipeline leaks, and public water contaminations. In such instances the companies involved often try to minimize the fallout from disasters in order to continue operations regardless of the continued impact on both environmental and community health. <br /><br />We have drawn attention to the Omaha area and its increased lead levels due to the presence of ASARCO and its operations. However, the critical piece of this argument is that the negative consequences caused by this specific company were not isolated. They combine with other instances worldwide to compose a much larger global issue that has gone unnoticed for hundreds of years. It is imperative to highlight the long term health effects caused by both Industrial Revolutions on a global scale. The World Health Organization published research specifically unveiling substantial long-term effects of lead on global health. Before the Industrial Revolution, estimated concentrations of blood lead levels in people were 0.016 μg/dl. (Shilu and Prapamontol, 2000) The world post-Industrial Revolution has increased the blood lead levels in even the most remote parts of the world to 0.78 μg/dl. This article also noted that the “body lead burden of today’s populations is 500-1000 times greater than that of their pre-industrial counterparts.”&nbsp;(Shilu and Prapamontol, 2000) <br /><br />As exhibited throughout this narrative, it was a long, drawn out process to decide the fate of the ASARCO site, which included many discussions and debates between the company, the city, and the public. Ultimately, the City of Omaha and ASARCO decided that the space would be transformed into a public park, which we know today as Lewis and Clark Landing. The proposed park plan was finally agreed upon by all parties on April 13, 1992 (<a href="http://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/show/52" title="Figure 4" target="_self">Figure 4</a>). (Rasmussen, 1992)<br /><br />Examination of the history of the ASARCO site on the Omaha Riverfront has allowed us to shed light on human’s relationship with the environment. However, there is always room to improve our relationship with the environment and clearly there is more work yet to be done. Specifically, in Omaha, there are many residential sites within the Superfund site waiting to be decontaminated. (Kemp, 2016) The decisions we make when we interact with the environment can have dramatic and tangible long-term consequences on the health of both the environment and the public. While public health is an important facet of this particular case, it should not be the only driver of environmental awareness and change. We have learned that our short term motivations to keep something we profit from can be lethal in the long run. This calls for a cultural change that needs to start with the understanding that the public and the environment are deeply intertwined, especially when it comes to profit driven decisions. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Annie Klein Jenna Mucci Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Anderson, Julie. “Manager: Asarco wants to speed up cleanup plan.” Omaha World-Herald, February 1996. “American Smelting And Refining Company Taken from Aksarben Bridge.” Bostwick-Frohardt Collection, Durham Museum Archives. http://durhammuseum.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15426coll1/id/3845/rec/11 “ASARCO Incorporated History.” Funding Universe. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/asarco-incorporated-history/. Bratman, Gregory N., Hamilton, Paul J., Hahn, Kevin S., Daily, Gretchen C., and James J. Gross. “Nature experience reduces rumination and subgenual prefrontal cortex activation.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 112.28 (2015). 8567-8572. Chapman, Duane C., et al. “Toxicity and Bioavailability of Metals in the Missouri River Adjacent to a Lead Refinery.” USGS, January 2001. http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA408607 City of Omaha, Nebraska “Omaha Lead registry”. https://www.dogis.org/Html5Viewer/?viewer=omahaleadregistry/ Curry, Emmett, “Biggest Lead Refinery.” Omaha World-Herald, April, 3, 1949. Decker, et. al. “Residential Property Values and Community Right-to-Know Laws: Has the toxics Release Inventory had an impact?” February 1, 2005. Growth and Change, vol.36 iss.1, winter 2005, pp.113-133. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2257.2005.00269.x Dukes Lee, Jennifer. “Asarco’s Cleanup Plan Wins Approval From State.” Omaha World-Herald, September 1997. Kim, Stephani et. al.“Lead, mercury, and cadmium exposure and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children.” Environmental Research no. 126 (2013):105-110, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2013.08.008 Lawrence H. Larsen, “Upstream Metropolis: An Urban Biography of Omaha and Council Bluffs”. (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2007), 185. Markel, Howard. “Remember Flint.” Milbank Quarterly, 19 no. 2 (2016): 229-236, doi:10.1111/1468- 0009.12188. O’Connor, Michael. “Who was Louis Bostwick?” Omaha World-Herald, April 2015. http://dataomaha.com/bigstory/go/revisiting-early-omaha Omaha Public Library. “American Smelting and Refining Co., Omaha, Ne.” Nebraska Memories. http://www.memories.ne.gov/rights/opl.html Powell, Joy. “ASARCO Manager Defends Plant as Economic Mainstay.” Omaha World-Herald, June 30, 1995. Rabinowitz, Michael B. "Lead isotopes in soils near five historic American lead smelters and refineries." Science of The Total Environment346, no. 1-3 (2005): 138-48. