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TRA I LER PARKS Th r ough a n inquiry by t h e Ma yor, t h e Co mmissi on was as k ed to i nv estigate t h e sit u atio n re g a r di n g t h e difficul t y of Neg ro e s attem p t in g t o r e n t spa c e i n At l a n ta t rai l e r par ks. Two Ne g r o f ami l ies , Mr . a n d Mrs . Frame a n d Mr. a n d Mrs . Wh ea t , h a v e att e mp t ed t o re n t pl a c es t o pa rk t h e ir trai l e rs a n d h a v e b ee n un a bl e t o f in d a ny t r ai l e r p a rk in At l a n ta that will r e n t t o t h e m. v e tera n , i s prese n t ly e mp l o y ed wit h a lo ca l now on a c ti v e d u ty wit h the U. 5 . Army . Mr. Fra me , an Army pap e r c o mpa ny, a n d Mr. Wh eat i s Bo t h fami l i e s b e l i e v e t h at they are b ei ng d e n ied a cc e ss to t h e t r a il e r parks b eca u se t h ey a r e Neg r o . s eve r al Th e y related in sta nc es i n wh i ch t h e y h ad call ed p ar k s , b ee n tol d t h at t h ere wa s a v a c an c y , and u pon arri v i n g at th e par k b ee n to l d that t h e v aca nc y had ju st b ee n filled. Se v era l parks had a llo wed t h e f ami l i e s to fi ll o u t app l i c atio n forms but , fr o m a ll indic a ti on s , t h ese app l i c a tio n s were n e ve r gi v e n any seri ous con sideration. The sta f f o f th e Comm un ity Relati on s Commiss i o n h as b ee n ab l e to gai n the following informat io n in r e gards to t his iss u e : l . Th e District Attorn ey ' s offic e h as informed u s that trailer parks are no t cov ered und e r t h e Civil Ri ghts Act o f 19 64 . At prese n t, c erta in agen ci es h a ve wr itten to Was hing to n in an a tt e mpt to fin d out if trai l er parks within a 3½ mile radius of Ft . McP h e rson are included in Secretary McNamara ' s rec e nt Fede r a l Ord er conc er ni n g military housing . 2. A numb er of orga n izations in Atlanta have work e d with th e Frames and the Wheats in attempti ng to g et t h orn located in a trailer pa r k. Th ese include t h e Red Cross , Th e NAACP , a nd c er t ai n military p e rsonn e l at Ft . McP h erson. Th e Reverend Amos Holm es of t h e NAA CP stated that h e had perso n a lly contacted 24 differe nt trailer p a rks for Mr . and Mrs. Wh eat , but was un abl e to find on e that wo uld accept a Negro family. Only 2 of th e 24 were will i ng to l e t the Wh eats fill out an application. None of the trailer parks contacted, including those in predominately Negro neighborhoods, had a ny Negro es in reside nc e. 3. Most of the trailer park owners c l aim that they are filled to capacity and thus unabl e to provide accomodations for any n ew applicants, either Negro or whit e . A surve~ of some of the trailer parks on Stewart �Pag e 2 trai l ers Av e nu e showed that t h ere we r e s om e v a c a nt s p a c es in th ese parks. On e own e r stat ed that t h e v aca nt spaces in his park 11 .,rn r e r ese rv e d for peopl e who bo ught trailers from him 11 • 4. A sma ll gro u p of trail e r p ark own e rs have ex pressed thir willingn ess to mee t wi th th e Mayo r , Bo ard of Alderme n, or th e Zoning Commiss ion to discuss the probl e m of zoning in regards t o t he b u i l ding of new trailer parks. Th ey cl aim t h at presen t zo ning r e s t rictions ha v e made it a l mo st impossibl e to co nstru ct any new trai l er parks in Atl_anta. Th e y a l so sai d that if zoning r e g ul atio ns could be chang ed , they would b e will i ng to b u ild a n ew trailer park which wo ul d uphol d a policy of op e n occupancy. In concl usion , we ca n simpl y say that presently , th e r e is no Negro l i vin g in a ny trail er park i n Atl a n ta . Mr . a nd Mrs . Frame h ave spent two y ears looking for r e nt a l space i n a ny Atlant a tra il e r park a nd h a v e b ee n u ns uc c essful in a ll of th e ir attempts . Both t h e Frames a nd the Whea ts feel that the t r ai l e r parks are discriminating aga inst them on racia l gro unds a n d both are l ooking for a ny sort of solution in the n ear fut u re that will remedy t h eir ho u si ng probl e m. �