78 CONFERENCE ON NATURAL BEAUTY 



So we are going into our third greenway, a system of garden 

 footpaths threaded through the Mill Greek area, so that the children 

 can go to school and the mothers can go to shop along this con- 

 tinuous tree-lined footway, suddenly made possible by the fact of the 

 collapse of an old sewer. 



Just before I left, I reviewed the plans of this with Robert Craw- 

 ford, Commissioner of Recreation. He has a fine architect, but the 

 budget is only allowing for blacktop. 



I tell you in definite civic terms that if this urban beautification part 

 of title VIII can be brought to bear in this project, right in the 

 middle of this depressed neighborhood and, instead of blacktop, the 

 walk can have some handsome stone paving, decent trees that will 

 make a fine effect, sculpture, fountains, something to be proud of, 

 we will have made an impact on the very basic question of the loss 

 of morale and the discouragement and loss of hope among our less 

 privileged citizens. By a dispersal of this kind of program, distributed 

 throughout the entire area as a source of inspiration, a positive asser- 

 tion of beauty, we can create new centers of identification and new 

 centers of relationship with the city as a whole and we will have estab- 

 lished the fact that the Great Society is for everybody. 



Mr. GRAY. Townscapes of tomorrow must have character and 

 beauty rooted in nature and built upon those man-made resources 

 accumulated throughout the year. My burden is that it makes no 

 sense to destroy the best of what we already have while working to 

 create an environment that will give inspiration to our people. 



Organized concern for our tangible heritage began in 1859 when 

 ladies from every State purchased and saved Mount Vernon. 

 Through a limited but dedicated number of individuals and organiza- 

 tions linked together through The National Trust for Historic Preser- 

 vation this concern of thinking Americans has spread across the 

 United States. Initially the focus was on the homes of the great 

 and the places where political and military history were made. 

 Now, landmarks of beauty, good design and neighborhood character 

 are also being recognized and are assuming their places of importance 

 in the townscape. 



The success of these efforts, like the number of people involved, 

 has been too limited. There have been too few leaders, too few 

 dollars, and far too many great buildings and places destroyed or 

 ignored. 



