Judge Harley Langdale of Valdosta, Georgia, along with 900 other men from the Southern turpentine industry established the American Turpentine Farmers Association (ATFA) in March of 1936. ATFA was formed to represent the interests of gum naval stores factors, producers, and dealers in the United States "turpentine belt" (Georgia, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas). Activities of the American Turpentine Farmers Association (ATFA) document the interconnection of land use and environmental stewardship to the broader issues and policies of modern Georgia's rural development. The American Turpentine Farmers Association Minute Books provide the administrative record of the organization.

The American Turpentine Farmers Association Minute Books site is a project of the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, the Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, and the Digital Library of Georgia.