39194 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS November 30, 1970 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS

OPERATION CORNERSTONE to 80 percent) of its time in community to find a glass or dish, if you require such organization, similar to the Office of Eco­ niceties. If you're tired, you may be able nomic Opportunity's Community Action Pro­ to talk your way into flopping for a while on HON. JOHN R. RARICK gram-type activities. We came away with the one of the bunk beds covered by mattresses feeling that the participant portion of the which resemble WWI Red Cross litters. OF LOUISIANA project is primarily a device invented to pro­ Randy Reynalds, a likable nineteen-year­ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES vide an economic base for the community old drop-out, flopped down six months ago, Wednesday, November 25,1970 organization acti vities. These activities, ac­ and is still around. Now a Cornerstone staft' cording to our observation, have t aken the member, he receives room and board for Mr. RARICK. Mr. Speaker, Corner­ form of non-constructive attacks on local, varied chores such as carrying out garbage, stone, HUD's controversial training pro­ st ate, and Federal programs and/ or agencles painting the house, or acting as guide for gram in Atlanta, Ga., is a classic dis­ operating in the neighborhood. The key participants who come to the Project from question which we feel you should be alerted various Federal agencies. grace in waste and wanton misdirection to is: Does the Department of Housing and of taxpayer's dollars under the excuse Urban Development wish to subsidize a HUNDREDS OF VOLUNTEERS of helping poor and unfortunate. group that devotes 70 or more percent of its Hundreds of volunteers have come to Proj­ Even officials at HUD are concerned time to community organization-type ac­ ect Cornerstone in Atlanta since it was over continued subsidizing of revolu­ tivities that are in direct confiict and com­ founded in 1966, for two-week seminars. tionary fronts providing an economic petition with OEO and Model Cities programs Hopefully, they will learn what it's like to base for community organization activi­ in the area? Please understand that we do be a poor black American struggling to stay ties to attack the American people and not desire to destroy citizen opposition to alive in a ghetto. Agencies such as HUD, public/HUD programs (as if that were pos­ HEW, Commerce and Labor send employees plot destruction of our country. sible). We do, however, question the advis­ to introduce policy-making bureaucrats to I include several memorandums from ability of having taxpayers subsidize this what it's like looking up from the bottom. HUD officials and a story about "Corner­ opposition under the guise of an employee Every day, 97 Love Street is crowded with stone" by E. H. Rothschild from the training/education program. 10 or 12 volunteers and three or four Corner­ January 1970 edition of Challenge, pub­ As you are already aware, a number of our stone staft'. Neighborhood children and adults lication of HUD, Washington, D.C., at colleagues enthusiastically support all as­ seem to be drawn to the house and the this point: pects of the Cornerstone Project. We do not. friendly inhabitants. It takes a few days for We believe that the project presents only a middle-class white newcomer to adjust to U.S. GOVERNMENT MEMORANDUM one point of view, is not well managed, and the cultural shock and lack of conveniences. (Confidential) is non-constructively involved in community Privacy, which most of us enjoy and take for DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING organization activities. Its continuance as a granted in our own homes, doesn't exist in a AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, HUD funded employee training project house with one bathroom, two overcrowded October 15, 1969. should be subject to serious question. bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room and front To: Richard C. VanDusen, Under Secretary. In view of the fact that the Cornerstone porch. But once settled, your attention is From: Cornerst one Participants Listed Project has both its supporters and detrac­ drawn away from yourself as you participate Below. tors, we feel that it would be highly desir­ in the group activities. Subject: The Cornerstone Project-Some able for you to examine the Cornerstone pro­ "DO IT YOURSELF" BREAKFAST Reservations. gram as a participant so that you could ar­ A typical day at Project Cornerstone starts The purpose of t his memorandum is to rive at your own opinion as to its worth. However, we recognize that more important with a "do it yourself" breakfast. Afterward call to your at tention several reservations the group, dressed in casual attire, trudges which we, as Cornerstone participants, be­ matters compete for your time. We would, therefore, recommend that you request a up Love Street for a visit that may take it lieve severely detract from what might oth­ to the Mayor's office or a neighborhood bar. erwise be a useful training experience for person to attend Cornerstone whose impar­ Brief trips to the emergency ward at Grady Departmental staff. tiality you have come to respect and to pro­ Memorial Hospital, the Model Cities Agency, The first and most important criticism is vide you with a report on the merits and/or the Southside Comprehensive Health Center the extreme bias built int o the Cornerstone demerits of the project. We strongly urge and Juvenile Court permitted our group to program. The Cornerstone st aft', representing that such action be taken before HUD en­ observe first-hand how various Governmental one viewpoint, places every neighborhood gages in any long-term training arrange­ programs and services were being dispensed. problem into a preconceived radical ideologi­ ment with Cornerstone and before you move cal framework. We do not think it is an ex­ to further encourage Departmental staft' to Questions begin to get pointed after a day aggeration to say that the Cornerstone pro­ participate in the project. or two and pat answers are not left unchal­ gram is designed to force the participant lenged very long. After lunch,· discussions We appreciate the opportunity to make may last into the afternoon when partici­ into a radical or "New Leftist" ideological these views known to you and we would mold. We submit t hat it is extremely diffi­ pants once again go off to have a look at some be happy to provide you with any additional other aspect of ghetto life. cult for participants to arrive at objective i.nformation or be of service in any way. conclusions in such an unobjective atmos­ None of the activity is tightly structured RICHARD LEHMANN. and this leaves great opportunity for initia­ phere. We should like to make clear that our LEE RUDD. criticism is not of the staft' members' per­ tive and personal search for both problems MARGARET L. LINDSAY. ·and answers. The intended course of a day's sonal opinions, that is their own business. CHARLES K. MATHENY. Rather, we object to the extension of these EDWARD WISE. activity can change drastically from sunup opinions into every facet of the program to sundown. without giving due, indeed any, considera­ Evenings, the project house comes alive as tion to opposing points of view. [From Challenge, publication of U.S. Dept. various speakers from organizations like the Our second-criticism is directed at the cost of Housing and Urban Development, Wash­ Southern Christian Leadership Conference of the service (previously $150, now $300 per ington, D.C., January 1970] (SCLC), Student Non-Violent Coordinating person) as compared with the staft' time and CORNERSTONE-FACE TO FACE WITH POVERTY Committee (SNCC), Tenants Union For Fair­ energies devoted to putting together a qual­ (By E. H. Rothschild) ness (TUFF), or a representative from the ity program for participants. The Corner­ Mayor's office speak