Environmental Inequalities This page intentionally left blank Class, Race, and Industrial Pollution in Gary, Indiana, 1945-1980 The University A n d r ew H u r l ey of North Carolina Press Chapel Hill and London © 1995 The University Library of Congress of North Carolina Press Cataloging-in-Publication Data All rights reserved Hurley, Andrew, 1961- Environmental inequalities : class, race, Manufactured in the and industrial pollution in Gary, Indiana, United States of America 1945-1980 / Andrew Hurley, The paper in this book meets p. cm. the guidelines for permanence Originally presented as the author's thesis and durability of the Committee (Ph.D.). on Production Guidelines for Includes bibliographical references and index. Book Longevity of the Council ISBN 0-8078-2174-8 (cloth : alk. paper). on Library Resources. -ISBN 0-8078-4518-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) Portions of this book have 1. Environmental policy—Social aspects— previously appeared in the Indiana —Gary. 2. NIMBY syndrome —Indiana- following articles: "The Social Gary. 3. Pollution—Social aspects—Indiana- Biases of Environmental Change Gary. 4. Gary (Ind.) —Environmental in Gary, Indiana, 1945-1980," conditions. 5. Social classes—Indiana —Gary. Environmental Review 12 (Winter 6. Gary (Ind.) —Race relations. 7. Gary (Ind.) — 1988): 1-19, and "Challenging Social conditions. I. Title. Corporate Polluters: Race, Class, HC108.G3H87 1995 and Environmental Politics in 363.7'009772'99-dc20 94-17932 Gary, Indiana, since 1945," CIP Indiana Magazine of History 88 (December 1992): 273-302. Andrew E Hurley is assistant professor of history at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. cloth 06 05 04 03 02 6 54 3 2 paper 06 05 04 876 5 For my parents, John and Frieda Hurley, and in memory of my grandmother, Clara Hurley This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface xiii Acknowledgments xvii 1 Class, Race, and the Shaping of the Urban Landscape 1 2 The Perils of Pollution in the Steel City, 1945-1950 15 3 Opposition to Blind Progress: Middle-Class Environmentalism 4 4 Tired of Working in Pollution and Having It Follow Us Home: Working-Class Environmentalism 77 5 Rats, Roaches, and Smoke: African American Environmentalism 111 6 The Rise and Fall of an Environmental Coalition 136 7 The Social Geography of Pollution and the Politics of Sand 154 Epilogue: Gary and Beyond 175 Appendix 183 Notes 189 Bibliography 219 Index 237 This page intentionally left blank Figure and Maps Figure 20 1. Production Flow at Gary Works Maps 27 1. Gary Neighborhoods, 1950 31 2. Ethnic Parishes in Gary, 1950 52 3. Residential Movement in Gary, 1950-1960 127 4. Gary Neighborhoods, 1960 166 5. Abandoned Waste Sites in Gary, 1986