The United states
Forest Service
The Lore:
During the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Tennessee Valley Authority as part of his New Deal. Specifically, the Authority was to construct a series of dams for both flood control and generation of electricity throughout the rural Tennessee Valley. The project would provide much needed jobs for men in the area, as well as provide electricity to a large area that lacked it. With the US entry into World War II, the project was also needed to satisfy electrical demand from the aluminum industry for the war effort. The site of the last dam downstream on the Tennessee River was to be Gilbertsville, Kentucky. The resulting impoundment, completed in the early 1940s, resulted in Kentucky Lake.
Because the project would result in flooding of some of the low-lying land on the western side of the area, the TVA exercised eminent domain, condemning some of the properties and forcing the removal of approximately 800 families from their homes. As a result, entire towns, like Birmingham, Kentucky, were flooded and are now underwater.
Some residents were outraged about these actions, while others were happy to sell their land and start a new life in a less remote area. Their story, still remembered and sung, is one of the great mass movements in American life, and the next step in a 200 year + series of family journeys.
Alt's Partnership:
ALT will produce a new musical concert and story about the origins of LBL in Summer, 2022 and 2023 (to measure return impact). We are looking at July dates, ideally 3-4 performances, at the most appropriate and populated locations in the park.
We will be partnering with Western Kentucky University, Friends of LBL, Murray State University, and the legacy tradition bearers of Between the Rivers, in addition to multiple local Kentucky Musicians. This is to align our finished piece with the needs and traditions of the bearers of this amazing story of the creation of LBL!
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We are always looking for new and exciting opportunities to preserve, protect and perform folklore. Please join with us!