National Archives at Atlanta

Science and Technology Records at the National Archives at Atlanta

 
Tennessee Valley Authority   RG 435 - Indian Arts and Crafts Board

Guide to Science and Technology Holdings

This guide describes records that contain valuable historical information relating to the environment, including land use, natural resources, water, and wildlife, as well as scientific and technological advances in aeronautics, atomic energy, civil and marine engineering, and public health.


RG 142 - Tennessee Valley Authority

Administers a unified program of resource conservation, development, and use in the Tennessee River Valley. Encourages the economic development of the region.

Agricultural Relations

Correspondence
This series contains correspondence regarding the development and management of agricultural resources, farming methods, fertilizer development, and soil conservation.

 

Correspondence Files
This series contains correspondence regarding the development and management of agricultural resources, farming methods, fertilizer development, and soil conservation.
Directors' Correspondence

 

Director's Correspondence

This series contains correspondence of the Agricultural Division's directors: J. C. McAmis, E. O. Flippen, George M. Rommel, and Jasper Burnette.


Engineering, Design, and Construction

Construction Progress Negatives

These photographs record all major stages of construction from site selection through completion of construction on Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) fossil, hydro, nuclear, and coal gasification projects. In addition to construction negatives, general activities of people, places and events including portraits, pictures of dedication ceremonies, general managers, presentations, and other similar subjects are included.
 

 

Project Histories and Reports

This series consists of project histories and periodic reports documenting the planning, design, and construction of Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) projects. Photographs, drawings, charts, and maps are filed among the reports. Project histories and reports present detailed and comprehensive accounts of TVA's progress in designing and constructing large engineering projects, such as dams and power-generating plants. Records in this series reference the following TVA projects: Wilson Dam, Norris Dam, Wheeler Dam, Pickwick Landing, Hiwassee Dam, Guntersville Dam, Chickamauga Dam, Gilbertsville Dam, Watts Bar Dam, Fort Loudon Dam, Hales Bar Dam, Cherokee Dam, Appalachia Dam, Chatuge Dam, Nottely Dam, Ocoee Dam, Fontana Dam, South Holston Dam, Watauga Dam, Douglas Dam, Wilbur Dam, Johnsonville Steam Plant, Boone Dam, Fort Patrick Henry Dam, Widows Creek Steam Plant, Godwin Phosphate Plant, Kingston Steam Plant, Shawnee Steam Plant, Colbert Steam Plant, Memphis Area Steam Plant, Jon Sevier Steam Plant, Gallatin Steam Plant, Chilhowee Dam, Colbert Steam Plant, Melton Hill Dam, Steam Plant G, Shannon Creek Project, Knoxville Area Steam Plant, Paradise Steam Plant, Bull Rum Steam Plant, Beech River Project, Raccoon Mountain Pumped Storage Project, Nickajack Dam, Decatur Area Steam Plant, Lost Creek Dam, Piney Creek Dam, Browns Creek Dam, Tellico Dam, Dry Creek Dam, Big Creek Dam, Tims Ford Dam, Can Creek Development Project, Clear Creek Project or Bristol Flood Protection Project, Land Between the Lakes Projects, Bear Creek Dam, Oostenaula Creek Dam, U.S. Public Health Service - TVA Composting Plant, Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Columbia - Upper Duck River Project, Sugar Creek Dam, Sevierville Flood Protection Project, Yellow Creek Nuclear Plant, Coeburn Flood Control Project, Oliver Springs Redevelopment Project, Cumberland Steam Plant, Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, Buffalo Scenic Spillway, Little Bear Creek Dam, Mills River Dam, Harriman - Rockwood Industrial Corridor, Thomas H. Allen Steam Plant, Shelby Substation and Transmission Line, Johnson City Composting Plant, Bellefonte Nuclear Plant, Briceville Flood Relief Project, Hartsville Nuclear Plant, Clinch River Breeder Reactor Plant, Camp Breckenridge, Timberlake New Community, and Phipps Bend Nuclear Plant. This series documents the technical development and growth of electrical power in the Tennessee River Valley Region.

 

Wilson Dam Construction Photographs
This series contains 256 photographs documenting various stages of the construction of Wilson Dam.


