Series 1. Research Files -- Waterways, 1804-2015 and undated

This sub-series includes the materials Kemp collected and produced while researching, documenting, and preserving waterways. He studied the effect of structures such as canals, lock systems, and dams on flood control and commercial navigation. The series includes his research and drafts from two major book projects: The Great Kanawha Navigation and Taming the Muskingum .

Formats include HAER reports, monograph drafts, compact discs, floppy disks, correspondence, maps, engineering drawings, drawings, handwritten notes, photographic prints, charts, contracts, pamphlets, oral history transcripts, book excerpts, scholarly journal articles, library catalog records, and bound copies of the United States Congressional Series. Facsimile materials include correspondence, contracts, clippings, engineering drawings, and book excerpts.

Subjects include the Louisville and Portland Canal at Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky; the Alexandria Canal in Alexandria, Virginia; the North Fork Hughes River in Ritchie County, West Virginia; the Gallipolis Locks and Dam in the Ohio River in Gallipolis, Mason County, West Virginia; the London Locks and Dam on the Kanawha River in London, Kanawha County, West Virginia; the Marmet Locks and Dam on the Kanawha River in Marmet, Kanawha County, West Virginia; the Winfield Locks and Dam on the Kanawha River in Winfield, Putnam County, West Virginia; the Little Kanawha River which stretches across several West Virginia counties; navigation along the Muskingum River, which stretches across several Ohio counties; the Bonnet Carré Spillway in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana; the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway which stretches across Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama; the USACE; public works projects; locks and dams; multipurpose dams; the Rivers and Harbors Act; other canals of West Virginia and Virginia; and river navigation.

Research and drafts of essays on waterways may also appear in the following series: “Kemp’s Library,” “Kemp’s Professional Writings,” “Kemp’s Other Professional Activities,” and “Oversize Materials.” Research on waterways may also appear in the following sub-series within the series “Research Files”: “Industrial structures” and “Engineers, the history of engineering, and general historical topics.”