167:, In 1922, his wife founded the Tulsa Little Theater, which was later renamed Theatre Tulsa. Years later, after All Souls had become the largest Unitarian church in the United States, Hope Holway was honored when the Hope Unitarian Universalist Church was named for her. Both of their sons became engineers and joined their father's consulting firm.
236:. They had decided to build a reservoir on Spavinaw Creek, a tributary of the Neosho River, over fifty miles northeast of Tulsa. Holway was selected as chief engineer for this project in 1920. He is credited with designing a 55-mile-long (89 km) pipeline that could carry water to Lake Yahola in Tulsa using a
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Both of Holway's sons also graduated from MIT with a degree in civil engineering and joined their father in W. R. Holway and
Associates. William Nye "Bill" Holway (1920–2007) succeeded his father as president of the consulting firm, which later was acquired by The Benham Group of Oklahoma City. Donal
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The
Spavinaw system exceeded the original design requirements, which called for meeting Tulsa's water needs for 25 years. It actually could deliver 60 million gallons per day by gravity flow. Pumps and a second pipeline were added much later, to meet peak summertime consumption. By 2009, Tulsa still
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had become a powerful political force in
Oklahoma by the 1920s. While Holway was assembling a 40-man team to oversee the Spavinaw project, three representatives of the Klan confronted him to demand that he fire three Roman Catholics. He refused to do so, even though he recognized one Klansman as his
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alone. The line became operational in 1924, and was the longest such line in the U. S. at that time. The construction was not simple. Holway had to build railroad and telephone lines from Tulsa, where the 60-inch-diameter (1.5 m) and 84-inch-diameter (2.1 m) pipes were made, to the dam
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Civic leaders had long realized that the
Arkansas River was an unreliable source for Tulsa's water supply. Starting in 1908, they studied many different approaches to solving the water supply problem. One study concluded that Spavinaw Creek could provide ample water that could flow by gravity at
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water that was then distributed for residential use. The filtration plant never performed as designed. He recommended that the city spend no more money trying to make the
Arkansas water potable because it also had a higher salt content than sea water. He then went into business for himself on a
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Frances Hope Kerr Holway (1886 - 1968) worked in her husband's engineering firm, becoming a full partner who was responsible for personnel and office management. A native of New York, she earned an AB degree from
Radcliffe College in 1910. She was also a published author, whose works included:
364:, and Holway's son Bill was instrumental in the founding of a spinoff UU church in south Tulsa, that is named Hope Unitarian Universalist Church. W. R. Holway's grandson, Bill Hamilton-Holway, is co-minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley with his wife, Barbara.
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engineer. In 1920, he was hired as a consulting engineer to plan a pipeline to carry water from Lake
Spavinaw to Tulsa. He founded the firm W. R. Holway and Associates in 1922. Holway was chief engineer for the Pensacola Dam, which created the Grand Lake o' the Cherokees on the
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was created by completion of the Eucha dam upstream from Lake
Spavinaw. It functions as additional storage and as a buffer for Lake Spavinaw. W. R. Holway and Associates was in charge of engineering work for this project.
150:), in northeastern Oklahoma. Construction began in 1938 and was completed in 1940. At the time, this was the longest multiple-arch dam in the world. In 1952, W. R. Holway and Associates was the engineering firm that built
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in 1922, and served as its president for several years. She died in Tulsa on August 27, 1968. Her papers are in the Arthur and
Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at Harvard University.
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Kimberly French, "The gospel of inclusion: A black
Pentecostal bishop embraces Universalism, befriends a Unitarian minister, and shakes up the largest congregation in the UUA."
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Kerr Holway (1917–2009) also spent his career in the family firm. The family firm continued to play a role in variety of water and power projects in the area.
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and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While in high school, W. R. fell in love with Hope Kerr, who was seven years older than he. She had graduated from
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own banker. Knowing the Klan's reputation for violence, he thereafter kept a loaded weapon handy, even strapping it to the steering wheel of his car.
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He and his family also contributed to other aspects of Tulsa's development. In 1922, he was a co-founder of All Souls Unitarian Church, with
370:, also known as W. R. Holway Reservoir and formerly known as Chimney Rock Reservoir, was named for this man. It is northwest of the town of
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305:. He earned money by delivering milk, herding cows and working in his father's livery stable. He graduated from Sandwich Academy, attended
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277:. Construction began in 1938 and was completed in 1941. At the time, this was the longest multiple-arch dam in the world.
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554:""Holway, Frances Hope Kerr, 1886-1968. Papers of Frances Hope Kerr Holway, 1871-1962: A Finding Aid." Updated May 2016.
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in 1910, then came to Sandwich to teach school. They married July 28, 1916, right after he had graduated from MIT.
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Davis, Kirby Lee. The Journal Record (Oklahoma City). "These Walls: Spavinaw watershed in Tulsa" July 24, 2009.
