Collection Title: Jackson Purchase Oral History Project – Kentucky Dam Project
Series Number: OH217
Interviewee: Phillips, Mary & Joe
Interviewer: Rousey, Eric
Date interviewed: January 5, 1995
Processed by: Jessica Davis in October of 2013.
Date processed: November 14, 2013
Description: 2 sound discs (82 minutes)
Abstract: Mary Broadfoot Phillips recalls her father's activities during the construction of the Kentucky Dam from 1939 to the early 1950s. She describes living at Kentucky Dam Village from 1940 to 1945. She remembers the community being very close and that many had resided at other Tennessee Valley Authority built villages elsewhere. She recollected temporary housing in 1939 being brought up by barge from other TVA construction sites and the later building of permanent houses. She mentioned social events and activities, the effects of the Second World War, segregation and race relations and the many forgotten families which resided in the Village. Joe Brooks Phillips referred to his experiences living in Benton and Marshall County before the dam was constructed. He recollected that the communities in the region did not have electricity or indoor plumbing prior to the completion of the dam.
Biographical / Historical note: Mary Broadfoot Phillips was the daughter of the Hollis Broadfoot was the construction engineer of the Kentucky Dam project managed by the Tennessee Valley Authority. She was born on July 17, 1923 at Florence, Alabama. She arrived with her parents at Kentucky Dam Village in the summer of 1939. After the dam's completion, her father became project manager of the dam and was influential in constructing the road over the dam and the addition of another electric generator. She graduated from Benton High School and attended Murray State Teachers College from 1943 to 1944. She married in 1945 and moved to Benton, Kentucky. She died at Benton on September 6, 2013. Joe Brooks Phillips was born in Marshall County in 1921. He attended local public schools and graduated from Benton High School. He served in the United States Marine Corps during the Second World War. He owned and operated the Phillips Chevrolet in Benton. He died on October 27, 2001 at Benton.
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:
Phillips, Mary, 1923-2013.
Phillips, Joe Brooks, 1921-2001
Broadfoot, Hollis Lee, 1900-1984.
Kentucky Dam (Ky.)
Marshall County (Ky.) – History.
Tennessee Valley Authority.
Dams – Kentucky.
Land Between the Lakes (Ky. And Tenn.) – History.
Kentucky Dam Village State Park (Ky.) – History.
