Heroes you should know: Rachel Carson

“The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.” -Rachel Carson


Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) was an American marine biologist, an acclaimed non-fiction author, and a conservationist who is considered by many to be the inspiration of the modern environmental movement.

Carson was reared on her family’s 65 acre farm in Pennsylvania, where she developed a love for nature and writing. She majored in Biology at the Pennsylvania College for Women, and did graduate work in zoology and genetics at Johns Hopkins. Her doctoral work was interrupted by the death of her father, and she decided to drop out of school in order to provide financially for her family. She took a job with the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries writing script for a weekly radio program. This led to her doing marine research, and eventually becoming a biologist for the Bureau.

By 1949 Carson had become the chief editor of publications at what was now the Fish and Wildlife Service. The job provided opportunities for her to spend time in the field, and to increase her writing projects. In addition to her government work, she was also writing essays for journals like The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, and Collier’s, and had completed the first book of her trilogy on marine life. The Sea Around Us would remain on the New York Times Best Seller List for 86 weeks.

In 1952 the commercial success of her writing enabled Carson to quit her job with the government and work full-time as a writer and environmental researcher. She had become deeply concerned with the use of DDT and other synthetic pesticides and was actively compiling research on the negative consequences for both the environment and humankind (including findings based on hundreds of individual cases of exposure to pesticides and the connection with cancer).

This work was finally presented in her controversial and best-selling Silent Spring. The book, published in 1962, is a bleak portrayal of a natural world destroyed by pesticides. Its release, and the furor it caused, was an international phenomenon. The U.S. Department of Agriculture---which at the time was responsible for both regulating pesticides and advocating for the agricultural industry---and the chemical industry ferociously attacked both the book and Carson (personally and professionally).

Yet she never wavered. And on May 15, 1963 President Kennedy's Science Advisory Committee issued a report that largely supported her claims.

A year later, Rachel Carson’s life was cut short by cancer. But her courage, her integrity, and her global influence on the way humans understand stewardship of the natural world is still felt today.

On June 9, 1980, Rachel Carson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.

She is a hero you should know.



To learn more about this hero, you might consider:


-Wikipedia: Rachel L. Carson

-1,000 years, 1,000 People, by Agnes and Henry Gottlieb and Barbara and Brent Bowers

-Encyclopædia Britannica: Rachel Carson

-The Gentle Subversive: Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, and the Rise of the Environmental Movement, Mark Hamilton Lytle

Heroes you should know: Frances Perkins

“Contentment tends to breed laxity, but a healthy discontent keeps us alert to the changing needs of our time."  –Frances Perkins


Frances Perkins (April 10, 1880 – May 14, 1965) was the first woman named to the United States Presidential Cabinet, and as Secretary of Labor for Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s entire term was arguably the conscience of the New Deal Era.

Born and reared in Massachusetts, Perkins graduated with a B.A. in chemistry and physics from Mount Holyoke College, and a M.A. in political science from Columbia University. During these years, Perkins also volunteered in settlement houses (including Hull House) where she worked with social reformers and low-income neighbors for change.

The trajectory of her life was further altered by personally witnessing the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, the deadliest industrial accident in the history of New York City where 146 garment workers perished---many because managers had locked the doors to the exits and stairwells.

In 1913 Perkins married Paul Caldwell Wilson, and then fought for and won the right to keep her maiden name in court.

She caught the eye of Franklin Delano Roosevelt when she headed the New York Consumers League in 1910 and fought diligently for better hours and workplace conditions for laborers. And when he was elected governor of New York, FDR appointed Perkins New York State Commissioner of Labor.

Simply by virtue of being the first woman named to a presidential cabinet Frances Perkins’ legacy would be noteworthy. But when one considers the fact that she was largely responsible for the United States instituting social security, a minimum wage, unemployment benefits, a maximum work week, and regulation of child labor she becomes an icon for justice in the workplace.

In addition to her years of service as Secretary of Labor, Perkins was also a university professor, an author, and at the special request of President Truman a member of the United States Civil Service Commission.
Frances Perkins labored for labor with uncommon courage, and in the process reminded America that human dignity is a fragile and precious gift that must be fought for and protected.

She is a hero you should know.


