Book ID: CBB001321155

Pastoral and Monumental: Dams, Postcards, and the American Landscape (2013)

unapi

Jackson, Donald C. (Author)


University of Pittsburgh Press


Publication Date: 2013
Physical Details: x + 330 pp.; ill.; bibl.; index
Language: English

In Pastoral and Monumental, Donald C. Jackson chronicles America's longtime fascination with dams as represented on picture postcards from the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. Through over four hundred images, Jackson documents the remarkable transformation of dams and their significance to the environment and culture of America. Initially, dams were portrayed in pastoral settings on postcards that might jokingly proclaim them as a dam pretty place. But scenes of flood damage, dam collapses, and other disasters also captured people's attention. Later, images of New Deal projects, such as the Hoover Dam, Grand Coulee Dam, and Norris Dam, symbolized America's rise from the Great Depression through monumental public works and technological innovation. Jackson relates the practical applications of dams, describing their use in irrigation, navigation, flood control, hydroelectric power, milling, mining, and manufacturing. He chronicles changing construction techniques, from small timber mill dams to those more massive and more critical to a society dependent on instant access to electricity and potable water. Concurrent to the evolution of dam technology, Jackson recounts the rise of a postcard culture that was fueled by advances in printing, photography, lowered postal rates, and America's fascination with visual imagery. In 1910, almost one billion postcards were mailed through the U.S. Postal Service, and for a period of over fifty years, postcards featuring dams were all the rage. Whether displaying the charms of an old mill, the aftermath of a devastating flood, or the construction of a colossal gravity dam, these postcards were a testament to how people perceived dams as structures of both beauty and technological power.

...More
Reviewed By

Review Helena E. Wright (2012) Review of "Pastoral and Monumental: Dams, Postcards, and the American Landscape". IA. The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology (pp. 102-103). unapi

Review Anthony F. Arrigo (July 2017) Review of "Pastoral and Monumental: Dams, Postcards, and the American Landscape". Environmental History (pp. 547-549). unapi

Review Crombez, Joel (2013) Review of "Pastoral and Monumental: Dams, Postcards, and the American Landscape". Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society (pp. 53-54). unapi

Review Meikle, Jeffrey L. (2014) Review of "Pastoral and Monumental: Dams, Postcards, and the American Landscape". Journal of American History (p. 314). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001321155/

Similar Citations

Book Anthony F. Arrigo; (2014)
Imaging Hoover Dam: the Making of a Cultural Icon (/isis/citation/CBB752609542/)

Book Erik Swyngedouw; (2015)
Liquid Power: Contested Hydro-Modernities in Twentieth-Century Spain (/isis/citation/CBB814785175/)

Article Cookson-Hills, Claire; (2013)
The Aswan Dam and Egyptian Water Control Policy, 1882--1902 (/isis/citation/CBB001212856/)

Book Hirt, Paul W.; (2012)
The Wired Northwest: The History of Electric Power, 1870s--1970s (/isis/citation/CBB001201248/)

Thesis Hawley, Hilary L.; (2006)
Water/Power in the Pacific Northwest (/isis/citation/CBB001560951/)

Article Robert B. Gordon; Michael S. Raber; (2010)
Meeting the Challenge of a Renewable Energy Resource: Small-Scale Milling and Manufacturing in Southern New England (/isis/citation/CBB724685716/)

Book Colten, Craig E.; (2014)
Southern Waters: The Limits to Abundance (/isis/citation/CBB001422404/)

Book Willumson, Glenn; (2013)
Iron Muse: Photographing the Transcontinental Railroad (/isis/citation/CBB001320948/)

Book Craig, Steve; (2009)
Out of the Dark: A History of Radio and Rural America (/isis/citation/CBB001035562/)

Article Edwin A. Battison; (1975)
Ascutney Gravity-Arch Mill Dam: Windsor, Vermont 1834 (/isis/citation/CBB783949687/)

Article Todd, Edmund N.; (2000)
Building a hybrid landscape to purify the Ruhr region, 1890--1935 (/isis/citation/CBB001180609/)

Article Shew, Ashley; (2013)
Engines of Second Creation: Stories about Nanotechnology (/isis/citation/CBB001321153/)

Article Reynolds, Terry S.; (1996)
Dams and hydroelectric technology in the American west: A different model (/isis/citation/CBB001181726/)

Article John S. Wilson; (1977)
Upper Factory Brook Sawmill: Middlefield, Massachusetts (/isis/citation/CBB516510720/)

Article Christie-Robin, Julia; Orzada, Belinda T.; López-Gydosh, Dilia; (2012)
From Bustles to Bloomers: Exploring the Bicycle's Influence on American Women's Fashion, 1880--1914 (/isis/citation/CBB001202120/)

Book Pursell, Carroll W.; (2005)
Companion to American technology (/isis/citation/CBB001180187/)

Article McFarlane, Wallace Scot; (2012)
Defining a Nuisance: Pollution, Science, and Environmental Politics on Maine's Androscoggin River (/isis/citation/CBB001232553/)

Article Slayton, Rebecca; (2011)
From Death Rays to Light Sabers: Making Laser Weapons Surgically Precise (/isis/citation/CBB001230686/)

Book Sterne, Jonathan; (2003)
The audible past: Cultural origins of sound reproduction (/isis/citation/CBB001180121/)

Authors & Contributors
Edwin A. Battison
Arrigo, Anthony F.
John S. Wilson
Michael S. Raber
Swyngedouw, Erik
Craig, Steve
Concepts
Dams
Technology and culture
Water power
Water resource management
Popular culture
Technology and politics
Time Periods
19th century
20th century
20th century, early
20th century, late
18th century
21st century
Places
United States
Pacific Northwest (North America)
Maine (U.S.)
Columbia River
Western states (U.S.)
New England (U.S.)
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment