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After the end of World War II, Tullahoma’s Camp Forrest U.S. Army base and its associated William Northern Field were decommissioned and its buildings and equipment sold off as surplus. Some were scrapped, some were sold and moved. Tullahoma’s businesses and tax base took a huge economic hit, as suddenly thousands of people (i.e. customers) were gone.

However, relief was just around the corner, as the U.S. Air Force took over the former Camp Forrest site for its new Air Engineering Development Center, authorized by Congress on October 27, 1949. Five months later, on June 7, 1950, AEDC was renamed Arnold Engineering Development Center, in honor of General Henry “Hap” Arnold. Construction began soon after, and on June 25, 1951, AEDC was dedicated.

The June dedication was a huge event for Tullahoma and Middle Tennessee. The impact is probably hard for us to understand 72 years later, but it was extremely significant. One key to that significance is that President Harry S. Truman was the keynote speaker at the dedication ceremony. The speech began at noon and was broadcast by radio nationwide. The transcript of President Truman’s speech can be seen on the Truman Library website (www.trumanlibrary.gov). The press corps present for the dedication was huge, with reporters from all major wire services, national and area newspapers, and radio and TV networks, as well as foreign correspondents.

The photos here, part of the group I purchased at the Couch’s auction a couple of years ago, were taken by Bob Couch, Jr. One shows President Truman talking with Tennessee’s U.S. Sen. Estes Kefauver. Interestingly, only a year later, Sen. Kefauver and the president were rivals in the 1952 Democratic Presidential primaries. Kefauver scored such a resounding victory in the New Hampshire primary that the president withdrew from the race. Eventually, Kefauver became the vice-presidential candidate, paired with presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson. They lost the election to Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon.

The other photo shows local dignitaries Morris Simon and John Harton, flanking L.J. Sverdrup. Morris Simon was the publisher of the Tullahoma News and Guardian at that time, and a very influential member of the Tullahoma community. Leif J. Sverdrup was a Norwegian-born U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officer (retired), whose company Parcel & Sverdrup designed and constructed AEDC’s wind tunnel complex. John W. Harton was a prominent Tullahoma businessman and developer, among other accomplishments, and the signs for the real estate company he founded can still be seen around Tullahoma today. I’ll do separate articles on John Harton and Morris Simon at a later date, highlighting important contributions and accomplishments.

I’m just beginning work on a book about Tullahoma in the twentieth century, roughly 1920s to 1980s. It will be mostly a photo book, with descriptive text. If you have some sharp, large photos you can share, I’d be honored to see them. I’ll scan them and then immediately return them to you. I’m looking mostly for businesses, industries, and major events. You can contact me at alanmayes@lighttube.net.