General Manager and Board of Directors

Administrative Files

This series consists of correspondence accumulated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) General Manager's Office. Frequently, memoranda, authorizations, periodic reports, informational publications, newspaper clippings, speeches, press releases, and other records are filed among the correspondence. Records contain information on administrative and program concerns such as legislation and legal matters affecting TVA, budget and finance, personnel, agency organization, and various administrative recommendations and decisions. This series includes correspondence to and from federal agencies, members of the U.S. Congress, private companies and organizations, state and private universities, foreign countries, Tennessee River Valley residents, and the general public. Federal government entities involved in the correspondence include, but are not limited to, the War Labor Board, Office of the Chief of Engineers, Civil Conservation Corps, General Services Administration, National Resources Planning Board, Office of Price Administration, Office of Economic Warfare, Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service. Topics and TVA programs referenced in this series include, but are not limited to, rural electrification, agricultural chemical production and utilization, natural resources, chemical engineering, power resources and production, and agriculture cooperatives, among others. Records pertain to communities impacted by the following TVA dam projects: Norris, Wheeler, Wilson, Pickwick, Guntersville, Chickamauga, Gilbertsville, Watts Bar, Fort Loudoun, Hales Bar, Cherokee, Hiwassee, and Great Falls, among others.


Board of Directors Minutes

This series consists of minutes containing the official record of discussions held and actions taken during Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Board of Directors meetings. The minutes document the decisions and accomplishments of the TVA Board of Directors. The minutes date from the first TVA Board Meeting held at the Willard Hotel in Washington D.C. on June 16, 1933. Although these records are copies, they contain original signatures.

 

Lewis Hine Photographs

In 1933, after submitting an outline for an introductory photographic survey of Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) projects, Lewis W. Hine was hired to do a one month (10/20/33-11/26/33) assignment in East Tennessee. Although he was quite pleased with the initial results of this assignment, Hine was unable to continue along the same lines because the TVA preferred that he instead photograph charts, plans, and installations. This series consists of the original photographic negatives and corresponding modern prints of mountaineer families forced to vacate their homes and lands because of the construction of Norris Dam, rock drilling at the dam site, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers, industries in Kingsport, and examples of local folk crafts and culture.

 

Lilienthal's Correspondence Files

This series consists of correspondence files created by David E. Lilienthal's office during his time as a Director of the Tennessee Valley Authority. The files cover such topics as, but are not limited to, agriculture, aluminum production for the War Department, flood control, electricity, land use planning, malaria, land reclamation, soil conservation, river engineering and surveys, power production, dam construction, and consumer power rates.


Reservoir Properties

Family Removal and Population Readjustment Case Files

This series consists of case histories and family surveys which demonstrate the land ownership, income, expenditures, agricultural commodity production, and overall lifestyle of individuals affected by the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) acquisition of land for dam and power production projects. The information provided by each case file varies among TVA projects and ranges from very detailed forms to brief coded cards. The files may mention social service and community groups, which assisted often in TVA relocation efforts. Dam projects, reservoirs, and lakes referenced in this series include Appalachia, Boone, Chatuge, Cherokee, Chickamauga, Fort Patrick Henry, Fort Loudon, Guntersville, Hiwassee, John Sevier Steam Plant, Norris, Nottely, Pickwick, South Holston, Watauga, Watts Bar, and Wheeler.

 

Family Removal Case Files for land Between the Lakes

This series contains case files relating to the removal of families due to the Tennessee Valley Authority's Land Between the Lakes project. The files are for families from Stewart County, Tennessee and Trigg County, Kentucky. Each file contains a household survey which includes the names of the household members, employment, and farm operations. The files often include a narrative about the family which was composed by the case worker.


Resource Group

Cemetery Relocation Files

This series consists primarily of permits granting consent from the family of the deceased for disinterment and relocation and witnessed documentation regarding the contents of each grave upon disinterment. Disinterment documentation usually contains the deceased's birth date, cause of death, grave marker inscriptions, and closest family member at the time of death. The name of the deceased's new cemetery, new grave site number, and new grave markers are included if applicable. This series also contains cemetery data for each Tennessee Valley Authority project. Cemetery data may include maps of cemeteries and surrounding land, photographs of cemeteries and cemetery monuments, and photographs of grave excavations. Additionally, legal documentation pertaining to the disinterment of individuals and the use of land for cemeteries is included often to verify procedures used in grave and cemetery removal operations. Official correspondence and interoffice memoranda concerning removal procedures is included with supporting documentation by project when available.


Oral History Records

This series consists of oral history interviews with former Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) employees and Tennessee Valley residents. Each file contains the original recorded interview as well as a transcribed version of the interview.


River System and Environment

Historic Photograph Collection
This series contains photographs which chronicle the development and growth of the Tennessee Valley Authority. These photographs depict the construction of dams, housing projects, Tennessee Valley Authority employees, and promotional flyers.


RG 255 - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

 

Guide to National Aeronautics and Space Administration Records

 

This finding aid lists and describes the record series that are available in NASA holdings.

 

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