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2004.11.021. Rasmussen, Jim. “Refinery Wary of Gateway Concept.” Omaha World-Herald, March 1992. Rasmussen, Jim. ”Riverfront Plans Retain Refinery: Concerns on Cost Compel Redesign.” Omaha World-Herald, April 1992. “Safety Order Includes Omaha Lead Refinery.” Omaha World-Herald. July, 1985. Shilu, Tong, von Schirnding,Yasmin E., and Tippawan Prapamontol. “Environmental Lead Exposure: A public health problem of global dimensions.” Bulletin of the World Health Organization 78.9. (Jan. 2000). 1068-1077. Sullivan, Marianne. “Reducing Lead in Air and Preventing Childhood Exposure Near Lead Smelters: Learning from the U.S. Experience.” New Solutions, 25 no.1 (2015): 78-101, doi:10.1177/1048291115569027 Thomas, Fred. “Effect of Omaha Firm’s Emissions Unclear”. Omaha World-Herald. July 1994. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7. Interim Record of Decision, Omaha Lead Site. https://archive.epa.gov/region07/cleanup/superfund/pdf/web/pdf/ols_rod.pdf “ASARCO/Groupo Mexico Chronology”. Their Mines, Our Stories. http://www.theirminesourstories.org/?p=1225 “World’s Largest Lead Refinery is in Omaha.” Omaha World-Herald. April, 1925 Kemp, Steve. “Going Home to manage the final steps of Omaha’s historic lead cleanup.” EPA. May 25, 2016. https://blog.epa.gov/blog/2016/05/going-home-to-manage-the-final-steps-of-omahas-historic-lead-cleanup/. 501 F.2d 504 “AMERICAN SMELTING & R. CO. v. OCCUPATIONAL S. & H. R. COM'N.” Library of Congress, 1974. https://www.leagle.com/decision/19741005501f2d5041927 EPA Health Risks Invisible Pollutants Lead Mining Production https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/3a0e562bfcfca59480b6611d19bddaed.JPG ff7bc2b61af49b28daaff6cbe7a396c1 https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/42ba956c1f1e6bbef1078212a52cbc0e.JPG 5a897826ea217d8283d8b28ae5f5372b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Figure 3 Description An account of the resource Products offered by ConAgra includes things such as Peter Pan Peanut Butter, Marie Callender’s meals, and Healthy Choice meals. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Photo Courtesy of Emma Sundberg https://steppingintothemap.com/anthropocene/files/original/2a4db9f0ac7f907c844a1ef21bcc231a.jpg 167f0f35aa06d31bb9f75a24356530e0 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource General Views since 1921 Description An account of the resource Looking northwest from about 8th and Leavenworth Street at the construction of the Conagra campus in the old Jobbers Canyon area. The Woodmen Tower is in the far background. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bostwick, Louis (1868-1943) and Frohardt, Homer (1885-1972) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Durham Museum Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1990-01-07 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource From the Bostwick-Frohardt Collection, Owned by KM3TV and on permanent loan to The Durham Museum. Commercial use or distribution of the image is not permitted without prior permission of the copyright holder. Please contact The Durham Museum for permission to use the digital image. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Living in a World of Our Own Making Subject The topic of the resource <a href="http://www.igbp.net/images/18.950c2fa1495db7081ebd1/1421396650502/GreatAcceleration2015igbpsrclowres.jpg" title="IGBP - The Great Acceleration Dashboard" target="_blank">The Great Acceleration</a> <img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4721/40562555551_972c132773_o.jpg" 100="" width="100% height=" /> <span style="font-size: 3;"> </span> Description An account of the resource The Anthropocene means “The Age of Humans,” but what does it mean to live in a world of our own making? Humanity has flourished in past two centuries. Two thirds of every person ever born lived between 1945 and today. Scientists call this era of expanding population, economic development, and environmental impact the “Great Acceleration.” People are now more numerous and powerful than ever before. Mining moves more rocks and soils than all of the worlds rivers combined. Artificial fertilizers have doubled the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus in our soils. Plastics can now be found on mountain tops and the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Paradoxically, many of the most profound changes to global environments pass virtually unnoticed. Nuclear fallout, for instance, is invisible to the naked eye, but radioactive evidence of cold war weapons tests remains in soils around the world. Until recently, lead was one of the most common materials in industrial use. It was used to seal our foods, paint our homes, and power our cars. Lead is toxic, especially for children. Although invisible, lead is now in our soils, in our cities, and even in our blood. By contrast, concrete is virtually everywhere, yet we rarely think about it. We drive on it, work in it, and the foundations of this very museum are built using it. More than half of the concrete ever produced was manufactured between 1995-2015. Concrete requires enormous energy to mine, transport, and produce. These consequences are as invisible to us as the material is abundant. As you finish your journey through the exhibit, consider how many other “invisible” materials influence our lives and connect us to the global environment. Physical Object An inanimate, three-dimensional object or substance. Note that digital representations of, or surrogates for, these objects should use Moving Image, Still Image, Text or one of the other types. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource ConAgra Foods Subject The topic of the resource The foods here are part of the ConAgra product line. They all contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the form of corn products, like corn starch. For centuries, people have changed plants to improve farming through artificial selection. Working the land and farming plants as food is one way that people interact with the environment. In the past, people did this by choosing the seeds from the best plants to grow the next year. Now, people use a different method called genetic modification. In the past, companies like ConAgra have used this method to make their food tastier and easier to make. ConAgra has recently decided to remove GMOs from their food due to public opinion. This shift away from GMOs signals the start of another new chapter in food production. Because ConAgra is a part of that change, it represents the way food production has shaped the environment. Description An account of the resource The Anthropogenic "object" that will be the focus of this essay is the currently Omaha-based corporation ConAgra. This corporation was founded in 1919 in Nebraska after the consolidation of four smaller grain mills, with the headquarters moving to Omaha itself in 1922. Since then it has steadily built up into the larger conglomerate that it is today, growing into a strong local and global presence, with offices in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Italy. ConAgra has had a major impact on the legislation that Omaha has passed in relation to businesses, with the company receiving tax breaks for investing in its own city, rather than moving away. (Larson, 2007) Its political clout and extensive lobbying, along with the large number of citizens of Omaha that it employs, have made it a major player in Omaha's involvement with the Anthropocene. Moreover, the purpose of this Anthropogenic artifact lies mainly in consumption as a food product and occupation as a major employer. <br /><br />ConAgra Foods is part of The Durham’s collection because of its long history as an influential corporation in Omaha. Starting just outside of the city in Grand Island, Nebraska, ConAgra moved its headquarters to Omaha during their early years, where it has remained since, employing thousands, shaping the landscape of the city and its legislature. One of the best examples of the direct impact ConAgra Foods has had on the landscape of Omaha is the renovation of Jobber’s Canyon on the riverfront. These changes, which removed long-standing warehouse buildings that constituted a proposed historic district at the time, were part of the larger “Return to the River” movement that began in the 1980s and lasted through the early 2000s that saw a rise in renovations of the riverfront to include parks, corporate office campuses, and other recreational areas. (Bednarek, 2009) ConAgra was able to make this happen through the city’s desire to have the corporation remain located in Omaha due to the large number of people the company employs locally. In this sense, ConAgra Foods is unique to Omaha, though it has since expanded to be a major national and global presence as part of a growing commercialization of food distribution companies on a global scale. This Omaha-native company has interacted with the people of Omaha since its founding, providing food services and consumer products like Peter Pan Peanut Butter, Marie Callender’s meals, and Healthy Choice meals while providing jobs for many of the citizens of Omaha. In the end, ConAgra foods has shaped the history of Omaha in both a recreational and occupational sense, playing a major role in employing some of the local workforce and an even larger role in the distribution of food. Their economic and political position place them as a major force within the Anthropocene in Omaha. <br /><br />ConAgra is a major player in the Anthropocene as it relates to Omaha, especially through its legislative authority. As the Anthropocene can be examined through the lens of agricultural capitalism and industrialization, ConAgra is easily identifiable as an anthropogenic force of change. One such example is how ConAgra is shaping the views of the public on the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). These changes are more varied and perhaps subtler than they initially appear to be. They are currently stating that they are cutting back on the use of GMOs. One explanation for this could be the use of the Public Trust Doctrine to drive legislative changes to protect non-GMO environments, a product of the need to increase profits and keep up with the ever-changing needs of a capitalistic society. (Knudsen, 2011) Other changes