These Presidential historical materials are in the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration under the provisions of Title I of the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974 (44 U.S.C. 2111 note), and implementing regulations. In accordance with the act and regulations, archivists reviewed the file group to identify private or personal as well as non-historical items. Such items, if found, have been withdrawn for return to the individual with primary proprietary or commemorative interest in them.
Materials covered by this act have been archivally processed and are described in this finding aid. Items that are security classified or otherwise restricted under the act and regulations have been removed and placed in a closed file. A Document Withdrawal Record (NA Form 14021) has been placed in the front of each folder describing each withdrawn item. Employees of the National Archives will review periodically the unclassified portions of closed materials for the purpose of opening those which no longer require restrictions. Classified documents may be reviewed for declassification under authority of Executive Order 13526 in response to Mandatory Review Request (NA Form 14020) submitted by the researcher.
- Linear measurement of materials: < 1 in.
- Number of pages: 152
In his Cities Message of March 2, 1965, and again in his Message on Urban and Rural Poverty of March 14, 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson recommended the creation of an independent research institute on urban affairs, responsive to government, to conduct research and analysis on a wide range of urban problems.
In 1967, the Congress responded to the President's request for an increase in urban research funds, by appropriating $10 million for urban research and technology in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). THis appropriation was expected to include research funds for the proposed institute. Congress also obtained funds for other agencies with urban responsibilities--Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW), Department of Transportation (DOT), Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), Department of Labor, and Department of Commerce.
On December 6, 1967, the President asked seven men to serve as Incorporators, chaired by Irwin Miller, to bring the Institute into existence as an independent, non-profit research corporation.
The Incorporators have completed their work. The Institute has been legally incorporated in Delaware. Research contacts will soon be signed with several Federal Agencies with urban responsibilities--including HUD, HEW, OEO, Labor, DOT, and Commerce. The Ford Foundation has also expressed the desire to make a financial commitment to the Institute.
Mr. William Gorham, Assistant Secretary of HEW, has been selected as the Institute's first President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Arjay Miller, Vice Chairman of the Ford Motor Company, has been elected Chairman of a distinguished Board of Trustees, which also includes:
- William Friday, President, University of North Carolina
- Eugene G. Fubini, Vice President, International Business Machines, Inc.
- William H. Hastie, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit
- Edgar F. Kaiser, Chairman, Kaiser Industries, Inc.
- Edward F. Levi, President, The University of Chicago
- Bayless A. Manning, Dean, Stanford University School of Law
- Stanley Marcus, President, Neiman-Marcus
- Robert S. McNamara, President, The World Bank
- J. Irwin Miller, Chairman, Cummins Engine Company, Inc.
- Charles L. Schultze, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution
- Leon H. Sullivan, Chairman, Opportunities Industrialization Center, Philadelphia
- Cyrus R. Vance, Partner, Law firm of Simpson, Thacher and Bartlett of New York
- Whitney M. Young, Jr., Executive Director, National Urban League
The Urban Institute will:
- Study a broad range of problems common to cities--housing, employment, education, poverty--and the ways in which they can be solved;
- Work with individual cities, on contract, to help them develop effective local action strategies and programs;
- Pull together and make available to all interested parties knowledge on city problems and the most effective experiments and demonstration programs available to tackle them;
- Conduct scientific evaluation of existing programs at all levels of government.
The records consist of correspondence and memoranda. The primary correspondents include White House staff H. R. Haldeman, Daniel P. Moynihan, John D. Ehrlichman, William L. Timmons and other members of the staff. These files also contain correspondence from within the private sector: Arjay Miller, Ford Motor Company, William Gorham and the Urban Institute.
The terms "Executive" [Ex] and "General" [Gen] are used before the code FG 143 to identify the source of the materials within a specific file. The files designated [Ex] are communications between national, foreign, state and local governments and their agencies, members of Congress and other prominent people. Files designated [Gen] are communications between government officials and private citizens, institutions and other private interests.
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