Jackson EMC Records
Collection DescriptionHistorical NoteJackson Electric Membership Corporation (EMC) is a not-for-profit, member-owned electric cooperative chartered in 1938 to serve electricity to the then-rural areas of northeast Georgia. The cooperative was made possible through the Rural Electrification Administration (REA), a program of the Roosevelt Administration's New Deal. Workers broke ground in Jefferson, Georgia, in January 1939 for construction of Jackson EMC's first transmission lines. In April of that year, power was delivered for the first time to farms and homes in the rural counties of Banks, Barrow, Clarke, Franklin, Gwinnett, Hall, Jackson and Madison. By 1960, electricity had reached 98% of homes and businesses within Jackson EMC's service area. The next several decades saw increasing growth, despite the economic downturn of the 1970s, with the cooperative tripling in size between 1980 and 2000. As of 2013, Jackson EMC provides electric service to more than 210,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in 10 metro Atlanta and northeast Georgia counties. Scope and ContentJackson EMC Records document the work of the cooperative to provide and promote the use of electricity throughout its service area and more broadly the changes ushered in by electrification. The records include photographs, industry publications, histories, scrapbooks, news clippings, and financial reports as well as some scant correspondence and membership information. Organization and ArrangementThe records are arranged in six series: I. General, II. Newsletters and Magazines, III. Scrapbooks, IV. Photographs, V. Artifacts, and VI. Audiovisual Materials. Administrative InformationConditions Governing AccessThis collection is open for research use. Preferred citationJackson EMC Records, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia, 30602-1641. Conditions Governing UseLibrary acts as "fair use" reproduction agent. Copyright InformationBefore material from collections at the Richard B. Russell Library may be quoted in print, or otherwise reproduced, in whole or in part, in any publication, permission must be obtained from (1) the owner of the physical property, and (2) the holder of the copyright. It is the particular responsibility of the researcher to obtain both sets of permissions. Persons wishing to quote from materials in the Russell Library collection should consult the Director. Reproduction of any item must contain a complete citation to the original. Finding Aid PublicationFinding Aid prepared by Mat Darby, 2013. Related Materials and SubjectsSubject Terms |
Special Collections Libraries
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602-1641