TVA plants produced chemicals such as phosphorus, used in the manufacture of fertilizer and munitions. Though criticized for displacing communities, the TVA benefitted the economy and national defense.
Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
Electric phosphate-smelting furnace in a TVA chemical plant, Muscle Shoals, Alabama, photograph by Alfred T. Palmer, 1942
The Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), a federal public power provider, was born of persistent effort by Senator George Norris of Nebraska. Norris introduced legislation in 1926 that became the focus of prolonged congressional debate, especially over whether federal hydroelectric and munitions plants in Muscle Shoals, Alabama—built during World War I—should be privatized or part of expanded federal development. In 1933 Congress established the TVA as a federal entity. TVA-generated power proved crucial in home front defense production in World War II.
TVA plants produced chemicals such as phosphorus, used in the manufacture of fertilizer and munitions. Though criticized for displacing communities, the TVA benefitted the economy and national defense.
Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
