Tom McCarthy, assistant professor of history and geography and Elon's Woodrow Wilson Postdoctoral Fellow in the Humanities, received an award from the American Society for Environmental History March 23. Details...
McCarthy received the Aldo Leopold-Ralph W. Hidy Award from ASEH for the best article published in its journal, Environmental History, during 2001. McCarthy accepted the award during a banquet at the ASEH annual conference in Denver.
His article, “The Coming Wonder?: Foresight and Early Concerns about the Automobile,” was published in the January 2001 issue of the journal. The article demonstrates that environmental problems such as air-polluting emissions and gasoline dependence were recognized and debated during the automobile’s earliest years, contrary to popular belief. McCarthy also explains why recognition of these problems had little impact on the automobile’s future development.