The inspiration of Dowdell’s Knob

BY PAUL WOOD President/CEO, Georgia Electric Membership Corporation

It is a simple rock outcropping overlooking Pine Mountain Valley, but it commands a majestic view. From its height, one may have a sense of peace and simultaneously be inspired to go out and change that world.

The outcropping is known as Dowdell’s Knob, which is part of F.D. Roosevelt State Park in Warm Springs.

Last April, I stood at the site as a life-size bronze statue of Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), once a frequent visitor, was unveiled. The statue, designed by Atlanta sculptor Martin Dawe, depicts Roosevelt sitting, legs extended, gazing across the lush valley.

It is easy to see why Roosevelt was drawn to this spot. But why put a statue in this isolated place?         

The answer comes from Dan White, an Atlanta builder who grew up in nearby Yatesville and was behind the effort to place Roosevelt’s image at Dowdell’s Knob. “It was here in West Central Georgia that FDR, for the first time in his life, connected to the daily struggles of the marginalized and the afflicted,” said White at the unveiling. “This place transformed FDR and, in turn, helped transform America and the world.”

During his presidency, Roosevelt came to Warm Springs more than 30 times to experience the medicinal benefit of its healing waters. His legs, paralyzed by polio, gained renewed strength from the springs.

Dowdell’s Knob was his personal retreat, a refuge from Washington’s pressures. He was fond of driving friends in his specially equipped roadster to the site where they relaxed with burgers cooked on a stone grill and discussed some of the landmark programs he envisioned.

Sometimes he went to Dowdell’s Knob with only Secret Service agents in tow. He would have the agents take the removable seat out of his car, place it on a nearby rock, and there he would sit for hours, often until sunset.

One can only imagine FDR’s thoughts when, at dusk, farms below disappeared into the darkness for lack of electricity. He was, after all, a man keenly aware of the impoverished people on those farms struggling to make a living.

Thus, no one should have been surprised when Roosevelt signed an executive order in 1935, creating the REA (Rural Electrification Administration). When Lamar Electric Membership Corp. was founded in 1938 in Barnesville, Roosevelt was there for the dedication.

“It can be said with a good deal of truth that Warm Springs, Ga., was the birthplace of the Rural Electrification Administration,” he said. “Electricity is a modern necessity of life … and that necessity ought to be found in every village, in every home and on every farm in every part of the wide United States.”

Roosevelt’s deep and abiding love for the nation was apparent in his remarks that day. He might have been a native of Hyde Park, N.Y., but his heart clearly was at Dowdell’s Knob.

The leadership of this great American, and others we remember, is proudly celebrated this Independence Day.