Page 10 - Conference2020 Vol38 ?No4

TCAPWA

Serving Better Together for 66 Years

Information for this story is drawn from the book, Serving 1954 - The Tennessee Chapter’s first officers from left: Vice President D.W. Al-
Better Together, Tennessee Chapter of the American Public Works len, Jackson; President Marion Borris, Chattanooga; Chapter Formation Advisor
Association by Sue H. Piper, published in 2004 to celebrate the and APWA Vice President Warren Coolidge, Nashville; and W.E. Stone, Lebanon.
50th anniversary of the Association. (Not pictured: Secretary-Treasurer M.U. Snoderly).

“Garbage and Trash Collection Methods,” “Sewer Cleaning,” 1962-63 Officers from left: Secretary-Treasurer Murphy Snoderly; Second Vice
“Landfill Methods, Equipment and Cost”— although these President Robert Walker, Jr.; First Vice President O.K. Rickman; Past President
topics could be discussed at a TCAPWA Conference today, Jesse Cox; and President William W. Farris.
they were actually presented during the May 13-15, 1954 Ed Archer and A.C. Lock attend the TCAPWA Technical Session at the 1986 TML
first meeting. Nashville’s Hermitage Hotel was the site for Conference.
this event. At 2 p.m. on Thursday, May 13, the soon-to-be
Tennessee Chapter of the American Public Works Association
joined the Tennessee Municipal League and the Tennessee
Municipal Finance Officers Association for a joint opening
session. Two hours later, an “Organizational Meeting” was held.
Temporary officers were elected, committees were formed, and
a Constitution was discussed. APWA Southern Vice President
and Nashville’s Director of Public Works, Warren A. Coolidge,
presided.

Following a Joint General Session Friday morning, it was
time for “Public Works Topics.” First up was APWA Executive
Director Don Herrick who presented “The Purpose and
Program of State Associations.” The Garbage Collection
session was presented by Knoxville’s City Engineer, Leonard
Bailey. Davidson County’s Sanitary Engineer, D.C. Thompson,
discussed landfill issues. An Open Floor Discussion Period
concluded the morning topics.

At 4:15 p.m., the “First Annual TCAPWA Business Meeting”
was held during which officers were elected. Marion Borris
was elected President; D.W. Allen, Vice President; and M.U.
Snoderly, MTAS, was elected Secretary-Treasurer. This meeting
also included the “Adoption of a Constitution” session and
“Discussion of the Association’s Program.”

Saturday morning began with a roundtable discussion at the
Public Works Breakfast. A Joint Policy Session was followed by a
luncheon after which the Conference concluded.

The Tennessee Chapter met and continues to meet twice a
year. In the late spring, TCAPWA joins the Tennessee Municipal
League for its Annual Conference. Public Works programs and
the Chapter board meeting are scheduled during the conference.
Each year since 1972, the Murphy Snoderly Award has been
presented at the closing banquet. The 1954 meeting during
which TCAPWA was first organized occurred during TML’s
15th annual conference.

The name of the association changed throughout the years.
The first meeting in 1954 referred to the Chapter as the
Tennessee Public Works Association and the acronym TPWA
was commonly used. A 1957 letter from M.U. Snoderly to
D.F. Herrick at APWA continued the TPWA heading on the
letterhead but also contained a subhead, “Tennessee Chapter
of the American Public Works Organization.” It appears
the Chapter name was finalized with the 1960 first issue of
the Chapter newsletter, Public Works News. The newsletter
heading featured an APWA logo and “Tennessee Chapter of the
American Public Works Association.”

10 TPW Conference 2020