Soul City
Page 41
“happy hooker”: Kay Longscope, “McKissick Urges Blacks to Work for Self-Interest,” Boston Evening Globe, October 6, 1972.
He also fired back … “crow and humble pie”: Statement of Floyd McKissick, September 1, 1972, McKissick Papers, folder 7550.
“That’s Action”: Undated ad, McKissick Papers, folder 7555.
“Blacks as political hostage”: “Minutes of Black Surrogate’s Briefing Meeting,” September 7, 1972, McKissick Papers, folder 7554.
“able to change with the seasons”: Longscope, “McKissick Urges Blacks to Work for Self-Interest,” October 6, 1972; Robert Benjamin, “Blacks for Nixon Push Campaign,” New Journal and Guide (Norfolk, VA), October 7, 1972, 1; Bill Lewis, “Former CORE Director Visits LR, Plugs for Re-election of Nixon,” Arkansas Gazette, October 28, 1972, 11A; George M. Coleman, “McKissick Points Out Value of Two-Party Participation,” Atlanta Daily World, October 31, 1972, 1.
The message … in dozens of Black newspapers and magazines: Farrington, “Build, Baby, Build,” 73; Associated Press, “Baptist Leader Backs Nixon,” New York Times, September 6, 1972, 32; “Boston NAACP President Switching to Republicans,” Washington Post, September 8, 1972, A2; “Republicans Rally North and South,” New York Amsterdam News, October 14, 1972, A1.
It wasn’t just … “Nixon is ‘The Man’ for us”: “Young Negroes Say Nixon Is ‘The Man’ for Them,” undated clipping, McKissick Papers, folder 7552.
praise for the incumbent … “Ain’t no Black cat ever got”: Ernest M. Pharr, “Name of the Game Is Economics,” Atlanta Inquirer, August 26, 1972; Jack Nelson, “Evers Expects Nixon to Get Big Black Vote,” undated clipping, McKissick Papers, folder 7555.
a sizable share of the Black vote: “Nixon Goal 24 Per Cent of Black Vote,” undated clipping, McKissick Papers, folder 7555.
To thank those … “changing the tide”: Presidential Daily Diary, October 6, 1972, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/sites/default/files/2018-07/1972%20Presidential%20Daily%20Diary.pdf; Nixon White House Tapes, October 6, 1972, Nixontapeaudio.org, http://nixontapeaudio.org/cab/rmn_e108a.mp3.
his 1968 total: Associated Press, “Survey Reports McGovern Got 87% of the Black Vote,” New York Times, November 12, 1957, 57.
six to five in the North: C. Vann Woodward, The Strange Career of Jim Crow (New York: Oxford University Press, 1974), 214.
Still, Nixon was grateful … state dinner at the White House: Jeannette Smyth, “Inaugural Concert Chairmen,” Washington Post, January 3, 1973, B3; Floyd McKissick Jr. interview with the author, April 22, 2019; Presidential Daily Diary, February 1, 1973, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/sites/default/files/virtuallibrary/documents/PDD/1973/093%20February%201-15%201973.pdf.
“greater image of an open door”: George Bush to FM, April 12, 1973, McKissick Papers, folder 7703; Fergus, Liberalism, 212–13.
“maker of presidents and breaker of senators”: Ernest B. Furgurson, Hard Right: The Rise of Jesse Helms (New York: W.W. Norton, 1986), 8.
“six-foot, two-hundred-pound gorilla”: Furgurson, Hard Right, 30.
Like McKissick … for the candidate in his spare time: Furgurson, Hard Right, 30–55.
“White People, Wake Up”: William A. Link, Righteous Warrior: Jesse Helms and the Rise of Modern Conservatism (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2008), 38.
Helms later denied … “see and advise on”: Furgurson, 53–54; Link, Righteous Warrior, 39–40.
Whatever Helms’s involvement … “The Nuisance and Disturber”: Furgurson, Hard Right, 56–62.
editorial on the events of the day: Link, Righteous Warrior, 70.
“The name of the game is now survival”: Osha Gray Davidson, The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South (New York: Scribner, 1996), 3.
“reverts to the law of the jungle”: Furgurson, Hard Right, 215.
“racial distinctions in group intellect”: Furgurson, Hard Right, 217.
“single most dangerous piece of legislation”: Link, Righteous Warrior, 80.
signed off each night by playing “Dixie”: Link, Righteous Warrior, 70.
“the University of Negroes and Communists”: Tyson, Radio Free Dixie, 67.
“mean for Jesus”: Furgurson, Hard Right, 28.
