Birth of the Environmental Protection Agency
Mapping History
About this Activity
- Created by:National Archives Education Team
- Historical Era:Contemporary United States (1968 to the present)
- Thinking Skill:Historical Analysis & Interpretation
- Bloom's Taxonomy:Analyzing
- Grade Level:High School
By the late 1960s, issues of unchecked land development, urban decay, and air, noise, and water pollution came to Americans' attention. In November 1971, the newly created Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a large-scale photodocumentary project to record changes in the American environment. The DOCUMERICA Project, as it would be known, lasted from 1971 until 1977. The EPA hired freelance photographers to capture images relating to environmental problems, EPA activities, and everyday life in the 1970s. The project resulted in more than 20,000 photographs.
In this activity, students will analyze photographs taken as part of the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) DOCUMERICA project. They will identify the environmental issues facing the United States in the early 1970s, and speculate what legislation and regulations Congress and the EPA would have passed and enforced based on the state of the environment as documented in the photos.
Read more about the DOCUMERICA Project, including its origins, scope, and the response it received in the National Archives Prologue Magazine.
https://docsteach.org/activities/student/birth-of-the-environmental-protection-agencyIn this activity, students will analyze photographs taken as part of the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) DOCUMERICA project. They will identify the environmental issues facing the United States in the early 1970s, and speculate what legislation and regulations Congress and the EPA would have passed and enforced based on the state of the environment as documented in the photos.
Read more about the DOCUMERICA Project, including its origins, scope, and the response it received in the National Archives Prologue Magazine.
Documents in this activity
- Barren, Eroded Land Is A Result Of Oil Spill
- Clear Water At Outlet Of Sewage Treatment Plant Is Cleaner Than The Water Of The Stream It Will Be Dumped Into
- EPA Gulf Breeze Laboratory: Bioassay Wet Lab. This Is A Close-Up Of A Syringe Pump, Which Controls The Rate Of Flow Of DDT PCB, And Dieldrin To Oysters In Tanks
- Near Logan Airport--Airplane Coming In For A Landing Over Neptune Road Homes
- Pollution Sign Affixed to the Door of a Gasoline Service Station
- Spraying Fertilizer
- The Trojan Nuclear Plant On The Banks Of The Columbia River Portland General Electric, The Builder Of The Plant, Has Encountered Great Opposition From Environmentalists
To the extent possible under law, National Archives Education Team has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to "Birth of the Environmental Protection Agency".
