Dirty and Polluted Philadelphia in the 1970s Before the Great Clean up Began

During the 1970s, America’s landscape was ravaged by years of uncontrollable land development, urban decay in the big cities, and air, noise, and water pollution that appeared impossible to stop. The newly created Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a photodocumentary project in November 1971 to document changes in the American environment. By the time it was over in 1978, DOCUMERICA had accumulated more than 20,000 photographic prints. It is fair to say that the project served as the first serious examination of the rapidly deteriorating natural environment in the United States.

DOCUMERICA focused on specific geographic areas in the United States, in many cases where the photographers lived and where many worked as professional photojournalists. EPA purchase orders for each photographer specified the geographic areas covered and occasionally referenced specific subjects of particular interest to EPA and Hampshire. The project’s geographical approach helped create a map that emphasizes areas of specific environmental problems

DOCUMERICA confirms what we can see in images of today’s environment: What troubled the environment in the early 1970s is the same thing as what troubled it today. Many recent photographs show pollution, strip mining, crowded cities, and land abuse. The pictures reflect the problems that the United States faced 30 years ago. However, it is a common understanding that there are still so many tasks to be accomplished to protect America’s natural resources. Color images from the 1970s demonstrate the need for Americans to keep focusing on environmental issues. Photos from Project DOCUMERICA serve to inform and inspire Americans as they pursue the green revolution of the new millennium

Below are some historical photos of Philadelphia captured by photographer Swanson for the project DOCUMERICA.

