Invention Stories

Video Lecture: Race, Class, and Hydroelectricity in Progressive Era Georgia

Casey Cater, Lemelson Center Fellow and Ph.D. candidate at Georgia State, discusses how electric energy was marketed and sold in the post-war south.

Casey Cater

Casey Cater’s research project is entitled "Regenerating Dixie: Electric Energy and the Making of the Modern South.” His research sits at the nexus of history of technology, environmental history, business history, and Southern history. Casey will be examining several National Museum of American History collections that document hydroelectric dams and the consumer adoption of electricity, including the Hales Bar Dam Collection, the Reddy Kilowatt Records, and the Louisan E. Mamer Rural Electrification Administration Papers.

A production of the Smithsonian's Lemelson Center. Video and production by Chris J Gauthier. Originally recorded on December 1, 2015