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Adeline Levine Love Canal research materials (Part III)

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: 22-3F-1290

Scope and Contents

The Adeline Levine Love Canal research materials (Part III) contains documentation of Adeline Levine's research among the citizens of the Love Canal neighborhood, Niagara Falls, NY, and with local and state officials after the area was declared a national disaster. The research materials include transcripts and audio interviews, field notes, correspondence, maps, and reports.

Dates

  • 1978-2002

Creator

Terms of Access

The Adeline Levine Love Canal research materials (Part III), 1978-2002 is open to researchers.

Restrictions

Access to portions of the collection is restricted. Records that contain personally identifiable information are restricted in order to protect individual privacy. Some material created as a result of Dr. Adeline Levine's research contains personally identifiable information and health information. These records are closed for 50 years after the date of death. If date of death is unknown, records are closed for 100 years from date of creation. Researchers may contact the University Archives' staff for further information or assistance.

Copyright

Copyright of papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns. Researchers must obtain the written permission of the holder(s) of copyright and University Archives before requesting photocopies and/or publishing quotations from materials in the collection. Once permission is obtained, most papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures unless otherwise specified.

Extent

5.83 Linear Feet (1 record carton, 1 half legal manuscript box, 1 letter manuscript box, 5 flat boxes)

0.93 Gigabytes (3 files)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Research material, including field notes, audio interviews, transcripts, and correspondence related to Adeline Levine's research with residents of the Love Canal neighborhood of Niagara Falls, New York, who were affected by the man-made environmental disaster.

Arrangement

Collection is arranged into four series: I. Correspondence, 1979-1984; II. Field Notes and Research, 1978-1996; III. Interviews, 1978-1989; IV. Publicity, 1978-2002.

Acquisition Information

The Adeline Levine Love Canal research materials (Part III) was donated to the University Archives by Adeline Levine's husband, Murray Levine, in May 2016. These records were part of a larger donation that included Adeline Levine's faculty papers and records of the Love Canal Medical Fund, Inc.

Accruals and Additions

No further accruals are expected to this collection.

Related Resources

22/3F/634 Adeline Levine Love Canal Research Materials (Part I), 1953-1981 (bulk 1978-1981)

22/3F/1113 Adeline Levine Love Canal research materials (Part II), 1980-1991

Biographical Note

Born in 1925 in Geneva, New York, Adeline "Addie" Gordon Levine, studied at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and the Edward J. Meyer Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, where she became a registered nurse in 1948. Adeline met her husband, Murray Levine, while working in the tuberculosis/neuropsychiatry ward at the Veterans Hospital in Montrose, New Jersey.

As a mother of two young children Adeline returned to school and graduated with a bachelor's degree from Beaver College. She then earned her PhD in sociology from Yale University. Her dissertation was a comparative study of women preparing to enter traditional "men's" and "women's" professions in the 1960s. Levine was particularly interested in how women planned to balance their family and work lives.

Adeline Levine became a faculty member in the Department of Sociology at the University at Buffalo in 1968. In 1978 she visited the Love Canal days after it was declared a national disaster. After speaking with local residents and government officials, Levine was motivated to research the psychosocial impact of toxic waste dump site on the local community. Her published book, Love Canal: Science, Politics, and People (1982) examined the crisis at Love Canal by following the development of local community organizations and scrutinizing the government's response.

In 2007 Levine described how she became involved in researching the Love Canal environmental disaster.

"Motivated by curiosity I visited the Love Canal for the first time nine days after it was declared a health hazard... The situation was very chaotic at that time. On that first visit I saw people moving out of their well-kept homes, met a pregnant woman convinced she was carrying a monster; spoke to another woman afraid that her daughter would be unable to bear children; saw worried men and women lined up to get information from newly established government offices; talked to some of the government workers trying to bring some order out of the chaos; and met the young woman (Lois Gibbs) who was suddenly thrust into prominence as the leader of a brand new citizen's organization. After eight hours, I came home, determined to do research at Love Canal." 1

Because of her work on the Love Canal disaster, Levine became a leader in the field of environmental sociology and community responses to environmental disasters. She wrote, presented, and consulted nationally and internationally.

Levine also co-founded the Pro-Choice Network of Western New York, a network organized in response to aggressive anti-choice demonstrations at local abortion clinics. The PCN implemented a volunteer escort service to accompany patients through clinic parking lots. It also started a monthly newsletter to keep its members informed about pro-choice issues. As membership grew, committees were formed concerned with media, programs, politics, law and fundraising.

Adeline Levine retired from the University at Buffalo in 1990. She continued to write, speak, and volunteer in the community, especially for organizations that supported education.

For her professional contributions, Adeline Levine was named Professor Emeritus of the University at Buffalo. She was the recipient of numerous honorary degrees and awards, including those from Beaver College, the American Sociological Association, and the National Organization for Women.

1 Levine, Adeline G. "The Love Canal: Social Science Research in a Community in Crisis." Research in Social Problems & Public Policy, 2007, Volume 14, pages 19-29

Processing Information

Processed by Sarah Pinard, August 2016.

Finding aid encoded by Sarah Pinard, September 2016.

Digital material processed by Grace Trimper, February 2023.

Digital files were transferred to the University Archives on compact discs. Where possible, digital content saved on storage media was migrated from the storage media, normalized to standard preservation and access formats, and transferred to a stable preservation environment following the University Libraries' Digital Preservation guidelines.

Title
Finding Aid for the Adeline Levine research materials (Part III)
Status
Completed
Author
Finding aid prepared by Sarah Pinard.
Date
26 August 2016
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the University Archives Repository

Contact:
420 Capen Hall
Buffalo New York 14260-1674 US
716-645-2916
716-645-3714 (Fax)