and exchange views in stone staft' now consists of six or seven peo­ Rickety green wooden steps that lead up to ple. However, it appeared to us that the time the porch of 97 Love Street give little clue what frequently turns out to be a rough and of only two people was devoted to the pro­ that this 60-year-old frame house is head­ tumble verbal confrontation. quarters for Project Cornerstone. There is gram while the remainder of the staft' was Those who take issue with a topic can ex­ no sign on the door. The house is like hun­ either not working or engaged in "commu­ pect plenty of give and take. Conversations dreds of others that line the mostly unpaved get intense as the guts of emotional issues nity organization" (see below) activities. streets in the Summerhill ghetto of Atlanta. While the "loose-knit," "open-ended," "un­ such as racism are cut open and spill out for Once inside however, the similarity ends. all to examine. structured," approach that was taken in It matters little to Kelly Kidd, dungaree-clad planning activities has been praised by some Project Director, whether you are a mayor, TIME TO "BUG OUT" participants, we feel that these words are GS-18, or a. drunk who has stumbled into After a few days it's impossible not to begin euphemisms for "mismanagement" and that the dark living room. Pretenses and creden­ examining your own hates and prejudices. the term "mismanagement" would more tials carry no importance here. This is the time to pack up and "bug out" aptly describe the current Cornerstone sit­ If you're hungry, you'll probably be di­ unless you are willing and prepared to come uation. rected toward the kitchen. If you can find face to face with the fact that your own be­ Our third criticism is that the sta.ft' ap­ something to eat, you'll have to move the liefs are being questioned by none other than pears to be spending a large percentage (70 plle of dirty pots and pans filling the sink you. November 30, 1970 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS 39195

I was privileged to be among the earliest OlTR CLIENTS ARE POOR PEOPLE participant should go to Cornerstone with HUD participants at Cornerstone, a group The lack o! answers to questions like these an "open Inind." However, I did have the that numbered 50 by the end of 1969. During and dozens more shocked and surprised us opportunity to discuss this training with a my two weeks it was hot and humid in At­ all. We began to realize that our clients are number o! previous participants and received lanta; the temperature did not drop very not seven HUD Regional Offices or several reports varying from "I would find it an 'in­ much at night and sleep became elusive. hundred Congressmen. Our clients are not teresting' experience," "you probably will be I remember our group visiting the Georgia the 1,000 Redevelopment Authorities or better able to get something constructive Surplus Food Distribution Center on a day Housing Authorities across this land. Our out of it than I did," to "it is a repulsive when it was 97 degrees. This one center clients, to a large extent, are those Inillions experience and HUD should stop its partici­ serves the 200,000 poor people of Fulton of poor people, black and white, out there in pation in it." County with surplus food such as flour, beans, hot, depressing, dirty ghettos like Summer­ Since my return from Cornerstone, I have soup and other staples. Prison labor cuts hill-trying, or at least waiting, to get a slice been given the attached memorandums, open the brown cardboard boxes and dis­ of the pie against odds that are overwhelm­ dated October 15, 1969, and November 19, penses pre-determined amounts as people ing, in a game where the rules have been 1969, to Mr. Richard C. Van Dusen, Under walk along pushing their food on a roller one-sVedly made through hundreds of years Secretary, which I am told have not been conveyor gathering their month's supply. A of prejudice and ignorance. acknowledged. family of ten 1s entitled to 327 pounds of To say that Project Cornerstone was en­ Any one of the five reasons cited in the food. No one seemed to know or care how a lightening, emotion filled, educational and second paragraph of this memorandum is poor woman, having waited in line for three shocking is an understatement. It is all of sufficient for HUD to cease its payment of hours, can carry 327 pounds of can goods in these things and much more. $300 per person to Cornerstone for so-called 97 degree heat across the city or county to The hope is that participants come back "lodging, meals and training." Each of the her home. a little more understanding and a lot more five reasons could be the subject of treatise; however, I want to concur with the October DISCUSSING JAll. OVER LUNCH knowledgeable of the real problems at the roots of society. It is not designed to convert 15th and November 19th memoranduins and On another day, we visited Magistrate cite only a few specific incidents I observed Court and listened while Atlanta's lower you into a raving liberal. The hope is that you are better prepared to help those people which confirm their feelings concerning the court judiciary conducted hearings. Most of adininistration of the HUD training program, the cases involved drunkenness, beatings or who you now know really exist, but who be­ Cornerstone. relatively minor crimes. After the hearings, fore Project Cornerstone were merely ima­ Kelley Kidd, co-director of Cornerstone, our group discussed the sentences over lunch ginary, or at best statistics. presented a two-hour lecture on the develop­ and almost unanimously agreed that the And perhaps, if you are lucky, you will ment of this country to the present time, white southern Magistrate was enormously return to HUD, as many Cornerstone partici­ which he describes as being in the third fair in measuring the penalty to the crime of nants did, more resolved to be critical and stage-the fourth stage being the revolution predominantly black defendants. ~utspoken when policy is discussed and "when the blacks and the whites will be Another day was spent at the new OEO­ passed around for review, determined to treated equally and the people are rightfully funded Southside Comprehensive Health remember these black people in Summerhill, given that which is theirs rather than in the Center. This recently opened $6 million out­ who don't know about advocacy planning or hands of the Henry Ford's, etc." He stated patient clinic services 48,000 people who live can't spell citizen participation, who are that there are really only three things in in Summerhill and the adjoining communi­ waiting for us to deliver better homes, a life: fornicating, defecating, and urinating. ties of Peoplestown, Mechanicsville and Pitts­ better community, and a better life, as we and we only need to contribute that which burgh. have been promising and promising and pro­ is necessary to make these functions pos­ The Reverend 0 . B. Davis, the full-time mising .. .. sible. This theme was repeated time and pubilc relations director, patiently attempted again dul'ing his lengthy lecture. He hates to answer our questions and gave us a tour DEPARTMENT OF two things in life, (1) hard work, and (2) of an impressive clinic within what was once HoUSINC AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, doing any thing unpleasant which he is told a mattress factory. Seventy-two percent of May 13, 1970. he has to do. Throughout my stay at Cor­ the clinic's employees live in the neighbor­ U.S. GOVERNMENT MEMORANDUM nerstone, statements concerning "those hood and more than 1,000 patients are treated ---, ---, ---, Nixon and Romney" weekly. Unfortunately, the center's open To: Secretary George Romney. From: Lester E. Ogilvy, Assistant to Special were uttered more frequently than I care to hours are 8:30a.m. to 5:00p.m. and this lim­ remember by most of the members of the its treatment mostly to unemployed females, Ass't for