The Environmental Impact of Industrialization along the Wabash River: A History

The Environmental Impact of Industrialization along the Wabash River: A History

Event Type

Community

Location

Vigo County Public Library, Main Branch, Meeting Rooms A-C

Date

Time

Phone

(812) 237-4303

Description

The Wabash River holds a central place in Indiana’s History.   A major waterway, the “waapaasiiki” was the mode by which goods and people were transported across the area from the days when, as its name indicates, it was “clear” and pristine to a low period when it was deemed it un-swimmable, its fish too contaminated for human consumption.   Lisa Phillips, Associate Professor of History, and Indiana State History Majors will discuss the history that helps to explain this deterioration.  While much of the explanation involves the long history of industrialization and its consequences, just as interesting are the ways in which people understood “pollution” over the centuries, that understanding important to how the river was utilized.