How Denver's War on Poverty Altered the Downtown Newspapers Urban History University of Colorado at Denver Dr. Christopher Agee December 3, 2013Dice 4 Ina 1967 Denver Post editorial, the conservative writers of downtown newspaper asked the ninetieth U.S. Congress to continue to fund the liberal war on poverty even though millions had been spent and poverty “had hardly been dented.”! ‘The Post stated that to withdraw the federal and city support for the poor would be both “foolhardy and dangerous” due to the rise in crime and local unrest that was possible afterward? This stance that the Denver Post takes in regards to the threat of ending the funds for the war on poverty is a liberal one, which is the opposite reaction that was expected from what was unmistakably a conservative institution, From the beginnings of the local anti-poverty struggle in 1964, the two main Denver downtown newspapers reported in a critical yet predictably conservative fashion about the war on poverty. In order to understand the liberal shift in the downtown newspapers’ perceptions, itis important to understand the history of the Denver anti-poverty struggle, the interpretations of other historians, and a the issue of ethnicity and poverty. In addition, itis vital to know about the various factions which were active during the war on poverty and through what ideologies they viewed the downtown newspapers and poverty. These factions included the federal anti-poverty offices, Denver conservatives, the downtown newspapers, a non-mainstream newspaper, and the Denver anti-poverty liberals. The liberal shift in the perception of the downtown newspapers can be seen most clearly in the handling of the anti-poverty successes and the voices of the poor themselves. Based upon the 1967 editorial, the downtown papers experienced a liberal shift in their perceptions and a change in their fundamental identity from bastions of the conservative establishment to supporters of a more liberal agenda based upon their reports and association with the local war on poverty. In order to ' Denver Post, August 18, 1967, editorial 2 Denver Post, August 18, 1967, editorialDice 2 understand the local anti-poverty movement, it is important to understand the circumstances under which the struggle began. Mayor Tom Currigan declared war on Denver's poverty in May of 1964, five months after President Johnson’s own declaration. Mayor Currigan partnered with many other liberal community leaders and petitioned the city to found the Denver War on Poverty, Inc., later changed to Denver Opportunity? This organization represented the city in petitioning the federal Office of Economic Opportunity (OHO) in Washington D.C. for funds to advance the local war on poverty. The DWOP/DO asked for funds to support a variety of anti- poverty programs, to include but not limited to, Head Start, subsidized school meals, employment training, and adult educational opportunities. The OEO did not always certify the funds to support these operations, and often the programs had to be altered by the DWOP/DO in order to conform to federal expectations. The OEO was responsible for ensuring that local anti-poverty programs were handled well without imposing a “top- down” structure. The Johnson administration communicated very clearly on its goal to maintain local flexibility while still providing guidance from the federal level. Denver did not received funds for its local struggle until late 1965, and even then the amount of money awarded was less than $100,000. The funds were present in the city, but final authorization for their use did not come for several more months due to a leadership dispute between the EO and the DWOP. This trend of slowly-flowing funds and bureaucratic problems came to plague the Denver war on poverty, which afforded the downtown newspapers ample opportunity to focus on them. Other historians also studied the shifting ideologies of the * For the sake of brevity, the organization will be known as DWOP/DO from this point on,Dice 3 media and other institutions during the 1960s, and they provided some interesting contemporary parallels for the downtown newspapers’ shift towards liberalism. Historiography Historians have taken a very in-depth look at the expansion of liberalism throughout the 1960s and have covered many aspects of the shifting views of public institutions, to include the media. In the collection of articles, The War On Poverty and New Grassroots I rights movements of the 1950s journalists brought television cameras into the neighborhoods History by Orleck and Hazirjian, the authors proposed that during the and homes of the forty million American living in daily poverty.* The authors of the work contend that journalists were some of leaders of the liberal movement and were bringing attention to the plight of the poor, which was unlike the conservative focus of the downtown Denver newspapers. This reverse trend does not discount the statements made by Orleck and Hazirjian because Denver was not advancing along the same time frame as the larger cities like New York, Washington D.C,, and Los Angeles. The large Denver newspapers were still very conservative when the civil rights and anti-poverty movements took place, which set the stage for a shift in the downtown newspapers’ perspective due to the movements’ liberal nature. In The Promised Land Nicholas Leman discusses how the Kennedy administration became more aware of the racial problems that existed in American cities and began to act more publicly with the civil rights movement and thus identify more with it due to