HOORAY FOR THE TVA!

Nearly a century ago, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) brought electricity to a part of the country that was desperate for help. Established on May 18, 1933, the TVA covers most of Tennessee and parts of the six surrounding states: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia. Today, it provides power service across 80,000 square miles, and it provides electricity to nearly 10 million people. COBBLESTONE talked with historian Pat Bernard Ezell and public relations spokesperson Scott Fiedler about how the TVA transformed the region.

Can you describe what was going in the United States before the TVA was established in 1933?

As you know, the Great Depression was taking place across the United States. There were bank failures in 1929. But as bad as conditions were elsewhere in the nation, they were worse in the Tennessee Valley. In 1933, this part of the country faced multiple challenges. It lagged  in almost every indicator: jobs, schools, health. Rural