Karen M. Hawkins
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780813054971
- eISBN:
- 9780813053424
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813054971.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter discusses the founding of Craven Operation Progress (COP) and the broad and enthusiastic support it received from the North Carolina Fund, its first funding agency. When President Lyndon ...
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This chapter discusses the founding of Craven Operation Progress (COP) and the broad and enthusiastic support it received from the North Carolina Fund, its first funding agency. When President Lyndon Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act in August 1964 critical antipoverty plans and programs for Craven County and nearby counties had been under way for more than half a year. These included a strawberry marketing program, a rural environmental sanitation program, adult basic education classes, and manpower training. From the very beginning, plans and incentives to combat the causes of poverty in Eastern North Carolina did not await direction or guidance from the federal government but grew instead out of local needs and circumstances.Less
This chapter discusses the founding of Craven Operation Progress (COP) and the broad and enthusiastic support it received from the North Carolina Fund, its first funding agency. When President Lyndon Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act in August 1964 critical antipoverty plans and programs for Craven County and nearby counties had been under way for more than half a year. These included a strawberry marketing program, a rural environmental sanitation program, adult basic education classes, and manpower training. From the very beginning, plans and incentives to combat the causes of poverty in Eastern North Carolina did not await direction or guidance from the federal government but grew instead out of local needs and circumstances.
Robert R. Korstad
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- July 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780807833797
- eISBN:
- 9781469603674
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9780807895740_korstad.7
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter focuses on Susie Powell, a native of Whitakers, a small town in eastern North Carolina, and a student at Bennett College, who scribbled a brief note in her diary. She was one of a group ...
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This chapter focuses on Susie Powell, a native of Whitakers, a small town in eastern North Carolina, and a student at Bennett College, who scribbled a brief note in her diary. She was one of a group of student volunteers selected by the North Carolina Fund as foot soldiers in the battle against poverty. Powell and her compatriots in the North Carolina Volunteers, dubbed the “First One Hundred” by the state's press, had just finished a three-day orientation at Duke University. They had spent their days in classrooms, listening to professors and public officials describe to them the poor and the causes of poverty, and in the evenings they had discussed with a mix of excitement and apprehension the work that lay ahead.Less
This chapter focuses on Susie Powell, a native of Whitakers, a small town in eastern North Carolina, and a student at Bennett College, who scribbled a brief note in her diary. She was one of a group of student volunteers selected by the North Carolina Fund as foot soldiers in the battle against poverty. Powell and her compatriots in the North Carolina Volunteers, dubbed the “First One Hundred” by the state's press, had just finished a three-day orientation at Duke University. They had spent their days in classrooms, listening to professors and public officials describe to them the poor and the causes of poverty, and in the evenings they had discussed with a mix of excitement and apprehension the work that lay ahead.
Robert R. Korstad
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- July 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780807833797
- eISBN:
- 9781469603674
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9780807895740_korstad.10
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter focuses on a time when the North Carolina Fund was riding high. George Esser and his staff looked to the future with confidence and a deep sense of satisfaction. When representatives of ...
More
This chapter focuses on a time when the North Carolina Fund was riding high. George Esser and his staff looked to the future with confidence and a deep sense of satisfaction. When representatives of the Ford Foundation reviewed the Fund in late 1966, they heaped praise on the agency's efforts. In less than three years, it had “helped initiate and finance innovative, experimental projects . . . to better educate the young and give job skills to unemployed adults, to improve health and sanitation in backward communities . . . to initiate farm coops, and to begin imaginative projects organizing domestic workers, establishing day care centers . . . training and developing indigenous leaders, and a host of other activities, indispensable to ending poverty.” Even so, the Ford team noted, there was much work yet to be done.Less
This chapter focuses on a time when the North Carolina Fund was riding high. George Esser and his staff looked to the future with confidence and a deep sense of satisfaction. When representatives of the Ford Foundation reviewed the Fund in late 1966, they heaped praise on the agency's efforts. In less than three years, it had “helped initiate and finance innovative, experimental projects . . . to better educate the young and give job skills to unemployed adults, to improve health and sanitation in backward communities . . . to initiate farm coops, and to begin imaginative projects organizing domestic workers, establishing day care centers . . . training and developing indigenous leaders, and a host of other activities, indispensable to ending poverty.” Even so, the Ford team noted, there was much work yet to be done.
Robert R. Korstad and James L. Leloudis
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- July 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780807833797
- eISBN:
- 9781469603674
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9780807895740_korstad
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
When Governor Terry Sanford established the North Carolina Fund in 1963, he saw it as a way to provide a better life for the “tens of thousands whose family income is so low that daily subsistence is ...
