Title: Robert L. Williford Richard B. Russell Dam and Lake Project Files
Creator:
Williford, Robert L.
Inclusive Dates: 1951, 1962-1991, 1993
Language(s): English
Extent:
20 box(es)
(7 linear feet)
Collection Number: RBRL178RLW
Repository:
Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies
Abstract: The collection consists of papers accumulated by Elberton Star publisher Robert L. Williford from 1951 to 1993. These files relate to his involvement in the development of the Richard B. Russell Dam and Lake located in Elbert County, Georgia. The records include clippings, photographs, and audiovisual materials documenting the dam's history as well as reports and correspondence of both the steering committee and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Correspondees of significance include Richard B. Russell, Herman Eugene Talmadge, President Jimmy Carter, William J. Dorn, Philip Landrum, and Douglas Barnard.
Robert L. Williford first became involved with the Trotters-Shoals Dam project through work as publisher and editor of The Elberton Star in Elbert County, Georgia. Williford purchased the newspaper in 1963 and began reporting on efforts to have a hydro-electric dam built in Elbert County on the Savannah River along the Georgia/South Carolina border. Soon thereafter, Mr. Williford became secretary of the Trotters-Shoals Dam and Lake Steering Committee and began to apply his efforts to the realization of the dam project.
As an editor, Mr. Williford was able to promote support for the dam in Elbert County through his paper's editorials and news columns. Mr. Williford also contacted many other newspapers in Georgia and South Carolina to enlist their support. Early support for the dam in the U.S. Congress was provided by Georgia Senators Richard B. Russell and Herman E. Talmadge, and Representative Phil Landrum. Through these combined efforts the dam was authorized by Congress in 1966. This approval was achieved in spite of initial opposition by South Carolina members of Congress, but in the years to come, much support was provided by South Carolina Representative William Jennings Bryan Dorn.
Though the dam was approved in 1966, little funding was provided. The steering committee coordinated efforts with politicians, the Rural Electrification Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, and local communities to push forward with the dam. Many details had to be worked out and much preliminary work performed before construction could begin. As secretary of the committee, Mr. Williford corresponded with a large number individuals to these ends. He documented the progress of the project through this period and into the 1970s through extensive clippings of news articles from his and other papers.
As construction plans were held up by planning delays and low funding, opposition to the dam began to build. Presidents Nixon and Ford both attempted to cut funding for the dam due to budgetary concerns. President Carter, who as Georgia governor supported the dam project, called for the cancellation of it and 18 other dams around the country. Environmentalists began to complain about the dam's impact on the river and surrounding land and wildlife. Safety concerns over the possibilities of earthquakes at the dam site arose in 1976. And, many began to question the economic impact of the dam, citing it as a pork barrel project. Coverage of this opposition reached a national level in late 1977 during President Carter's efforts to halt federal government construction of dams, and to many the Russell Dam became a symbol of wasteful government spending.
Strong public relations efforts on the part of those in favor of the dam overcame much of this opposition. In 1973, the steering committee spearheaded a successful effort to have the project renamed in honor of popular Georgia Senator Richard B. Russell, who had died in 1971. Mr. Williford continued encouraging government support for the project through extensive letter writing and endorsement in his paper of politicians who favored the dam. One of whom, Georgia Representative Doug Barnard, provided great support in Congress. In addition, the energy crunch of the early and mid 1970s provided dam proponents with a strong reason for the construction of a hydro-electric facility.
When Mr. Williford retired from the publishing trade in 1979, construction of the Richard B. Russell Dam was well under way. He continued as secretary of the Russell Steering Committee, but as completion of the project neared, little effort was needed on the part of the committee. Plans for the dam's dedication in 1985 did require extensive preparations though, and Mr. Williford coordinated this event as chairman for the Dedication Committee.
Robert Williford died in 1991, several years after the completion of the Russell Dam and Lake. At the time of his death, many noted the importance of his dedication to and work on the dam, and his files provide an excellent source of information on the project from its beginnings to its completion and operation.
Clippings, correspondence, photographs, reports, address lists, brochures, artifacts, audiovisual materails from 1951 to 1993 (bulk 1962 to 1978) document the history of the Richard B. Russell Dam and Lake Project, originally known as the Trotters-Shoals Dam. The titles for series I - IV were identified by Robert L. Williford as the chronological components of the dam project. V. Personal consists of Williford's materials not related to the Russell Dam. Though the earliest date included is 1951, that material concerns other dams or the Southeastern Power Administration. 1962 is the earliest dated material directly related to the Trotters-Shoals/Russell Dam.
The records are arranged in the following series: I. Pre-authorization, II. Planning and Funding, III. Construction, IV. Dedication and Power Distribution, V. Personal, VI. Photographs, VII. Artifacts, and VIII. Audiovisual Materials (see separate finding aid).
Robert L. Williford Richard B. Russell Dam and Lake Project Files, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia, 30602-1641.
Before 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 permission. 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.
