Kheraj, Sean. “Episode 45: The St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project.” Nature’s Past: Canadian Environmental History Podcast, October 29, 2014. MP3, 56:00. http://niche-canada.org/2014/10/29/natures-past-episode-45-the-st-lawrence-seaway-and-power-project/.
It cuts through the centre of the continent linking all of the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. Long the ambition of governments, industry, and continentalist visionaries, the St. Lawrence Seaway fulfilled the mid-century modernist dream of transforming the Great Lake cities of North America into international seaports.
Between 1954 and 1959, Canada and the United States jointly constructed a series of canals and locks to create a single navigable system from the port at Montreal through the Great Lakes. Building upon previous navigational improvements, including the various Welland Canals, the St. Lawrence Seaway opened for business in 1959. It was both an ecological and a diplomatic breakthrough.
The history of the seaway is one of tremendous Earth-moving high modernism and complicated international diplomacy. And Daniel Macfarlane’s new book, Negotiating a River: Canada, the US, and the Creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway, takes readers through the fascinating environmental and diplomatic history of the St. Lawrence Seaway. (From Nature’s Past)
Music credits: “Forgotten 12-string” by Clarence Simpson, “Cassettes” by Nethis, “The Writer” by Nethis
Nature’s Past podcasts are posted on a monthly basis on the website of the Network in Canadian History & Environment / Nouvelle initiative Canadienne en histoire de l’environnement (NiCHE). The podcasts contain discussion about the environmental history community and research in Canada. They are hosted by Sean Kheraj, an assistant professor in the Department of History at York University in Toronto, Canada.
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