“The environmental consequences … were calamitous” 1 : Smelter smoke controversies in progressive Era America, 1899–1918

Abstract

During the Progressive Era, public scrutiny of corporate power and expansion was a central political and economic theme. As Americans grappled with modernity and its impact, they often struggled to identify the appropriate balance between traditional values and burgeoning economic growth. Metallurgical plants represented a vital component of United States industrialization in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This article examines the complex four-way intersection among farmers, industrialists, government, and technology (through the efforts of mining engineers) in relation to the problem of smelter pollution. Engineers and entrepreneurs sought technological solutions to the problem of smelter smoke pollution. Smelting companies applied these technological improvements in order to quiet opposition. This article emphasizes the Progressive Era faith in efficiency and technological innovation to solve problems and improve society. New technologies applied to the problem of smelter smoke mitigated smoke damage and facilitated smelters’ continued operation throughout most of the twentieth century.