Chapter 22 Further Reading: The New Deal in the Mountains — TVA, the CCC, and Federal Transformation

Lilienthal, David E. TVA: Democracy on the March. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1944. The classic defense of TVA by its most articulate champion — David Lilienthal, who served on the original three-member board and became chairman in 1941. Lilienthal presents TVA as a model of democratic planning, a partnership between government and the people of the Valley. The book is essential reading not because it is objective (it is not) but because it articulates the New Deal vision with passion and eloquence. Read it alongside the oral histories of displaced families for a fuller picture of what TVA meant to different people.

McDonald, Michael J., and John Muldowny. TVA and the Dispossessed: The Resettlement of Population in the Norris Dam Area. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1982. The definitive study of the human cost of TVA's first dam. McDonald and Muldowny document the forced relocation of families from the Norris Basin with meticulous attention to the experiences of the displaced. Their work corrects the triumphalist narrative of TVA by centering the voices of the people who lost their homes and land to the reservoir. Essential for understanding the displacement theme of this chapter.

Brown, Margaret Lynn. The Wild East: A Biography of the Great Smoky Mountains. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2000. A comprehensive environmental and human history of the Great Smoky Mountains that places the creation of the national park within the longer history of the region — from Cherokee occupation through logging to tourism. Brown's account of the displacement of mountain families is thorough and sympathetic, and her analysis of the tensions between conservation and community is among the best available.

Perdue, Charles L., Jr., and Nancy J. Martin-Perdue. "Appalachian Fables and Facts: A Case Study of the Shenandoah National Park Removals." Appalachian Journal 7, nos. 1-2 (Autumn-Winter 1979-1980): 84-104. A foundational article that challenged the official narrative of the Shenandoah removals. The Perdues documented the coercive nature of the displacement and the contemptuous characterizations of mountain residents used to justify it. Their work opened a line of scholarly inquiry that has fundamentally changed how the creation of Shenandoah is understood. Highly recommended for students interested in the intersection of conservation and social justice.

Whisnant, Anne Mitchell. Super-Scenic Motorway: A Blue Ridge Parkway History. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006. The definitive history of the Blue Ridge Parkway — from its conception as a New Deal project through its decades-long construction to its current status as the most visited unit of the National Park System. Whisnant examines the Parkway as a cultural project as well as an engineering one, analyzing how the road constructed a particular vision of Appalachia for tourist consumption. Her treatment of the displacement of families along the route and the curation of the scenic landscape is essential context for this chapter.

Salmond, John A. The Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1942: A New Deal Case Study. Durham: Duke University Press, 1967. The standard history of the CCC, covering its creation, operations, and legacy across the country. Salmond's account of the program's quasi-military structure, its racial segregation, and its educational components provides the national context for understanding the CCC camps described in this chapter. While not Appalachia-specific, it is the essential starting point for CCC research.

Haid, John. Cades Cove: The Life and Death of a Southern Appalachian Community, 1818-1937. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1988. A detailed history of one of the communities displaced by the creation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Durwood Dunn tells the story of Cades Cove from its settlement in the early nineteenth century through its absorption into the park, documenting the rich community life that was erased when the families were removed. A reminder that the "historic" buildings tourists visit in Cades Cove were, within living memory, people's homes.

Kline, Benjamin. First Along the River: A Brief History of the U.S. Environmental Movement. Fourth edition. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2011. Places the creation of Appalachian national parks within the broader history of the American conservation movement. Useful for understanding why national park creation was considered an unambiguous good by urban conservationists who never had to give up their land for it, and for tracing the evolution of environmental thought from "preservation for scenery" to "justice for communities."

Hevener, John W. Which Side Are You On? The Harlan County Coal Miners, 1931-1939. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2002 reprint (originally 1978). While focused primarily on the labor conflicts of the 1930s (covered in Chapter 17), Hevener provides essential context for understanding why the New Deal was received with such intensity in the coalfields. The coal communities that had been brutalized by the labor wars experienced the New Deal's arrival in a context of acute need and deep suspicion of outside authority. Hevener's account illuminates the political landscape into which TVA, the CCC, and the REA arrived.

Cook, Samuel R. Monacans and Miners: Native American and Coal Mining Communities in Appalachia. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2000. An important corrective that includes Indigenous perspectives on the transformations of the New Deal era. Cook documents how Native American communities in Appalachia — including the Monacan Indian Nation of Virginia — experienced the same federal programs that are usually narrated exclusively through the experiences of white mountain families. A reminder that the mountains' diversity did not begin or end with European settlement.

Arthurdale Heritage, Inc. Online archives and exhibits. arthurdaleheritage.org. The preservation organization that maintains the Arthurdale community's New Deal history offers online access to photographs, documents, and oral histories related to the subsistence homestead experiment. A valuable primary source collection for students investigating the Arthurdale case.

Documentary: The Appalachians. PBS, 2005. Written and directed by Mari-Lynn Evans and Phyllis Geller. This multi-part PBS documentary series includes substantial coverage of the New Deal era in Appalachia, with archival footage, oral histories, and expert commentary. The segments on TVA, the CCC, and the national parks provide visual context for the stories told in this chapter and are recommended for classroom use.