OH226 Sanders Watkins Oral History
Collection Title
Jackson Purchase Oral History Project - Kentucky Dam Project
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Series Number
OH226
Interviewee
Watkins, Sanders
Interviewer
Conner, Dorisanna
Date Interviewed
May 3rd, 1995
Processed by
Dieter C. Ulrich
Date Processed
November 25th, 2013
Description
1 sound disc (24 minutes)
Abstract
Sanders Watkins recalls his experiences as a laborer, carpenter, and iron worker for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) during the construction of the Kentucky Dam. He discusses the purchasing of property along the banks of the Tennessee River by the TVA and lack of assistance provided by the United States government to relocate the families. He describes his experiences during the Great Depression, the difficulties he had getting hired by the TVA, salary levels, former supervisors, seeing President Harry S. Truman, witnessing the first train to cross the dam, the Thanksgiving Day labor strike, segregation, race relations, accidental deaths, and the effects of the dam on the region.
Biographical/Historical Note
Sanders Watkins was born at Birmingham, Kentucky on September 7th, 1916. He resided at Birmingham until he was required to relocate to Briansburg due to the rising waters caused by the Kentucky Dam in 1943. He attended Murray State Teachers College on a basketball scholarship but quit after several weeks. He began to work for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in 1939 as a laborer in the lumberyard. A year later, he was assigned a position as an ironworker's apprentice. He reserved three years as an apprentice before he was promoted to ironworker. In 1955, he was laid off by the TVA. The same year, he was employed by the GAF Corporation from where he retired in 1981.
General Information
No user access to original recordings. Use audio user copies, digital derivatives, transcripts, and/or tape indexes. This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code). Permission for reproduction must be requested from Murray State University.
Subject Headings/Descriptors
Watkins, Sanders, 1916-
Kentucky Dam (Ky.)
Birmingham (Ky.)
Marshall County (Ky.)
Tennessee Valley Authority.
Dams - Kentucky.
Land Between the Lakes (Ky. And Tenn.) - History.
Recommended Citation
Conner, Dorisanna, "OH226 Sanders Watkins Oral History" (2025). Kentucky Dam. 37.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/oh-kendam/37
Audio Transcript