working so closely with the social issues of the day. The downtown newspapers’ shift into a more liberal mindset can be attributed to the same force which caused the Denver Kennedy administration’s shift: the close association and {Annelise Orleck and Lisa Gayle Hazirjan, The War on Poverty: A Grassroots History, 1964-1980 * Nicholas Lemann, The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How it Changed AmericaDice 4 inspection of a modern social issue. For the Kennedy administration the issue was civil rights; for the downtown newspapers the issue was local poverty. The poverty demographics in Denver mirrored the figures for the rest of the nation due to the fact that Denver's poor population came from African, Latino, and Caucasian backgrounds. In order to understand the liberal shift that occurred in the downtown newspapers’ reporting, itis important to be aware of how the downtown newspapers papers handied reporting poverty and ethnicity. Downtown Newspapers and Ethnic Minorities In May of 1968 the Denver Post interviewed Dr. Reuben Zubrow, a University of, Colorado economics professor and asked him questions on the topic of ethnicity and poverty. “Today, we have a class of poverty with a segment of people, mainly ethnic minorities, who are bypassed by an affluent society.” The local census numbers reported by the Denver Post in the 1971 reflect the same statement: the Latin-American population represented ten percent of the total city population, but Latino-Americans accounted for thirty-five percent of the anti-poverty caseload. The African-American population was three percent of the population, yet represented almost ten percent of the anti-poverty caseload, In contrast Anglo-Americans made up over eighty-five percent of of the city population but only represented fifty-three percent of Denver's antipoverty caseload.” The Poorest of the three groups were the Latino-Americans who commonly were migrant farm workers that did not remain employed on a constant basis due to the nature of their work During harvest and planting seasons, many of the migrant laborers lived in buildings . ; Denver Post, May 9, 1968, No Page {Denver Post, March 23, 1971, Special Report 4 * Denver Post, March 23, 1971, Special Report 4Dice 5 constructed of dirt and mud without running water or electricity in conditions that the Post reported “wouldn't have met building codes thirty years ago.” During their stay in Denver, many of these migrant workers would find rooms in the area along the South Platte River, which was one of the main population center of the Latino-American impoverished." The African-American population was on the rise due to the modernization of mass agriculture across the U.S, which forced them to relocate from the rural areas to the cities looking for employment.!! The African-American poor population lived predominantly in Five Points, but their area of residence grew to encompass the area ranging from downtown to the north city limit, and from Colorado Blvd to Pecos St.12 DWOP/DO council officials referred to this large section of the city as “Target Area One” and focused many of their anti-poverty efforts here. For example this area was to be the site of the main anti-poverty health center, Metropolitan State College, as well as for motivational programs for African and Latino- American youth.%? The impoverished among the Anglo-American population lived throughout Denver, but mainly dwelled in or near the downtown area. All of these figures were reported by the downtown newspapers and reflected an accurate depiction of the actual population demographics of Denver.% The downtown newspapers’ conscious reporting on the issue of race and poverty reflected an earlier decade of civil rights movements and media coverage. Denver Post, March 23, 1971, Special Report 6 © Denver Post, March 23, 1977, Special Report 4 "" Denver Post, May 9, 1968, No Page ® Denver Post, Match 23, 1971, Special Report 4 8 Rocky Mountain News, July 11, 1965, 5 * Denver Post, March 23, 1971, Special Report 4 " United States Bureau of Census, Preliminary Estimates of the Intercensal Population of Counties 1970- 1979, hitp:twww.census.gov/popest/data/countiestotals/pre-1980/tables/e707900 xtDice 6 ‘The downtown newspapers were conscious of the disparity in poverty better due to the civil rights movements that was happening during the same time and brought the issue of race to the forefront of the dominant Anglo-American culture. According to the census data and downtown newspapers, poverty was largely focused among the non-Anglo communities. This is not to say that the Anglo-American poor population was insignificant: it made up a majority of the impoverished in Denver. The African and Latino-American populations simply had a far higher impoverished-to-population ratio than their Anglo counterparts, Ethnicity was an undeniable factor in poverty because poverty spared no ethnicity yet affected non-Anglo minorities much worse. The downtown newspapers never reported the problem of poverty as originating from any race of people or commented on any one ethnicity being more impoverished than another unless backed up by reliable data, The events of the years that lead up to Denver's war on poverty brought the topic of ethnicity and rights to the forefront of the poverty struggle, and a slightly more liberal focus on the issue of race and impoverishment had taken hold not only in the downtown newspapers, but also in Washington D.C. Federal Anti-Poverty Officials ‘The federal war on poverty officials from D.C. participated locally from the very beginning, and the downtown press was present to record the liberal anti-poverty supports from D.C., At the Cosmopolitan Hotel in July of 1964 when Mayor Currigan declared war on the poverty in Denver, Jack Conway, President Johnson's representative for community action planning, was also present to speak about the war on poverty. Mr. Conway spoke on the “need to keep elected officials involved in these programs,” which immediately aligned him with the Denver anti-poverty political scene, which was dominated by government liberals,Dice 7 36 Both Currigan and Conway spoke elegantly about the need to improve living conditions for those in poverty, but neither spoke a word about the dollar amount necessary to fund such an endeavor.