TVA Photography, 1963-2008: Challenges and Changes in the Tennessee Valley

Sequel to TVA Photography: Thirty Years of Life in the Tennessee Valley, this book highlights the agency’s history in photography taken from 1963 through the present. TVA, a New Deal agency created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, celebrates its seventy-fifth year in 2008. Photographs begin with President John F. Kennedy’s promising visit to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, on the occasion of TVA’s thirtieth anniversary. Within months, the president would be assassinated, and the country would face major social upheaval. Struggles related to civil rights, the Vietnam War, environmental awareness, and finally Watergate would strain the public’s faith in government. With the passage of environmental legislation such as the Clean Air Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act, TVA found itself in a new political and legislative climate. These new policies sometimes resulted in controversial actions, such as the development of a nuclear power program and the construction of Tellico Dam. Many of the decisions made in the 1960s and 1970s led to significant and, at times, difficult transitions in the agency in the 1980s and 1990s. Today, TVA continues its mission to improve the quality of life in the region. Through the use of photographs from the agency’s official records, this book documents a challenging and sometimes controversial era in TVA’s history.