To learn more about this hero, you might consider:


The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR's Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience, Kirstin Downey
Frances Perkins: First Woman Cabinet Member, Emily Keller
1,000 years, 1,000 People, by Agnes and Henry Gottlieb and Barbara and Brent Bowers

Heroes you should know: Witold Pilecki

“During the first 3 years at Auschwitz, 2 million people died; over the next 2 years - 3 million.”         -Witold Pilecki


Witold Pilecki (May 13, 1901 – May 25, 1948) was a captain in the Polish Army, founded the Secret Polish Army resistance group, volunteered to enter a concentration camp, and died a martyr for freedom.

Before he’d even graduated from high school Pilecki had fought in World War 1 and in the Polish-Soviet War. After graduating from high school, he studied at Stefan Batory University and also took officer’s training courses. In 1938, he received the Silver Cross of Merit for his social work in the local community.

When the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939, Pilecki fought in several of the bloodiest battles, and when his unit was disbanded he co-founded one of Poland’s earliest underground resistance groups. In 1940, when questions began to arise about the goings-on at a prison camp in Oświęcim (known in English as Auschwitz), Pilecki volunteered to intentionally get captured and sent there.

Carrying false identification papers, he entered the concentration camp as a prisoner in 1941. There, he formed a secret resistance group, ZOW, dedicated to caring for the physical needs of the prisoners, but also to gathering intelligence about the Nazi activities in the camp, including number of arrivals and death statistics.

For close to a year, in an effort to raise awareness of the evil of Auschwitz, the group even broadcasted reports from inside the camp, by building a radio transmitter with smuggled parts.

For three years, ZOW supplied intelligence for the Polish Resistance and the Allied Forces, which Pilecki had hoped would lead to troops liberating the concentration camp. Unfortunately, the Polish Resistance lacked the soldiers to pull off an attack, and British Intelligence considered his findings to be grossly exaggerated. Thus, no plan of liberation materialized and the killing continued for two more years in Auschwitz.

In 1943, Pilecki and a group of men escaped with documents stolen from Nazi commanders there. He immediately returned to battle but was captured again by the Nazis during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 and spent the remainder of the war a POW.

From 1945 until 1947, Captain Pilecki continued to work in Intelligence, now gathering information about Soviet atrocities against Poles. Even though he was told by the Polish government-in-exile that his cover had been blown, he did not leave his country. He was captured by the Communists on May 8, 1947, charged with espionage, and executed on May 25, 1948.

After the fall of Communism, Witold Pilecki’s story finally came to light. In 2006 he received the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest honor.

“To fight for the right, without question or pause ...
To be willing to march into Hell for a Heavenly cause ...”

Witold Pilecki lived what others sing about.


He is a hero you should know.




To learn more about this hero, you might consider:
Six Faces of Courage. Secret agents against Nazi tyranny, Michael Richard Daniell Foot
The Mammoth Book of True War Stories, Jon E. Lewis
Tchorek, Kamil (12 March 2009), "Double life of Witold Pilecki, the Auschwitz volunteer who uncovered Holocaust secrets", The Times (London)

Heroes you should know: Lou Xiaoying

"I realized if we had strength enough to collect garbage how could we not recycle something as important as human lives.” –Lou Xiaoying


People become heroes in the most unlikely places. For Lou Xiaoying it was the garbage dumps of Jinhua in eastern China. There in 1972, while searching for recyclable rubbish to resell, she found her first baby. In total Lou has saved 30 abandoned babies, dumped like trash amidst the trash. She and her late husband adopted four, and found homes for the other 26 with family and friends.

Lou has not let her material poverty or advanced age limit her charity. She brought home and adopted her last child when she was 82 years-old, and is raising him with the help of her 49 year-old daughter. Now 88, and suffering from kidney failure, this great soul’s dying wish is for her little boy to be given the chance to go to school. It’s the one gift she hasn’t been able to give him.

What’s almost as stunning as Lou Xiaoying’s generosity is the fact that the Chinese government has allowed her story to be reported. Her life’s mission, and the lives she’s saved over the years while simply trying to make a living, has shed new light on the consequences of China’s one-child policy.

It is a conservative estimate that 36,000 abortions occur every day in China (a significant number of which are forced), and untold numbers of newborn babies are abandoned or simply killed as couples try to comply with the policy and avoid harsh penalties. Female infanticide remains a particular problem.

