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March 9
From Ashville, North Carolina he did his undergraduate education at that state’s colleges and Morehouse College. His attempt to apply for Law School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was denied because the school was not integrated. With the help of NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall, he sued the school and became the first African American to earn a LL. B degree at the University of North Carolina. During this time he became active in CORE, replacing James Farmer as its head in 1966. Under McKissick the organization moved more directly into the Black Power movement, refusing to support Martin Luther King Jr.’s nonviolent policy in northern cities. CORE’s direction focused instead on political power and economic improvement of Blacks. In 1967, the organization moved to eliminate the word "multiracial" from its constitution. He resigned from CORE in 1968 and started a plan to establish a new community in Warren County, North Carolina called "Soul City". This endeavor was based on a locations ability to support their population of 50,000 through industry. McKissick received a $14 million dollar bond issue guarantee from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and a loan of $500,000 from the First Pennsylvania State Bank for his plan. Soul city, however, ran into difficulties and despite the efforts of McKissick, the project never developed and was taken over by federal government in June 1980. The company did retain 88 acres of land and a building that housed its headquarters. Floyd McKissick died on April 28th 1991 and was buried at Soul City. Reference: The biographical dictionary of Black Americans by Rachel Krantz and Elizabeth A.Ryan Copyright 1992, Facts on File, New York, NY ISBN 0-8160-2324-7
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The African American Registry®, The African American Registry® Copyright 2005, 2006
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