Joel A. Tarr (born 1934) is an American
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
and a University Professor
Emeritus
''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus".
In some c ...
in the at
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...
. A History Department member since 1967, in 1990 he became the
Richard S. Caliguiri University
Professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
of Urban and Environmental History and Policy, a position he still holds as Professor Emeritus. His research includes
environmental and
urban development
Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to:
* Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas
* Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities
Urban may also refer to:
General
* Urban (name), a list of peop ...
and systems and their effects.
Tarr was born and raised in
.
He received both a bachelor's and master's degree from
Rutgers University
Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...
, and continued on to receive his Ph.D. from
Northwestern University
Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
in 1963.
In 2008, the
Society for the History of Technology awarded Tarr its highest award, the
Leonardo da Vinci Medal.
During his tenure at Carnegie Mellon, Tarr held, at various points, the positions of head of the Department of History, Acting Dean of the
Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Acting Dean of the
School of Urban and Public Affairs, director of the Program in Technology and Society, and co-director of the Program in Applied History and Social Science.
Tarr co-authored a book in 2007 with
Clay McShane titled, ''Horse in the City: Living Machines in the Nineteenth Century''. In 1989, Tarr received the Abel Wolman award from the American Public Works Association for his book titled ''Technology and the Networked City in Europe and America'' (co-edited with Gabriel DuPuy).
Selected Works
Books
* DuPuy, Gabriel, and Joel A. Tarr (editors)
''Technology and the Rise of the Networked City in Europe and America'' Philadelphia:
Temple University Press
Temple University Press is a university press founded in 1969 that is part of Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). It is one of thirteen publishers to participate in the Knowledge Unlatched pilot, a global library consortium approach ...
, 1988.
* McShane, Clay, and Joel A. Tarr
''The Horse in the City: Living Machines in the Nineteenth Century'' Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins University Press
Johns Hopkins University Press (also referred to as JHU Press or JHUP) is the publishing division of Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and is the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The press publi ...
, 2007.
* Muller, Edward K., and Joel A. Tarr
''Making Industrial Pittsburgh Modern: Environment, Landscape, Transportation, Energy, and Planning'' Pittsburgh:
University of Pittsburgh Press
The University of Pittsburgh Press is a scholarly publishing house and a major American university press, part of the University of Pittsburgh. The university and the press are located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States.
The press ...
, 2019.
* Tarr, Joel A. (editor)
''Devastation and Renewal: An Environmental History of Pittsburgh and Its Region'' Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2004.
* Tarr, Joel A
''Transportation Innovation and Changing Spatial Patterns in Pittsburgh, 1850-1934'' Chicago: Public Works Historical Society, 1978.
* Tarr, Joel A
''The Search for the Ultimate Sink: Urban Pollution in Historical Perspective'' Akron:
University of Akron Press, 1996.
* Tarr, Joel A
''A Study in Boss Politics: William Lorimer of Chicago'' University of Illinois Press
The University of Illinois Press (UIP) is an American university press and is part of the University of Illinois System. Founded in 1918, the press publishes some 120 new books each year, thirty-three scholarly journals, and several electroni ...
, 1971.
Articles
* Nicholas Muller and Joel A. Tarr, “The McKeesport Natural Gas Boom, 1919-1921,” ''Journal of Energy History'' (September 22, 2020).
https://energyhistory.eu/en/varia/mckeesport-natural-gas-boom-1919-1921.
* Tarr, Joel A., and Karen Clay. "Boom and Bust in Pittsburgh Natural Gas History: Development, Policy, and Environmental Effects, 1878–1920." ''Pennsylvania Magazine of History & Biography'', (October, 2015).
* Tarr, Joel A., and David Stradling. “Cities and the Mobility of Nature: Landslide Hazards in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.” ''Environmental History'' 29, no. 1 (January 1, 2024): 118–49.
https://doi.org/10.1086/728005.
* Tarr, Joel A. “Illuminating the Streets, Alleys, Parks and Suburbs of the American City: Non-Networked Technologies, 1870-1920.” ''History and Technology'' 36, no. 1 (January 2, 2020): 105–28.
https://doi.org/10.1080/07341512.2020.1739816.
* Tarr, Joel A. "Industrial Waste Disposal in the United States as a Historical Problem,” ''Ambix: The Journal of the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry'' 49 (Mar. 2002), 4-20.
* Tarr, Joel A. “The Metabolism of the Industrial City: The Case of Pittsburgh,” ''Journal of Urban History'' 28 (July 2002), 511-545.
* Tarr, Joel A. “Toxic Legacy: The Environmental Impact of the Manufactured Gas Industry in the United States.” ''Technology and Culture'' 55, no. 1 (2014): 107–47.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/24468399.
References
External links
*
Joel Tarr's author page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarr, Joel A.
1934 births
Living people
21st-century American historians
21st-century American male writers
Carnegie Mellon University faculty
Northwestern University alumni
Rutgers University alumni
Leonardo da Vinci Medal recipients
American male non-fiction writers
Environmental historians