*7 Only one thing was said about the poor: they numbered over 100,000 according to local agencies.1® This was not because they were clueless about the future costs of the anti-poverty projects; over three million dollars in anti-poverty proposals were submitted by the Denver city council to the federal officials even before President Johnson's national anti-poverty declaration.1° Even though the council officials issued the request for funds well in advance of the national war on poverty, no funds from the federal government were granted to Denver until December of 1964, nearly a year after the national struggie began2° This long wait for funds would be the first of many point of contention between Denver and Washington D.C. ‘The relationship between the federal anti-poverty officials and the Denver government liberals continued to deteriorate after such rocky beginnings. In July of 1965 the two institutions disagreed about salaries for the administrators of the DWOP/DO2! The administrators petitioned for a higher wage than the federal officials were willing to grant, but the federals officials determined that the amount suggested was too high. The dispute lasted for six months and delayed further funding to aid the poor. Even during the salary dispute, the DWOP/DO made requests for further funds to advance the local war on poverty were forwarded to the federal offices, but they went unanswered until August 6th of 1965, when the OEO in Washington D.C. said the proposals were “not quite up to snuff” © Rocky Mountain News, July 12, 1984, 5 ” Rocky Mountain News, July 12, 1984, 5 *® Rocky Mountain News, July 12, 1964, 6 *° Rocky Mountain News, July 11, 1965, 5 *° Rocky Mountain News, December 17, 1964, 11 ?* Rocky Mountain News, July 12, 1985, 5Dice 8 and denied the applications without being more specific: Nine days later on August 15, 1965 the OEO recei 4 revised proposals from the DWOP/DO and granted over eight hundred thousand dollars in funding to the city of Denver in order to support the anti- Poverty health center, even though this was nearly one hundred thousand less than originally proposed Even though the funds had been awarded in August of 1965, the OEO did not agree to certify the health center as proposed, After two and a half years of delayed construction due to the unresolved disagreement, the OBO counter-proposed a Gifferent managerial structure, one that had the double effect of taking away employment opportunities for the poor and placing more responsibility on health center's board ‘members. These new federal proposals forced the DWOP/DO to accept a larger workload then the health center and its board were capable of handling, At the same time, the federal Program called Aid to Dependent Children functioned by sending welfare funds to households that lacked a father.?5 This meant that Denver households which had fathers Present but were also out of work would receive no benefit, literally turning one of the Parents into a barrier to financial security. The Denver liberals felt that this program drove desperate unemployed fathers out of homes in order to bring in some form of support for their families. The Aid to Dependent Children program illustrates the difference in views between the Denver and federal liberals. The federal anti-poverty officials of the Johnson administration carried the same 'iberal label as their Denver counterparts, but their view of the war on poverty was much more of a top-down view. At the national level of government, poverty was nota very 3; Rocky Mountain News, August 6th, 1965, 5 & Denver Post, August 15, 1965, 1 an 25 Rocky Mountain News, January 30, 1968, 26 * Rocky Mountain News, January 20, 1968, 26Dice 9 visible element since the impoverished were not seeking shelter in the halls of Congress. ‘The poor were seeking shelter on the streets of major cities, which meant that local anti- poverty officials proposed far more expensive actions than the federal government was willing to grant. The federal officials’ ideologies aligned them with the Denver government officials, but their authoritative position forced the local officials into what because a technocratic quagmire. The federal anti-poverty officials required structured, well-planned programs in order grant funding to the DWOP/DO, and withheld funding until such proposals were “up to snuff.” The downtown press extensively covered the tensions between the federal and local officials during the beginnings of the struggle, but did not closely align with either: it was equally critical of both. Denver Conservatives ‘The conservative elements of the Denver political scene proved to be some of the harshest critics of the DWOP/DO programs. The Rocky Mountain News recorded Colorado Republican Senator Peter H. Dominick as stating that the entire nation’s war on poverty was a “nightmare,” but also indicated Denver as a particularly iconic failure due to the firing of the DWOP/DO director, Robert Allen, in August of 1965.