seem to appear earlier regarding public opinion about GMOs. Public exposure to biotechnology in general has risen in recent years, starting as early as the late 1990s and rising substantially since. (Runge et al, 2017) At first glance, these two changes appear to be indicative of the ways in which public opinion has modified the GMO policies of ConAgra, but ConAgra Foods, and companies like it, have been just as influential in getting to this point. The rising attention to biotechnology and GMOs in particular has, in the past, driven changes largely focused on the labeling of foods in grocery stores and supermarkets. Essentially, the demand is to know if the food on the shelf is GMO free. This is the obvious, and easy, option for indication of GMOs in stores, especially given the difficulty of passing legislature that would require labeling genetically modified foods – a result of the political and economic clout of companies like ConAgra. (Sunstein, 2017) Simply put, companies like ConAgra want to be able to use cheap and easy materials to make their products, but the market must allow this. If people decide they don’t want to eat GMOs, then ConAgra would want to find a way to sneak them into foods or spend more money producing non-GMO crops. The easiest way to do this is to manipulate the regulations placed on them for labeling their products. Given that non-GMO foods are far less common, and that labeling GMOs would be potentially detrimental to profits, it makes sense for companies like ConAgra to lobby against legislature requiring the labeling of GMOs and to promote the labeling of non-GMO foods as GMO free instead. <br /><br />ConAgra has proven to be a reactionary force, driving the way the market truly responds to the growing attentiveness of the public regarding the use of GMOs. It can be argued that the Anthropocene begins when humans begin to manipulate the environment for their own benefit, such as with the widespread use of agriculture, and the presence of grain mills. In this case, while the human alteration of food has already taken place, the Anthropogenic impacts are being lessened, or changed in ways that we are not yet aware of, with the reduction of GMO usage by ConAgra, thus discouraging further human exploitation of their environment. (Yang and Chen, 2016) ConAgra’s stance on their reduction of GMO use is unfortunately not presented to the public this way. Instead it is represented as the company listening to the needs and wants of its customers and removing something the public is not sold on. <br /><br />Another main theme regarding the Anthropocene is the idea of invasion and exploitation of the environment for human gain. ConAgra is arguably one of the largest driving forces for changes in the environment in Omaha, with the destruction of Jobber's Canyon and creation of multiple grain mills for agriculture. (Steffan and Crutzen, 2010) This, along with their commodification of food, contribute to the idea that the Anthropocene is driven by capitalistic forces, as these changes are intrinsically capitalist. (Castree and Rhoads, 2016) The presence of ConAgra in Omaha thus assists in making the Anthropocene a local issue, rather than a far removed one. <br /><br />ConAgra is still a thriving company to this day, while also expanding their domain internationally and furthering their role in the global commodification of food.(Weis, 2007) Along with this has come the idea that they can get away with breaking the law on multiple different occasions, exploiting the products they are given by other companies to make their foods. (Schlosser, 2001) This readiness to blatantly defy the regulations and exploit the environment for personal and economic gain seems to be typical for a company as large as ConAgra, helping to shape the way that people look at, and interact with, the environment. Instead of using their political prowess and national attention to encourage a healthy relationship with the food they produce and distribute, they have further exemplified the human desire for environmental domination through massive agriculture and underpaying those who provide them with livestock. (Schlosser, 2001) For example, some farmers have accused ConAgra for undercutting the actual weight of the products they purchase in order to ensure a cheap buy. <br /><br />ConAgra itself is already an international power that contributes to global production and distribution of food. (Bonanno, 1994) They are able to expand the reach of their influence beyond just Omaha and the United States when it comes to how people will view their environment. Due to this, they are furthering the growing tendency to refer to food in terms of nutrition and not as food in and of itself. (Pollan, 2008) Due to the naturally exploitative nature of agriculture and food production it comes as no surprise that ConAgra's global impact on the Anthropocene is reinforcing human's desire and ability to exploit their environment via capitalist agricultural practices. To ensure they thrive as a business they have met the needs and wants of people in different areas and through different times, instead of focusing on the less popular option of monitoring and preserving the environment. It seems, then, that instead of supply reflecting demand, in this case ConAgra has reshaped