That there is no problem with the smog.”Īs McPhee alluded to, the reactions of Donora residents - or lack thereof - to the smog was deeply rooted in the economic and social structure of the town.Ī south-facing view of McKean Avenue from between Fifth and Sixth streets. “Something that we deal with around here in the mid-Mon Valley, and I think all over Pennsylvania - probably all over the United States - is this willful ignorance attitude that people have. “As a teacher for over 30 years, I discovered that we can’t make people learn,” Charlton says. To McPhee, the 75-year span between the air quality emergency and now has left conversations about Donora equally stagnant.īrian Charlton, curator and archivist for the Donora Smog Museum, says the biggest challenge of telling the story is people’s willingness to listen.