STE. GENEVIEVE – The Ste. Genevieve Museum Learning Center will welcome Jim McCarty to its speaker series this Wednesday at 6:30 at the Orris Theater in Ste. Genevieve. The topic will be how the Rural Electrification Act Changed Rural America.
The Rural Electrification Act of 1936 was a landmark New Deal law that provided federal loans to install electrical distribution systems in isolated, rural areas of the United States. By 1935, only about 10% of rural and farm homes had electricity because private utility companies found it too expensive to service.
Jim McCarty is an award-winning journalist, historian, and the former long-time editor of Rural Missouri magazine. He is best known for extensively documenting the history of the Rural Electrification Act (REA) and rural electric cooperatives, particularly their foundational impact on agricultural communities in Missouri. With his entertaining presentation, you’ll look at electricity in a whole different light!
This entertaining program is free to all who attend, a courtesy of Citizens Electric.