% Senator Dominick believed that the “..administration [was] top-heavy with civil service super-grades (those that carry a high salary)” and a “lack of co-ordination between federal and local executives” was the most significant problem with the DWOP/DO. “Another Colorado senator, Republican Gordon Allott, was quoted as stating that “the big city political machines have simply exploited the poor rather than helping them.”2® Donald Brotzman, a Republican 3 Rocky Mountain News, August 10, 1965, 14 2 Rocky Mountain News, August 10, 1965, 14 7 Rocky Mountain News, August 10, 1965, 14Dice 10 Representative from Colorado, drafted a bill calling for an investigation and review of the controversial anti-poverty program.%® Politicians were a strong voice among conservatives, but they were not alone. DWOP Board member, Walter Emery, president of the Bank of Denver, spoke personally with William Shovel, deputy director of the Kansas City £0 Office, during the uncertain first days of the DWOP/DO, Emery did this in order to directly communicate with the OEO leadership in order to discover the exact requirements for the launch of the DWOP.*° The Arapahoe county commissioners, all listed Republican, originally filed applications for the local anti-poverty programs, but the OEO awarded the programs’ leadership to Dist. Atty Martin Miller, a Democrat, who filed a separate request for control of the projects! The Republican participants active during the local war on Poverty reflected the conservative mindset of the faction, which will be in stark contrast to the Denver Post's editorial in 1967, Denver conservatives communicated a strongly voiced negative opinion of the anti- poverty movement in Denver due to the ideologies of the conservative camp. Conservatives believed in keeping the level of government bureaucracy at minimum and exercising governance through fiscal responsibility. The Denver liberals had expanded the city’s social Support networks and then required more funds in order to keep those programs running with positive results. Conservatives were skeptical of programs to aid the poor in the first place, and the perceived financial and managerial failures of the new movement gave conservatives the opportunity to again reinforce their faction’s ideology: make government small and make it cost less. Among all of the factions active during the initial years Denver's 2 Rocky Mountain News, August 10, 1965, 14 2? Denver Post, May 6, 1966, 25 S' Rocky Mountain News, August 7, 1965, 5Dice 41 war on poverty, the downtown newspapers most closely resembled the conservatives in regards to their views on the DWOP/DO. This conservative trend was strong towards the beginning of the struggle, but the downtown newspapers showed signs of more liberal Jeanings later. ‘The Downtown Newspapers During the initial stages of the war on poverty in Denver, the conservative downtown newspapers reported on the liberal-dominated struggle mainly by printing the effort’s funding and budget requirements. Even as the initial funds for Denver's war trickled in, the Rocky Mountain Post printed “Colorado... came out of... Johnson's anti- Poverty grabbag... worse off than an Appalachian orphan with a bandaged hand.”®2 ‘The entire state of Colorado, population of 2,209,596, was awarded $91,454 while New York county, population 1,539,233, was awarded over five million dollars in the same amount of time. The downtown newspapers indicated the shortcomings ofthe local war on poverty even before the struggle had a chance to get funding, Conversely, The only funding responsibility that the DWOP?D0 council had at the onset of the war was to cover ten Percent of the total cost and the federal government would cover the rest. According to the Denver Post, the council was unable to procure the funds necessary to fulfill their end of the agreement. According to the same article, the Denver public school system was able ‘0 pay its ten percent fully in cash, which invoked the image that the DWOP council had less & Rocky Mountain News, December 17, 1964, 11 Rocky Mountain News, December 17,1964, 1 and United States Bureau of Census, Pralminary Estimates of tho intercensal Population of Counties 1970-197, hitp www census govipopesvdatalcounties/totals/pre-1 980/tables/e7079c0.txt "Denver Post, May th, 1965, 25Dice 12 fundraising ability than the local school systems.8 By May of 1965 the city of Denver hada bill $64,400 to pay to the federal government, and was unable to fulfll their end of the deal Even as the liberal DWOP/DO council struggled to create an anti-poverty infrastructure in the city, the conservative newspapers focused on the costs of the Programs and the council's inability to procure local and federal funds. ‘The next major facet of Denver's war on poverty that the downtown newspapers covered was the construction of a major anti-poverty health center in downtown. In May of 1965 the Denver Post reported that the proposed health center would serve an astonishing 8,400 people who could not otherwise afford healthcare, but the center responsible was to be stalfed by only six doctors, four dentists, eight nurses, two social workers and thirty-two non-professional employees.