Cooperative Housing. Subject: Operation Cornerstone. Cornerstone staff, speakers and "guests" of housewives and children. It seemed to us the staff which addressed the eight partici­ that a simple change in hours once or twice Having just returned from one of HUD's pants (four male government employees, one a week would permit working males to receive t raining prograins, Cornerstone, in Atlanta, male student from Oregon, and three female proper treatment without having to lose time Georgia, my sense of loyalty to my country, government employees). One member of the or salary from their jobs. to my President, and more particularly, to staff admitted he was a Communist and was you, Mr. Secretary, compels me to report PROMISES CLOAKED IN RHETORIC ready to go to Washington and "burn the to you, (1) the deplorable physical condi­ ---place down." By the second week, many of us began to tions under which the participants live, (2) display frayed nerves and irritability as a It appeared to me that the scheduling of t he out rageous communistic philosophy ex­ speakers on the Cornerstone promises was result of the heat, the long days of asking, pressed in an obscene manner by the Corner­ seeking, arguing and just existing. This feel­ done to give an abundance of time to non­ stone staff and its speakers, (3) the atrocious constructive-minded community personnel ing combined with the little visible improve­ lack of a well-planned, constructive program, to present their views concernin g Nixon, ment that had taken place in the community (4) the lack of an acceptable level of ad­ made us begin to see and feel some of the Romney, draft -dodging, and "non-violent ministration of the shamefully constructed activities (don't inflict physical harm-any­ frustration and hopelessness. program, and (5) the expenditure of Govern­ We began to see how many of the promises thing else goes) . " ment funds which permits an anti-demo­ It was quite apparent little effort was have been cloaked in rhetoric, and that the cratic philosophy to flourish. paternalistic idea of doing for the poor is not given to stressing the importance of the Soon after receipt of the attached HUD const ructive government operations (Com­ the total answer. You begin to realize that Staff Bulletin 70-28, dated March 4, 1970, I the poor is not the total answer. You began prehensive Health Center [OEO funds} , volunteered as a participant for the session Child Development Center [Model City to realize that the poor must rise out of the commencing April 19th. Having a Master's ghetto, not by being badgered or bulldozed, funds), Model Cities and Emmaus House Degree in Social Service and having worked [Episcopal Church funds]). I was also aware but by having the equal opportunity in with poverty-stricken black and white faini­ that these activities were not clear as to the deeds, that Iniddle-class whites believe ex­ lies, together with my experience in hous­ ists, but which in fact does not. function of Cornerstone nor the purpose of ing programs designed to meet the needs of our visit t o their activities. Scheduling was We never learned, for instance, why fifty the low-income families, I believed t his percent of the streets were not paved in that so poor that four of the scheduled events training program would be a productive ex­ were cancelled or substituted. community and yet a pot hole in the better perience--one in which I could contribute neighborhoods would receive repaving in a Collins McGee (black-picture attached) as well as learn. was intoxicated to the extent that concerr> matter of days, if not hours. Or why our own Previous participants from HUD have at­ Model Cities approach was massive reloca­ was expressed by one of the Cornerstone tended Cornerstone with varying Impres­ guests about his driving the Volkswagen bus tion and demolition, when to our eyes it ap­ sions as to the worthwhileness of t he train­ peared vacant lots constituted more than ing program. Each participant is informed (owned by Cornerstone, bought with HEW half the land in Summerhill which with that he is not required to submit a written funds) . Our seminar leader of the Corner­ some imaginative planning and forethought report, but should he choose to do so, he stone staff, Joe Reagan, said, "He always could easily have held new homes. Or why may record on tape his impressions of Cor­ drives drunk." When asked where Jim was n o employee at the Model Cities Agency was nerstone. Prior to my going to Cornerstone, (an Oregon student who was a participant), responsible for seeking out job-creating in­ I requested an opportunity to review im­ Joe replied, "He's up at the other house dustries to locate in an underemployed and pressions of earlier participants but was de­ doing a job on my Wife." When someone in nndertrained community. nied this request as it was believed that each the group said, "Anna Mary (Joe's wife) is 39196 EXTENSIONS OF · REMARKS~ November 30, 1970 kind of drunk and maybe that's not a good ilar recommendations are being made by HTHE idea," he replied, "Let them do their thing." PITTSBURGH INITIATES participants from HEW Headquarters Of­ WORLD OF CONSTRUCTION" Jim (Oregon student) told me and par­ fice and the Social Security OJfice in Kansas ticipant, Mr. Kenneth Martin, Social Secu­ City. rity Administration, Kansas City, that he I would be pleased to discuss this further grew marijuana in Oregon and had some with you should you so desire. HON. WILLIAM S. MOORHEAD with him and was prepared to furnish it for LESTER E. 0GILVY, OF PENNSYLVANIA a party which he thought the group needed. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Mr. Martin told me that Jim said Kelley VOLUNTEERS FOR PROJECT CORNERSTONE Kidd needed something stronger than mari­ Monday, November 30, 1970 juana and was on "speed". (Jim's comment ( S.taff Bulletin) got back to Kelley Kidd and he publicly de­ DEPARTMENT OF HOUSIN<% Mr. MOORHEAD~ Mr. Speaker, how nied at the outset of his two-hour lecture AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, many of us in this chamber today took that he was on speed or LSD. March 4, 1970. woodshop when we were in grade school On the evening of the 22l:ld, two men Project Cornerstone is a training experi­ or high school? How ·many of us have stopped their car in front of OU.l' house and ence designed to increase participants:" aware­ ness and understanding of urban poverty, had young sons come home displaying inquired who owned the Volkswagen bus, proudly the jewelry box or breadboard that they had a good deal tllat the owner racial prejudice, and institutional discrimi­ would be interested in. It was a brand new nation tl'Irough personal exposure ta these they had worked on so intently for sever­ tire and rim they would sell for $4.00. Kelley problemS'. It was started over three years· ago al long weeks? Kidd brought itA as a summer training program to give profes­ Woodshop and several other classes, One of the s;l;a,ff members brought two sionals a first-hand experience with urban such as metal shop or printshop, and gallon jugs of. home brew to Cornerstone and poverty: Cornerstone has expanded to a year so forth, came under the industrial arts put them in th ice box for our use. round actfvfty m Atlanta. The program par­ category in the Pittsburgh public schools "Hippy" friends of the staff wandered · tieipan'ts. inc!trde businessmen, government and out of the house at all hours of the day employee, labor union officials, clergymen, curriculum. But recently there has been and night and consumed food alleged!)' far and educators. Participants live for two a change and a change which I believe is the participants and staff. weeks in the heart of Atlanta's ghetto where a good one and one that many of you Living conditions were unbelievably filtlly. they have an opportunity to meet and talk might want to suggest to your local school The mattresses and pillows funlished an of with