MARK D. HERSEY is an assistant professor of history at Mississippi State University.
Hersey shows that in the hands of pioneers like Carver, Progressive
Era agronomy was actually considerably 'greener' than is often
thought today. My Work Is That of Conservation uses Carver's life
story to explore aspects of southern environmental history and to
place this important scientist within the early conservation
movement.--Bob Edmonds "McCormick Messenger"
Hersey's book offers a fresh, insightful, and nuanced
interpretation of George Washington Carver and fills a significant
gap in the growing literature on African American environmental
history. The prose is clear and engaging, and it reads extremely
well. This is a really good book.--Kimberly K. Smith "author of
African American Environmental Thought: Foundations"
Mark D. Hersey's book is gracefully written, exhaustively
researched, insightful, and compelling. . . . His work reminds
scholars of the importance of the land to understanding the
southern past, something pioneers of the field appreciated but
their successors forgot. Southern historians and others should put
Hersey's book at the top of their reading list.--Jack E. Davis
"American Historical Review"
There are several biographies of George Washington Carver in print,
but this book, although highly specialized and detailed, would also
serve for those who haven't read one.--Don Noble "First Draft"
This is a spectacular book, deeply researched and gracefully
written, which will enrich our understanding of the environmental
history of the South and restore George Washington Carver to his
rightful place in the history of environmental thought.--Mart A.
Stewart "author of "What Nature Suffers to Groe" Life, Labor, and
Landscape on the Georgia Coast, 1680-1920"
My Work is That of Conservation is a quintessential addition to
college and public library American biography collections, and
worthy of the highest recommendation.--Midwest Book Review
Hersey looks at Carver's life and contribution from the perspective
of his interest in the environment and conservation, love of
nature, and desire to help poor black farmers preserve farmland and
make sustainable livings . . . Because of Carver's close
associations with poor black tenant farmers, his work and research
reveal as much about their lives and struggles in a deeply racist
agricultural system as they do about his vision of land
conservation and his contributions to the broad context of the
ecology movement.--Booklist
In limiting the book to Carver's environmental concerns, Hersey has
reminded us that Carver thought deeply about far more than peanuts,
and it restores him within the environmental history of the south
and within ecological history in general. Hersey, in clear prose
and insightful understanding, has done a great service in raising
Carver from the two-dimensional role he usually plays.--Commercial
Dispatch
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