#1 Street Gang Members, August 1973

1 Point

Upvote Downvote

#2 Radar Scanner Near Chesapeake Beach, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#3 X-Ray Treatment At George Washington University Hospital, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#4 Street Scene, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#5 Play Area Of Black Housing Project In North Philadelphia, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#6 North Philadelphia Jobless Blacks. Man Standing At Right Is Gerald “Heat Wave” Jones, Who Works For “the Network”, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#7 Street Gang Members, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#8 Killing Time In North Philadelphia, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#9 Abandoned Car In Trash-Strewn Lot, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#10 Two Men Sit Silently On Stoops Of Abandoned North Philadelphia Houses, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#11 Abandoned House And Street Sweeper In North Philadelphia, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#12 Boy In Back Alley In North Philadelphia, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#13 Woman Looks Out Of The Window Of Her Apartment In North Philadelphia, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#14 Member Of A Street Gang In North Philadelphia, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#15 Black Neighborhood In North Philadelphia, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#16 Middle Class Row House In Black Neighborhood Of North Philadelphia, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#17 Flowers Bloom In A Junkyard, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#18 Tree Grows In Philadelphia Junkyard, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#19 Stacked Cars In City Junkyard Will Be Used For Scrap, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#20 Stacked Cars In City Junkyard Will Be Used For Scrap, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#21 On Camera In A City Park, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#22 Independence Square: Boy Scouts Gather At Statue Of Commodore John Barry, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#23 Philadelphia Suburb And Cemetery, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#24 Row Houses Stretching Out From Center City, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#25 Pennsylvania, North West Philadelphia, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#26 Mounted Policeman On Busy Downtown Thoroughfare, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#27 Noontime Rally In Downtown Philadelphia, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#28 Row Houses, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#29 Row Houses, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#30 Row Houses, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#31 North Philadelphia Junkyard Stacked With Cars For Scrap Metal, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#32 Child On Steps Of A North Philadelphia Row House, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#33 School Girl On Street In North Philadelphia, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#34 Row Houses In North Philadelphia, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#35 Neighborhood Youths Repaving Sidewalk In Front Of Apartment Buildings In North Philadelphia, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#36 North Philadelphia Children, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#37 Playground, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#38 Playground, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#39 Housing Project In North Philadelphia, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#40 The Polluted Schuykill River And Center City In Background, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#41 Railroad Switching Yards Just West Of Center City, Along The Schuykill Expressway, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#42 Schuykill Expressway (I-676) Speeds Traffic Between Center City And The Northern And Western Suburbs, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#43 Schuykill Expressway (I-676) Speeds Traffic Between Center City And The Northern And Western Suburbs, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#44 Traffic On Market Street, Philadelphia’s Main East-west Artery, Looking West, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#45 Traffic On Market Street, Philadelphia’s Main East-west Artery, Looking West, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#46 Walt Whitman Bridge Crosses The Delaware River At South Philadelphia, Leads To New Jersey Suburbs, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#47 Walt Whitman Bridge Crosses The Delaware River At South Philadelphia, Leads To New Jersey Suburbs, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#48 Fisheye View From Center Courtyard Of City Hall, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#49 The Art Of Cooling Off Is Enthusiastically Pursued In The Fountains Of The Philadelphia Museum Of Art, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#50 From The Steps Of The Philadelphia Museum Of Art – Looking Down Benjamin Franklin Parkway Toward City Hall And Center City, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#51 On The Steps Of The Philadelphia Museum Of Art, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#52 Cooling Off In One Of The Fountains Around The Philadelphia Museum Of Art, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#53 Cooling Off In One Of The Fountains Around The Philadelphia Museum Of Art, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#54 Cooling Off In One Of The Fountains Around The Philadelphia Museum Of Art, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#55 John F. Kennedy Plaza In Center City, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#56 John F. Kennedy Plaza In Center City, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#57 Auto Junkyards Off Network Of Roads In Southwest Philadelphia, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#58 Homeless Man Sleeping On Doorway Of Penn Central’s 30th Street Station, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#59 Quiet Greenness Of A City Park, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#60 Quiet Greenness Of A City Park, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#61 A Stroll In A City Park, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#62 Free Expression In Independence Square, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#63 Junior High School Football Team Plays On Field Surrounded By Freeways. Municipal Stadium In Left Background, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#64 Independence Hall, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#65 Mobil Oil At Paulsboro, New Jersey On The Delaware River Seen From Philadelphia, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#66 Crossing The Painted Road Which Extends East From The Philadelphia Museum Of Art, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#67 Gulf Refinery – From The Penrose Bridge, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#68 Gulf And Arco Refineries, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#69 View North From Swanson And Catherine Streets, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#70 Littered Embankment Near Vine Street Exit Of I-95. Center City Office Buildings In Background, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#71 Cooling Off Beside Fountain At Philadelphia Museum Of Art, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#72 Cooling Off Beside Fountain At Philadelphia Museum Of Art, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#73 Philadelphian Cools Off At Fountain Of Philadelphia Museum Of Art, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#74 Fountains Surrounding Philadelphia Museum Of Art Are Especially Popular In A Heat Wave, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#75 Columns Of Philadelphia Museum Of Art, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#76 Philadelphia Museum Of Art, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#77 Center City, Philadelphia, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#78 Gulf And Arco Installations, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#79 Gulf And Arco Plants. Schuykill Expressway And Penrose Avenue, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#80 Gulf And Arco Plants. Penrose Bridge Across The Schuykill River, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#81 Gulf And Arco Plants, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#82 Sunday Morning Flea-market In Independence Square In The Center City Area, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#83 Inner City, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#84 Row Houses, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#85 Row Houses And Skyscrapers In Center City Area, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#86 Center City, Philadelphia At Sunset, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#87 City Incinerator On The Delaware River, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#88 U.S. Steel Fairless Works On Delaware River, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#89 U.S. Steel Fairless Works On The Delaware River, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#90 U.S. Steel Fairless Works On The Delaware River, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#91 U.S. Steel Fairless Works On The Delaware River, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#92 Artist On Bank Of The Schuykill River, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#93 Artist On Bank Of The Schuykill River, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#94 Painter Working On Chain Link Fence, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#95 Painter Working On Chain Link Fence, August 1973

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#96 17th Street, Between H And I Streets, NW, August 1973

-1 Points

Upvote Downvote

#97 Neighborhood Medical Center In North Philadelphia, August 1973

-1 Points

Upvote Downvote