residents, community leaders, and anti­ boards. the participants would be instantly burned. poverty workers and where they can see and experience at first hand the problems of The traditional "shop" class has given by the Health Authorities. The bedroom way to a new subject. It is called "The which was about 18' by 18' housed the :fi urb3n poverty and evaluate the e1fectiveness male participants. One eloset. was provided' of eurrent existing program at the lower World of Construction.u The November for use of the five male, participants. The e leveL 15 Parade magazine carries an excellent bathroom which was used by twelve people Last year fifty professional HUD employees article by John G. Rogers on "The did not have a lock, merely a nan whieh was participated in Project Cornerstone. They ­ World of Construction" and how it is turned to provide security. The flooring was ha.' e ~turned with a heightened under­ operating in Pittsburgh public schools. standfng of urban crisis and new insights as a rotted plywood, no shower, only an o d Before introducing this article in the small bathtub, a torn paper curtain provided ta how they might improve their job per­ RECORD, let me quote a few of its para­ the only means of privacy on the first floor formance when involved in designing and window. The toilet seat was ready to come developing HUD programs which affect the graphs to show you what has replaced apart. Stokely Carmichael's picture was poor. the birdhouse making in wood shop: prominently displayed in the "living room." Since the experience proved so valuable Construction is a broad concept. These Mice, rats, cockroaches and bugs and Rap HUD has increased its participation to 75 youngsters "live" the whole of it. They buy Brown's picture were evident in the kitchen. er::1ployees for calendar year 1970 and is seek­ land, make blueprints, close contracts, hire We prepared our own breakfast and lunch. ing Volunteers (senior professionals GS- labor and then build scale-size sections of - A very mediocre evening meal was served 12 through 18) to participate in this pro­ houses right down to plumbing and electric buffet style. gram. wiring that must pass strict inspection. During the afternoon group discussion pe­ Interested employees should contact Noel They're getting a whole rounded picture, not riod of the 24th, I stated that I was aware of Sweitzer, room 10014, extension 56648 or Mel just pounding a nail here and there in iso­ the position taken by the Cornerstone staff Patterson, room 2154, extension 55473, for lation. in supporting the garbage strikers and it applications. HUD will be sending three or four em­ The house-building, of course, is real would have been inconsistent for them to while other aspects at the one-year class are minimize the ill effects of their strike; how­ ployees to each session. The calendar for the first 10 sessions is listed below. Applications simulated exercises-for example, buying ever, I could not condone the staff making property and bargaining over wage rates. But no effort to gather up the garbage and trash should be submitted no later than March 16, 1970. even the simulations are faithful to reality on the 23rd after the strike was settled at according to a given set of facts and the kids midnight on the 22nd. The Co-Director, Col­ 1970 SESSION OF THE CORNERSTONE PROJECT frequently get quite carried away. At a re­ lins McGee, told me, "If the God-damn gar­ March 29-April 10. cent union-management grievance session, bage bothered you so much, why didn't you April 19-May 1. boys on both sides were pounding the table do something about it?" I told him that it May 3-May 15. in anger as they soug;ht to score points be­ did, and worked as fast as I could that morn­ May 17-May 29. fore an arbitrator. ing getting about 80% of it ha.uled out to the June 7-June 19. curb prior to the downpour and asked where June 21--July 3. I include Mr. Rogers fine article in the he was during that time. I was told, "It is July 12.-July 24. RECORD: none of your damn business." The following July 26-Augun 7. NEW COURSE FOR SCHOOL Klos: How To day when I returned from downtown Atlanta August. 9-A.ugus:t 21. BUILD A HOUSE about 10:30 p.m., I found my pillowcase pil­ August 23-september 4. (By John G. Rogers) low, sheet and mattress saturated with urine. Saturday was. listed on our schedule as PITTSBURGH, PA.-Robert Allen is a build­ "Free time-Do your own thing." Four of ing contractor who drives hard bargains MAN'S INHUMANITY TO MAN-HOW when it comes to buying land for a big hous­ the male participants had planned to ge~ a shower and a good night's sleep at a hotel LONG? ing development. Ross Thomas is a union in downtown Atlanta but were told in. vecy leader who gives Allen a rough time during positive terlllS- that it was not intended that wage negotiations. And Jeffrey Johnson is a any participants spend any evenings sleep­ HON. WILLIAM J. SCHERLE master carpenter who hammers and saws on ing away from Cornerstone. OF IOWA Allen's projects. All this is quite strange be­ I believe that I approached trafning op­ IN T HE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES cause Robert Allen, Ross: Thomas and Jeffrey portunity wit-h a mature and open r:r:Un

EDITORIALS AND OBITUARIES tracted national attention and touched not Alfonso J. Cervantes, the present mayor, Following, Mr. Speaker, are the full only downtown and M111 Creek, at its height defeated Mr. Tucker in his final political the largest urban redevelopment program in campaign. texts of the editorials I have referred the United States, but the neighborhoods as After his return to the Washington Uni­ to, and the obituaries in our two daily well. Better than $110,000,000 in public im­ versity staff in 1965, Mr. Tucker taught newspapers. provements were installed in the largest such classes in architecture, law, political science First, the editorial from the St. Louis const ruction program in the city's long his­ and sociology. tory. The Mayor's abilit y to attract the two­ Globe-Democrat of Wednesday morn­ FAREWELL SPEECH ing, November 25 , 1970: thirds m a jorities necessary for authorization of so huge a spending scheme :ested on the In the former Mayor's farewell address to FINE CIVIC LEADER-RAYMOND R. TUCKER public confidence elicited by his scrupulous the Board of Aldermen on March 26, 1965, Few men in a community's history have, handling of public affairs. after h is defeat in the March 9 primary elec­ through their dedicated leadership and un­ Mr. Tucker personally solved the engineer­ tion, he told the aldermen: "We have to­ swerving purpose, done as much to change ing problem of the riverfront train tun nel, gether worked out the biggest program of the face and spirit of their city as Raymond which paved the way for construction of the capital improvements in the history of our R. Tucker, during his three terms as mayor Gateway Arch and the whole downtown re­ city, with benefits to every section of the of St. Louis. birth that it stimulated. But he was more community." Under his administrations, the whole than a builder and administrator. He was a He praised the aldermen for their co-oper­ structure of a decaying downtown was re­ political leader in the highest meaning of at ion and did not mention the sometimes vitalized with the monumental Arch, the the term. He stopped the neighborhood-de­ bitter opposition to some of his programs. towering new buildings and stadium com­ stroying device of spot-zoning that had be­ Mr. Tucker noted that in his 12 years as plex at the riverfront. come a routine feature of almost every alder­ mayor laws on civil rights and air pollution He would have been the last to assume manic meeting; he brought sanity to a traffic control had been approved. Rebuilding down­ the credit, and in fact many influential fig­ program in which the aldermen had installed town St. Louis had begun. ures of the community were vitally instru­ more stop signs