Lou Xiaoying’s initial goal was survival, not heroism. But by choosing to embrace life in the garbage dumps of eastern China and sacrificing to save what is most precious and valuable, she has challenged the culture of death in her country---and given the world a reason to hope in humanity.

She is a hero you should know.


To learn more about this hero, you might consider:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2181017/Lou-Xiaoying-Story-Chinese-woman-saved-30-abandoned-babies-dumped-street-trash.html

Heroes you should know: Eric Liddell

"It’s complete surrender.” -Eric Liddell


Eric Henry Liddell (January 16, 1902 – February 21, 1945) was a Scottish athlete, an Olympian, a teacher, and a Christian missionary. His success in the Paris Olympics of 1924, is portrayed in the movie Chariots of Fire.

Liddell was born to missionary parents serving in China, but at age six was sent to boarding school in England. Excelling in both athletics (track, rugby, and cricket) and academics, he was renowned for his great humility from an early age. Liddell entered Edinburgh University in 1921, where he studied Pure Science, and after the Olympics returned there to graduate in 1924.

Because of his commitment to not work on Sundays, in honor of the Christian Sabbath, Eric Liddell refused to run in an Olympic heat for the 100 meters and was disqualified. His beliefs also prevented him from competing on the British 4 X 400 meter relay team. These unavoidable scheduling conflicts were seen months in advance, but no amount of pressure could force him to change his mind. He was able to compete in the 400 meter dash and the 200 meter dash, where he won gold and bronze medals.

Liddell’s unwillingness to compromise his beliefs in order to compete for more medals was radical even in 1924, and garnered international attention. But it was what he did away from the track, the media, and the multitude of adoring fans that makes him truly heroic.

Leaving behind fame and the wealth that would certainly have followed his Olympic success, Liddell returned to China in 1925 as a teacher and a missionary, and worked among the poor. By 1941, the Japanese aggression in China had reached the point that the British government advised all British citizens to leave. Liddell’s wife and three daughters escaped to Canada, but Eric remained to serve the sick and injured in a mission hospital with his brother. Soon after he was captured by the Japanese and sent to an internment camp.

Eyewitnesses reported that in spite of harsh living conditions he continued to be a joyful presence, organizing sports games for the youth in the camp and teaching science classes, encouraging his fellow prisoners to persevere in hope, and continuing to speak of God’s love and forgiveness. In 1945, five months before the camp was liberated, Eric Liddell died.

In conjunction with the build-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the Chinese government revealed that Eric Liddell had been given the chance to be released from the camp, but chose instead to transfer his pardon to a pregnant woman. This act of sacrifice had been previously unknown even to Liddell’s family.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. (2 Timothy 4:7).

Eric Liddell was great not for what he won, but for what he was willing to lose…for the greater good of humankind.

He is a hero you should know.


To learn more about this hero, you might consider:
Eric Liddell: Something Greater Than Gold , by Janet & Geoff Benge
Eric Liddell: Olympian and Missionary , by Ellen Caughey
God's Joyful Runner, by Russell Ramsey

Heroes you should know: Elizabeth Blackwell

“It is not easy to be a pioneer --- but oh, it is fascinating! I would not trade one moment, even the worst moment, for all the riches in the world.” -Elizabeth Blackwell

Elizabeth Blackwell (3 February 1821 – 31 May 1910), social and moral reformer, was the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States.

Born in England, she immigrated to the United States in 1832 with her parents and siblings. There her family became deeply connected to the Abolitionist movement and her character formation deepened. She would routinely attend anti-slavery conventions and lectures on civil rights.

After her father’s death, Elizabeth and her sisters founded a school for girls. During this time, Elizabeth also began expressing her thoughts on women’s rights and the importance of economic independence. When a friend died a painful death from what was described as a gynecological disorder Blackwell believed could have been better understood and treated by a woman, she began to consider medical school. The fact that abortionists were known as "female physicians" is also said to have influenced her decision, as she found the phrase both degrading and misrepresentative of what an actual female physician could achieve. She was denied acceptance to several medical schools because of her gender, but was finally admitted to Geneva Medical College after the all-male student body voted to allow her to attend.

