Lois Gibbs
(1952-)

American Environmental Activist
1990 Goldman Environmental Prize
Heinz Award Winner

birthdate: June 25
birthplace:
?

She was "just a housewife" in 1976 when she found out something very disturbing. Because she became concerned about the health problems affecting her own family and the families of those in her neighborhood of Love Canal, New York she began to do some research. By reading some documents relating to the Love Canal area, Lois Gibbs realized that there were 20,000 tons of chemicals buried in the land around them. But when her son came down with pneumonia and she learned that his school was built right on top of another toxic waste dump, she organized herself and her neighbors into environmental activism. Their fight against the companies responsible for the toxic dumps lasted four years, but in the end, President Carter himself stepped in and ordered that the 900 families living in Love Canal be paid to evacuate their homes. Mrs. Gibbs and her neighbors brought about the beginnings of the Superfund, which now exists to clean up hazardous material sites all around the country. In 1981, Lois Gibbs created the Center for Health, Environment and Justice which continues to help communities around the country to organize, research information, and lobby for action.

Bio © Larry Auld

 

Kids | Youth | Adults | Calendar | Quotes | Heroes | Stories | The EMILY Fund | Scholarships
DO ONE THING and BetterWorld Kids Clubs are projects of The EMILY Fund (The Emily Silverstein Fund, Inc.)
Hero portraits are included for illustration purposes only - no celebrity endorsement implied

The Emily Fund
Education, Mentorship, Inspiration, Leadership, Youth
- for a Better
World

PO Box 430
Roosevelt, NJ 08555-0430
info@EmilyFund.org