Institute of Urban and Regional Development

Probably the first real test of "maximum feasible participation" arose in San Francisco in 1964 and 1965 in a contest for power between San Francisco poverty groups and the city government. Drawing upon the momentum established in earlier civil rights struggles, these groups sought early realization of the promise of the language of the Economic Opportunity Act by seeking control of the poverty programs in San Francisco. The subsequent contest for power among Negro groups and between them and city government and within the poverty program staff and directorate is here described by Marjoie Myhill and Natalie Becker.