Toledo Bend Dam Symposium

"Let's Build Toledo Dam," a symposium on the construction and economic, cultural, and political impact of Toledo Bend Dam and Reservoir, will be held in Jasper, Texas, on Saturday, April 12, 2008.

The symposium will be held in the Wesley Center of the First United Methodist Church, located at 329 Bowie Street. On-site registration will began at 8:00 a.m. and the program extends from 9:00 a.m. through a luncheon, with an optional tour of Toledo Ben Dam area in the afternoon.

Toledo Bend Dam and Reservoir is an example of federalism at work. The project involved the state resources of Louisiana and Texas to construct the South's largest reservoir for power generation, with flood control and economic development important consequences.

Speakers include Sam Forse Collins, Jerry Clark, Donnie Henson, and James E. Fickle telling the project's Texas story and Linda Curtis-Sparks, Robert Ammons, and Jim Pratt relating the Louisiana story. This symposium marks the seventh year the East Texas Historical Association, headquartered on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, has produced a spring symposium on the history and culture of the region. This year the symposium is sponsored by the Stark Foundation of Orange, Texas.

For advanced registration or additional information, contact ETHA at Box 6223, SFA Station, Nacogdoches, TX 75962; telephone-936-468-2407; FAX 936-468-2466; amcdonald@sfasu.edu., or consult the Association's website, http://www.easttexashistorical.org.