than in any city in the In recent years, he and his family had mental in renewing the downtown area. country, and by quiet persistence he led the lived quietly, away from the center stage But Ray Tucker was a driving, deter­ aldermen to adopt civil rights ordinances where he had been for most of his adult life. mined factor in reshaping his city's facade covering fair employment, fair housing and ENTERED PUBLIC LIFE IN 1934 to modern new beauty. He was in the fore­ equal access to public accommodations that Mr. Tucker had extensive experience in front of every move to redevelop the city at the time made St. Louis unique among affairs of municipal government before he grown down at the heels, fast drifting into the nation's major cities. The Tucker civil became Mayor in 1953. rights legacy may well have been why St. desuetude. His introduction to public life was in 1934 Even before Mr. Tucker became Mayor he Louis avoided the racial troubles that afflicted when he left Washington University, where was the key engineer in one of the big­ Detroit, Newark, Cleveland and oth er trou­ bled cities. he was associate professor of mechanical en­ gest benefactions this city of "diurnal gineering, to serve as secretary to Mayor Ber­ night" had long suffered. He was the fa­ Some of his admirers argue that h is defeat nard F. Dickmann. ther of the smoke abatement law that rid the in the Democratic primary in 1965 grew out Three years later he took over direction of community of a sooty plague such as mod­ of his failure to assume control of the party the smoke elimination campaign. The as­ ern-day ecologists may hardly imagine. apparatus earlier in his career, and they may signment as the city's first commissioner Raymond Tucker was a professor turned well be right. But that was not his way. His preference was for direct consultation of smoke regulation was "the toughest" of politician-an official whom the politicians It with his people, and he was fait hful to it t o his career, he said in later years. was a mistrusted. He would not make trades at the very end. job of public education as well as law en­ the expense of superior public administra­ forcement, and Mr. Tucker convinced busi­ tion. He was elected by going over the heads Following, Mr. Speaker, are news ar­ nessmen and householders that elimination of the organized Democratic appara tus and ticles from both of our daily newspapers was not just an ideal, but a practical possi­ always preserved his independence. which outline the scope of Ray Tucker's bility. For years he taught in the School of He filled other posts under Dickmann. He Engineering at Washington University before many achievements in public life and served as director of public safet y. He was entering public service. He was brilliant in his high reputation as a citizen and a a member of the commission that wrote and his field and did a great amount of consult­ human being: won adoption of the civil service amend­ ing work before he exchanged the classroom (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Nov. 24, 1970] ment. He was secretary of a citizen's com­ lectern for the mayor's desk at Cit y Hall. FORMER MAYOR TuCKER DIES mittee that made an intensive study of the Not a single political foe-and no man city's finances and recommended steps to can long serve major office without making Raymond R. Tucker, the former Mayor of improve efficiency of the municipal govern­ some political enemies-ever cast personal St. Louis who led the start of the city's down­ ment. or officia l blemish upon the Tucker st eward­ town building renewal, died last night at When the late Mayor William Dee Becker ship in St. Louis. Barnes Hospital. He was born in St. Louis succeeded Dickmann, Mr. Tucker served an­ on Dec. 4, 1896. Complete int egrity was somet hing Ray other period as smoke commissioner. In 1941 Tucker took for gl"anted as part of his con­ Mr. Tucker entered the hospital Nov. 9 he returned to Washington University to tribution to public service, and so did every­ after experiencing breathing difficulties and head the department of mechanical engi­ one who knew h im. was placed in an intensive care unit. The neering, but ·11hile teaching he maintained The community mourns his deat h. And its cause of his death could not be learned. an active interest in civic affairs. In 1949 he people willingly would write as his epitaph: The former Mayor died at 10:05 p .m. At became chairman of a board of freeholders Raymond Tucker, one of the most effect! ve his bedside when he died were his wife, Mrs. elected to draw up a new city charter. The mayors and respected public leaders St. Louis Edythe Leiber Tucker; their daughter, Mrs. charter was not adopted. has ever had. Joan Marie Doxsee, and her husband, Leigh When development of a civil defense agen­ A. Doxsee, Jr. cy for St. Louis bogged down in 1951, the Next, Mr. Speaker, the editorial re­ Completion of funeral arrangements was late Mayor Joseph M. Darst asked Mr. Tucker ferred to from the St. Louis Post-Dis­ delayed until the arrival today of Mr. and to take on the assignment. For two years Mr. patch later the same day, November 25: Mrs. Tucker's son, John, from his home at Tucker served as director of civil defense Greenwich, Conn. Surviving also is the RAYMOND R. TuCKER while carrying on his work at the univer­ former Mayor's brother, Dr. William J. sity. In a sense, Raymond R . Tucker never left Tucker, a physician at Ashland, Wis. the classroom, and St. Louis is the better for DECIDES TO RUN FOR MAYOR it. His conviction that the people make the LUNG REMOVED In 1953, physicians advised Mayor Darst to right choices once they are aware of the facts Mr. Tucker first suffered serious health retire and the Mayor asked Mr. Tucker to led him time and again to consult the citi­ problems from respiratory difficulties in 1961 run as his successor. It was not easy to give zens directly rather than to operate in po­ when he developed a malignancy of one lung. up teaching and engineering, and it took litical back rooms and through regular party He underwent removal of the lung. A hospital some time for Mr. Tucker to make up his organizations. These consultations on public spokesman said today Mr. Tucker had de­ mind. The delay had the effect of precipitat­ issues invariably became exercises in educat­ veloped a malignancy in the remaining lung. ing a bitter primary election fight among ing the public; and they were as honest, as Mr. Tucker was politician, engineer, edu­ leaders of the Democratic party. straightforward and as free of gimmickry and cator and civil servant. He was the city's When Darst announced that he would not calculated hard sell was his whole political first smoke commissioner and directed civil run again, the politicians got busy at once, life. defense for St. Louis while a member of the recognizing the importance of getting a The three Tucker administrations in City Washington University faculty. strong candidate to head the city ticket. By Hall constitute a standard by which all of his He returned to Washington University in the time Mr. Tucker decided to run, most of successors in the mayoralty can be measured. 1965 as professor of urban affairs after an the Democratic leaders were committed to Under his leadership, vast stretches of the unsuccessful campaign for a fourth four-year Mark Eagleton, a former president of the city were rebuilt. The civic renaissance at- term as mayor. Board of Police Commissioners. November 30, 1970 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS 39227

