William Deverell (1) (1962–)

In Railroad Crossing: Californians and the Railroad, 1850-1910, William Deverell argues, “In their interminable wrestling match with the railroad, Californians proved simply that they were – as Lord Bryce suggested – prototypically American: full of contradictions about the roles that technology and industrial capitalism would play, and be allowed to play, in their lives as they looked to the coming of the new century” (pg. 7). Describing the early role of the railroad, Deverell writes, “As an agent bearing profound physical, psychological, and social change… the railroad represented an intrusion of astounding proportion and variety into mid-nineteenth century American communities. Not only was the effect of the technology extraordinarily diverse, but the railroad itself was no single entity or idea” (pg. 27).

Deverell continues, “Because the railroad – and… one railroad in particular – was the prevailing symbol of corporate capitalism in the West, it was assumed that actions aimed at curbing the railroad’s influence would naturally permeate through the society and touch every commercial activity in the state” (pg. 42). Further, “Not only did potential reformers have to confront corporate power; they had to overcome a powerful assumption on the part of many that railroad antagonism equaled economic if not political revolution. One way to overcome that assumption, as exemplified by a movement that sprang up among the working class in San Francisco, was the resort to a traditional rallying cry and a staple of American political culture: the imperilment of liberty” (pg. 42).

In the second half of his monograph, Deverell revises current historical thinking. For example, in discussing the contest of the Los Angeles harbor, Deverell writes, “The free harbor fight demonstrates that the Southern Pacific Railroad was not the all-powerful entity it has been made out to be. It did at times face significant opposition. Yet scholarly inquiries must critically assess the motivations of those who battled the railroad corporation. Matching the harbor fight personnel with later Progressive-era reform movements in itself proves little. Nor does painting the pro-San Pedro activists as selfless urban populists tell us much about their actions or motivations” (pg. 121). Deverell also counters the current consensus of Frank Norris’s 1901 novel, The Octopus: A Story of California. Deverell writes, “The novel fails at what may historians have claimed it to be, a reliable depiction of the railroad corporation’s ruthlessness and an extraordinary instance of anti-railroad conflict. But that shortcoming, something Norris would himself have admitted, does not mean that the novel is useless as a tool for adding to our historical understanding” (pg. 144). He primarily cautions against viewing railroad antagonism in California as easily representative of industrial change and upheaval throughout the nation, pointing out that the nature of opposition was “breathtakingly varied” (pg. 173). Deverell’s work will interest California historians and those examining nineteenth-century industrialization and its social impact.… (mehr)

In their introduction to Land of Sunshine: An Environmental History of Metropolitan Los Angeles, William Deverell and Greg Hise write, “History matters. It matters a great deal. Looking back, timelines of environmental stability and change must be carefully constructed and scrutinized to fashion appropriately sophisticated practices and policies supportive of sustainability. Looking ahead, the concept’s moral and ethical principles also asset that what we do today matters for those who follow” (pg. 1). Their edited volume helps to fill gaps in the historiography. According to Hise and Deverell, “Historical perspective on environmental change in Los Angeles is neither well developed nor comprehensive enough to suggest patterns in the long run. We know more of the punctuated moments of planning during times of crises and less of a regional planning ethos or culture” (pg. 7).

In examining the political ecology of pre- and post-contact Los Angeles, L. Mark Raab concludes, “Unfortunately, utopian political ecologies are so popular that critics of these models are almost automatically cast as the Grinches that would steal paradise. It will be unfortunate if debate about the proper foundations of environmental history is framed in such a simple, ad hominem way, because a number of significant issues need thoughtful consideration” (pg. 36). Daniel Johnson turns to zoning and development in the early twentieth century, writing, “The various struggles over industrial development and municipal garbage collection during this period clearly illustrate the deficiencies of environmental policies shaped by machine-style government. These policies all too often were influenced by personal interest and the desire to placate politically powerful corporations… elected officials demonstrated an eagerness to promote economic development despite the potential costs to their constituents” (pg. 90). Paul Sabin echoes this theme, writing, “California’s struggle over coastal oil drilling in the 1920s and early 1930s underscored the increasingly uneasy relationship between coastal extractive industry and the booming tourist, recreational, and residential economy” (pg. 114).

Blake Gumprecht writes of the Los Angeles River’s fate, “The only way the city was able to prevent a shortfall of water… was by cutting per capita consumption in half, enlarging storage space by nearly a billion gallons, and increasing its use of water from underground sources. The river that had been a magnet for settlement for thousands of years and had nurtured the city for more than a century was destroyed in the process. The once ample stream became a local joke” (pg. 122). Jared Orsi expands on this, linking it to Johnson and Sabin’s discussion of political entrenchment. He writes, “Political institutions, like ecosystems, have their own internal logic that interacts with external influences to produce change that is not always straightforward or predictable. In Southern California’s twentieth-century flood control institutions, political structure – that is, law and bureaucratic jurisdictions – determined which individuals and organizations did and did not have authority to carry out flood control and specified what types of projects they could undertake. Political will, forged by conflict among interested parties and their supporters, often overrode the technical merits of designs in influencing which projects would gain public support. And political culture – public memory, visions of the future, and prevalent ideas about nature, science, and public policy – delimited the range of possibilities that could even be imagined” (pg. 136).

Jennifer Price, a nature writer, delineates various ways to see the impact of nature in Los Angeles. She writes, “If I could persuade you of any one argument, it’s that our foundational nature stories should sacralize our mundane, economic, utilitarian, daily encounters with nature – so that what car you drive and how you get your water and how you build a house should be acts as sacred as hiking to the top of Red Rock Canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains and gazing out over the Pacific Ocean to watch the dolphins leap, the sea ducks float, and the sun set” (pg. 228). All of these examinations combine to apply the techniques William Cronin developed in his ecological histories to Los Angeles. The book offers insights and discourses that historians will find useful as will Los Angelinos looking to learn more about the history of the place in which they live, how environment and human settlement have continually interacted to shape the character of the place.… (mehr)