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DREAMS REALIZED AND DREAMS DEFERRED: SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND PUBLIC POLICY IN PITTSBURGH, 1960-1980 by Michael Sean Snow BA, Southern Methodist University, 1992 MA,University of Pittsburgh, 1994 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2004 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Michael Sean Snow It was defended on November 22, 2004 and approved by Edward K. Muller Morton Coleman Laurence Glasco Richard J. Oestreicher Edward K. Muller Committee Chairperson ii DREAMS REALIZED AND DREAMS DEFERRED: SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND PUBLIC POLICY IN PITTSBURGH, 1960-1980 Michael S. Snow, Ph. D. University of Pittsburgh, 2004 This dissertation analyzes the impact of civil rights, women’s rights, and gay rights activists on public policy in Pittsburgh during the 1960s and 1970s. It challenges several of the interpretations which other scholars have made about the history and impact of the New Left and social movements in the United States since 1960. This study applies social network analysis to politics to explain the successes and failures these social movements had in the city in winning the reforms that they sought for their communities. As the activists grew in their political sophistication, so their political networks matured. Pittsburgh activists did not ignore the means of power that social movement scholars traditionally study, power at the polls and in the streets. But in addition to such tools, activists built a base of trust, respect, and mutual support between themselves and local politicians. By gathering and disseminating information about the problems afflicting their communities, African-Americans in the 1960s and feminists and gays in the 1970s won converts to their cause among the city’s political elite. Leaders within the three movements leveraged their growing rapport with political leaders to win appointments to government commissions for community members and appropriations for programs aiding their communities. These positions brought activists further contacts and alliances with leaders at other levels of government. Using their political networks, these Pittsburgh activists in the 1970s iii protected and sometimes advanced their cause even in the face of federal budget cuts and growing organized opposition to school desegregation, abortion, and gay rights. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction............................................................................................................................. 1 II. The Road to Junior Partnerships: Pittsburgh politics and social policy, 1945-1959 ............ 16 A. Up South: African-Americans begin a movement to overthrow de facto segregation..... 17 B. Not quite in between two waves of feminism................................................................... 42 C. In search of a hiding minority: gays at the Point .............................................................. 57 III. Civil Rights, Community Formation, and Improved Political Opportunities, 1960-1970 ... 71 A. Urban Renewal.................................................................................................................. 72 B. Liberals and the Machine.................................................................................................. 79 C. African Americans 1960-1970.......................................................................................... 87 D. Women in the 1960s ....................................................................................................... 116 E. Sexual Minorities, 1960-1970......................................................................................... 133 IV. African-Americans, 1970-1980 .......................................................................................... 143 A. Contradictory Trends in African-American Economic Status........................................ 145 B. Cutbacks Mobilize African-American Voters ................................................................ 147 C. A Huge Victory on Home Improvement Funding .......................................................... 151 D. A Draw on Police Brutality Cases .................................................................................. 155 E. Victories on Training Programs...................................................................................... 159 F. Defeats and Ultimate Success in Desegregating Schools............................................... 161 G. Victories for Tenants and Trainees................................................................................. 177 H. Holding Politicians Accountable .................................................................................... 180 V. Women’s Liberation Catches on in Pittsburgh, 1969-1980................................................ 186 A. Disseminating Ideas About Women’s Rights and Oppression....................................... 187 B. Fighting for the Equal Rights Amendment, 1969-1975.................................................. 190 C. Ending Discrimination in Job Advertisements ............................................................... 202 D. Feminists Fight for Working Class Women ................................................................... 204 E. Feminist Alliances Across Racial Boundaries................................................................ 208 F. Divisions Between Feminists and the Left, Unions........................................................ 213 G. Opportunity Cost: Strategic Choices and Women’s Weakness in Local Politics........... 215 H. Countering Anti-feminists .............................................................................................. 217 I. Divisions Caused in the Women’s Movement Caused by Abortion Rights................... 220 J. Victories on Sexual Assault............................................................................................ 224 K. Demanding Equal Representation................................................................................... 226 VI. Gay Rights 1970-1980 ........................................................................................................ 229 A. Finally Building a Gay Community................................................................................ 230 B. First Entries into Local Politics....................................................................................... 235 C. Police Relations .............................................................................................................. 242 D. Persad: Winning Aid Through Links to Foundation Administrators.............................. 245 v E. The Battle for Persad Funding ........................................................................................ 247 F. Forging Alliances in the State......................................................................................... 249 G. Wielding the Power of Governor’s Liaisons .................................................................. 252 H. Mobilizing Gay Constituent/Lobbyists........................................................................... 255 I. The Governor’s Commission on Sexual Minorities ....................................................... 260 J. Building Linkages to Other Movements......................................................................... 263 K. Overturning Sodomy Statutes Via the Courts................................................................. 269 L. Finally Demonstrating Local Political Power................................................................. 271 VII. Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 278 A. African-Americans 1980-2003 ....................................................................................... 283 B. Women 1980-2003.......................................................................................................... 287 C. Two movements’ leaders in tandem 1983-1988............................................................. 290 D. Gays 1980 to Present ...................................................................................................... 292 APPENDIX A............................................................................................................................. 296 Note on Sources ...................................................................................................................... 296 APPENDIX B ............................................................................................................................. 302 Tables and Charts.................................................................................................................... 302 APPENDIX C ............................................................................................................................. 305 List of Abbreviations .............................................................................................................. 305 BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................................... 308 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Percent of Persons 25 years of Age or Older Completing Four or More Years of College in Historically Black Neighborhoods.................................................................................