Childhood

Rachel Louise Carson grew up in her family home in Springdale, Pennsylvania where she was surrounded by nature and cultivated a love for animals as well as the outdoors. The youngest of three children, Carson loved to read classic literature and exploring the large family property, but her family was not well-off and the house itself had no electricity or central plumbing.

She was – and remained throughout her life – very close to her mother-Maria Carson, who instilled a sense of academic excellence in her. Carson was an exceptional student who after attending Springdale’s school until the tenth grade, followed by two years at Parnassus High, entered the Pennsylvania College for Women (PCW) with a scholarship.

Pennsylvania College for Women (PCW) – Now: Chatham College

Carson stayed in Berry Hall at PCW and although she continued to impress both her classmates and her professors with her academic abilities, the tuition and housing fees soon became too great for her parents and she eventually accumulated a lot of debt.

Initially an English major, Carson decided to change her major to Biology after falling in love with the subject. Mary Skinker (head of the Biology department at that time) greatly influenced Carson with her teachings about interconnected ecosystems, evolutionary theory and looking at the living world as a whole (ecology). These lessons would later be central to her work as a biologist and writer.

Unfortunately, Skinker left PCW in Carson’s senior year to pursue her PhD at Johns Hopkins, leaving Carson with a replacement who was inadequately qualified to teach Carson’s advance biology classes. Carson considered transferring to Johns Hopkins as well, and she was successfully accepted, however her scholarship and debt to PCW kept her at the school.

Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL)

Skinker kept in contact with Carson and helped her earn a scholarship to study at MBL for two months. Located in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, Carson relished being surrounded by the sea and studying the live specimens that she obtained. However for the first time, she was struggling with her work, unsure of what subject to study and surrounded by men who all seemed better trained at lab work due to her disappointing last year at PCW. Her time at MBL made her realise that she preferred working in the library rather than in the lab.

Johns Hopkins University

Once again with a recommendation from Skinker, Carson reapplied to Johns Hopkins and earned a full scholarship. She was a hardworking student, doing up to 50 hours of lab research a week and eventually earned her Master’s in zoology in 1932. It was not easy, as she had become a half-time student during her second year to help support her family who all (except her brother) were living with her in Baltimore.

Her part-time jobs included working as a lab assistant in a medical school, teaching Biology during the summers at Johns Hopkins and working as a lab assistant and zoology instructor at the University of Maryland. She continued to do these jobs after her father passed away in 1935, leaving her head of the household to look after her mother, older sister (who was divorced) and her sister’s two daughters.

Although she embarked on her PhD at Johns Hopkins, she never completed it, leaving the program in 1934. She did however, fall in love with the American Eel and its migration story (there was a large tank of eels in her laboratory at Johns Hopkins). Her love of biology remained, but she doubted that she would continue working in a lab for a career.

Later, Carson would go on to take and pass civil service examinations in parasitology, wildlife biology and aquatic biology (as encouraged by Skinker).