Like nearly all … margin of eight points: Link, Righteous Warrior, 120–29.
he was noncommittal: Wayne, “Soul City Exhibit Thrives,” August 24, 1972.
“In spite of the fact no two men think alike”: FM to Jesse Helms, November 10, 1972, McKissick Papers, folder 794.
“all things essential to mutual progress”: Washington, Up from Slavery, 221–22.
viewed McKissick as a reckless agitator: Jesse Helms, editorial, Viewpoint, September 25, 1964, Raleigh, NC, television broadcast, transcript, North Carolina Collection, Wilson Library, UNC.
“nobody’s Republican or anything else”: Rob Christensen, The Paradox of Tar Heel Politics: The Personalities, Elections, and Events that Shaped Modern North Carolina (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009), 63.
“I do not favor the expenditure of taxpayers’ funds”: Jesse Helms to FM, November 27, 1972, McKissick Papers, folder 794.
“my request for a conference with you”: FM to Jesse Helms, November 30, 1972, McKissick Papers, folder 794.
Walking through the cavernous hall … “I sure did”: T. T. Clayton interview with the author, March 6, 2015.
13: PRESENT AT THE CREATION
“About $14 million”: Nellie R. Dixon, “Soul City Converting Skeptics,” Charlotte Observer, October 8, 1972.
editorials praising McKissick’s plan: “‘Soul City’: A Vital Experiment,” editorial, Washington Post, July 6, 1972, A16; “A Not Impossible Dream,” editorial, New York Times, July 8, 1972, 24.
“No Scoffers Heard Now”: Jack Scism, “Soul City: No Scoffers Heard Now,” Greensboro Daily News, June 3, 1973, A1.
“monument to your belief and perseverance”: Roy Wilkins to FM, November 5, 1973, White House Central Files: Staff Member and Office Files, Bradley H. Patterson Jr., box 64, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
whatever help he needed: Ross Scott, “Warren Commissioners Endorse Black Project,” Durham Morning Herald, October 7, 1972.
construction of a regional water system: FM to Leonard Garment, February 16, 1973, McKissick Papers, folder 6204.
“Sometimes in order to help yourself”: Campbell, New Towns, 125.
they were now coming to see him: Joel Haswell, “Soul City Groundbreaking Is Planned in Two Months,” Durham Morning Herald, July 20, 1973; FM to Albert F. Trevino Jr., October 11, 1973, White House Central Files: Staff Member and Office Files, Bradley H. Patterson Jr., box 64, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
“high expectation for the future”: Philip S. Morse to FM, January 3, 1973, McKissick Papers, folder 5469; Emil Kesselman to FM, November 22, 1972, McKissick Papers, folder 5469.
“Well prior to the completion of your plant”: FM to Philip S. Morse, January 24, 1973, McKissick Papers, folder 5469.
As it turned out … holding Soul City up: Memo from Leonard Garment to Melvin Laird on June 21, 1973, White House Central Files: Staff Member and Office Files, Bradley H. Patterson Jr., box 64, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
each month’s delay was costing them: FM to Leonard Gordon, February 26, 1973, McKissick Papers, folder 6589.
“350 jobs from Morse Electro Products”: GC to Edward Lamont, January 23, 1973, McKissick Papers, folder 6170.
at a New York law firm: Jeannette Smyth, “Tribute to a Policy-Maker,” Washington Post, April 27, 1973, E3.
petition on Soul City’s behalf: Eric Lichtblau, “Leonard Garment, Lawyer and Nixon Adviser During Watergate, Dies at 89,” New York Times, July 15, 2013.
still owned only 2,200 acres: FM to James Lynn, October 23, 1973, White House Central Files: Staff Member and Office Files, Bradley
H. Patterson Jr., box 64, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
two to three times that amount: Report from LV Associates, June 10, 1974; and FM to Robert Thompson, March 28, 1973, White House Central Files: Staff Member and Office Files, Bradley H. Patterson Jr., box 64, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
“pay through the nose”: Fergus, Ordeal, 326.
requesting an update on Soul City: Leonard Garment to James Lynn, February 5, 1973, White House Central Files: Staff Member and Office Files, Bradley H. Patterson Jr., box 64, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
“or a great deal goes down the tube”: Leonard Garment to James Lynn, March 27, 1973, White House Central Files: Staff Member and Office Files, Bradley H. Patterson Jr., box 64, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
reviewing several HUD initiatives: James Lynn to Leonard Garment, April 10, 1973, White House Central Files: Staff Member and Office Files, Bradley H. Patterson Jr., box 64, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
“done him a real disservice”: Leonard Garment to Paul O’Neill, April 11, 1973, White House Central Files: Staff Member and Office Files, Bradley H. Patterson Jr., box 64, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
“should give Soul City the green light”: Memo from Leonard Garment to Melvin Laird on June 21, 1973.
