Far from the battlefield the First World War spurred a massive increase in industrial output in the United States. Arms and armaments, ships and steel, a vast stream of materiel poured from American factories, mines, and mills to feed the insatiable maw of war. The consequent strain placed on American railroad infrastructure left it vulnerable to environmental disruption, such as that caused by the great blizzard of 1916-17. These developments marked a significant chapter in the environmental history of American industry.  

 In this episode of the Hagley History Hangout we chat with Gerard Fitzgerald, visiting fellow at the Greenhouse Center for Environmental Humanities at the University of Stavanger and lecturer in the Department of Engineering and Society at the University of Virginia, whose latest research considers the environmental context of industrialization in the United States during World War One.  

In support of his work Fitzgerald has received funding from the Center for the History of Business, Technology, and Society at the Hagley Museum and Library.