The burning river that fueled a US green movement
UC’s David Stradling cited as expert on the Cuyahoga’s role in environmental protections
An article by the BBC takes the reader back to the late 18th and 19th centuries, when prosperity in the United States was defined by the industrial revolution — a time with little regard for the pollutants that came with industrial expansion.
The article focuses on Ohio’s Cuyahoga River as the origin story for the U.S. environmental movement. The river was once so polluted by human and industrial waste that it caught fire on multiple occasions.
"The Cuyahoga was a completely dead river for decades," David Stradling, professor of history, says in the article. He says, "there were no fish, no water fowl" and the article states that those who lived nearby cautioned that if you fell in, you had to be rushed to the hospital.
Incidents of fire on the Cuyahoga were the precursor expanding The Clean Water Act in 1972: "It was late summer (1969) when Time magazine ran a story about water pollution in the United States," using photos from a prior Cuyahoga River burn, says Stradling, who co-wrote “Where the River Burned”, a history of the infamously polluted Cuyahoga, with his brother Richard Stradling.
Featured photo at top: Cleveland and the Cuyahoga River/iStock.
Impact Lives Here
The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction Next Lives Here.
Related Stories
Ticks that survive pesticides can withstand colder winters
July 17, 2026
Ticks that survive less-than-lethal doses of pesticide are able to withstand dangerous cold, which could help them expand their range farther north, according to researchers at the University of Cincinnati and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Why does it feel like so many Cincinnati restaurants close?
July 17, 2026
WLWT and the Cincinnati Enquirer cited UC research in reports on recent restaurant closures in the city.
UC has connection to city of legend behind 'Odyssey'
July 17, 2026
WVXU highlights a big connection between Cincinnati and director Christopher Nolan's new movie "The Odyssey." UC Classics Professor Carl Blegen led excavations at Troy in the 1930s. UC has a vast collection of photos and other records from the ambitious archaeological project.