To Right These Wrongs

Student History Day Project, 2011

Middle-school student Adam Wagner produced this documentary on the North Carolina Fund. The film includes interviews with Fund veterans Ann Atwater, Billy Barnes, Howard Fuller, and Rubye Gattis.

North Carolina Fund from Carrie Wagner on Vimeo.

Review by Mike Smith, UNC School of Government, June 2011

Mike Smith is Dean of the University of North Carolina’s School of Government. In a recent blog posting, he reflected on the relevance of the Fund’s story to issues of poverty and governance today. Here’s an excerpt:

“This book is essential reading for anyone interested in learning more about the dynamics of race in North Carolina, especially in the context of community and economic development. It raises uncomfortable questions about the role of government in addressing racial discrimination and poverty. I found myself thinking constantly about the most appropriate role for the School [of Government] in trying to help resolve these issues. What are the limits on the School’s involvement in developing and promoting public policy? How should we approach community and economic development today? What is the role of civic education in helping people understand the importance of involvement in the political process? The book raises many thought-provoking questions for our work and I highly recommend it.”

Read the full essay on Mike’s Blog.

Review by Alec Fazackerkey Hickmott, Southern Historian, Vol. 31, Spring 2011

“Detailed, vividly narrated and replete with numerous photographs of the Fund’s work, To Right These Wrongs will no doubt be viewed as important contribution to the growing literature on the 1960s that emphasizes struggles beyond the traditionally understood parameters of the Civil Rights Movement. But perhaps most importantly, Korstad and Leloudis offer a powerful rebuttal to persistent ideas about the ‘culture of poverty’ that continue to dominate contemporary understandings of both economic and racial inequality in both the South and the United States.”

Review by Susan Youngblood Ashmore, Journal of American History, Vol. 98, June 2011

“[T]he deep research into the three community action programs, and the clear analysis that links poverty to white supremacy and the southern political economy make this study valuable for scholars interested in the Great Society, the modern South, and social movements of the 1960s. The clear prose, the beautiful photographs, and the accompanying digital video disc, Change Comes Knocking: The Story of the North Carolina Fund, make this work accessible to a wide audience.”

Leadership Lessons from the North Carolina Fund

Robert Korstad and James Leloudis joined Fund veterans Nathan Garrett and Ed Stewart to reflect on the story of the North Carolina Fund and its relevance to issues of community development and economic justice today. The panel discussion was part of the Leadership Institute sponsored by the North Carolina Associations of Community Development Corporations and the North Carolina Community Development Initiative, held in Greensboro on May 24-26, 2011. Billy Ray Hall, president of the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center, served as moderator. Click the image to watch on-line.

Susan Hardy, “Change Comes Knocking,” Endeavors: The Magazine of Research and Creativity at UNC-Chapel Hill, Spring 2011

“The North Carolina Fund was like nothing any other state had tried before.” Read the full review.

Taylor Sisk, “One Community at a Time,” Duke Magazine (March/April 2011)

“Nearly a half century after its launch by Governor Terry Sanford, the North Carolina Fund, an ambitious antipoverty initiative, still provides a template for fighting economic inequities.” Read the full story.

Kim Weaver Spurr, “To Right These Wrongs:  UNC-Duke Project Addresses N.C. Poverty,” Carolina Arts & Sciences Magazine (Spring 2011)

This story showcases our Moral Challenges of Poverty and Inequality project and year-long seminar for undergraduates at Duke University and the University of North Carolina. Click the image to read about the exciting work our students have been doing.

Review by Jess Usher, North Carolina Historical Review, LXXXVIII (January 2011)

“[T]he story of the North Carolina Fund serves as a reminder that widespread poverty still exists, and serves as a ‘source of inspiration and instruction for a new generation of Americans charting their own ways of combating poverty.’” Read the full review.

Review by Clare Hammonds, Left History, Vol. 15, Number 1 (2010)

“The radical approach of the Fund meant that by 1968 when it shut its doors, the work had begun to come under severe attack from businesses and politicians who complained bitterly about the seemingly partisan nature of the effort. A major strength of the book is its ability to show the interplay between the local, state and national contexts as this political drama unfolded. The authors adeptly demonstrate how national debates came into play with conservative powers in the state and the stark reality of poverty and racial tension on the ground. While the Fund ultimately failed to realize its grand anti-poverty goals, its work created a network of community agencies that still exists in North Carolina. Moreover, the story and lessons of the Fund make this an important book for those interested in understanding the process of social change, and the power and corresponding threat posed by organizing the poor to demand the nation fulfill its democratic promise.” Read the full review.

Review by Jim Seroka, Poverty & Public Policy, Vol. 2, Issue 3 (2010)

“Korstad and Leloudis’s history is exceptionally well researched and documented.  Their writing style is precise and analytical, and their prose is often soaring and surprisingly inspirational. . . . For those who want to understand better the 1960s in the South, for those who want to avoid repeating the tactical and strategic errors of past attempts at social reform, and for those who envision a new movement to overcome the legacy of poverty and inequality, To Right These Wrongs makes an invaluable contribution that should be widely studied and discussed.” Read the full review.

North Carolina People, UNC-TV, November 26, 2010

Robert Korstad and James Leloudis discuss the North Carolina Fund and poverty today with host William C. Friday. Click the image to watch on-line.

The State of Things, WUNC Radio, September 29, 2010

Robert Korstad and James Leloudis join host Frank Stasio to discuss poverty in North Carolina, past and present. Listen on-line.

To Right These Wrongs: Continuing the Work of Terry Sanford

Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, April 23, 2010. Fifty years after Terry Sanford launched his campaign for governor of North Carolina, this symposium examined some of the most pressing concerns of his political career: poverty, education, and racial inequality in North Carolina. During the afternoon, three panels of Sanford faculty, advocates, and policymakers assessed the progress made to erase inequalities in North Carolina since the historic events of the early 1960s, as well as the challenges that remain. Keynote address: “Terry Sanford’s Outrageous Ambition,” by N.C. State Senator Dan Blue. Watch symposium videos on-line.