Reference Publications

From the editor

Environmental History, Oct 2003 by Rome, Adam

THIS ISSUE-perhaps more than any other since I became editor-exemplifies the richness of our field.

In the lead article, Christine Meisner Rosen joins environmental history and legal history to provide fresh insight into the ways Americans tried to make sense of new forms of pollution in the mid-nineteenth century. Anthropologist Melissa Johnson uses a case study of colonial British Honduras to raise important questions about the connection between ideas about "race" and ideas about how people relate to nature. Ellen Stroud reflects on what she learned when she asked her students to ponder the environmental history of dead bodies. In the second "reflections" essay, Rolf Diamant shares his experience as the first superintendent of a new national park devoted to interpreting "the history and evolution of conservation stewardship in America." Bernard Mergen's review essay opens up a vast subject-the relationship of children to nature-that so far has received little attention from historians.

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In different ways, the cover image and the "Gallery" essay draw attention to the widespread use of landscape imagery in promoting development. The Norman Rockwell painting of Glen Canyon Dam on the cover is part of a fascinating collection of art works commissioned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in the late 1960s and early 1970s. To see other works in the bureau's collection, go to http://www.usbr.gov/museumproperty/art/homepage.htm. Connie Chiang's essay offers a wonderful reading of an ad for a toll-road owned by the Pebble Beach Company: "Mother Nature's Drive-Thru."

THE LAST YEAR was an eventful one for the journal. We changed our look. We added the "Gallery" section, and we began to publish "reflections" essays. We also went online. You now can find the journal on the History Cooperative site: http://www.historycoop.org/ehindex.html.>Though the design firm Mcreative provided us with the basics of our new look, we still had to work out many details throughout the year, and managing editor Eve Munson was a creative and hard-working partner in that process. I greatly appreciate her efforts. I also am glad to have the help of Kathy Morse as graphics editor. Kathy commissioned the "Gallery" essay in this issue. She also secured the cover image and worked to obtain illustrations for several of the articles. Now that she is hard at work, I am sure that every issue will have superb graphics!

Our decision to join the History Cooperative came after a detailed consideration of online alternatives. In that consideration, Steve Anderson and I had the help of a committee consisting of Hal Rothman, Jeffrey Stine, Nancy Langston, and Joe Schultz, the managing editor of Technology and Culture.

This issue marks the end of Dave Hsiung's tenure as acting hook review editor, and I thank him for doing a fabulous job. I also welcome back Ed Russell. In Dave's last two issues, we expanded the book review section, and I hope that we will be able to publish even more reviews in the future.

As I wrote last year, I could not manage without the contributions of the fine staff at the Forest History Society: Carol Marochak, Cheryl Oakes, Michele Justice, Kathy Cox, and Steve Anderson. The journal also depends on the expertise and generosity of many scholars. I am especially grateful once again to the members of the editorial board. For the first time, we met as a group at the ASEH conference, and that meeting was a tremendous source of ideas and inspiration. In addition, I want to acknowledge the many people who took time this year to evaluate manuscripts. Thanks to Rusty Bittermann, Margaret Bogue, Nigel Bolland, Karl Brooks, Sean Cadigan, Christopher Chapple, Jacqueline Corn, Patricia Cleary, John Cumbler, Janet Davis, Lary Dilsaver, Brian Donahue, Kurkpatrick Dorsey, Tom Dunlap, Mark Fiege, Ignacio Gallup-Diaz, David Grettler, Angela Gugliotta, Matthew Guterl, Marcus Hall, Louise Halper, Mark Harvey, Thomas Huffman, Karl Jacoby, Matt Klingle, Nancy Langston, Ralph Lutts, Stuart McCook, Gregg Mitman, Lynn Nelson, Jared Orsi, Dan Philippon, Cynthia Radding, Mahesh Rangarajan, Carol Reardon, Paul Sabin, Doug Sackman, Myrna Santiago, Robin Schulze, Candace Slater, Andrew Sluyter, Jeffrey Stine, Steven Stoll, Joseph Taylor, Nancy Tomes, Louis Warren, and Gordon Whitney.

When I was appointed as editor, I was not asked to serve a particular term. Four years now seems to me a fitting tenure. I therefore have decided to step down at the end of 2005. An announcement of the search for my successor is in this issue. Though the editorship has given me a few gray hairs, the job has been incredibly rewarding. I have eight issues left, and I am resolved to make those issues as exciting as I can. As always, I welcome comments from readers about any aspect of the journal. My email address is axr26@psu.edu.

ADAM ROME