Journalism professor Randy Boswell’s latest research study has been published in the journal Histoire Sociale/Social History. The article, which is showcased on the cover of the semi-annual publication, reveals how Canada’s first major environmental controversy — an 1866 uproar over sawdust contamination of the Ottawa River — was sparked by fears that accumulations of rotting sawdust might trigger or spread a cholera epidemic on the eve of Confederation. The study, which flows from Boswell’s ongoing research into the life of pioneer Ottawa physician and naturalist Dr. Edward Van Cortlandt, details a previously undocumented intersection of the early histories of Canadian environmental and public health movements. As with Boswell’s other recent studies shedding light on 19th-century Canadian archaeology and natural history, newly digitized newspapers from the era were key to his research findings, including how the sawdust controversy represented Canada’s earliest high-profile use of the word “pollution” in its modern sense.
Wednesday, December 14, 2016 in Journalism News, News
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