to promote the company’s move: FM to Philip S. Morse, March 7, 1973, McKissick Papers, folder 5469; FM to Philip S. Morse, March 22, 1973, McKissick Papers, folder 5469.
decided to postpone the expansion: FM to Al Trevino, October 11, 1973, White House Central Files: Staff Member and Office Files, Bradley H. Patterson Jr., box 64, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
Once shovels were in the earth: Rhee, “Visions, Illusions, and Perceptions,” 86.
Nixon could fly down by helicopter: FM to Leonard Garment, July 2, 1973, White House Central Files: Staff Member and Office Files, Bradley H. Patterson Jr., box 64, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
“a dramatic change of pace”: Schedule proposal from Leonard Garment, July 11, 1973, White House Central Files: Staff Member and Office Files, Bradley H. Patterson Jr., box 64, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
“To commit the President at this time personally”: Memorandum from Michael Raoul-Duval to David Parker, July 30, 1973, White House Central Files: Staff Member and Office Files, Bradley H. Patterson Jr., box 64, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
As the groundbreaking neared … in a time capsule: Ball-Groom, Salad Pickers, 281–91.
The groundbreaking took place … “build you a city”: “First Shovels of Earth Turned at Soul City,” Warren Record, November 15, 1973; Groundbreaking program, McKissick Papers, folder 1755; Ball-Groom, Salad Pickers, 292–95.
“50 percent chance” of success: Lewis, “State Preparing Standards for ‘Soul City’ Project,” 2; Christensen, Rise and Fall, 206.
The high point … John F. Kennedy: Rich Nichols, “Gov. Holshouser Hails Soul City,” News & Observer (Raleigh, NC), November 10, 1973.
“There are those … have become believers”: Speech by Gov. Jim Holshouser, groundbreaking for Soul City, November 9, 1973, McKissick Papers, folder 5067.
“people back to North Carolina”: “First Shovels of Earth Turned at Soul City,” November 15, 1973.
“let Soul City serve as a lesson”: Speech by Gov. Jim Holshouser, November 9, 1973.
“it’s becoming a reality”: Billy Rowe, “New Ideas an Old Life-Style,” New York Amsterdam News, November 24, 1973.
the celebration moved to Durham … back to Soul City: Groundbreaking Program, McKissick Papers, folder 1755; Ball-Groom, Salad Pickers, 293–95; “John Parker Wins Soul City Award,” News & Observer (Raleigh, NC), November 16, 1973.
“I had no doubt in my mind”: Rhee, “Visions, Illusions, and Perceptions,” 74.
“this weekend to celebrate, to laugh”: Ball-Groom, Salad Pickers, 295–96.
14: CREAM OF THE CROP
could proceed to closing: “Minutes of Meeting,” December 17, 1973, New Community Development Corporation Records, Meeting and Activity Records, 1971–1982.
snapped up by Liberty National Life Insurance: “From a Dream to a Reality: Soul City Gets Bread,” press release, March 7, 1974, McKissick Papers, folder 1752.
“Nobody is giving Soul City any five million dollars”: Strain, “Soul City,” 67.
the New York Times sent a reporter down: Wayne King, “Soul City, N.C., Is Moving from Dream Stage to Reality,” New York Times, January 4, 1974, 34.
Both reports were glowing … and health care: Hattie Bell to FM, February 4, 1974, McKissick Papers, folder 543.
as far away as Colorado and California: Visitors registers, McKissick Papers, folders 5145–50.
a tour of local landmarks: Memorandum from John Edwards to Charmaine McKissick, June 7, 1975, McKissick Papers, folder 5142b.
electrical wires and streetlights: “Report of the Comptroller General of the United States: Information on the New Community of Soul City, North Carolina,” December 18, 1975, 3, 10.
“What is needed here is an infusion”: Rhee, “Visions, Illusions, and Perceptions,” 134 fn 14.
quarter of the employees at Soul City were white: Rhee, “Visions, Illusions, and Perceptions,” 96.
A graduate of Vassar … “considered crazy”: Dorothy Webb interview with the author, June 4, 2019.
There were no trailers … herd of pigs: Dorothy Webb interview with the author, June 4, 2019.
