Black Government in Hancock County Georgia: Symbol of Hope or Despair

FAIN: FA-12258-78

John W. Rozier
Emory University (Atlanta, GA 30322-1018)

To study Hancock County the only black-controlled county in Georgia. Located in the old plantation belt in the middle part of the state, the county is predominantly black (more than 80 per cent of the population). A central figure in this government was John McCown, an ambitious and energetic young black man who, in 1966, went to rural Hancock County to mount a massive poverty-fighting program. His subsequent efforts won the support of many groups, including agencies of the Federal government*, the Ford Foundation, the Field Foundation, and the Episcopal Church. He died in 1976. Focus of this study will be on what can be learned from McCown and his relations with people around him that would help other Black Belt counties in the South.