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Lanvanhar, Marvin. "Tulsa, a Divinely Inspired City". Chapter 13 in Davis D. Joyce and Fred R. Harris, eds.,
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Cantrell, Charles. "Holway Family Brought Water to the Oil Capital." April 5, 2007. Retrieved May 30, 2011.
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Grand Lake News Online. "W. R. Holway, Pensacola's Architect."Accessed February 13, 2011.
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624:"Hope's History and Building", Hope Unitarian Church website. Accessed April 8, 2011.
467:. "Tulsa's Water Resources - Springs and Spavinaw." Undated version available online.
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in Tulsa. The church later grew to become the largest congregation in the
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In 1918, W. R. became a city waterworks engineer for Tulsa, in charge of a
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569:. "Great Lake." Published January 12, 1998. Accessed February 26, 2011.
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Charles Cantrell, "Holway Family Brought Water to the Oil Capital",
269:(also known as Grand River Dam) project. This dam would create the
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received over half of its water from the system Holway designed.
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Engineering issues were not the only problems Holway faced. The
655:""Oklahoma! W. R. Holway Reservoir" Accessed February 26, 2011"
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Stanley, Tim. "Engineer made a splash in hydroelectric work."
449:. Compiled by R. Glenn Nye 1967. Accessed February 21, 2011.
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Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley: Our co-ministers
223:. He founded the firm W. R. Holway and Associates in 1922.
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Alternative Oklahoma: contrarian views of the Sooner State
340:. After moving to Tulsa with her husband, she founded the
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History of All Souls Unitarian Church of Tulsa: 1921-1971
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Holway came to Tulsa in 1918, where he became the city
106:(April 29, 1893 – April 23, 1981), commonly known as
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199:Holway's first jobs were as assistant engineer in
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323:Early Teachers of the South and West, 1820-1865,
191:and married Frances Hope Kerr on July 28, 1916.
689:26:3 (1948) 329-334. (Accessed April 8, 2011.)
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600:at Google Books. Accessed February 20, 2011.
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436:City of Tulsa, Retrieved January 4, 2011
348:Holway died in Tulsa on April 23, 1981.
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298:As a boy, Holway was baptized in the
181:Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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713:People from Sandwich, Massachusetts
362:Unitarian Universalist Association
214:plant that filtered silt from the
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723:MIT School of Engineering alumni
738:20th-century American engineers
419:. "Grand River Dam Authority."
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447:A Genealogy of the Nye Family
586:University of Oklahoma Press
728:People from Tulsa, Oklahoma
421:Accessed February 19, 2011.
330:The Holway-Kerr Family Book
271:Grand Lake o' the Cherokees
132:Grand Lake o' the Cherokees
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556:Accessed January 31, 2017.
358:All Souls Unitarian Church
683:"Dams on the Grand River"
263:Grand River Dam Authority
219:paving project in nearby
122:projects for the city of
95:William Nye "Bill" Holway
718:American civil engineers
504:"Holway - William Nye."
201:Providence, Rhode Island
114:who became prominent in
177:Sandwich, Massachusetts
45:Sandwich, Massachusetts
16:American civil engineer
687:Chronicles of Oklahoma
465:Chronicles of Oklahoma
372:Locust Grove, Oklahoma
334:Radicals of Yesterday
303:Congregational Church
257:Pensacola Dam project
183:(MIT) in 1916 with a
524:. December 22, 2009.
342:Tulsa Little Theater
733:American Unitarians
327:The Story of Water,
238:gravity flow system
185:Bachelor of Science
175:Holway was born in
159:Richard Lloyd Jones
630:2011-07-26 at the
463:Clinton, Fred S.,
195:Engineering career
110:, was an American
104:William Rea Holway
598:Excerpt available
594:978-0-8061-3819-0
508:January 31, 2007.
368:Lake W. R. Holway
311:Radcliffe College
307:Dartmouth College
234:Catoosa, Oklahoma
189:civil engineering
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87:Frances Hope Kerr
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108:W. R. Holway
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57:(1981-04-23)
24:W. R. Holway
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708:1981 deaths
703:1893 births
567:Tulsa World
522:Tulsa World
506:Tulsa World
146:(the lower
144:Grand River
697:Categories
665:2011-02-26
596:(p. 213).
378:References
287:Lake Eucha
281:Lake Eucha
187:degree in
171:Early life
152:Lake Eucha
139:waterworks
74:Occupation
37:1893-04-29
588:, 2007),
285:In 1952,
628:Archived
611:UU World
116:Oklahoma
92:Children
67:Oklahoma
592:
352:Legacy
336:, and
241:site.
84:Spouse
124:Tulsa
63:Tulsa
590:ISBN
261:The
52:Died
31:Born
130:at
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