Frederick M Finney

Call to the Land of Promise, 2nd Edition Frederick M Finney

Imagine migrating to Dayton, Ohio as an African-American at the turn of the 20th century to the great promise of opportunity beckoning you in the North. Instead you find a "northern city with a southern exposure." De facto segregation is persistent over time. Finney presents a historical view of African American migration and the importance of Dayton as a "factory town." Finney traces early black protests, community and political leaders, and ultimately the advent of the Dayton Model Cities Program with empowering the black community to participate in the governmental and economic structures of the larger Dayton community. In the 1970s Dayton became part of the federal "Model Cities Program," a feature of President Lyndon Johnson's "War on Poverty." Dayton's Model Cities Program was successful in creating a system of citizen participation in the black community of West Dayton to identify and address community needs. Frederick M. Finney served as Program Evaluation Director for the Dayton Model Cities Program. It is through his recollections and insight that we encounter a previously untold part of Dayton's history. Finney died in 2008. His manuscript and notes were organized by Gladys Turner Finney, his wife, under the title, Call to the Land of Promise.