North Carolina Fund

During the summers of 1964 and 1965, the North Carolina Volunteers Program created teams of African-American and white college students to work together and show that communities could be stronger if their members reached across lines of race and class to solve problems of poverty.

Feeling that his education program had spent most of his political capital in the legislature, North Carolina Governor Terry Sanford began seeking private support to fund anti-poverty efforts in the state.

[1] While traveling across the state to promote his education plan, Sanford came to be of the belief that much of the poverty in North Carolina was due to racial discrimination and the lack of economic opportunity for blacks.

[6] Sanford's attempts to devise a plan became increasingly urgent over the following months, as civil rights activists intensified their calls for racial equality and the prospects of a white backlash grew.

[12] Since the North Carolina Fund was backed by private organizations and not financed by the state, it could be more flexible in addressing social issues while also avoiding political opposition from segregationists.

[16] The Fund launched a program that utilized team teaching and provided for teacher aides, which was studied by President Lyndon B. Johnson's administration and used as a model for Head Start.