*” The number of proposed employees compared to the number of patients was a staggering 1:161, with a vast majority of employees as either non-medical or non-professional staff. A year after the initial proposal, no one had ceremonially broke ground in Denver for the center’s construction. In July of 1966, the Denver Post published an article outlining a the city’s major hindrance in the creation of the anti-poverty health center: who decided whom to hire? Denver's public health director, Dr. Samuel Johnson, asserted that the city’s Department of tlealth and Hospitals Would hold hiring authority. The new health center’s board members, which included residents of the local impoverished community as well as Denver liberals, were to just act asa “sounding board.’** The board members were outraged at this perceived demotion of 3 Denver Post, May 4th, 1965, 25, Denver Post, May 4th, 1965, 25 & Denver Post, August 15, 1966, 1 ®® Denver Post, July 15, 1966, 17 ** Denver Post, July 18, 1966, 17Dice 13 status as well as giving up hiring authority for their own health center. Upon being informed about the reaction of the health center board members, Dr. Johnson stated “I feel like a man who's fathered a horrible monster.”*° Dr. Johnson made his statement prior to the initial meeting with the board members, which lead to a very stormy first session. At the first meeting to discuss the opening of the anti-poverty health center, the downtown newspapers were present to cover events. The DWOP directors and council members were unable to agree on cert basic parameters of the program, such as titles, positions, and salaries.** The downtown newspapers reported the disagreement initially as a “squabble”, but declared that Denver's war on poverty was “stalled” for three months as a direct result of it? Even as the downtown newspapers were covering the conflict between Dr Johnson's health department and the health center council, the funds used for the hiring of personnel were already present in the department's treasury, waiting for someone to have the local authority to use them.‘ After six years of planning, construction, execution, and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, the health center was not considered a success by the downtown newspapers until March of 1971.44 ‘The downtown newspapers were a part of the conservative political machine in Denver during the initial stages of the war on poverty due to their focus on the technocratic and fiscal shortcomings of the liberal DWOP/DO. The DWOP/DO attempted to solve the problem of poverty using the methods that mid-20th century liberals came to embrace: expert assistance, bureaucratic solutions, and social spending. The downtown newspapers 4; Denver Post, July 15, 1966, 17 " Denver Post, July 27, 1965, 17 {, Rocky Mountain News, July 12, 1965, § and Denver Post, October 20, 1965, 7 fq Denver Post, July 18, 1966, 17 “Denver Post, March 23, 1971, BonusDice 14 were considered bastions of the greater local conservative machine and thus tended to focus on the aspects of the war on poverty that reflected their liberal counterparts’ shortcomings in supposed areas of expertise: overspending/lack of funds, failure of bureaucracies, and failures of leadership. Their focus on the failures of the liberal efforts is not due to any malice felt by the downtown newspapers; its just the reaction that any conservative political body had towards an expansive and expensive new liberal system. Article Titles of the Downtown Newspapers ‘The articles titles used in the downtown newspapers shows their conservative leanings and emphasizes their focus points on the local war on poverty. Many titles indicate the bureaucratic or technocratic failures of Denver's liberal faction, “Roadblocks Disclosed Im Poverty Program” described how lack of quality communication between the DWOP and OFO slowed the progress of the programs.*5 “Red Tape Slows Denver's War on Poverty” showed how much internal bureaucracies retarded the struggle.S'The downtown newspapers also criticized the war’s dysfunctional leadership and managerial aspects. “Factions Stall War On Poverty” described the internal leadership tensions.” “Health Center Control Stirs Fight” highlighted the tension between Dr. Johnson and the health center council “Denver Poverty Aides Hold Stormy Session’ illustrated the problems among the anti-poverty leadership.» “Colorado Anti-Poverty War Still Confused” presented the image that the Denver liberals did not know what to do in general.S0 The most extreme oftthe titles published by the local newspapers equates the anti-poverty efforts to a bad {Denver Post, August 13, 1965, 38 ‘6 Rocky Mountain News, January 30, 1966, 28 4] Rocky Mountain News, August 7, 1965, § {Denver Post, July 15, 1966, 17 & Denver Post, May 6, 1968, 25 “° Rocky Mountain News, October 1, 1966, 6Dice 15 dream: “Poverty Program Called Nightmare."®1 As a mostly conservative group, the downtown Denver press also reported on the war's funding and expenditures. “Colorado Gets $91,000 In Poverty War” and “Denver Gets $500,000 in Poverty Funds” were the beginning headlines at the start of the war.S? These federal funds earmarked for Denver are counted in the hundreds of thousands, but funds available after June of 1965 amounted in the millions. “Extra 15 Workers, $2.3 Million Sought to Continue Battle,” “Colorado Given $21 Million in Anti-Poverty Aid,” and “$23.4 Million Put into State ‘Poverty Wat” are examples of the figures used in the headlines.