“You tear down a building, you’ve got to put something in its place, and you want some involvement in citizens…”
Edwin Edmonds on Community Progress, Inc.
The Reverend Dr. Edwin Edmonds came to New Haven from Greensboro, North Carolina in 1959. He became the pastor at the United Church of Christ on Dixwell Avenue, and quickly became a leader in the community. When the Ford Foundation gave New Haven one million dollars to pilot some anti-poverty and job-training programs, Edmonds was appointed to the original board of the project, called Community Progress, Inc. Edmonds describes his initial optimism about CPI, and the mixed results the organization ultimately produced.
To find out more, visit The Life in the Model City Online Exhibit.
Interviewed by Sarah Hammond on February 16, 2004.