Floyd McKissick had spent much of his career as a leader of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. All that changed, however, in 1970 after the United States Congress passed a law enabling private real estate developers to use federal support to build innovative “new towns” across the country. McKissick wanted to create one of these “new towns” in his home state of North Carolina.

In this episode, we explore what has become of McKissick’s original vision for a self-sustaining utopia in Warren County, North Carolina, and the unlikely political alliance he made with President Richard Nixon that made it all possible.

As always, this episode features music created by Darrell Lee that is available for purchase via digital download.

What do you think caused Soul City to not live up to its original vision? Leave us a comment and let us know what you think…

The Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has a great collection of audio interviews that capture the rich oral history of the American South. Click here for more audio from Floyd McKissick archived as part of the school’s Southern Oral History Program. We thank the library for granting us permission to use audio excerpts in our episode and are grateful for such a vibrant source of historical information.