Richard Hatcher of Gary, Indiana, one of the first black mayors of a major U.S. city, has died at age 86.
Those ads brought in more than $250,000, drew invitations to appear on TV and radio shows, and attracted the attention of Sen. Robert Kennedy, Vice President Hubert Humphrey and others who held fundraisers.
"There was a tremendous spirit in the city and the black community was very united," he said."I think I received about 7% of the white vote. The other white candidates divided up the white vote, they really split it, which made it possible for me to win." Hatcher attracted hundreds of millions of dollars in federal money to Gary in his 20 years in office, some of which was used to build low-cost housing and the first public housing units in the city in nearly two decades. He also got federal funds for jobs training; repaved deteriorating streets; and put many inner-city neighborhoods on regular garbage collection for the first time.
But Hatcher couldn’t stop Gary’s decline, which coincided with that of the U.S. steel industry. The company town, founded in 1906 by U.S. Steel Chairman Elbert H. Gary, had flourished as the industry did. While Hatcher was in office, U.S. Steel cut its workforce from 35,000 in the early 1970s to 25,000 by the early 1980s.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Gary Cohn Tries—And Fails—To Defend the Trump tax cutIt was a giant corporate giveaway that ballooned the deficit without boosting manufacturing. America will be paying for it for decades. And defending it has become Gary Cohn’s main job.
Read more »
Gary Clark Jr. Recruits Andra Day for New Version of 'Pearl Cadillac'Guitarist revisits This Land standout with help from Grammy-nominated singer
Read more »
Anton du Beke reveals his wife's favourite dance is his comic duet with Gary Avis from the Royal BalletStrictly Come Dancing star Anton du Beke has revealed his wife Hannah Summers' favourite dance. Find out all the details here...
Read more »
How ethanol plant shutdowns deepen pain for U.S. corn farmersWhen the U.S. ethanol industry was booming, Indiana farmer Paul Hodgen made good...
Read more »