The Mosquito Crusades: A History of the American Anti-Mosquito Movement from the Reed Commission to the First Earth Day

Acknowledgments

xi Acknowledgments This book is a sequel to The Mosquito Wars: A History of Mosquito Control in Florida, which appeared in 2004. I thought I would be through with mosquitoes at that point. Instead I discovered that my interest in mosquito control had both deepened and broadened. Readers of The Mosquito Wars asked provocative questions about the development of mosquito control in other parts of the country. If mosquito control was such a good idea, one reviewer wrote, why did the mosquito warriors have to work so hard to win the public’s assent? This question led to other questions. When and where did the American mosquito crusade begin? How did something that was an essentially local issue grow into a national movement? The Mosquito Crusades represents my effort to answer these questions. Some explanation for my use of the word “crusade” is necessary. Since 9/11 the word “crusade” has fallen into disfavor. At the beginning of the twentieth century, progressive reformers called for temperance, women’s suffrage, reform of election laws, trust busting, and, yes, a mosquito crusade. Until the late 1950s the mosquito control movement described itself as a crusade. In 1901 Leland Howard, then chief entomologist for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) called for an “intelligent crusade” against mosquitoes . Decades later, Howard (who lived to be nearly one hundred years old) maintained that no movement held greater consequence for Americans’ health and welfare than the “mosquito crusade.” My objective is to provide a perspective on the movement’s “intelligence” as well as the historical consequence of the “crusade.” I am indebted to the entomologists, mosquito control workers, public health personnel, state officials, representatives of federal agencies, librarians, archivists, engineers, biologists, environmental activists, and historians who assisted me in my research. I wish to thank Dean Robert Goodman at Rutgers for allowing me to examine John B. Smith’s papers and the historical archives located at the Headlee Laboratory and Blake Hall in New Brunswick. xii Acknowledgments This book would not have been possible without the support and access to the archives of the American Mosquito Control Association, the New Jersey Mosquito Control Association, the Utah Mosquito Abatement Association, the Florida Mosquito Control Association, the Louisiana Mosquito Control Association, the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California, and the Robert Washino Library at the Sacramento–Yolo County Vector Control in Elk Grove, California. Versions of some the material presented in this book were delivered as lectures and conference papers and appeared in Wing Beats and conference proceedings. The discussion of Florida was drawn from my 2004 Mosquito Wars: A History of Mosquito Control in Florida, with the permission of the University Press of Florida. I owe special thanks to Doug Carlson, the director of the Indian River Mosquito Control District, for his encouragement. I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the help of Ryan Arkoudas, Richard Baker, John Beidler, Patti Bower, David Brown, Gil Challet, Gary Clark, Glen Collett, Joe Conlon, Roxanne Rutledge Connelly, Scott Crans, Wayne Crans, Major Dhillon, Sammie Dickson, Bruce Eldridge, Howard Emerson, Kellie Etherson, Ary Farajollahi , Randy Gaugler, Judy Hansen, Gary Hatch, Edward Kalajian, Mary Beth Kenkel, Uriel Kitron, Minoo Maden, Janet McAllister, William Meredith, Ken Minson, Chet Moore, Charles Myers, Roger Nasci, Lewis Nielsen, William Opp, Tadhgh Rainey, William Riesen, Henry Rupp, John Rusmisel, Joseph Sanzone, Mike Shaw, Donald Sutherland, Walter Tabachnick, Robert Taylor , Doreen Valentine, Robert Washino, and Matt Yates. I am grateful to my mother, Molly Patterson, and my wife, Joy Patterson, for their encouragement and wise counsel. The Mosquito Crusades ...