Once there she continued to face resistance, being treated as a pariah and even needing to face down a professor who attempted to ban her from lectures on reproduction. She graduated in 1849, and for two years worked in England and France. She decided to return to the United States in 1851 where she believed the bias against women doctors was less strong.

Inspired by her struggles against prejudice from fellow physicians, hospital staffs, and patients, Blackwell started an infirmary in New York for indigent women and children, along with a training program for nurses. She also began mentoring other young women attempting to become physicians. During this period she also became close friends with Florence Nightingale (who argued with her about the legitimacy of training women as physicians).

During the Civil War Blackwell helped train nurses for the Union, undeterred by the male physicians who threatened to not help with the program if Blackwell was involved.

After the war, she returned to London where she co-founded the London School of Medicine for Women.

In 1877 she retired from medical practice and spent the rest of her professional life writing and lecturing on a wide variety of issues, including the role of morality in medical education and practice, women’s rights, physical education for girls, the evil of eugenics, natural family planning, and preventative medicine.

Elizabeth Blackwell was a physician of the body, but her moral courage and willingness to fight for equal rights made her a healer of the human soul as well.

She is a hero you should know.



To learn more about this hero, you might consider:

Elizabeth Blackwell, M.D., (1821-1910): a biography, by Nancy Ann Sahli

Elizabeth Blackwell, Encyclopedia Americana.

1,000 years, 1,000 People, by Agnes and Henry Gottlieb and Barbara and Brent Bowers

Heroes you should know: Jane Addams

“The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.” -Jane Addams



Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 – May 21, 1935) was a social activist for the poor, for women’s rights, and for world peace, and she became the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.


Addams grew up in an affluent home that knew both great privilege and great loss. Her father was a prominent politician, a founding member of the Illinois Republican party, a state senator for fifteen years, and a personal friend of Abraham Lincoln. But at two years-old Addams’ mother died in childbirth, and by the time she was eight four of her seven siblings had also died. Addams also contracted tuberculosis of the spine at age four, which led to lifelong health issues.


Observing the work of her father, and reading the Bible, the writings of social reformers, and the novels of Charles Dickens, Addams developed a heart for the poor and longed to be of service. Believing that the most good could be done by becoming a doctor, Addams graduated from Rockford Female Seminary in 1881, and prepared to attend medical school. That summer her beloved father died, and she inherited the equivalent of what today would be $1.2 million. Her plans were unaltered by this event, and she began her graduate studies that fall. However, health issues and a mental breakdown forced her to quit school.


Despondent, she decided to travel to Europe, and it was there she understood that her desire to help the poor could be accomplished without a medical degree. After studying models of settlement homes in London, where students live among the poor and learn by serving the underserved, Addams decided to replicate the model in the United States. She used her sizeable fortune to purchase a run-down mansion in Chicago and pay for the considerable capital expenses. And Hull House was born.


Over time, Addams was able to engage many wealthy women benefactors for Hull House, where 25 women lived and approximately 2,000 people were served weekly. There, the poor of Chicago were able to receive food, children received an education, and adults were able to attend night school. But those who served at Hull House, or came to observe the work there, were impacted as much if not more. And the settlement house became a school for social reform, where the preached message was actually practiced as well.


Jane Addams would go on to lecture throughout the world, advocating for social justice issues. Her pacifism during World War 1 and her strong opinions about immigrants’ civil rights drew sharp criticism in America, and she was called “unpatriotic”, “anarchist”, and “socialist.” But she was undaunted. Addams was elected president of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in 1915, and was also an active member of the Fellowship of Reconciliation USA. She remained outspoken in her belief that women had a special responsibility to fight for peace.


In 1931 she became the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, and she promptly donated her prize money to the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.


Jane Addams was the quintessential example of, “Think globally and act locally.” Her compassionate vision for the socially and economically vulnerable made her a prophet. But her willingness to act, to suffer and sacrifice for that vision, makes her great.


She is a hero you should know.




To learn more about this hero, you might consider:

Citizen: Jane Addams and the Struggle for Democracy, By Louise W. Knight
Encyclopedia of women's history in America, Kathryn Cullen-DuPont
The Jane Addams Collection at Swarthmore College Peace Collection