Three woman were critical to Maria Powell’s environmental work in Madison. In fact, Maria’s working title years ago for the People’s History was “Three Women and a Factory,” back when the book was just about Madison-Kipp Corp. However, those three women were Anne and Sharon, who had lived on either side of Kipp for decades and had died, and herself. More about them can be founded in Kipp chapter of the book.
Later, after she discovered all the pollution that emanated from the Oscar Mayer food factory, Truax airfield and Burke sewage treatment all clustered together on the northeast side of Madison, she moved her attention to those issues. Then when she discovered isthmus pollution from Gisholt, French Battery and Madison Gas and Electric factories along East Washington Avenue, she realized that the working title was outdated and that she was working on a previously undocumented environmental history of Madison.
Ann Fleischli was an activist and attorney who championed environmental causes for decades, famously leading efforts to create a a lake shore development ordinance that stymied the creation of Monona Terrace Convention Center on Lake Monona for years, but eventually was built (on a heavily polluted landfill that was never remediated). Ann experience an amazing level of vitriol from civic leaders, including “environmentalists” who credulously accepted that the idea that lake shore development would have no impact on the lake nor would construction of the convention center release toxins from the landfill it was being built upon. Later, Ann was instrumental in the fight against Kipp when it sought to dramatically increase its pollution and somehow not be identified as a “foundry,” which allowed it to escape stricter regulations. As a person who also experienced extreme level of vitriol from public officials, Maria looked to Ann as a heroine.
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