% The costs of the war as reported by the downtown newspapers were always the totals for the war since the day it began, The authors’ choices of words used in the titles indicates the downtown newspapers’ conservative leanings while also criticizing the Denver anti-poverty leadership. ‘The titles utilized by the downtown media reinforce its position as a conservative institution. The papers’ focus on the “red-tape” and “roadblocks” that existed within the system created by the Denver government liberals shows the faction’s criticism for the bureaucratic nature of the anti-poverty programs. The references in the titles to the “stalled war" or “confused!” factions reflects the conservative newspapers’ criticism for the expansive leadership among the government liberals. The continuous references to the total increasing cost of the war, mingled with the reports of failed leadership and mixed results, indicates the downtown newspapers’ criticism for the amount of funds being taken from the nation-wide tax base to cover the “nightmare” programs. All of these criticisms Sf Rocky Mountain News, August 10, 1965, 14 & Rocky Mountain News, May 28, 1965, 10, and Rocky Mountain News, December 17, 1964, 11 * Denver Post, November, 1988, 32, and Rocky Mountain News July 13, 1965, 22, and Rocky Mountain News, July 15, 1966, 52Dice 16 that the downtown newspapers focused on were all valid, but its what the papers’ chose to focus on that indicates their conservative status during the initial stages of the war. Cervi's Rocky Mountain Business Journal ‘The downtown newspapers were not the only papers in Denver during the war on Poverty, and the views that these other newspapers bring to the discussion reveal just how conservative the downtown newspapers were. One of the newspapers active during the same period was Cervi's Rocky Mountain Business Journal, 2 businessman's paper and a liberal-leaning voice in the media. This business journal did not have a subscription fee due to the amount of advertisements placed within it, meaning that sales did not drive business of the journal and staff writers were free to publish what they wanted. According to Cervi’s Business Journal, the entire state of Colorado was a solid Republican state in 1963 and the downtown daily newspapers reflected this conservative leaning5* Cervi's Journal was highly critical of The Denver Post, and published statements like “The Post dilutes its force by being all things to all men.”55 Cervi also showed that the Rocky Mountain News was considered a conservative paper due to the fact that the it was “unabashedly engaged with the Republican party."5¢ Aside from journal's slight liberal meanings, the publication was also directly critical of what the downtown newspapers were printing off, Strong words and phrases like “crap,” “nonsense,” and “of little purpose” were used by the writers of Cervi's Journal to describe their perception of the downtown newspapers’ articles.5? ‘The fact that Cervi’s Journal considered both downtown papers to be strongly conservative speaks to the slight yet remarkable liberal transformation during the war on 2 Cervi's Rocky Mountain Business Journal, January 9, 1963, 22 & Cervis Rocky Mountain Business Journal, January 9. 1963, 22 & Cervi's Rocky Mountain Business Journal, January 9, 1963, 22 *’ Cervi's Rocky Mountain Business Journal, December 9, 1964, 20Dice 17 poverty. During the opening years of the local war on poverty, The Journal was more critical and used harsher language against the downtown newspapers than the downtown newspapers used against the liberals in the DWOP. However, after 1964, Cervi's Journal was not nearly as critical of the downtown newspapers. The entire combined effect of the civil rights movements and anti-poverty struggles brought about the beginning of the liberalization of the downtown newspapers, and the Journal was there to level criticisms against their originally conservative reporting, The Journal printed anti-downtown- newspaper articles, but they were nothing compared to the reports by the downtown newspapers which covered the initial actions of the Denver anti-poverty liberals. City Liberals The local anti-poverty officials had many interpersonal problems among its leadership, which the downtown press focused heavily upon in the beginning stages of the war on poverty. In July of 1965, the Denver Post reported that the assistant director of the DWOP/DO, Charles Bishop, resigned after getting the DWOP/DO director and former state senator, Robert Allen, fired with the aid of James Galvin, the DWOP/DO board chairman.s# Bishop admitted to reporters that Allen had a “personality clash” with Galvin and that “too much politics” interfered with the intentions of the anti-poverty programs. Because of the leadership conflicts within the DWOP/DO leadership, responses from the OEO in Washington did not come quickly, and often admonished the officials for not working together better. Even the “firing” was mishandled, as Allen was still able to procure a position as the new director of community relations within the DWOP/DO infrastructure. ° Denver Post, July 27, 1965, 17 5° Denver Post, July 27, 1965, 17 ® Denver Post, May 6, 1986, 25 ® Denver Post, August 13, 1965, 1Dice 18 Even Colorado congressman of Denver, Byron Rogers, said he “had gotten nothing” out of his efforts to hasten the approval of community programs in the midst of the DWOP/DO's leadership crisis.6? Two months after the first crisis, a second occured: James Galvin, chairman of DWOP/DO, announced his resignation date as September 1st, 1965, and was replaced by Rudolf “Corky” Gonzales, who was also the head of the Neighborhood Youth Corps.** In addition to the sudden change in leadership, Gonzales now effectively controlled two anti-poverty organizations, one of which was the DWOP/DO board of directors itself. Gonzales did not remain head of two DWOP bodies for long: in May of 1966, Mayor Currigan fired Gonzales as director of the Youth Corp, to which Gonzales as chairman responded by not calling any DWOP board meetings.