CHAPTER 18 



CITIZEN ACTION 



1:15 p.m., Tuesday, May 25 



The Chairman, Mrs. WHITTEMORE. In opening this Citizen Ac- 

 tion Panel, I should like to begin with this quotation : 



Above all ... (a beautiful America) will require the concern 

 and action of individual citizens, alert to danger, determined to im- 

 prove the quality of their surroundings, resisting blight, demanding 

 and building beauty for themselves and their children. 



This sentence, taken from the President's Message on Natural 

 Beauty, indicates what citizens must do if new programs are to be 

 used, new ideas adopted, planning for natural beauty undertaken, 

 and the plans put into effect in local communities, metropolitan areas, 

 regions, and the country as a whole. 



It is hard to imagine a field where so many kinds of useful citizen 

 action are now possible, where so many groups can be involved, 

 where so many tools are already at hand or being perfected, such 

 excellent leadership is being given, and where citizen action has such 

 good chances for success. This panel will explore the part which 

 different groups can take in stimulating interest, providing informa- 

 tion, and activating programs to preserve and enhance the natural 

 beauty of the country. 



Members of the panel bring to the discussion a variety of ex- 

 periences : business, industry, labor, mass media, women's clubs, com- 

 munity and civic groups. 



Much can be accomplished by individuals or private groups, but 

 there remain other places where government action will be needed 



Members of the Panel on Citizen Action were Mrs. James Bush- 

 Brown, Mrs. Nancy Dickerson, Marvin Burning, Leo Perlis, Smith 

 L. Rairdon, Mrs. Virginia Stitzenberger, John Terrell, and Mrs. 

 Arthur Whittemore ( chairman ) . Staff Associate was Sydney Howe. 



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