More
When Governor Terry Sanford established the North Carolina Fund in 1963, he saw it as a way to provide a better life for the “tens of thousands whose family income is so low that daily subsistence is always in doubt.” This book offers a lively account of this pioneering effort in America's War on Poverty. The book describes how the Fund's initial successes grew out of its reliance on private philanthropy and federal dollars and its commitment to the democratic mobilization of the poor. Both were calculated tactics designed to outflank conservative state lawmakers and entrenched local interests that nourished Jim Crow, perpetuated one-party politics, and protected an economy built on cheap labor. By late 1968, when the Fund closed its doors, a resurgent politics of race had gained the advantage, led by a Republican Party that had reorganized itself around opposition to civil rights and aid to the poor. The North Carolina Fund came up short in its battle against poverty, but its story continues to be a source of inspiration and instruction for new generations of Americans.Less
When Governor Terry Sanford established the North Carolina Fund in 1963, he saw it as a way to provide a better life for the “tens of thousands whose family income is so low that daily subsistence is always in doubt.” This book offers a lively account of this pioneering effort in America's War on Poverty. The book describes how the Fund's initial successes grew out of its reliance on private philanthropy and federal dollars and its commitment to the democratic mobilization of the poor. Both were calculated tactics designed to outflank conservative state lawmakers and entrenched local interests that nourished Jim Crow, perpetuated one-party politics, and protected an economy built on cheap labor. By late 1968, when the Fund closed its doors, a resurgent politics of race had gained the advantage, led by a Republican Party that had reorganized itself around opposition to civil rights and aid to the poor. The North Carolina Fund came up short in its battle against poverty, but its story continues to be a source of inspiration and instruction for new generations of Americans.
Robert R. Korstad
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- July 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780807833797
- eISBN:
- 9781469603674
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9780807895740_korstad.9
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter discusses the North Carolina Fund's considerable success in organizing the black poor in Durham and the Choanoke region. However, the fact remained that a majority of the poor—in North ...
More
This chapter discusses the North Carolina Fund's considerable success in organizing the black poor in Durham and the Choanoke region. However, the fact remained that a majority of the poor—in North Carolina and the nation—were white. From the outset, the architects of the War on Poverty had wanted desperately to include that constituency. One reason was practical: the sheer number of poor whites meant that their participation in a campaign against poverty would yield the greatest returns in the form of economic development and value added to human capital. Another reason was decidedly tactical: Lyndon Johnson and allies such as Terry Sanford knew that the War on Poverty would fail if it became too closely identified with the black freedom struggle. In hopes of holding on to conservative southern Democrats, Johnson distanced himself from the agenda of civil rights and characterized his assault on poverty as a means of creating “opportunity for all.”Less
This chapter discusses the North Carolina Fund's considerable success in organizing the black poor in Durham and the Choanoke region. However, the fact remained that a majority of the poor—in North Carolina and the nation—were white. From the outset, the architects of the War on Poverty had wanted desperately to include that constituency. One reason was practical: the sheer number of poor whites meant that their participation in a campaign against poverty would yield the greatest returns in the form of economic development and value added to human capital. Another reason was decidedly tactical: Lyndon Johnson and allies such as Terry Sanford knew that the War on Poverty would fail if it became too closely identified with the black freedom struggle. In hopes of holding on to conservative southern Democrats, Johnson distanced himself from the agenda of civil rights and characterized his assault on poverty as a means of creating “opportunity for all.”
Robert R. Korstad
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- July 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780807833797
- eISBN:
- 9781469603674
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9780807895740_korstad.4
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This book is about the politics of race and poverty in America. It tells the story of the North Carolina Fund, a pioneer effort to improve the lives of the “neglected and forgotten” poor in a nation ...
More
This book is about the politics of race and poverty in America. It tells the story of the North Carolina Fund, a pioneer effort to improve the lives of the “neglected and forgotten” poor in a nation that celebrated itself as an affluent society. Governor Terry Sanford created the Fund in 1963, at a time when the United States stood at a crossroads. A decade of civil rights activism had challenged the country to fulfill its promise of equality and opportunity. Not since the Civil War and Reconstruction had reformers raised such fundamental questions about the political and social foundations of the republic. It was, however, by no means clear how Americans would answer. Alabama governor George C. Wallace spoke for one possibility.Less
This book is about the politics of race and poverty in America. It tells the story of the North Carolina Fund, a pioneer effort to improve the lives of the “neglected and forgotten” poor in a nation that celebrated itself as an affluent society. Governor Terry Sanford created the Fund in 1963, at a time when the United States stood at a crossroads. A decade of civil rights activism had challenged the country to fulfill its promise of equality and opportunity. Not since the Civil War and Reconstruction had reformers raised such fundamental questions about the political and social foundations of the republic. It was, however, by no means clear how Americans would answer. Alabama governor George C. Wallace spoke for one possibility.
Karen M. Hawkins
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780813054971
- eISBN:
- 9780813053424
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813054971.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter discusses the increased intervention from the Office of Economic Opportunity and the North Carolina Fund in Craven Operation Progress matters. Federal officials within both the OEO and ...
