Descriptive Summary

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

An appointment for research is required. No restrictions to access. No Inter-Library Loan. Written consent for duplication of documents and photographs must be obtained.

Copyright Notice

Copyright ownership was transferred for National Committee for the New River generated materials. Standard federal copyright laws apply.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Collection 211. New River Papers, W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, USA.

Acquisitions Information

National Committee for the New River donated this collection to the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection on 6 January 2004. Six compact discs titled "New River Reunion 2001" were transferred to this collection from the Appalachian Collection's audio collection on 10 February 2005. The accession number is 04-01.

Processing Information

Processed by Kathryn Staley, 2004

Student assistants: Patrick Diante, Eddie Huffman, Simms Toomey, Rosemary Ulrey.

Encoded by Kathryn Staley, June, 2004

Historical Note

The National Committee for the New River was founded in 1975 by concerned citizens who struggled to prevent the American Electric Power Company from building two hydroelectric power dams in northwestern North Carolina and southwestern Virginia. A formal organization with a board of directors, the National Committee for the New River had grassroots appeal.

The New River is believed to be the oldest river in North America and is older than the Appalachian Mountains. Geologists believe that it is a descendant of the Teays River, the major waterway of North America until the Ice Age. The New River flows northward, opposite of most rivers in the region. Beginning in Watauga and Ashe County, North Carolina, two forks named the North Fork and the South Fork. The forks join in Twin Rivers in Ashe County and runs through southwestern Virginia into West Virginia. The New River Gorge, a stretch of white water in the eastern United States, is located in West Virginia. In central West Virginia, the New River joins the Gauley River to form the Kanawha River, which empties into the Ohio River.

In June, 1962, the Appalachian Power Company (APCO), a subsidiary of the American Electric Power Company located in Roanoke, Virginia, applied to the Federal Power Commission to study a site in Grayson County, Virginia for a potential hydroelectric dam on the New River. This proposed dam was planned to provide peak load electricity for New York City. After hearings with the Federal Power Commission, APCO was required to created larger reservoirs for the use of stored water to dilute downstream pollution. The revised plan involved larger dams and a 650,000 acre foot reservoir, which would have flooded 40,000 acres of farm land in northern Ashe County and southern Grayson County. APCO argued that the dam would provide recreational benefits and employment. APCO estimated a 25 year life expectancy of the dam before it would have silted out.

By 1969, North Carolina state government began objecting to the drawndown but not to the Blue Ridge Project as a whole. The FPC continues to hear and license APCO proposals. In 1974, North Carolina objects to the project on the grounds that it would not provide recreational benefits, public need for the preservation of rivers, and APCO's failure to explore alternative sites. Soon afterwards, North Carolina government officials, such as Senator Jesse Helms, Representative Steve Neal, Governor Holhouser, Rufus Edminsten, and Senator Sam Ervin, begin writing bills to block APCO's ability to build the New River dam. Virginia and West Virginia politicans continued to support the construction.

In January 1975, group of concerned citizens met in Raleigh, North Carolina because no Ashe County, North Carolina site was considered safe politically or physcially. The group consisted of members from West Virginia's Coalition to Save the New River and Virginia's Committee to Save the New River as well as North Carolinians and named themselves the National Committee for the New River. The board of directors is composed of the boards of the three state committees and contains representatives from the affiliates. The first president was Hamilton C. Horton, Jr., a Winston-Salem, North Carolina attorney, businessman and former state senator. Legal Counselors were John C. Curry. Its allies included the Izaak Walton League, Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation, and the Wilderness Society.

The National Committee for the New River diligently worked to stop construction through the courts. Members testified in Congressional hearings, held bumper sticker and letter writing campaigns, conducted community meetings. Many influential individuals also assisted the organization in Congress, the North Carolina General Assembly and the media. Also, several members had national contacts. The connections of Wallace Carroll, the director of NCNR, led to over a hundred editorials supporting the NCNR's stance. Lawyer Floyd Crouse was the college roommate of Senator Sam Ervin, Jr.

In 1976, President Ford signed a law which made a portion of the New River a Scenic River; thereby, preventing the construction of the dams. As a result, the committee won one of the only citizen-led efforts against a large corporation.

Biographical Note for Ed Adams

Following the death of Alleghany County attorney R. Floyd Crouse in March 1969, Edmund Ivan Adams represented both the Ashe and Alleghany County, North Carolina, Boards of Commissioners in the dispute over the Blue Ridge Project before the Federal Power Commission. Adams was born in Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia in 1933 and studied at Emory University and the University of Georgia, where he earned his LL.B. in 1956. He was Assistant Solicitor for the Forsyth County, North Carolina, Superior Court from October 1962 through January 1965. In 1969 he moved his practice from Winston-Salem to Sparta, NC, and continued the work R.F. Crouse began in the fight against Appalachian Power Company's proposed Blue Ridge Project. As county Attorney, Adams served on the Alleghany County Board of Commissioners as well as on several New River committees, including the Northwest Environmental Preservation Committee, Board of Directors; the Izaak Walton League of America, New River Chapter, First Vice President; Committee for the New River, First Vice President; and the National Committee for the New River (NCNR), Board of Directors. His work for these organizations and agencies put him in contact with numerous senators, among them Sam Ervin, Jr., Jesse Helms, and Robert Morgan. Adams continues to practice law in Sparta.

Biographical Note for Wallace and Peggy Carroll

Wallace Carroll (1906-2002), the former publisher of the Winston-Salem Journal, was the director of NCNR from 197? to 197?. Carroll was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and graduated from Marquette University. He was a foreign correspondent with United Press International during World War II. In the early 1940s, he became the director of the U.S. Office of War Information in London. His 1948 book, Persuade or Perish, detailed his work in which he advised General Dwight D. Eisenhower on psychological warfare. He reported for the Winston-Salem Journal from 1949 to 1955, winning the Pulitzer Prize. He then worked for the Washington bureau of the New York Times. In 1963, he returned to Winston-Salem as the publisher for the paper. He retired in 1973 and had a home in Alleghany County, near the New River. He was a member of the NCNR board of directors from its inception. Carroll asked his collegues in the newspaper world to print news stories and editorials about the dam issue. As a result, over 150 pro-NCNR editorials were written throughout the nation.

Carroll is the husband of Margaret "Peggy" Carroll (1932-2001), who was also involved in the NCNR. Carroll graduated from Vassar College in 1934. Afterwards, she worked as an economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington and later the International Labor Office in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1938, she married Carroll and became active in civic affairs, such as the Parent Teachers Association, League of Women Voters, and the National Committee for the New River. In the late 1970s, she researched the NCNR struggle against the American Power Company's attempt to dam the New River in hopes of writing a book.

Chronology List

Collection Overview

The New River Papers includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, Congressional hearings, court filings, notes from interviews, and miscellaneous information, dated from 1962 to 1976. Much of it originated from Ed Adams, the legal counselor for Ashe County, North Carolina. This material is primarily of a legal nature and contains little information about the grassroots nature of the organization.

The New River Papers are organized into three series: Series 211A. Dam Fight (Federal Power Commission; Testimony; Bills and Laws; U.S. Department of the Interior; Government Publications; Newspapers; Correspondence, Serials; Reports and Interviews); Series 211B. Edmund Adams (Newspaper Clippings; Correspondence); Series 211C. Peggy Carroll (Correspondence; Research Materials, Book Materials). Photographs and oversized materials are housed separately.

Online Catalog Headings

Description/Container List

Bibliography

Schoenbaum, Thomas J. The New River Controversy. Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 1979.