The U. S. Congress formed the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in 1933 in order to rectify poor conditions in the Tennessee River Valley, including destructive floods, deforestation, erosion, and periodic unnavigability of the Tennessee River. As an independent agency of the executive department, the TVA is governed by a board of three directors appointed by the President (and subject to Senate approval) who serve for terms of nine years. Among the TVA's various projects are dams (including 26 built by the TVA), electric power, and research into such topics as clean coal, forestry, and wildlife conservation. The TVA is currently headquartered in Knoxville and serves and area of approximately 41,000 square miles.

Arthur Ernest Morgan was born in Hamilton County, OH on June 20, 1878. An engineer and educator, he became the first chairman of TVA from 1933-1938. Additionally, he served as president of Antioch College in Ohio from 1920-1936. He married Lucy Middleton Griscom (1877-1972) and together they had two children: Arthur Ernest (1905-2000) and Frances (1914-2008). Arthur Morgan died on November 16, 1975 in Xenia, OH.

John Harcourt Alexander Morgan was born on August 31, 1867 in Kerwood, Ontario, Canada. He began his teaching career at Louisiana State University and in 1904, he accepted a position as a professor of entomology and zoology and director of the Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of Tennessee. In 1913 he was named dean of the College of Agriculture and in 1919, he became president of UT, a position he held until leaving in 1934 to work with TVA as an agricultural specialist. He also served for three years (1938-1941) as TVA's chairman. He married Sara Elizabeth Fay and they had four children: Harcourt, Jr., John, Fay, and Lucy. Harcourt Morgan retired from TVA in 1947 and died on August 25, 1950 in Knoxville, TN.