Overview

"An engaging oral history of the 31ers who built Hoover Dam and the women who fed them, married them, and shared their lives. Building Hoover Dam is the most intriguing book yet written about one of the modern architectural wonders of the world. Andrew J. Dunar and Dennis McBride skillfully interweave first hand accounts of a fascinating group of eyewitnesses. Their stories create the richest existing portrait of the building of Hoover Dam and its tremendous effect on the lives of those involved in its creation: the gritty, sometimes grisly realities of living in cardboard boxes and tents during several of the hottest Southern Nevada summers still on record; the fearsome carbon monoxide deaths of tunnel builders who, it was claimed, had died of """"pneumonia""""; the uproarious life of nearby Las Vegas versus the tightly controlled existence of the workers in the built-overnight confines of Boulder City; and of course the astounding accomplishment of building the dam itself and completing the task not only early but under budget."

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9780874174892

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We are reminded that the 'anonymous' workers who build massive structures are, in fact, neither nameless nor faceless. --The Journal of American History The modern age exalts the environment at the expense of manmade structures. But Hoover Dam endures as a monument to human ingenuity and to an earlier generation's faith in the fundamental goodness of America's technological civilization. This book is a stirring account of one of that generation's proudest achievements. --Western Historical Quarterly In recent times, as this book so ably proves, oral history has provided a means through which to place the voices of the builders of this century onto the pages of history. . . . The vivid memories help to develop an empathy that could not have come from the most skillfully crafted prose. --Choice . . . The interview process at once validated and challenged several key tenets of scholarship in the past thirty years: giving voice to the voiceless, focusing on 'micro-history' to elucidate larger themes and concepts, and searching for examples of 'conquest' to debunk their heroic qualities in favor of more sobering assessments about the American West. . . . The voices of the builders of 'the father of all dams' add depth to the new narrative of life in the American West. --New Mexico Historical Review

Author Information

Andrew J. Dunar is professor of history at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He is the author of The Truman Scandals and the Politics of Morality and co-author of Power to Explore: The History of Marshall Space Flight Center, 1960-1990. He is also editor of The Oral History Review, the journal of the Oral History Association. Dennis McBride is a long time researcher, archivist, and writer about Southern Nevada. He has recently founded and is curator of the Boulder City Museum and Historical Association. His work has appeared in Nevada Magazine, Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, and The Los Angeles Times.

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