Mary P. Sinclair
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Mary P. Sinclair (September 23, 1918 – January 14, 2011) was an American environmental activist and "one of the nation’s foremost lay authorities on nuclear energy and its impact on the natural and human environment"."Mary Sinclair"
Michigan Women's Hall of Fame, Inductee profiles


Early life

She was born Mary Jean Palcich, raised in
Chisholm, Minnesota Chisholm is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 4,775 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city has been called "The Heart of the Iron Range" due to its location i ...
where she was high school valedictorian, then graduated from the College of St. Catherine in
St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...
. Subsequently, she was a teacher and editor for ''Chemical Industries'' magazine. She worked as a librarian at the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, where she met and married William Sinclair in 1945. After his graduation from
Georgetown University Law Center Georgetown University Law Center is the Law school in the United States, law school of Georgetown University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law ...
, the couple moved to his previous home town of
Midland, Michigan Midland is a city in Midland County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The population was 42,547 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Midland metropolitan statistical area, part of the larger Saginaw-Midland-Bay City ...
. Mary took a job as a technical researcher at
Dow Chemical Company The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company was among the three largest chemical producers in the world in 2021. It is the operating subsidiary of Dow Inc., ...
, and the couple had five children. She also worked for the Atomic Energy Commission as a technical writer, abstracting research reports"Mary P. Sinclair"
Legacy.com Obituaries, January 15, 2011
Lascari, Tony

Midland Daily News, January 15, 2011


Activism

When Consumers Power announced their intentions to build the
Palisades Nuclear Generating Station The Palisades Nuclear Generating Station is a moth-balled nuclear power plant located on Lake Michigan, in Van Buren County's Covert Township, Michigan, on a site south of South Haven, Michigan, USA. Palisades was operated by the Nuclear Man ...
on the shoreline of
Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...
in 1967, Mary Sinclair's background in nuclear fission technology prompted her to write a letter to the editor questioning the safety of several elements of their plan. Soon after that, a nuclear plant was proposed to supply power for Dow Chemical in Midland, Michigan where she lived. Sinclair became more vocal in her opposition. She complained that important information was not being made public, and citizens had a right to know about the risks and problems that could affect their health and future. According to the
Bentley Historical Library The Bentley Historical Library is the campus archive for the University of Michigan and is located on the University of Michigan's North Campus in Ann Arbor. It was established in 1935 by the regents of the University of Michigan. Its mission ...
at the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
, her papers "illustrate how one individual's efforts can have a wide and far-reaching impact on environmental issues". She published the paper ''Nuclear Power and Public Concern'' in 1970. The document posed questions about nuclear power risks to government experts, scientists and academic scholars, and detailed their responses. She debated nuclear power safety with a Consumers Power Company vice president in 1974.
Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the ...
carried the show nationally, and the transcript was printed in the Michigan Education Association's publication, ''Teacher’s Voice''. Sinclair campaigned for the
Michigan House of Representatives The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2020 ...
from the 102nd District in 1980, but was defeated in the general election."Sinclair, Mary P."
Political Graveyard
Cracks in the containment building's foundation and sinking caused the Midland Nuclear Power Project to be abandoned in 1984 and a fossil-fueled plant was built instead. Sinclair turned her attention back to the problem of nuclear waste disposal and the federal government's failure to provide a comprehensive solution to the nuclear waste problem over several decades. In late 1992, the
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
identified Sinclair as being "at the forefront of a battle...around the country, as utilities seek to build
casks A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids ...
to hold the spent fuel"Wald, Matthew L.
"Battling Nuclear Waste in Michigan"
New York Times, December 08, 1992
Nuclear plants were constructing 100-ton concrete-and-steel storage containers to hold nuclear waste on the same property where the reactors were located and close to large bodies of water. Sinclair and her network of activists wrote letters opposing this practice. She also testified at many public hearings on nuclear energy and authored numerous papers and articles.


Repercussions

Dow Chemical is the largest employer in Midland, and her opposition to the high profile project considered important to Dow caused a backlash against Sinclair and her family. Their mailbox was blown up, they received threatening letters on their lawn, and were spat upon in public. Her husband's law practice was boycotted and the brake line on the family vehicle was cut. Still, Sinclair persevered. After the Midland reactor project was cancelled, a Consumers Power spokesperson commented, "I want to blame her but I don’t want to give her any credit."
A True Blue Progressive, June 14, 2011


Higher education

Sinclair continued her education at the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
earning a Master's degree, then taught and lectured on ''Energy and the Environment'' at UM from 1973 to 1978. She entered the Doctorate program in 1988. Six years later, at age 75, she was named a
Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...
in the field of
Environmental communication Environmental communication is "the dissemination of information and the implementation of communication practices that are related to the Natural environment, environment. In the beginning, environmental communication was a narrow area of commun ...
s; specifically resource policy and environmental education.


Honors

In 1984, Sinclair was honored as one of 12 "Women of the Year" by ''
Ms. Magazine ''Ms.'' is an American feminist magazine co-founded in 1971 by journalist and social/political activist Gloria Steinem. It was the first national American feminist magazine. The original editors were Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Mary Thom, Pat Carbine ...
''. and she was one of the “Ten Michiganians of the Year” chosen by the ''
Detroit News ''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival ''Detroit Free Press'' building. ''The News'' absorbed the ''Detroit Tribune'' on February ...
''. The CBS newsmagazine ''
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...
'' profiled her on January 27, 1985, and in 1990, she was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame. She was selected as Michigan's “Environmental Women of Action” in 1992 in a program sponsored by Tambrands which recognized one woman from each state."Tambrands Honors 51 Environmental Women of Action"
PR Newswire, February 26, 1992
Her story was told in Mary Joy Breton's 2000 book ''Women Pioneers for the Environment'', and the Catholic Church honored Sinclair and
Helen Casey Helen Casey (born 6 February 1974 in Stockport) is a British rower. She rowed in the Women's Lightweight Double Sculls at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics and studied at Worcester College, Oxford. She first started to row in her final year ...
for their commitment to peace and the environment as "Jubilee Women" in 2000. Other organizations that have recognized her environmental work include her alma mater the College of St. Catherine, Women Lawyers of Michigan, the New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution, the American Ethical Union, and the Great Lakes Women’s Network Symposium on Women, Peace and the Environment.


Death

Sinclair moved from Midland to Massachusetts in the late 2000s to be near her daughter, Rosemary. She died following a brief illness on January 14, 2011.


References


Further reading

''Women Pioneers For The Environment'' by Mary Jo Breton, , March 9, 2000


External links


"Great Lakes Commentary: the Nuclear Threat to the Great Lakes"
by Mary Sinclair, Ph.D, Toledo Journal of Great Lakes' Law, Science & Policy, Fall 1999

Mary P. Sinclair {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinclair, Mary P. 1918 births 2011 deaths St. Catherine University alumni People from Chisholm, Minnesota People from Midland, Michigan University of Michigan alumni University of Michigan faculty American environmentalists American women environmentalists American anti–nuclear power activists Dow Chemical Company employees American women academics 21st-century American women