* The image that the downtown newspapers present of the Denver government liberals indicates strongly which factions each group represents. The Denver downtown newspapers’ focus on the leadership struggles within the DWOP/DO indicates the papers’ conservative perspective while helping reinforcing the liberal aspects of the local officials. The downtown newspapers reported heavily on the failures of leadership and bureaucracy that were occurring within the DWOP/DO structure. Asa conservative institution, the mainstream newspapers took a very critical look at anything with the liberal label carrying such a large price tag. As a liberal institution the DWOP/DO attempted to use bureaucracy and direct democracy to solve the problems that faced liberals in the 1960s, The liberal city officials produced mixed results while experiencing failures of leadership, and the conservative downtown newspapers were © Rocky Mountain News, August 6, 1985, 5 © Denver Post, October 20, 1965, 7 “ Denver Post, May 26, 1966, 47Dice 19 obligated to report upon them. The downtown papers continued to take a conservative- versus-liberal stance until the editorial of 1967, Good Reports and Anti-Poverty Successes After the 1967 Denver Post editorial, the downtown newspapers began to focus less on the financial and bureaucratic failure of the DWOP and more on the successes of the programs themselves. The Rocky Mountain News covered the 1967 opening of the Opportunities Industrial Center, a one hundred percent free technical and employment training center which was funded by the East Denver Ministerial Alliance and partnered with the Denver Chamber of Commerce.“* The News also reported the opening of Metropolitan State College, a higher education institution founded with the mission of providing higher education to those who could not afford it through their current means. The article was issued in 1968, but the institution supported students as early as 1965. In addition to the Rocky Mountain News, multiple positive articles were published in the Denver Post’s 1971 special report regarding poverty in the city. For example, over 95,000 Denver school children were awarded subsidized or free meals 1971 with federal funds awarded through the anti-poverty programs.® Also according to the Post, all of the antipoverty health centers around Denver delivered healthcare to over 105,000 disadvantaged persons since the beginning of the war. in addition the Post reported that over 2,500 impoverished residents from the targeted poor areas were now directly employed by the city or the DWOP/DO. s @, Rocky Mountain News, July 11, 1968, no page given ® Rocky Mountain News, July 30, 1968, 26 G, Denver Post, March 23, 1971, Special Report 7 ® Denver Post, March 23, 1971, Special Report § ® Denver Post, March 23, 1974, Special Report 5Dice 20 After the Denver Post's editorial of 1967, the downtown newspapers showed a more liberal shift in its reporting habits in regards to the war on poverty. Instead of focusing on bureaucratic and financial problems that were rampant within the system, the newspapers instead shifted positions and began to write articles about the benefits of the fight against poverty. Instead of focusing on the bill attached to the construction and management of these two institutions, the downtown papers reported on the potential benefits of the two schools. The downtown newspapers reported on the health center programs, but the focus was not on the cost or the city’s management. The focus was on the large number of people given treatment and what this meant to the overall health of the city and the burden that ‘was lifted off the city’s other medical centers. The subsidized meal program assisted enough children every day to nearly fill two Coors Field stadiums, Most of this encouraging data was issued by the Denver Post’s 1971 Special Report, but the rest of the report showed that the city still had a long way to go in regards to the problem poverty. Voices of the Poor Before 1971 the downtown Denver newspapers did not directly quote or survey the local impoverished population, but the statements taken after that time are revealing in regards to the poors’ role in the antipoverty struggle. The first words of the 1971 Denver impoverished to the downtown papers were not lighthearted and not one person interviewed held back: “We're looked upon as rats. Scoundrels, The lowest of people,” said one Denver woman at a welfare rights meeting.” A sick young mother recently released out of hospital care for surgery stated through tears, “My baby’s been sick since last. ”° Denver Post, March 23, 1971, Special Report 6Dice 21 November... I'm so depressed,"”! Poverty was so bad in some areas, some even looked to fhe Vietnam conflict as an escape. “applied for... Vietnam... with the Army,” a Mr. Vasquez is quoted as stating, “.-but had a family and they wouldn't take me.’”2 Two small children were abandoned on the lawn of the Denver Department of Welfare at W. 7th Ave and Cherokee St. Attached to one of them was a note from the mother: “I can't take care of them any longer... You're the ones with the money - you're going to have to do it."”