Name: Norwood, Sheryl

E-mail: sheryl@norwoodpms.com

Topic: Harvey Couch, and his gifts to Arkansas. OR “When Electricity Came to Arkansas.”

Grade: Ninth and Tenth Grades (Adaptable 7 ­ 12)

Time: One Class Period

Ark. Hist. Framework: 6.1.12 , 4.1.12

Objective: The student will be able to identify characteristics of effective leadership embodied in Harvey Couch. Students will be able to describe the role that Harvey Couch played in developing a competitive market system in Arkansas.

Set: Ask students to tell you the name of the company that supplies electricity into their home. Ask them if they have ever heard of a company named Entergy-AP&L and what the abbreviation AP&L stands for. Review the fact that Arkansas did not have access to an organized electricity supplier until Harvey Couch formed the corporation that eventually became Arkansas Power and Light in 1913. Have students brainstorm the best types of locations to develop electrical power plants and the best and fastest way to develop a market for this product. What other businesses or products is Harvey Couch responsible for promoting or developing?

Materials: Arkansas History Text, Harvey Couch: An Entrepreneur Brings Electricity to Arkansas, Stephen Wilson. or other reference materials relating to Harvey Couch and his accomplishments in Arkansas. Blank Arkansas map. Consider contacting public relations department of Entergy-AP&L: www.entergy.com, a local radio station, or Museum of Discovery, access to period appropriate equipment or videos or tours for your class. Internet access would be a plus for research.

Key Terms: entrepreneur, networking, Public Service Commission, Reconstruction Finance Corporation, Remmel Dam, Carpenter Dam, Prattsville, Arkansas; Malvern, Arkansas; Jones Mill, Arkansas; radio, capital, supply and demand, market economy, Ouachita River, Woodrow Wilson, Harvey Parnell, Couchwood, optimism, symbiotic relationship

Key Facts: ·    Harvey Couch was a south Arkansas native of Calhoun (Columbia County)

·       His career began while working for the railroad and marketing eggs on the side

·       He was an optimistic risk-taker and found a niche in developing small telephone companies in remote areas not served by the Bell telephone system

·       Couch knew the value of developing relationships with state legislators and could work well with Federal Government Republicans and State and local Democrats

·       His network of relationships served him well when Bell denied his telephone companies long-distance hook-ups. The legislature passed a law to assist him.

·       By 1910 Couch owned fifty exchanges and 1,500 miles of telephone line located in four states. He sold his telephone concern to the Bell Company for more than a million dollars and became a millionaire by the age of thirty-four.

·       In 1913 Couch formed the corporation that became the Arkansas Power and Light (AP&L) Company. He raised money from Eastern Bankers to provide the capital because Arkansas did not have the funds for this type of venture.

·       There was a need for electricity in Arkansas, but not a market for electricity. Couch owned a radio station that he used to promote the state and developed a market for the use of electricity. Most families had battery-operated radios in their home which greatly assisted in bringing electricity into Arkansas homes.

·       Electricity arrived “in the nick-of-time” for Arkansas. It promoted industrial growth and production, especially during the crucial period of WWI and it greatly assisted the Southern Arkansas Oil Boom in the twenties.

·       Couch’s networking ability on the federal level helped him obtain federal approval to dam a navigable stream. The Remmel Dam was built in 1924 on the Ouachita River and was named after Harvey Remmel who greatly assisted Couch in damming the river to meet the increased demand for electricity. By 1929, the need for another dam existed and Carpenter Dam was begun.

·       Couch enjoyed promoting Arkansas. He brought Northern capitalists into the state for tours. He is credited with bringing an International Shoe Company Plant to Malvern, Arkansas. He also worked diligently to get cotton factories and textile mills into Arkansas.

·       Couch’s company did play a major role in influencing Senator Joseph T. Robinson to veto a planned federal hydroelectric project on the Arkansas River. This project was later moved to Tennessee and became known as the Tennessee Valley Authority.

·       Couch was involved in state and federal projects and played an integral role in Arkansas following the Flood of 1927, Drought of 1930, the collapse of the banking system, and the Great Depression. Couch’s leadership, managerial, administrative, entrepreneurial, and networking abilities were sought after by state and federal entities. He made vital assessments and recommendations for federal allocation of assistance for the farmers and people of the state throughout this period.

·       Couch and his family had a symbiotic relationship with the press. When Couch was critically ill in 1941, reporters who wanted to interview Couch were invited to stay on the grounds of Couchwood. They knew that he was ill, and that it was only a matter of time before he would die. They did not convey the extent of his illness in the news media. Hamilton Moses assumed the administration of business related duties and provided relief from the stress of business related details. Couch died from the complications of heart disease at Couchwood on July 30, 1941. He had preplanned his own funeral, had continued to be involved in yet another construction project and his last written statement for his epitaph was, “Whatever I am belongs to my family and Arkansas.”

Activities: Students will review terms, and locations of the map. Have students locate

and do research on the various entities listed in Key Terms. Students will be given the opportunity to do individual and small group related research on this project. Books can be made available to the students or have them do their research in the school or local library.  Internet access should be available: www.entergy.com. Oral Histories from neighbors or family members that remember when they began using electricity or electric products in their home may be of interest. Site visits to Remmel or Carpenter Dam, or a local radio station or Electric Company may be of interest. Dramatization of radio announcements, advertising copy and production of “spots” may be a fun project. The primary goal would be to assist students in understanding how one person’s ideas when cooperatively put into action can benefit that individual, other citizens and the state and nation as a whole.

Assessment: Students will be asked to write a brief synopsis of Harvey Couch’s life and career in Arkansas and how his life and actions touched the state and the student and their families and friends. Rubrics should be established and the students should be aware of the expectations prior to beginning this synopsis.

Resources: Wilson, Stephen: Harvey Couch: An Entrepreneur Brings Electricity to Arkansas. Little Rock: August House, 1986.

Williams, C. Fred. Arkansas: An Illustrated History of the Land of Opportunity. Northridge, CT: Windsor Press, 1986.

Dougan, Michael B., Arkansas Odyssey: The Saga of Arkansas from Prehistoric Times to Present. Little Rock, Arkansas: Rose Publishing Company, Inc.

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