Soul City Vision & Origins

• Soul City: experimental town built by black Americans in 1970s North Carolina
• Located on thousands of acres of former plantation land in Warren County
• Dream of Floyd B. McKissick, civil rights activist and attorney
  • First black law student at University of North Carolina
  • Defended activists at protests
  • Led pivotal civil rights organizations
  • Organizer of 1963 March on Washington alongside Martin Luther King
• Inspired by post-WWII European city rebuilding McKissick witnessed as soldier
• Concept: integrated town where racial minorities and poor could thrive
• Projected 50,000 residents by year 2000
• Philosophy: black capitalism rather than socialist approach like Black Panthers

Planned Community Features

• 24,000 jobs projected, max 10 minutes from home
• Sports facilities, pool, parks, daycare
• Residential villages beside churches
• Bike paths, shopping area, senior housing
• Health Co Inc clinic
• Soul Tech 1: 73,000 sq ft industrial incubator building
• City without prejudice or poverty

Political Strategy & Federal Support

• 1968: Initial pitch to President Lyndon B. Johnson (didn't pursue due to non-reelection)
• Approached Robert F. Kennedy (assassinated June 1968)
• Strategic decision to ally with Republican Richard Nixon
  • Rare and controversial move for black activists
  • Nixon supported black capitalism and entrepreneurship
  • Part of Nixon's strategy to diversify voter base
• 1969: McKissick Enterprises publicly announced Soul City plans
• 1971: Submitted proposal to HUD's New Towns program
• McKissick switched to Republican Party, supported Nixon's reelection
• July 1972: Soul City selected as 1 of only 13 HUD New Towns proposals
• Received $14 million federal funding
• First black-led development company to create new city with government funding

Construction & Early Development (1973-1979)

• Broke ground 1973 on Soul City Boulevard
• Built from raw land with no existing infrastructure
• Major infrastructure projects:
  • Largest regional water system in North Carolina at the time (still operating)
  • Electric system, fire department
  • Park and recreational facilities
  • Health clinic and Soul Tech 1 industrial park
  • First of three planned residential villages
• Staff included young engineers, architects from US, England, Africa
• Jane B. Groom (native New Yorker) moved January 1970, never left
• By late 1970s: less than 200 residents (projected thousands)
• No major business commitments despite courting companies like General Motors

Challenges & Opposition

• 1970s energy crisis made industries hesitant to invest in new areas
• Only new town building in truly rural, freestanding location
• Name "Soul City" perceived as implying all-black town despite multiracial branding
• Jesse Helms (newly elected NC Senator, segregationist) opposed from start
  • Fought against federal funding flow to his own state
  • Capitalized on Watergate scandal and McKissick's Nixon ties
  • Accused Soul City of financial wrongdoing, called it "waste and boondoggle"
  • Demanded federal audit with NC Congressman
• Investigation froze HUD funds for over a year
• Raleigh News & Observer ran negative articles and editorial cartoons
• Public opinion destroyed despite December 1975 audit clearing major wrongdoing

Collapse & Legacy

• 1979: HUD pulled funding, concluded project would never make money
• McKissick couldn't fund project independently
• Today's remnants:
  • Church and abandoned Health Co building
  • Soul Tech 1 now houses prison work complex
  • Park, pool, sports facilities still serve community
  • Roads and water infrastructure remain
  • Handful of original residents still live in remaining homes
• Floyd McKissick lived in Soul City until death 1991, buried there
• Jane B. Groom still lives there since 1970

Historical Context & Environmental Justice Connection

• Warren County later became birthplace of environmental justice movement (1982)
• Black residents protested toxic landfill placement
• McKissick among hundreds arrested in environmental racism protests
• Soul City represents hope and possibility despite incomplete realization