American Agriculture History Minute: Tennessee Valley Authority Act Passes

I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute.

In the early 1930s, roughly 9 out of 10 rural homes were still without electric power. Farm families quickly learned to use every minute of sunlight for outdoor chores and lift their homes with kerosene lanterns at night.

That would begin to change in May 1933, passage of the Tennessee Valley Authority Act. And a year later, President Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act, but it would be until the mid-1950s before a majority of rural America had electric service.

That’s today’s American Agriculture History Minute. I’m Mark Oppold. Thanks for reading. I’ll see you next time.