“Everybody waves at everybody”: Residents Handbook, McKissick Papers, folder 5059.
showed a lack of respect: Beverly McNeill interview with the author, April 25, 2015.
“He could be himself”: Gordon Carey interview with the author, July 19, 2016.
“not exactly a fan of Gordon Carey”: Charmaine McKissick-Melton interview with the author, April 1, 2019.
Not that Carey … nothing had happened: Harvey Gantt interview with the author, October 14, 2015; Gordon Carey interview with the author, June 23, 2018.
“Floyd’s was deep purple”: Jane Ball-Groom interview with the author, October 15, 2015.
While the residents … the job anyway: Ball-Groom, Salad Pickers, 159–60, 166–67, 216–17.
Local whites … “the more business”: Rick Nichols, “Present at the Creation,” News & Observer (Raleigh, NC), November 4, 1973.
this being Klan Country … “fear”: Ball-Groom, Salad Pickers, 188–91.
“all the niggers should move in there”: Nichols, “Present at the Creation,” November 4, 1973.
As the wife … head of the Sanitary District: Ball-Groom, Salad Pickers, 148; Floyd McKissick Jr. interview with the author, October 12, 2015; Charmaine McKissick-Melton interview with the author, March 4, 2015.
“I can’t solve your problems”: Ball-Groom, Salad Pickers, 155.
Not long after … everyone was safe: Ball-Groom, Salad Pickers, 180–81.
Gordon Carey’s wife … baby born in Soul City: Gordon Carey interviews with the author, April 23, 2015, and July 19, 2016.
Soul City made progress … storm drainage lines: “Report of the Comptroller General of the United States: Information on the New Community of Soul City, North Carolina,” December 18, 1975, GAO Audit, 51; “A Paper on Soul City, Prepared for William J. White,” January 3, 1978, McKissick Papers, folder 1750.
The recession hit … put it up for sale: Thomas W. Lippman, “Some Near Financial Collapse: New Towns Face Crisis,” Washington Post, November 15, 1974, A1.
At the same time … fast-growing urban areas: Lippman, “Some Near Financial Collapse: New Towns Face Crisis.”
Soul City wasn’t mentioned … achieve Black autonomy: Pamela Hollie, “Search for ‘Soul’: Black Separatists Get New Followers, Create New Towns,” Wall Street Journal, July 31, 1974, 1.
“babies ritually mutilated”: FM to Frederick Taylor, August 2, 1974, McKissick Papers, folder 845
.
All made the same point: Eva Clayton to Frederick Taylor, August 2, 1974; Charles Allen to Frederick Taylor, August 2, 1974; Gordon Carey to Frederick Taylor, August 2, 1974; S. J. Velaj to Editor, Wall Street Journal, August 5, 1974; Philip Hammer to Frederick Taylor, August 15, 1974. McKissick Papers, folder 845.
“how you came to misinterpret so drastically”: Dorothy Webb to Pam Hollie, August 2, 1974, McKissick Papers, folder 845.
“presenting the true facts to the readers”: Steven Thal to Frederick Taylor, August 5, 1974, McKissick Papers, folder 845.
“rectify this injury”: Steven Thal to Edward Cony, August 15, 1974, McKissick Papers, folder 845.
“long been excluded because of prejudice”: “Letters to the Editor,” Wall Street Journal, August 19, 1974, 9.
McKissick moved quickly … since the 1972 election: FM to Gerald Ford, August 27, 1974, McKissick Papers, folder 7269.
to attend his first budget message: Stanley Scott to FM, September 6, 1974, McKissick Papers, folder 7269; Telegram from FM to William J. Baroody, Assistant to the President for Public Liaison, January 19, 1975, McKissick Papers, folder 7269.
getting out of the new town business: Thomas W. Lippman, “HUD Ends New Town Programs,” Washington Post, January 11, 1975, A1.
15: BLINDSIDED
One day … pressing for an answer: Rhee, “Visions, Illusions, and Perceptions,” 94–95.
The result … smattering of trailers: Pat Stith, “Private Roads Get Public Funds at Soul City,” News & Observer (Raleigh, NC), November 3, 1974, A1.
“profit prospects in which he shares”: “Soul City Gets Special Treatment,” News & Observer (Raleigh, NC), editorial, November 9, 1974, 8.
“one hundred thousand ignorant Negro voters”: Mabry, The Negro in North Carolina, 29–72; Lee A. Craig, Josephus Daniels: His Life and Times (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2013), xiii–xiv, 111–22, 178–91; Franklin, Negro in Twentieth Century America, 30.