demand so as to fit a profitable, albeit potentially harmful, supply rather than ceding the point and turning to less exploitative agricultural methods. In order for ConAgra to become a more positive driving force in the Anthropocene they would need to participate in the restructuring of capitalistic thought surrounding food. (Tickell, 2011) Instead of simply commodifying their products to fit the exact market demand, they would have to shift their focus to be more environmentally centered and conscious. <br /><br />In a very direct sense, the use of GMOs in the past by ConAgra and companies like it indicates a turning point in the way people affect the ecological status of the Earth. Humans have been altering the genes of plants and animals for thousands of years, mostly through selective breeding. The advent of modern technology, however, has changed the way humans affect the genomes of plants and animals, making the effect humans have on the environment in terms of genetic modification more direct than ever. (Aagaard, 2011; Cooley, 2004; Hourdequin, 2013) While in the past genetic modification relied on organisms inheriting traits from their predecessors, humans can now directly transplant traits into nearly any organism they desire. For example, the majority of soybean growth in the United States relies on soybeans that have been genetically programmed to express their own pesticides. The same is true of corn. The changes forced on these organisms are not alone in scope or purpose; other examples abound. Other crops have been modified to fortify the diets of those who grow and consume them, like golden rice, a common staple food for much of Asia. Golden rice has been genetically modified to produce more vitamin A. (Hourdequin, 2013) While many of these changes are, themselves, benign, they pose potential ecological problems. Most of the genetic modifications given to organisms create a biological advantage for that organism. This advantage, in turn, confers a heightened capacity for reproductive potential, meaning genetically modified organisms often make incredibly efficient invasive species. This is especially true of plants who can spread over wide areas quickly and reproduce on their own. (Pipernoa, 2017) This problem is worsened by the fact that there is almost no way to control for pollen distribution. So, it seems the anthropogenic effects of GMOs exceed the simplistic explanation that tampering directly with the genetic makeup of an organism is indicative of human impacts on the environment, including also the idea that those changes have the capacity to multiply environmental impacts in the form of thewidespread and uncontrolled dispersal of those organisms. <br /><br />Companies like ConAgra, through their normal responses to market shifts, can affect changes in the environment further proving their status as a product of the Anthropocene. Capitalism is a main driving force behind human-caused environmental changes, as the environment is a rich source of capital for industries. ConAgra acts as a prime example of the capitalist machine through their exploitation of the environment and organisms with genetic modification. They use GMOs to increase food output, increase capital, and use that capital to rework the system in its favor. The redirecting of laws and product identification can affect environmental changes. There is, however, a counterpoint to these arguments, and that is the capacity of such companies to limit the impacts they have on the environment, pursuant to the demand of the market. In other words, while companies like ConAgra have, in the past, been a nexus of environmental change, mostly in a negative way, they can also provide the means by which environmental impacts are mitigated. (Schimelpfenig, 2017; Tickell, 2011)<br /><br />While ConAgra is not completely in favor of the use of human modification on the environment and food, it has been a major driving force in bringing the Anthropocene to Omaha. Businesses themselves play a very large role in shaping the mindset of how people are to treat the environment, and what kind of environment will be left behind for future generations. ConAgra is leaving a dichotomous legacy of exploitation of the raw environment through massive agriculture conglomerates and of limiting human impact on the food we eat through scaling back on their overall use of GMOs. (Schmidheiny, 1998) This raises the question of how much exploitation is too much regarding humans and their environment, and in relation to the actions of ConAgra, genetically modifying the food we will be directly intaking is where the line is drawn. While it has been questioned whether or not the world before humans is what we should strive to preserve and return to, the concern for over-exploitation has still become more apparent in recent years, especially in the case of large corporations, even with their continued use of massive agriculture. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Patrick Eiden Brittany Keath Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Aagaard, Todd S. 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Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The Durham Museum Collections Agriculture ConAgra Consumption Corn Corporatations Domestication Genetically Modified Organisms