Transforming the South: Federal Development in the Tennessee Valley, 1915-1960 (Making the Modern South)

Downs, Matthew L.

ISBN 10: 0807157147 / ISBN 13: 9780807157145

Editore: Louisiana State University Press, 2014

Codice articolo 0807157147-3-33471125

Riassunto:

Historians have long recognized the middle of the twentieth century as significant in the history of the modern South, owing to a convergence of social change, political realignment, and cultural expansion. This period in southern history has provided extensive material for scholars of race, gender, and politics. In addition, sweeping economic changes spread throughout the South, permanently shifting the area's material resources. Transforming the South examines this transition from farm to factory and explores the dramatic reshaping of the region's economy.

Matthew L. Downs focuses on three developments in the Tennessee Valley: the World War I-era government nitrate plants and hydroelectric dams at Muscle Shoals, Alabama; the extensive work completed by the Tennessee Valley Authority; and Cold War/Space Age defense investment in Huntsville, Alabama. Downs argues that the modernization of the Sunbelt economy depended on cooperation between regional leaders and federal funders. Local boosters lobbied to receive federal funds for their communities while simultaneously forming economic development organizations that would prepare those communities for further growth. Economic reform also drove social reform: as members of historically disenfranchised groups attained employment in the new industrial workforce, they gained financial and political capital to push for social change.

Transforming the South considers the role played by the recipients of government funds in the mid-twentieth century and demonstrates how communities exerted an unparalleled influence over the federal investments that shaped the southern economy.

Informazioni sull?autore: Matthew L. Downs is assistant professor of history at the University of Mobile.

Dati bibliografici

Titolo: Transforming the South: Federal Development ...
Casa editrice: Louisiana State University Press
Data di pubblicazione: 2014
Legatura: Hardcover
Condizione: Good