With more than three-fourths of the ward RELATIONS IMPROVE a strong administrator who started St. Louis leaders lined up behind Eagleton, Mr. Tucker During his second term as Mayor, the re­ on the way back. turned to citizen's groups for support. Civic, lationship between Mr. Tucker and the alder­ "My wife and I join jn extending con­ business, neighborhood and women's orga­ men underwent a quiet but far-reaching dolences to his family and our city, which nizations rang doorbells for Mr. Tucker, while change. A liaison was established with al­ benefited greatly from his leadership." the old-line politicians instructed their pre­ dermanic leaders who were consulted on im­ August A. Busch Jr., president of Anheu­ cinct workers to get out every possible vote portant problems, especially those relating ser-Busch and the baseball Cardinals: "I was for Eagleton. to appropriation and tax measures. The ex­ chairman of the board of Civic Progress dur­ Almost 107,000 votes were cast in the pri­ ecutive and legislative branches finally be­ ing the entire administration of Mayor mary. Mr. Tucker received 54,200 votes and gan to function as a team. Tucker. won the nomination by a margin of less than Most members of the Democratic City "Few people knew him better and few 1700. Central Committee acknowledged Mayor knew of his great talent for administration In the election three weeks later, there Tucker's popularity and supported him in and leadership, and his absolute devot ion was a landslide for Mr. Tucker, who received the 1957 municipal elections. On this occa­ to every segment of this community. His 144,000 votes and won by a record majority sion, Mr. Tucker's campaign committee made integrity was a byword whenever his name of 62,000. political history after the campaign by re­ wa.s mentioned. He has set an example that MAKES DmECT APPEALS turning to donors about 11 per cent of their few will be able to achieve." individual gifts, or a total of $7300. Donald Gunn, probate judge and former As Mayor, Mr. Tucker appealed directly President of the Board of Aldermen, said: to the citizenry for support in his efforts to PROGRESS GAINS ATTENTION "Ray Tucker was a man of great integrity solve problems that had plagued St. Lou1s Progress in St. Louis under the Tu-cker ad­ and great courage. He was a fine administra­ for years. ministration sky rocketed. Industrial devel­ tor and had a deep knowledge of govern­ Citizen assistance was asked in getting opment, urban redevelopment, neighborhood ment, but most of all he was objective in the Legislature to reauthorize the municipal renewal ana municipal reconstruction were his decisions. He always put the City of St. earnings tax. Business and banking leaders emphasized by Mr. Tucker. Projects ad­ Louis ahead of himself and others. I am called on associates throughout Missouri to vanced included redevelopment of the Plaza proud to have been his friend and I cherish cooperate as the new Mayor went all over area, clearance of the Mill Creek slum for that friendship deeply." the state to enlist the support of legislators. redevelopment, rehabilitation programs on a Aloys P. Kaufman, mayor from 1943 to When the Legislature met, the necessary number of old neighborhoods, plans for a 1949: "Mayor Tucker was a charming, self­ enabling act was passed. downtown sports stadium and rehabilitation less, competent, dedicated person. His terms The project for development of the Jeffer­ of the downtown riverfront. of office closely paralleled my service as Pres­ son National Expansion Memorial had been NARROW ESCAPE IN PRIMARY ident of the Chamber of Commerce, and it stalled for many years when Mayor Tucker was a pleasure and honor to work with him led citizen groups to Washington and got Mayor Tucker was re-elected for a third on many civic projects. His achievements are the Federal Government to reactivate the term by a substantial majority, but had a too numerous to recount here but they are project. narrow escape in the primary, when he won many. He was truly a loyal, distinguished Smarting under the defeat they had suf­ renominat!on by a margin of only about 1200 son of St. Louis and his record speaks for fered at Mayor Tucker's hands in the 1953 votes. The close vote 1n the primary was at­ itself." primary, Democratic leaders long boycotted tribu~ tv overeonfidence on the part of his the Mayor's office. This enabled the Mayor supporters and to an unexpectedly large turnout of persons with grievances against [From the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Nov. 25, to fill administrative jobs with officials who 1970] had no obligation to ward leaders. the city administration. His career of public service brought him FORMER MAYOR TuCKER FUNERAL MASS Liaison between the executive and the leg­ TONIGHT islative branches of the city government suf­ many honors, inclucling Doctor of law de­ fered as a result of this situation. Aldermen, grees from St. Louis and Washington Uni­ Funeral mass for former St. Louis Mayor highly responsive to ward committeemen, versities and the presidency of the American Raymond R. Tucker will be at 8 p.m. Wednes­ permitted important oivic measures to gather Municipal Association. day at Sts. Mary and Joseph Catholic Church, dust in committee. Some of these measures In 1956 h~ was presented with the St. 6304 Minnesota ave. Services will be followed ultimately were enacted, but only after pro­ Louis A WB.l'd for "going far beyond the usual by private entombment. longed delays and the mobilization of citizen obligations of his office" in making this a Mr. Tucker, who would have been 74 Dec. 4, pressure. better city by rallying citizens to public died at Barnes Hospital at 10:06 p .m. Mon­ The aldermen enacted numerous "spot causes. This was the first time tha-t a mayor day after being hospitalized Nov. 9 for con­ zoning" ordinances and authorized erection had '>een selected for the award. Mayor Tuck­ gestive heart failure. of many unneeded stop signs. When the er turned the $1000 prize over to St. Louis He is survived by his wife Mary Edythe Mayor vetoed these measures, the aldermen and Washington Universities, which used the Leiber; a daughter, Mrs. Leigh A. Doxsee Jr.; money for awards in government essay con­ a son, John Thomas; a brother, Dr. William J. consistently overrode the vetoes, often with­ tests. out any discussion of the objections from of Ashland, Wis., and eight grandchildren. the Mayor's office. Mr. Tucker was born in St. Louis, the son The grandchildren are Army Pvt. Leigh Tucker Doxsee; Judith Doxsee; Deborah Dox­ Mayor Tucker stood this for a time, but of the late William J. and Ellen Roche finally began fighting. Personally addressing Tucker. His father was a heating contractor see; Patricia Tucker. Timothy Tucker, Susan and former city smoke inspector. Tucker, John Thomas Tucker and Elizabeth the Board of Aldermen, he bluntly accused Tucker. members of creating "blight by ordinance" After attending public and parochial schools the son obtained his B.A. degree The family requested that contributions and of "formalizing our own decay." from St. Louis University 1n 1917 and his be made to the Tucker Memorial Fund of The otrained relationship between the ad­ B.S. in mechanical engineering at Washing­ Washington University, where he was on the ministrative and legislative branches con­ ton University in 1920. faculty. Contributions should be sent to the tinued to hamper the administration's pro­ He worked for a time as a safety engineer university. gram. The Mayor urged election of a board with Alununum Ore Co., then became an as­ Mr. Tucker served three terms as mayor, of freeholders to modernize the city charter, sociate professor at Washington University from 1953 to 1965, but was defeated for a but the aldermen stalled month after month. in 1921. Two years la.ter he re-entered the fourth term when he lost the Democratic Only when the Mayor set out to bypass the business world and was associa-ted with an nomination in the March, 1965, primary. aldermen and organized a citizens• group to oil company and an oil burner firm. In 1927 In June, 1961, while he was still in office, circulate petitions for a referendum on the he returned to his professorship. his right lung was removed because of election did the board finally pass an en­ In 1928 he married Miss