Power To The People! Rural Electrification in Georgia
A Russell Library exhibit
September 24, 2005-September 30, 2006 |
Film Series
For most people born after 1950 in Georgia it is hard to imagine life without electricity. But for many people born earlier, particularly in rural areas of the state, the memories of life without electricity are hard to forget: No running water, no refrigerators, no electric lights inside or outside, laundry day without a washing machine, milking cows by hand, and watering crops with buckets and ditches—the list was endless!
Even though private electric companies provided power to towns and cities around the state of Georgia starting in the late 19th century, these companies found providing electricity to rural areas too expensive to undertake—too few customers per mile of line. Consequently, most people living in rural Georgia could not get electricity until President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) to bring electricity to rural places.
In Georgia, rural people learned that they too might have a chance to get electricity and with it a chance at a better life. With hard work and dedication, leaders in rural communities convinced neighbors to sign up for electricity and to become members of electric cooperatives. These electric membership cooperatives (EMCs) worked diligently to obtain loans from Washington and to build their network of electric lines; in just over 10 years, 42 cooperatives were operating in Georgia—forever altering the landscape and patterns of living for rural Georgians.
This landmark transition in the development of Georgia into a modern state is the subject of an exhibit open Sept. 24, 2005 through Sept. 30, 2006: “Power to the People! Rural Electrification in Georgia” at the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, a political archives and museum at the University of Georgia in Athens.
