VI. Rural Electrification Administration-Brazos River Authority, 1936-1946, 2.5 lin. ft.

The REA Files series consists of 1.5 lin. ft. of correspondence, printed material, and government documents dating from the late 1920s to the late 1950s. Most of the material dates from the time of the Second New Deal (late '30s) and the early World War II years. (1941-42). Items within the series detail the development and implementation of rural electrification, flood control, soil conservation, and rural telephone projects during the first two decades of Congressman Poage's tenure in Washington. Primary institutional sources of materials within the series are the Rural Electrification Administration and the Brazos River Authority.

REA emerged during the Hundred Days period of FDR's first term in 1933. It primarily supervised the development of power cooperatives to bring electricity to the rural population. By the late 1940s, REA broadened its scope of operations to include rural telephone service development. The Brazos River Authority was originally established as the Brazos River District by the state of Texas in 1929. Following catastrophic flooding in 1913 and the enacting of new state constitutional provisions governing conservation in 1917, cooperative local efforts began to combat flooding. These efforts expanded with the coming of the New Deal and cooperation with the Works Progress Administration to construct power dams and water supply infrastructure.

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