Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1982 New Deal Archaeology in the Southeast: Wpa, Tva, Nps, 1934-1942. Edwin Austin Lyon II Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Lyon, Edwin Austin II, "New Deal Archaeology in the Southeast: Wpa, Tva, Nps, 1934-1942." (1982). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 3728. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/3728 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This was produced from a copy of a document sent to us for microfilming. 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In all cases we have filmed the best available copy. International 300 N ZEEB RD . ANN ARBOR. Ml 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Lyon, Edwin Austin, H NEW DEAL ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE SOUTHEAST; WPA, TVA, NFS, 1934- 1942 The Louisiana Stale University and Agricultural and Mechanical PilD. CoL 19S2 University Microfilms International 3ooN.zobK<^AiiiiAAor.Mi«iw Copyright 1982 by Lyon, Edwin Austin, li All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. NEW DEAL ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE SOUTHEAST: WPA, TVA, NPS, 19)4-1942 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of History by Edwin Austin Lyon II B.A., Louisiana State University, 1968 K.A., Louisiana State University, 1970 Kay 1982 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author Is indebted to many individuals for assistance during the research and writing of this study. The idea for this topic developed after lis­ tening to William Haag talk about his experiences as a CWA, WPA, and TVA archaeologist. Burl Noggle made many helpful suggestions based on his knowledge of the 1930s and the WPA. Many archaeologists and archi­ vists helped me to find domuments in Washington and in the South. James Glenn of the National Anthro­ pological Archives and Jesse Mills of the TVA Technical Library provided great assistance. Gordon Willey of Harvard University sent me letters from his private collection. This study would not have been possible without the generous help given by my father emd mother. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. t a b le op c o n ten ts Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENT............................... Ü ABSTRACT..................................... iv Chapter I. INTRODUCTION......................... 1 II. ARCHAEOLOGY BEFORE THE NEW DEAL........ 9 III. CWA ARCHAEOLOGY........................ 29 IV. THE STRUCTURE OP PEDERAL ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE DEPRESSION:WPA,TVA,NPS 66 V. ALABAMA................................ 100 VI. TENNESSEE............................. 13^ VII. GEORGIA............................... 169 VIII. KENTUCKY.............................. 196 IX. LOUISIANA.............................. 219 X. THE IMPACT OP NEW DEAL ARCHAEOLOGY.......................... 2^7 BIBLIOGRAPHY................................... 272 VITA.......................................... 286 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT This study is a history of New Deal archaeology in the Southeastern United States from the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) archaeological projects in the winter of 1933- 1934 to the end of federal relief archaeology in 1942. The federal government selected archaeology as one of its relief programs to put to work some of the many unemployed Americans during the depression of the 1930s. This study focuses on the large Works Progress Administration (WPA) archaeological programs in Louisiana and Kentucky, the combined WPA and TVA programs in Alabama and Tennessee, and the WPA and National Park Service (NPS) program in Georgia. The CWA archae­ ological program in Florida and the National Park Service Natchez Trace Parkway project are briefly discussed. The WPA administration of its archae­ ological program lacked the strong national direction found in the other professional, white-collar programs such as the WPA art, writers, music, and theater proj­ ects. The WPA turned to the Smithsonian Institution iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. and the Committee on Basic Needs in American Archae­ ology of the National Besearoh Council for technical advice. The role of federal archaeology in transforming archaeologist's knowledge of the prehistory of Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, and Louisiana is analysed. In addition to the state archaeological programs, archaeologists developed a broad regional interest in the prehistory of the Southeast. Young federal archaeologists organized the Southeastern Archae­ ological Conference and the Lower Mississippi Valley Survey to supplement and integrate the data produced by the state programs. After World War II the federal archaeologists became the senior generation of American archaeologists and greatly influenced the growth of their profession. They played a major role in the development of cultural resources manage­ ment in the post war period. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION Many Americans retain unpleasant memories of the depression even after more than fifty years since its beginning. Looking back on the 1930s they recall unemployment, hunger, and despair. Archaeologists, however, remember the 1930s as the golden age of their discipline. Some of the New Deal programs established to provide work relief to millions of unemployed Amer­ icans included huge archaeological projects. The expe­ rience of many young men and some young women in the 1930s supervising large archaeological crews for the Civil Works Administration (CWA), Works Progress Admin­ istration (WPA), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), National Parks Service (NPS), and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) decisively influenced their professional careers in archaeology and the development of the discipline. One prominent archaeologist who worked for the CWA, WPA, and TVA used to advise students to vote Republican to cause another depression and bring about another relief archaeological program. The scope and impact of the federal government on 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. archaeology exceeded the wildest dreams of archaeolo­ gists of the 1920s. As Frank Setzler, then of the Smithsonian Institution, who perhaps knew New Deal ar­ chaeology better than anyone, put it in 194), "one can safely assume that if a goal had been established in 1930, under the prevailing conditions at the time, for archaeological explorations within the subsequent 50 years, that this goal has been reached and in some areas surpassed during the last 6