Elwood Mead
Elwood Mead | |
---|---|
Commissioner of the United States Bureau of Reclamation | |
In office 1924 – January 26, 1936 | |
President | Calvin Coolidge |
Preceded by | David W. Davis |
Succeeded by | Mae A. Schnurr |
Personal details | |
Born | January 16, 1858 Patriot, Indiana, U.S. |
Died | January 26, 1936 (aged 78) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
Education | Purdue University (BS) |
Elwood Mead (January 16, 1858 – January 26, 1936) was an American professor, government official, and engineer known for heading the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) from 1924 until his death in 1936. During his tenure, he oversaw some of the most complex projects the Bureau of Reclamation has undertaken. These included the Hoover, Grand Coulee and Owyhee dams.
Early life and career
Mead was born in Patriot, Indiana, and graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science in 1882. He worked for the United States Army Corps of Engineers in Indianapolis for seven months and departed for Fort Collins, Colorado, by the end of the year.
Career
There he started work as a professor by teaching mathematics at
Public service
In 1888, Mead became the territorial and state engineer of Wyoming. From 1888 until 1899, he was key in drafting the water laws for Wyoming. He was also a prominent supporter of the Cody Canal, one of the nation's first Carey Act projects undertaken by a group of investors, including William F. Cody.[3]
In 1899, Mead was appointed head of irrigation investigations for the United States Department of Agriculture, based out of Cheyenne. There, he had an important role of directing irrigation studies across the west.
In 1907, Mead was appointed chairman of the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission of
In 1911, he returned to the United States to become the professor of rural institutions at the University of California, and chairman of the California Land Settlement Board. His ideas about developing efficient rural communities would later influence what would become the Resettlement Administration communities of the New Deal.
He continued to serve in California until 1924, when he was appointed commissioner of the
Death
Mead died on January 26, 1936, at the age of 78 in Washington, D.C., from thrombosis, just four months after the completion of Boulder Dam. Originally interred at Abbey Mausoleum, he was reburied at National Memorial Park in Falls Church, Virginia, in 2001 after the former crypt closed and was demolished.
Legacy and honors
Lake Mead, formed by the construction of the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, was named after Mead.[6] He is also the namesake to the SS Elwood Mead, a Liberty ship which was launched in 1944.
See also
References
- ^ "Commissioners of Reclamation". Archived from the original on June 5, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
- ^ Kluger, James (1992). Turning on Water with a Shovel: the career of Elwood Mead. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
- ISBN 978-0-8061-3829-9.
- ^ "AN AMERICAN IN PALESTINE: ELWOOD MEAD AND ZIONIST WATER RESOURCE PLANNING, 1923-1936". Archived from the original on May 17, 2006. Retrieved December 4, 2005.
- ^ "Dr. Elwood Mead Commissioner of Bureau of Reclamation 1924-1936 - Lake Mead NRA". Retrieved December 4, 2005.
- ^ Federal Writers' Project (1941). Origin of Place Names: Nevada (PDF). W.P.A. p. 16.
External links
- J. M. Powell, "Mead, Elwood (1858-1936)", Melbourne University Press, 1986, pp 467–468.