Warwick. New web exhibit explores history of local environmental activism

Earth Day is fifty years old on April 22nd. Appreciation for nature has deep roots in Warwick, and the local history department of Albert Wisner Public Library has prepared a web exhibit about some of the community actions of the past that have helped preserve our environment.

The guide can be found in the local history section of the library’s website, or directly at http://guides.rcls.org/environment.

The exhibit traces four historic social movements through their documents and reportage:

The ill-conceived notion that the Black Dirt would make a great jetport;

New Jersey’s attempt to dump tons of radium containing soil in Vernon;

The long fought efforts to protect Sterling Forest from being broken up for development; and

The preservation of thousands of acres of agricultural and open spaces on a town-wide level.

Each of these movements involved many citizens working tirelessly. Each of them succeeded in their goals.

For the most part, the people who had such a profound impact on our quality of life in Warwick today were volunteers for a cause they believed in.

The guide also presents a selection of nature writings of a few of our most ardent nature lovers throughout history.

Today when so many of us are having the time to look more closely at the landscape, animals, and plants around us, reading the words of Warwick’s naturalists can offer a welcome and healing diversion.

There is also a form to fill in and record your own memories of our environmental movements.

For more information contact local history librarian Sue Gardner, sgardner@rcls.org. Although the library is currently closed, emails are being read and answered.