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r The Urban Coalition/ ACTION REPORT Federal Bar Building West / 1819 H Street, N. W. / Washington, D. C. / 20006 National Coordinators: John Feild/ Ron M. Linton October 31 , 1967 During its second month of operations , The Urban Coalition moved ahead on four major fronts--the formation of local coalitions, developing pilot programs to increase job opportunities for the hard-core unemployed , enlisting key segments of the communications industry in promoting public understanding of the urban crisis and urging Congress to "move without delay on urban problems." LOCAL COALITIONS In response to requests from communities across the country , the Task Force on Local Coalitions sponsored a one-day planning conference on "Mobilizing Urban Coalitions" on October 17 in Chicago. Two hundred and fifty leaders in local government , business, labor , religion and civil rights--from 52 cities-attended. Major addresses at the conference were given by Mayors Richard J . Daley of Chicago and Arthur Naftalin of Minneapolis and Dr. Kenneth Wright , Vice President and Chief Economist of the Life Insurance Association of America . John Cardinal Cody, Archbishop of Chicago , and Bishop James Montgomery, Co-Adjutor Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Ch.i::ago added their support . Also participating in the program .were Mayor Joseph Barr of Pittsburgh , Co- Chairman of the Task Force on Local Coalitions and President of the U. S . Conference of Mayors and Mayor Milton Graham of Phoenix. I . W. Abel, President of the AFL- CIO United Steel wo rkers of America wag represented by John J. Sheehan , Leg i sla tive Dir e cto r· of -the Steelworkers. The c ortference ·was open ed b y J ohn H. J ohn son , President of J ohnson Publ i cat i o n s a n d Co-Ch airman of the Task For ce on Communications and Pub lic Suppo rt and the closing s es sio n was chaired b y Arnol d Aronson, Executive Secretary of the Le a de r sh ip Confe rnc e on Civil Rights and CoChairman o f the Task Force on Local Coalitio ns. At a second meeting, two days later in Minneapolis, the Mayors of eleven additional cities me t with the leadership of the newly formed Minneapolis Coalition to review ideas for urban coalition activity. Two additional planning sessions are now scheduled- one for the western cities to be held in San Francisco (Nov. 30) and one for eastern cities to be held in early December . �National Steering Committee I. W. ABEL, President, Uniced Steelworkers, Pittsburgh THE HONORABLE /VAN ALLEN, JR., Mayor of Atlanta ARNOLD ARONSON, Executive Secretary, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Washington, D.C. ROY ASH, President, Litton Industries, Beverly Hills THE HONORABLE JOSEPH M. BARR, Mayor of Pittsburgh, President, U S. Conference of Mayors THE HONORABLE JEROME P. CAVANAUGH, Mayor of Detroit FREDERICK J. CLOSE, Chairman of the Board, Aluminum Company of America, Pittsburgh THE HONORABLE JOHN F. COLLINS, Mayor of Boston THE HONORABLE RICHARD J. DALEY, Mayor of Chicago THE MOST REV. JOHN F. DEARDEN, Archbishop of Detroit GILBERT W. FITZHUGH, President, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, New York DR. ARTHUR FLEMMING, President, University of Oregon, President, National Council of Churches, New York HENRY FORD II, Chairman, Ford Motor Company, Detroit THE HONORABLE MIL TON GRAHAM, Mayor of Phoenix ANDREW HEISKELL, Chairman of the Board, Time, Inc., Chairman, Urban America Inc., New York JOSEPH D. KEENAN, Secretary, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Washington, D.C. THE REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., President, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Atlanta THE HONORABLE JOHN V. LINDSAY, Mayor of New York GEORGE MEANY, President. AFL-CIO, Washington, D.C. J. IRWIN MILLER, Chairman, Cummins Engine Company, Columbus (Indiana) THE HONORABLE ARTHUR NAFTALIN, Mayor of Minneapolis GERALD L. PHILLIPPE, Chatrrnan of the Board, General Electric: Company, New York A. PHILIP RANDOLPH, President, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, New York WALTER REUTHER, President, United Auto Workers, President, Citizens Crusade Against Poverty, Detroit DAVID ROCKEFELLER, President, Chase Manhattan Bank, New York JAMES ROUSE, President, The Rouse Company, President, Urban America Inc .. Baltimore RABBI JACOB P. RUDIN, President, Synagogue Council of America, New York THEODORE SCHLESINGER, President, Allied Stores Corporation, New York ASA T. SPAULDING, President North Carolina Mutual Insurance Company, Durham DAVID SULLIVAN, President, Service Employees International Union, Washington, D.C THE HONORABLE JAMES H.J. TATE, Mayor of Philadelphia, President, National League of Cities JOHN WHEELER, President, Mechanics and Farmers Bank, Durham, President, Southern Reg,onal Council ROY WILKINS, Executive D,rector, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, New York WHITNEY YOUNG, JR., Executive 0,rector, National Urban League, New York JOHN FEILD, U S. Conference of Mayors, National Coordinator RON M. LINTON, Urban America Inc. National Coordmator �-2As of October 31, local coalitions were moving toward affiliation in Detroit, New York, Gary, Indianapolis, Minneapolis and Atlanta. Other communities across the nation are also apparently beginning to move. In California, for example, the League of California Cities. at its recent annual convention, called upon all California cities to establish urban coalitions . Fresno and San Diego sponsored the resolution and announced they were taking action in their communities . Similar word has been received from such diverse areas as Newark, Chatanooga , Denver, Phoenix, both Kansas Cities , Washington, D. C. and Seattle. PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT & ENTREPRENEURSHIP The Task Force on Private Employment has been contacting individual businessmen, business organizations, labor unions and civic groups for ideas on the role private industry and unions can play in meeting the problems of unemployment and underemployment in our cities. Ideas are being exchanged , case histories are being developed and guidelines for suggested local action are currently being prepared. Officials of the National Industr ial Conference Board are cooperating with The Urban Coalition in developing plans for a national clearing-house on hard-core unemployment and training pr ojects. Two meetings have been scheduled-- in Baltimore and Detroit--to examine in detail different local approaches to this pr oblem . The Baltimore meeting (Nov. 14) will concentrate on how Negr o bus iness opportunities can be expanded through sub- contracting with industry . The Detroit meeting (Nov. 21) wi ll emphasize t raining and upgr ading. Task Force Co- Chair men Ger ald L . Phillippe a nd David Sullivan will speak a t bot h meeti ngs . In addition , r egiona l meetings on pr iva te employment a r e s chedu led f or Atlanta (Dec. 13), Phoen i x {Jan . 17 ) and Kansas City, Mo. (J a n. 24 ) . COMMUNI CATIONS AND PUBLIC SUPPORT The new Task Force on Communications and Public Support is headed by Jose ph H. Allen, President of McGraw Hill Publications, John H. Johnson, President of Johnson Publications and Harold Fleming, President of Potomac Institute. Through their efforts, key comrr~nications organiza:ions such as the Advertising Council, the American Business Press Association and the Public Relations Society of America are being contacted for ideas and support. �-3- McGraw-Hill Publications has scheduled a special supplement on urban problems which will appear in January in all forty of thier publications. This is only the second time in their history that McGraw-Hill has undertaken such a project. A special supplement to City magazine on the August Convocation has been sent to all those who attended and is receiving wide national distribution. Press support for the Coalition continues strong. Since the August Emergency Convocation, editorials supporting the Coalition's goals and principles have appeared in some 70 newspapers and magazines. In addition, news stories have appeared in a wide variety of dailies, weeklies, and magazines , including business journals, labor union papers, religious publications and the Negro press. (See sample clips) LEGISLATION On October 23 , Coalition Co-Chairmen Andrew Heiskell and A. Philip Randolph wired members of the House-Senate Conference Committee on Independent Offices Appropriations urging that they support the Senate's recommendation of $637 million for funding the model cities program (the House had approved $237) and $40 million for funding rent supplements (the House had killed the program). In final action , model cities received $312 million and rent supplements received $10 million. In the i r wire , Heiskell and Randolph reminded members of the Committee that 1 , 200 national leader s gathered at the Coalition's Augu s t Convocation in Washington had unanimously declar ed : "Congr e s s must move wit hout delay on ur ban pr ogr ams. The country can wai t no longer f or measur es tha t have been de n i ed the people of the citi es a nd t h e nation as a whole. (Statement o f Principl e s , Goa ls, and Commitments) 11 EQUAL HOUSING Mr. James W. Cook, President of the Illinois Bell Telephone Company, has accepted the co-chairmanship of the Task Force on Equal Housing Opportunities. Representatives of the Task Force Co-Chairmen are exploring the current private2and �1 -4- government investment situation, and the effect of government housing and financing programs on plans for metropolitan open housing. The group is also surveying the experiences of existing fair housing groups and determining how this Task Force can relate its work to the local coalition movement. Particular emphasis is being paid the problem of new lower-income housing in suburban areas on an open occupancy basis. A national action session for some 300 suburban fair housing councils is planned for early next year in Chicago. The Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities, under the Chairmanship of C. Virgil Martin, President of Carson, Pirie Scott and Company will serve as the local host. EDUCATIONAL DISPARITIES Expansion of this Task Force is under way, work areas are being defined, and technical resources are being surveyed. Representatives of the Task Force Co-Chairmen met following the October 9 Steering Committee to discuss Task Force goals: particular attention was paid to ways in which the Task Force can relate to efforts of local coalitions to deal with educational problems. A full Task Force meeting will take place November 7 in _New York. HOUSING RECONSTRUCTION AND INVESTMENT Representatives of the Task Force Co-Chairmen have met twice and are dra fting a position paper on the goals of the Task Force , the technical resources it can make use of, and the policies it will consider recommending. Task Force Co-Chairmen and representatives meet November 2 2 in New Yor k. �