Collection Title: Jackson Purchase Oral History Project – Kentucky Dam Project
Series Number: OH212
Interviewee: Moore, Robert
Interviewer: Rousey, Eric
Date interviewed: November 22, 1995
Processed by: Wesley Bolin and Jessica Davis in November 2013.
Date processed: April 17, 2013
Description: 2 sound discs (69 minutes)
Abstract: Robert Moore discusses his experiences working on the Kentucky Dam during the 1940s. He mentions his early childhood on a farm at Little Cypress, Kentucky and the Flood of 1937 which destroyed his family home. He describes his terms of employment with the Tennessee Valley Authority and responsibilities as a laborer and a machinist's apprentice. He recalled the accidental deaths of two workers, joining the laborers union, a three day strike that occurred in 1940 and relationships between management and employees. He also discusses the impact the dam had on nearby communities.
Biographical / Historical note: Robert Moore was born in Little Cypress, Marshall County, Kentucky, where he grew up and worked on his family farm. His family home was lost during the Flood of 1937. In 1940, he was hired by the Tennessee Valley Authority as a laborer and machinist's apprentice when the Kentucky Dam was under construction. Moore worked for six months as a machinist before being reassigned to deliver water to other employees working on the Dam's locks and spillway. After the Dam's completion, he worked as a machinist's assistant for eleven years in the power plant.
General information: No user access to original recordings. Use audio user copies, digital derivatives, transcripts, and/or tape indexes. This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code). Permission for reproduction must be requested from Murray State University.
Subject Headings / Descriptors:
Moore, Robert.
Little Cypress (Ky.) – History.
Kentucky Dam (Ky.)
Tennessee Valley Authority.
Dams – Kentucky.
Land Between the Lakes (Ky. And Tenn.) – History.
