Book Description

On May 19, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced the appointment of Arthur Morgan (1879-1975), a water-control engineer and college president from Ohio as the chairman of the newly created Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). With the eyes of the nation focused on the reform and recovery promised by the New Deal, Morgan remained in the national spotlight for much of the 1930s in this thoughtful biography Aaron D. Purcell re-assesses Morgan's long life and career and provides the first detailed account of his post-TVA activities. As Purcell demonstrates, Morgan embraced an alternative types of Progressive Era reform that was rooted in nineteenth-century socialism, an overlooked strain in American political thought. Purcell Pinpoints Morgan's reading of Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward while a teenager as a watershed moment in the development of his vision for building modern American society. He recounts Morgan's early successes as an engineer budding Progressive-leader, and educational reformer his presidency of Antioch College, and his revolutionary but contentious tenure at the TVA After his dismissal from the TVA Morgan eventually published over a dozen books, including a biography of Bellamy, while supporting community-building efforts across the globe, Morgan retained many of his late-nineteenth century beliefs, including eugenics, as part of his societal vision. His authoritarian administrative style and moral rigidity limited his ability of attract large numbers to his community-based vision. By presenting Morgan's life and career within the context of the larger social and cultural events of his day, this revealing biographical study offers new insight into the achievements and motivations of an important but historically neglected American reformer. Book jacket.