° Another mother stated “You don’t live, You survive. Nobody cares about the poor but the poor."74 After six years of antipoverty programs and projects, even the impoverished population of Penver did not believe that they had been properly supported by the city as their voices were commonly the last to be heard. ‘The local poor were not just kept from social support by lack of funds, delayed Programs, and inept leaders, but they were also barred from taking part in their own democratic efforts. The residential poor could still vote on their representatives to the PWOP/DO council, but this was largely the extent that the poor were allowed to participate in the solutions to poverty. The poor were the supposed benefactors ofthe war on poverty, but were rarely direct participants in it. To be fair, most impoverished people did not have the means or the livelihood worry about aligning themselves with a political faction or to be involved in local polities in the first place. This is a generalization, but for the most part the impoverished took part in participatory democracy insofar as they voted but did not have a significant opportunity to assist in the local war on poverty unless given the opportunity by local programs, ™ Denver Post, March 23, 1971, Special Report 6 "? Denver Post, March 23, 1971, Special Report § 18 Denver Post, March 23, 1971, Special Report 8 ™ Denver Post, March 23, 1971, Special Report 6Dice 22 ‘The liberal shift in the conservative downtown newspapers’ perception was due to the close reporting and associating with the local war on poverty. The 1968 editorial made it clear that the anti-poverty programs were not considered an unnecessary financial expenditure by the downtown newspapers, but a very necessary one. According to the editorial “even larger sums should be invested in future years.”’5 Closer reporting on the topic of poverty brought the issue into more tight focus for the downtown newspaper, and the liberal shift that had began with the civil rights movements of the 1950s continued to occur during the war on poverty. The conservative factions’ activity helped to illustrate the downtown newspapers’ original conservative mindset, but also to indicate that the papers’ change in perception toward a more liberal point of view. The liberal factions’ activity helped to illustrate just how much the downtown newspapers started to focus on social issues when they reported on the liberals working on the issues. The liberals’ perspective also helped to illustrate that the viewpoint of the downtown newspapers was sliding to a more liberal side. The successful anti-poverty program reports and the voices of the poor that occur in publications after the 1968 editorial also help to indicate the liberal shift in the downtown newspapers’ viewpoint. 7° Denver Post, August 18, 1967, editorialDice 23 Bibliography Carter, Charles. "Health Center Control Stirs Fight.” The Denver Post, July 15, 1966. Cervi, Gene, “Of Shabby Press Values,” Cervi's Rocky Mountain Business Journal, December 9, 1964. Cooper, Gene. “Denver Enters War To Abolish Poverty.” The Rocky Mountain News, July 12, 1964, Gaskie, Jack. “Red Tape Slows Denver’s War on Poverty.” The Rocky Mountain News, January 30, 1966. Gaskie, jack. “Colo, Anti-Poverty War Still Confused." The Rockey Mountain News, October 1, 1965. Gaskie, jack. "Success Ultimately Hinges On Shape of State Economy.” The Rocky Mountain News, july 30, 1968, Gavin, Tom. “Denver Gets Poverty Aid.” The Denver Post, August 15, 1965. Johnston, Dick. “Denver ‘Poverty Snowballing.” The Denver Past, May 9, 1968 Lane, George. “Poverty: A Special Report.” The Denver Post, March 23, 1971 Lemann, Nicholas. The Promised Land: The Grea Blank Migration and How it Changed America, New York: Vintage Books of Random House, 1992, Nyberg, Bartell. “Denver Poverty Aides Hold Stormy Session.” The Denver Post, May 6, 1966. Orleck, Annelise, and Lisa Gayle. Tae War on Poverty: A Grassroots History, 1964-1980. Athens. GA: University of Georgia Press, 2011. Roos, Charles, “City’s War on Poverty ‘Short’ of Local Funds.” The Denver Post, May 4, 1965. ‘Thomasson, Dan. “Denver Gets $500,000 in Poverty Funds.” The Rocky Mountain News, May 28, 1965.Dice 24 ‘Thomasson, Dan. “Factions Stall Denver War on Poverty. The Rocky Mountain News, August 7,1965. Toohey, John. “Poverty War Official in City.” The Denver Post, May 26, 1966. Tucker, Richard. “Extra 15 Workers, $2.3 Million Sought to Continue Battle.” The Rocky Mountain News, July 13, 1965. “Denver Awakens to Problem’s Severi Tucker, Richar ”” The Rocky Mountain News, July 11,1965, United States Bureau of Census, “Preliminary Estimates of the Intercensal Population of Counties 1970-1979", sus.g ta/coui res 980 /tabl ‘Ico.txt Author Unknown’é, “Corporation Will Attack Poverty.” Cervi’s Rocky Mountain Business Journal, September 2, 1964. Author Unknown. “Colorado Gets $91,000 in Poverty War.” The Rocky Mountain News, December 17, 1964. From the Washington Bureau of the RMN. Author Unknown, “Poverty War Aide Quitting in Denver.” The Denver Post, July 27, 1965. Author Unknown. “Poverty Program Called Nightmare.” The Rocky Mountain News, August 10, 1965. From the Washington Bureau of the RMN. ‘Author Unknown. “Roadblocks Disclosed In Poverty Program.” The Rocky Mountain News, August 13, 1965, Author Unknown. “Poverty Grant Receives OK.” The Denver Post, October 20, 1965. 7° No authors were listed in each of the referenced newspaper articles marked “Author Unknown.”Dice 25 Author Unknown. “Colo. Given $21 Million in Anti-Poverty Aid.” The Rocky Mountain News, July 15, 1966. Special. Author Unknown. “$23.4 Million Put Into State ‘Poverty War.” The Denver Post, November 5, 1966. Author Unknown. “Opportunities Unit Names Director.” The Rocky Mountain News, July 11, 1968. Author Unknown. “Poverty Program Making Headway." The Denver Post, August 18, 1967. Editorial.