Invisible gases: Smoke, gender, and the redefinition of environmental policy in Chicago, 1900–1920

Abstract

In 1908, the women of Chicago declared war on smoke. The ensuing, seven‐year debate on environmental policy raised novel questions not only about gender politics but also medical science, public health, and the authority of experts. The reformers drew upon traditional and newer, germ theories of disease to call for a broader public welfare concept, one that encompassed air pollution in ways analogous to the city's water supplies and sanitation. In opposition, businessmen and their expert consultants called for “reasonable” reforms that emphasized improvements in technology. Although the women failed to achieve reform, they helped to redefine policy and planning by linking air quality and public health in the industrial city.