Prisoners of Myth

Prisoners of Myth
Author: Erwin C. Hargrove
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 391
Release: 1994-08-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 1400821533

Prisoners of Myth is the first comprehensive history of the Tennessee Valley Authority from its creation to the present day. It is also a telling case study of organizational evolution and decline. Building on Philip Selznick's classic work TVA and the Grass Roots (1949), a seminal text in the theoretical study of bureaucracy, Erwin Hargrove analyzes the organizational culture of the TVA by looking at the actions of its leaders over six decades--from the heroic years of the New Deal and World War II through the postwar period of consolidation and growth to the time of troubles from 1970 onward, when the TVA ran afoul of environmental legislation, built a massive nuclear power program that it could not control, and sought new missions for which there were no constituencies. The founding myth of multipurpose regional development was inappropriately pursued in the 1970s and '80s by leaders who became "prisoners of myth" in their attempt to keep the TVA heroic. A decentralized organization, which had worked well at the grass roots, was difficult to redirect as the nuclear genii spun out of control. TVA autonomy from Washington, once a virtue, obscured political accountability. This study develops an important new theory about institutional performance in the face of historical change.

TVA

TVA
Author: North Callahan
Publisher:
Total Pages: 434
Release: 1980
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

The Tennessee Valley Authority

The Tennessee Valley Authority
Author: Alanson A. Van Fleet
Publisher: Chelsea House Publications
Total Pages: 96
Release: 1987
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781555461232

Discusses the history, purposes, and future of the multifaceted TVA.

TVA Photography

TVA Photography
Author: Patricia Bernard Ezzell
Publisher:
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2003
Genre: Art
ISBN:

Given in memory of James C. Ross, Jr. by the Staff of the Bryan/College Station Library System.

Tennessee Valley Authority in Vintage Postcards

Tennessee Valley Authority in Vintage Postcards
Author: Mark Allen Stevenson
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 136
Release: 2005
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780738541525

Created by the federal government in 1933 to revitalize a region twice the size of New England, the Tennessee Valley Authority began as an experiment of unprecedented proportions. Seen here through picture postcards, the dramatic achievements of the TVA take on a personal aspect, as individuals visit the hydroelectric projects and enjoy the newly created recreational opportunities. Tangible benefits are also documented, such as improved navigation, new roads and bridges, and abundant and inexpensive electricity. Influenced by such visionaries as Gifford Pinchot, Theodore Roosevelt, and George Norris, the agency also dealt with regional issues, including river commerce, soil conservation, and flood control.

TVA Archaeology

TVA Archaeology
Author: Erin E. Pritchard
Publisher: Univ. of Tennessee Press
Total Pages: 374
Release: 2009
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1572336501

Since its inception in 1933, the Tennessee Valley Authority has played a dual role as federal agency and steward of the Tennessee River Valley. While known to most people today as an energy provider, the agency is also charged with managing and protecting the nation's fifth-largest river system, the Tennessee River, and vast tracts of land and resources encompassing Tennessee and portions of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia. Included in TVA's mandate is the preservation of the archaeological record of the valley's prehistoric peoples-a record that would have been forever lost beneath floodwaters had TVA not demonstrated a commitment to minimize its impact on the valley and sought to protect its archaeological resources. In TVA Archaeology, fourteen contributors who have worked with TVA in its conservation effort discuss prehistoric excavations conducted at Tellico, Normandy, Jonathan's Creek, and many other sites. They explore TVA's role in the excavations and how the agency facilitated prehistoric investigations along proposed dam sites. They also delve into the history of TVA as it grew from a New Deal program to a federal corporation and reveal how, during the agency's formative years, the TVA board responded to prodding from archaeologists David DeJarnette and William Webb and molded TVA into the steward of a region it is today. TVA remains a mainstay of progress and conservation within an important region of the United States, and its safeguarding of the valley's prehistory cements its legacy as more than just an energy supplier. Students and researchers interested in prehistoric archaeology, the Tennessee Valley, and the history of TVA will find this volume an invaluable contribution to the study of the region. Erin E. Pritchard is an archaeologist with the Tennessee Valley Authority. Her work includes multiple archaeological site investigations, most notably Dust Cave in northern Alabama, and she has authored and coauthored numerous site reports for TVA.

Tennessee's New Deal Landscape

Tennessee's New Deal Landscape
Author: Carroll Van West
Publisher: Univ. of Tennessee Press
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2001
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9781572331082

The indelible stamp of the New Deal can be seen across American in the public works projects that modernized the country even as they provided employment during the Great Depression. Tennessee, in particular, benefited from the surge in federal construction. The New Deal not only left the state with many public buildings and schools that are still in active use, but is conservation and reclamation efforts also changed the lives of Tennesseans for generations to come. In Tennessee's New Deal Landscape, Caroll Van West examines over 250 historic sites created from 1933 to 1942: courthouses, post offices, community buildings, schools, and museums, along with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Cherokee National Forest, and the dams and reservoirs of the Tennessee Valley Authority. He describes the significant and impact of each project and provides maps to guide readers to the sites described. West discusses architectural styles that are often difficult to identity, and his lively narrative points out some of the paradoxes of New Deal projects-such as the proliferation of leisure parks during the nation's darkest hours. In highlighting these projects, he shows that Tennessee owes much not only to TVA but also to many other agencies and individuals who left their mark on the landscape through roads, levees, and reforested hillsides as well as buildings. An invaluable resource for travelers as well as scholars, this book reveals a legacy of historic treasures that are well worth preserving. The Author: Carroll Van West is projects manager for the Center of Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee State University. The author of Tennessee's Historic Landscapes, he most recently edited the volumes Tennessee History: The Land, the People, and the Culture and the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. He is also senior editor of the Tennessee Historic Quarterly.

The Snail Darter and the Dam

The Snail Darter and the Dam
Author: Zygmunt Jan Broel Plater
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 516
Release: 2013-06-18
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0300195265

DIVEven today, thirty years after the legal battles to save the endangered snail darter, the little fish that blocked completion of a TVA dam is still invoked as an icon of leftist extremism and governmental foolishness. In this eye-opening book, the lawyer who with his students fought and won the Supreme Court case—known officially as Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill—tells the hidden story behind one of the nation’s most significant environmental law battles. /divDIV The realities of the darter’s case, Plater asserts, have been consistently mischaracterized in politics and the media. This book offers a detailed account of the six-year crusade against a pork-barrel project that made no economic sense and was flawed from the start. In reality TVA’s project was designed for recreation and real estate development. And at the heart of the little group fighting the project in the courts and Congress were family farmers trying to save their homes and farms, most of which were to be resold in a corporate land development scheme. Plater’s gripping tale of citizens navigating the tangled corridors of national power stimulates important questions about our nation’s governance, and at last sets the snail darter’s record straight. /div