Edythe Leiber. cancer. abling ordinance. The Mayol" lived wt 6451 Vermont avenue in In his last illness, fiu1d had accumulated in his remaining lung. CHARTER REVISION FAILED the modest house that has been the Tucker During his 12 years in office, Mr. Tucker After a year's work, the freeholders pre­ family home since 1908. spearheaded the revitalization of downtown sented to the voters a new charter proposal St. Louis with a $110 million bond issue in calling for reorganization of municipal de­ CERVANTES, OTHER LEADERS PAY TRIBUTES 1955. partments and the city's legislative body. TO TuCKER After his defeat in 1965, Mr. Tucker, who Threatened with loss of jobs and consider­ Tributes to former Mayor Raymond R. had been on the faculty of the School of able patronage, politicians conducted an in­ Tucker were paid today by his successor, Engineering at Washington University, re­ tensive campaign of opposition and defeated Mayor Alfonso J. Cervantes, and other public turned to the university as professor of urban the charter proposal. officials and civic leaders. affairs and lecturer in political science. Mayor Tucker then moved to modernize Mr. Tucker was a Knight of St. Gregory, Mayor Cervantes said: "The community one of the highest honors for Catholic lay­ the governmental structure as much as pos­ has suffered a serious loss in the death of men. sible by ordinance. The aldermen enacted Ray Tucker. His contributions to the com­ bllis streamlining some or the city depart­ Mayor Alfonso J. Cervantes, who defeated munity were twofold. As a.n educator, he Mr. Tucker in the 1965 primary, Tuesday or­ ments. A series of charter amendments fol­ prepared young men well in the field o.f dered flags on all municipal bu1ldings flown lowed. engin~ring. As a public official, he became at half staff in honor of Mr. Tucker. 39228 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS November 30, 1970 LENZNER AND POLITICAL REALITY Senate last -year but restored by the House see prosperity coming 'round the mountain under Rumsfeld's urging. to the hard, misty highlands o! Appalachia. Consequently, Rumsfeld was appalled at It was the Presidential campaign season of HON. JOHN WOLD the New Orleans offi.ce of NOLAC. For ex­ 1960 and John F. Kennedy had just com­ OF WYOMING ample, a legal services fellow connected with mitted himself and the Federal Goverment NOLAC was an attorney-of-record defending IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES to undertake the greatest regional economic SDS demonstrators. Further, NOLAC sought recovery scheme ever attempted in the Monday, November JO, 1970 to obtain circulation at Louisiana State Uni­ United States. versity of a pornographic underground news­ Hopes were high. . In this bypassed land of Mr. WOLD. Mr. Speaker, the contro­ paper (a recent copy of which co.ntains a versey involving the legal services of the isolated valleys and hollows, with an area nude cartoon of President Nixon amid other and population equal to those of California, Office of Economic Opportunity is the indecencies). The recently resigned NOLAC life was bone-poor and hungry, as stagnant subject of a column by Rowland Evans director, Richard Buckley, says: "Legal serv.. as the coal industry, or in the mountain and Robert Novak. Writing in the Wash­ ices exist for the redistribution of wealth phrase, as "black as a wolf's mouth." ington Post of November 30, the column­ and power." In the decades since then an extraordi­ ists explore- legal services practices in When Rumsfeld sent investigators to New nary effort-a policy of favoritism to over­ Orleans, Lenzner denounced it as political come prior neglect unmatched in American the context of the "Federal law barring interference. Tension was also higfi when antipoverty Iegal services from eriminal history-has brought some $7-billion in pub­ Rumsfeld probed legal services in Los An­ lic investment into the 13-state Appalachian cases," and note that the new Director geles to state enrpfclyees eannng $11,000- region. of OEO, former Congressman Donald $15,000 and in Dallas to an underground But for hundreds of thousands, perhaps a Rumsfeld,. "since taking over in 1969 newspaper. the Dallas N.ates, enjoined from million of the poor in the nm-ly impen­ has been guiding it-Iegal services-back publication because of obscenity. etrable ridgelands of Kentucky and West to the original congressional intent of The Dallas case is illustrative. Using fed­ VIrginia, opportunity is still like the rider eral funds intended to help the poor" legal oC the six white horses in the old mountain helping poor people." services there defended the underground Director Rumsfeld is doing a highly song: perpetually comin~ "when she comes." publisher, Brent Lasalle Stein, 27 son of a It was for them that the program was commendable iob of redirecting the pro­ rich Dallas merchant. "It seems to' me that's conceived. And yet 10 year& later they re:­ grams of OEO to conform to the man­ the kind of. activity necessary to insure this main largely untouched by it, while to the date of Congress which created the kind ot: publication for the poor;• · says Frank north and south less impo-verished fringe agency, and his etiorts have drawn well­ Jones, fired as legal s.ervices deputy along areas are making signi:ficant economic earned praise from the columnists. with Lenzner. progress. Mr. Speaker, I include the Evans and In each of these cases, Rumsfeld felt Lenz­ Looking back over the accomplishments ner was dragging his heels by delaying action and failures o! the decade, Ralph R. Widner, Novak column, "Lenzner and Political against the violations.. The relationship rap,. Reality" in the RECORD with my remru:ks: executive director of the Appalachian Re.:. idly deteriorated between Rumsfeld and gional Commission, says that "any evalua. LENZNER AND POLITICAL REALITY Lenzner, a. bl'ight. former Justice Department tion must begin with humility." Deeply embedded roots of the furioua de­ civil righ-ts lawyer who was Rumsfeld's first "There are still millions- ot people in Ap­ bate over legal services in the government's senior staff appointment in 1969. palachia who do not have access to a good antipoverty program are found in a Sept-. 15 The final straw came Nov. 16, when Lenz.. education, or to decent health, or to an police raid in New Orleans on the National ner telegraphed the New Orleans office ex­ adequate job, and who still lfve below a level Committee to Combat Fascism (NCCF), a onerating it of wrongdoing. Antipoverty of acopetable income," he said. "From their Black Panther front specializing in police­ officials: say he acted in violation of explicit po:iilt of view, not very much has been ac­ baiting. orders from Rumsfeld. not to communicate complished to date." with New Orleans without first informing Present at NCCF headG.uarters was Rob­ Mr. Widner and other government ofil.cials ert Glass, a lawyer for the federally Rumsfeld; Lenzner told us flatly he received no such orders. responsible for the Appalachian program say funded New Orleans Legal Assistance Corp. that much of the "pay off" is still to come in (NOLAC), part of the national antipoverty Such nasty charges and countercharges the shape of new roads: and facilities to program. Questioned by police, Glass in­ will be aired before eager Democrat!