Journal article
"One of the Grand Works of the World": Walt Whitman's Advocacy for the Brooklyn Waterworks, 1856–59
Technology and culture, Vol.65(1), pp.237-263
01/01/2024
DOI: 10.1353/tech.2024.a920522
Abstract
When the Brooklyn Waterworks opened in 1859, it was one of America's most advanced water and sewer systems. Yet after Brooklyn was annexed by New York City, the waterworks' history slipped into obscurity, despite having a now-famous champion: the "poet of America," Walt Whitman, whose brother worked on the project. This article shows the Brooklyn poet's fierce, multiyear lobbying effort for the waterworks in various newspapers and introduces a wealth of newly recovered Whitman writings on the issue. As a journalist, Whitman exemplifies the nineteenth-century press as an intermediary between expert engineers and popular readers. The poet brought precise expertise, translated engineers' technical arguments into everyday language for his readers, and fought the resulting day-to-day political battles over construction in print. Whitman, then, is an underappreciated case study of the confluence of technology, public health, and local journalism.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- "One of the Grand Works of the World": Walt Whitman's Advocacy for the Brooklyn Waterworks, 1856–59
- Creators
- Stephanie Blalock - University of IowaKevin McMullen - University of Nebraska–LincolnStefan Schöberlein - Texas A&M University – Central TexasJason Stacy - Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Technology and culture, Vol.65(1), pp.237-263
- DOI
- 10.1353/tech.2024.a920522
- ISSN
- 0040-165X
- eISSN
- 1097-3729
- Publisher
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 01/01/2024
- Academic Unit
- School of Library and Information Science; Digital Scholarship and Publishing Studio
- Record Identifier
- 9984563558302771
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