Environmental Defense Fund
 
 
Honor Rachel Carson's legacy with your gift
 

On May 27, 1907, Rachel Louise Carson was born on a small family farm just up the Allegheny River from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

55 years later, she forever changed history when she published Silent Spring, the now-iconic book that awakened America's first mass environmental movement. 

Among them were ten individuals who, in 1967, founded the Environmental Defense Fund and began bringing lawsuits against the federal government to "establish a citizen's right to a clean environment." 
 
Celebrate Rachel Carson's birthday by making a donation to defend that right and receive a free “birthday gift” in return. 
 
 
 
The cover of DDT Wars, by Charles F. Wurster, featuring a bald eagle soaring across a red backdrop.

Donate $37 or more to receive a copy of DDT Wars: Rescuing Our National Bird, Preventing Cancer, and Creating EDF.

DDT Wars is the rich memoir of EDF co-founder Charles Wurster (known to EDFers as Charlie).

It’s an inspiring first-hand account of how a small group of individuals banded together in 1967 to save birds of prey from the threat posed by DDT. It all started with 10 lawyers and $37—the fee required to register as a nonprofit in New York in 1967. 

They were the very first EDF members, and they showed that a core group of dedicated people working together can make a big difference.

431 copies available
The cover of Acorn Days, by Marion Lane Rogers, featuring a line illustration of an oak tree.

Start a new monthly gift of $15 or more to receive a rare copy of Acorn Days: The Environmental Defense Fund and How it Grew.

Acorn Days is a light-hearted, first-hand “tell-all” written by EDF’s first secretary, Marion Rogers.

Her story will transport you back to before the first Earth Day and before the passage of the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. 

Over the 20 years Marion worked for EDF, she was witness to transformational change in the U.S., thanks to the tens of millions of people who were willing to make radical changes to ensure a vital Earth for all.

100 copies available

In her life, Carson took a brave stand against powerful forces. She accused the chemical industry of spreading lies and misinformation—and the government of uncritically accepting the industry's claims. 

Velsicol Chemical Company threatened legal action. Industry chemists accused her of wanting to "return to the Dark Ages" and labeled her "a fanatic defender of the cult of the balance of nature." The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture warned President Eisenhower that she was "probably a Communist."

But truth prevailed. Silent Spring captured the imagination of millions of Americans - and the rest is environmental history.

Celebrate Rachel Carson’s legacy with a one-time gift of $37, or a new monthly gift of $15 or more, and you’ll be taken back in time to read an early chapter of that history first-hand, from the people who were there.

Thank you for carrying on the work of early pioneers like Rachel, Charlie and Marion,

Emily Stevenson
Manager, Online Membership
 
 
 
Donate now
 

P.S. Acorn Days can’t be purchased in retail stores. Most readers are current and former staff who received the book when they started at EDF. We’re releasing just 100 copies from “the vault” for one weekend only. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to get your very own copy. Your first monthly gift must be made by midnight Sunday night to qualify.
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