<: sena­ tors at hearings soon begin. But the hear­ attract new factories and to provide better voked his client-lawyer relationship with the to schools to train workers. ings likely will miss the poignancy o! the NCCF. Subsequently, 12 NCCF members As evidence for their optimism, they cite charged with attempted murder, assault, and dispute. I! any program as naturally pro­ vocative as legal services for the poor is to the first fruits. of these benefits now appear­ other felonies were represented by NOLAC ing in rural counties of &ta.tes like New Yot:k lawyers. survive in Richard Nixon's Washington, it must be kept in check by a cool-headed poli­ and Georgia, which have not experienced Thus, taxpayer funds were used to defend the long deprivation of the Appalachian a violence-prone black extremist organiza­ tician, fending o1f uncompromising idealists. Failing to comprehend that political reality highlands and which, accordingly, have made tion. This clearly violated federal law bar­ a convincing start at economic recovery. ring antipoverty legal services from criminal put Terry Lenzner on his collision course with Rumsfeld. But the officially encouraging comparisons cases (as were 24 per cent of all NOLAC of these areas also emphasize the fact that cases) and violated federal policy requiring there are two Appalachias-the better-off these services to be used directly by the poor "suburbs" to the north and south and the and only the poor. steep, hillbilly "ghetto" here in the high­ Herein lies the ugly dispute tl:at surfaced APPALACHIAN PROBLEMS REMAIN lands. The comparisons raise questions about Nov. 19 when Donald Rumsfeld, President UNSOLVED why the boundaries of the region were Nixon's antipoverty czar, fired Terry F. Lenz­ drawn so generously that- its $7-billion in aid ner, 31, as head of the federal legal services has come to only $390 per man, woman and program. Rumsfeld insisted that the pro­ HON. LEE H. HAMILTON child over the last 10 yearf>. gram be tightly mofded to aiding the poor OF INDIANA The answer, officials say, is that the need in eviction and other tenant cases, welfare IN THE HOUSE. OF REPRESENTATIVES for sweeping, regional "scale" in planning, and consumer grievances, and school dis­ together with the need for Congressional putes. Lenzner envisioned a far broader· Monday, November 30, 1970 support, has frankly required some "log­ mandate encompassing r.eform of the whole rolling." Tbe addition of Mississippi, for ex­ system, not excluding support for Black Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, the fol­ lowing article by Ben A. Franklin of the ample, "was dictated largely by the fact that Panthers. Senator John Stennis of Mississippi is a The legal services fight is, in microcosm, New.York Times documents the frustra­ key member of the appropriations commit­ what's happening in the poverty program at tions that accompany regional economic tee," one official said. large. Since its: Great Society birth under recovery schemes. Mr. Franklin gives R. Sargent Shriver, the program has swarmed credence to the French proverb that "the DILUTION OF EFFORT SEEN with idealists, pushing political revolution. The result of the need to accommodate to Since taking over in 1969, ex-congressman more things change, the mere they re­ political realities, those erose to the pro­ Rumsfeld has- been guiding it back to the main the same" by noting that, in the gram concede, ·has been a dilution of effort. original congressional intent of helping poor case of the 10-year-old $7 billion Ap­ During the decade of the nineteen-sixties: people. - palachian recovery scheme, "The harsh­ Per capita income in alL of Appalachia. Indeed, anything more than that wo.ul.d est irony of all-may be that those who rose from 77 per cent to about 80 per cent not oo tolerated by a. conservative Repub­ needed help most never got it." I recom­ of the national average. lican administration and a hostile Congress. mend his article to my colleagues: But in the Appalachian portions of all but What- Lenzner failed to Understand is that faur states-New York, Pennsylvania, Mary­ Rumsfeld must control militant excesses or IN APPALACHXA: VAST AID, SCANT RELIEF land and South Carolina--per capita in­ risk congressional obliteration or- the anti­ (By Ben A. Franklin) comes are still 'Z5 per cent or less of the na­ poverty program-particularly its much­ HAZARD, KY., November 28.-0n a clear day tional figure. Per capita income :):tere in needed legal services, emasculated by tile here 10 years ago ~his fall, you could almost eastern Kentucky is still less than half the November 30, 1970 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS 39229 national level, having climbed from 43 per pie dates to 1965, when Congressional strate­ taught him, and she can't read much her­ cent in 1959 to 48 per cent last year. gists in the Johnson Administration decided self." New factories and jobs, spurred by an then that Congress would not accept two Mrs. Powell is 27 years old and the mother enormous investment in road building, have antipoverty drives, one for Appalachia and of six children, none of whom is now going put 150,000 wage earners on payrolls that another national one under the Office of Eco­ to the county school system. did not exist in 1960. Economic recovery nomic Opportunity. As a result, the so-called In a bitter struggle with the county, the has restored 750,000 more to jobs. Altogether, "human resources" part of the A.R.C. pro­ parents of Coon Branch are boycotting both 6.6 million have work. gram was given to O.E.O. the one-room school and the school bus. The But unemployment figures here in hard­ The two agencies have scrapped bitterly bus comes up over a 14-mile back road to core Appalachia are still cruelly high, and since then. Many believe that these disputes avoid the shorter but badly rutted route they do not even reflect the plight of some have weakened the A.R.C. by disclosing that directly up the hollow. The school board 500,000 of the "disguised unemployed"­ its constituents here in many cases are the says the shorter route would wreck its buses. those who long ago gave up looking for same small town "Main Streeters"-mer­ The parents say the longer route is isolated work. Unemployment in Kentucky and West cha.nts, bankers, coal industry leaders and and unsafe in winter. Virginia fell from 11 and 8.4 per cent, re­ civic boosters-from whom the O.E.O.'s Violence has marked the dispute. Both the spectively, in 1961, when the national aver­ anitpoverty war has encouraged the poor to one-room High Nob school and a church used age was 6.7 per cent, to 7.5 and 5.5 per cent demand a better treatment. Some O.E.O. ac­ for informal classes by the boycotting stu­ last year, when the national figure was 3.5. tivists here see the Appalachian program dents have been burned to the ground at. But in two counties, the 1961 to 1969 un­ as chiefly a boon for the rich and for en­ night. Now a dozen children are being taught employment trend was up--from 11.4 to 16.6 trenched political interests. by college-trained volunteers in an Army sur­ per cent in Clay County, W. Va., and from With A.R.C. aid, a. 2,000-mile network of plus cook tent. The bus runs empty. 16.7 to 23.3 per cent in Magoffin County, so-called Appalachian development high­ Along the valley towns and roads, to which Ky. ways has been started and more than 240 transportation does not bring the youth of The population of the region has declined vocational schools and technical training Coon Branch, there are signs of the heavy by 1.4 million to under 18 million people. centers have been built. A total of 160,000 public investment dating from 1960. But The decline was one-third less than in the people have been prepared for modern jobs, many of the 300 open miles of the A.R.C.'s previous decade, but it has continued in the but thousands were "trained for export" be­ planned 2,000-mile network of "development Appalachian portions of Kentucky, West cause there were no local jobs open. highways" pass in many places through a Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according The A.R.C.'s strategy in Appalachia has right-of-way of poverty, like urban freeways to the 1970 census. been one of intensive public investment in over a ghetto. In an area with the highest school drop­ selected small-town "growth areas." It is By fording the Kentucky River in a coun­ out rates in the country-10 per cent higher frankly an application of "trickle-down try doctor's Volkswagen and crawling in first than the national average-and one