More
This chapter discusses the increased intervention from the Office of Economic Opportunity and the North Carolina Fund in Craven Operation Progress matters. Federal officials within both the OEO and the Department of Labor had begun to conclude, similarly to Fund staff, that local control of community action would never allow the types of social and institutional change they believed were necessary to meet the needs of the poor. From their perspective in Washington, D.C., too many businessmen, elected officials, and other power-structure types served on local boards. Moreover, these men and women were either incapable of making or unwilling to make the kinds of decisions likely to enhance the poor’s political influence or economic standing. Eventually, save for the rare instances in which the poor made up a majority of a Community Action Agency board, local community action experiments began to be seen as a roadblock to the War on Poverty’s goals of improving opportunities and justice for indigent populations (especially in the South, where many of the long-term poor were black). The executive director ultimately resigns following pressure from both groups to step down.Less
This chapter discusses the increased intervention from the Office of Economic Opportunity and the North Carolina Fund in Craven Operation Progress matters. Federal officials within both the OEO and the Department of Labor had begun to conclude, similarly to Fund staff, that local control of community action would never allow the types of social and institutional change they believed were necessary to meet the needs of the poor. From their perspective in Washington, D.C., too many businessmen, elected officials, and other power-structure types served on local boards. Moreover, these men and women were either incapable of making or unwilling to make the kinds of decisions likely to enhance the poor’s political influence or economic standing. Eventually, save for the rare instances in which the poor made up a majority of a Community Action Agency board, local community action experiments began to be seen as a roadblock to the War on Poverty’s goals of improving opportunities and justice for indigent populations (especially in the South, where many of the long-term poor were black). The executive director ultimately resigns following pressure from both groups to step down.
Karen M. Hawkins
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780813054971
- eISBN:
- 9780813053424
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813054971.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter introduces Craven Operation Progress’s new executive director who desired to ensure more poor people were reached, especially the white poor who were participating in very low numbers. A ...
More
This chapter introduces Craven Operation Progress’s new executive director who desired to ensure more poor people were reached, especially the white poor who were participating in very low numbers. A moderate compared to the previous director, he also sought to cooperate more with the local people and move COP in a less controversial direction. North Carolina Fund and Office of Economic Opportunity leaders generally distrusted the new director and believed he was too accommodating to the local power structure at the expense of those being served by COP. Yet despite such criticisms, some of COP’s greatest successes begin to show during Monte’s tenure, particularly within the Manpower training program. This chapter also details how black and whites on the COP board generally see the need to cooperate and work together for the sake of the community.Less
This chapter introduces Craven Operation Progress’s new executive director who desired to ensure more poor people were reached, especially the white poor who were participating in very low numbers. A moderate compared to the previous director, he also sought to cooperate more with the local people and move COP in a less controversial direction. North Carolina Fund and Office of Economic Opportunity leaders generally distrusted the new director and believed he was too accommodating to the local power structure at the expense of those being served by COP. Yet despite such criticisms, some of COP’s greatest successes begin to show during Monte’s tenure, particularly within the Manpower training program. This chapter also details how black and whites on the COP board generally see the need to cooperate and work together for the sake of the community.
Daniel P. Gitterman and Peter A. Coclanis (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- July 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780807873359
- eISBN:
- 9781469602424
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9780807872895_gitterman
- Subject:
- History, Economic History
In the last half-century, North Carolina and the South have experienced rapid economic growth. Much of the best analysis of this progress came from two North Carolina-based research organizations: ...
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In the last half-century, North Carolina and the South have experienced rapid economic growth. Much of the best analysis of this progress came from two North Carolina-based research organizations: the Southern Growth Policies Board and MDC (originally a project of the North Carolina Fund). Their 1986 reports are two of the best assessments of the achievements and limitations of the so-called Sunbelt boom. On November 17, 2011, the Global Research Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Institute for Emerging Issues at North Carolina State University co-hosted a public discussion to build on these classic reports and to offer fresh analyses of the current challenges facing the region. This book, which issued from this effort, features more than thirty original essays containing recommendations and strategies for building and sustaining a globally competitive South.Less
In the last half-century, North Carolina and the South have experienced rapid economic growth. Much of the best analysis of this progress came from two North Carolina-based research organizations: the Southern Growth Policies Board and MDC (originally a project of the North Carolina Fund). Their 1986 reports are two of the best assessments of the achievements and limitations of the so-called Sunbelt boom. On November 17, 2011, the Global Research Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Institute for Emerging Issues at North Carolina State University co-hosted a public discussion to build on these classic reports and to offer fresh analyses of the current challenges facing the region. This book, which issued from this effort, features more than thirty original essays containing recommendations and strategies for building and sustaining a globally competitive South.
