By Bob Paroski
Posted February 3, 2026
Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed in Bob’s Blog are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views and opinions of the CAC Office on Aging or its staff.
History of CAC: Helping People. Changing Lives. Part 1
This is the first of three blog posts about the history of the Knoxville-Knox County Community Action Committee (CAC).
In 2024, the Knoxville Knox County CAC celebrated its 60th anniversary.
This is the first of three posts looking back at the operation of the CAC over those last 60 years.
In the 1950’s and 1960’s, the American Economy was booming. After the end of World War 2, there was a pent-up demand for goods and services. Companies needed to produce these. They hired returning soldiers to make what was necessary.
The construction of the Interstate Road system began during President Eisenhower’s administration. That led to a boom in the auto industry. Other industries took off and the middle class was born.
Life improved. Families started moving out of cities and into the suburbs for the better life.
Sadly, Not All Parts of The Country Nor All Americans Experienced This Prosperity
In the 1950’s and 1960’s, the rate of poverty in the United States was 18.1%.
- Female head of families – 40.2%.
- Older people – 46%
- Black people – 55.1%.
- Female Black Heads of Family – 70.6%
Here in Knoxville and Knox County, those rates were much higher.
Programs to “Help People” Change their Lives
During the 1960 Presidential Campaign, John F. Kennedy and his campaign staff visited West Virginia. That was the first time they saw how severe the problem of poverty was. They decided they would address the poverty issue during his second term.
After President Kennedy’s assassination, Lyndon Johnson became president. Growing up he experienced financial hardship himself. He was determined to follow through on what had been talked about during the Kennedy Administration and go further. Both republicans and democrats agreed action had to be taken and supported his efforts to address the problem.
This led to a wide range of programs designed to empower low income families to move toward the middle class.
C. Howard Bozeman
These new programs caught the attention of C. Howard Bozeman. At that time, Knox County did not have a mayor. It had a judge who had the duties and responsibilities the mayor currently has. Bozeman was that judge.
In the early months of President Johnson’s term, Congress started working on self- sufficiency legislation. Bozeman was intrigued by the help Knoxville and Knox County might receive from this new legislation.
He followed the legislation closely through Congress. Judge Bozeman even went to Washington to learn everything about what the provisions of the new law would be. He then started to figure out what steps would have to be taken locally to implement those provisions here.
The bill was introduced in Congress in February of 1964 and the Economic Opportunity Act became law on August 20, 1964. It created the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) to coordinate and administer the programs to combat poverty and promote economic advancement.
The Office of Economic Opportunity started with these programs:
VISTA
Job Corps
Neighborhood Youth Corps
Head Start
Adult Basic Education
Family Planning
Community Health Centers
Congregate Meal Preparation
Economic Development
Foster Grandparents
Legal Services
Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP)
The Knoxville Knox County Community Action Committee (CAC)
One of the things the Economic Opportunity Act called for was the creation of Community Action Agencies. Initially the law provided no money for staffing of any of these agencies.
Judge Bozeman started meeting with Mayor John Duncan of the City of Knoxville. They decided the program would be led by local government and the finances would be managed by the county.
They created the Knoxville Knox County Community Action Committee to implement the various programs in the Economic Opportunity Act.
Judge found money in his budget for an initial staff of 3 people
Philip Rule was hired as the Project Coordinator.
The law required a Board of Directors for this new CAC. It was very specific about the membership of this board.
- 1/3 had to be people living in low income neighborhoods.
- 1/3 had to be elected or appointed public officials.
- 1/3 were from the private sector.
Having people from low income communities on the board was crucial. They could let the others know what they were experiencing. The public officials and those from the private sector could help with laws, financing and other things to get changes made.
Knoxville and Knox County was one of the first areas in the country to create a Community Action Agency and to start to put in place programs to lower poverty.
By January of 1965, the CAC staff had grown to 25.
Lucius (Luke) T. Ross was hired as a Neighborhood Organizer in April of 1965. He was well known by the elected officials, Knoxville’s business leaders and the people in the community. He became Executive Director of the CAC in 1968.
Barbara Kelly was hired as Director of Neighborhood Services in 1966 and became Deputy Director in 1968.
Right from CAC’s start, the staff was very dedicated to doing all they could to help the people suffering from poverty. They began to introduce those OEO programs quickly that they felt would have the biggest impact.
They were instrumental in getting grants for a Summer Tutorial program at Knoxville College.
A Summer Head Start program with Knoxville City Schools was started.
A Neighborhood Youth Corps was established to provide summer jobs for poor youth.
In 1966, several additional programs were added – Medical Alert, Neighborhood Service Centers, Legal Services and a Year-round Head Start program.
Here is some of the impact these programs had on the lives of those in the city and the county.:
- 2,262 boys and girls from low income families had the opportunity to earn money and self- respect in the Neighborhood Youth Corps. They were paid the Federal minimum wage.
- 989 low income people who were unemployed and underemployed applied for 100 open training positions in the New Careers program.
- There were 65 people working at the 3 neighborhood centers. 58 of these were from low income families.
- 2,500 people were enrolled in Adult Education classes where they had the opportunity to get a GED, go into a training program or be trained for a new job.
- 4,034 pre-school children were enrolled in Head Start programs from 1965 thru 1967. Here their medical and dental needs were also taken care of. 310 of their parents and other low income people worked in this program.
- The East, South and Mechanicsville Neighborhood Centers opened in 1967. That year 602 people got the opportunity to learn the steps they could take to get out of poverty and also help their neighbors do so.
By 1968, the staff at the CAC was distributing lunches during the summer to children in low income areas. Barbara Kelly recruited Barbara Monty, a dietician, as a volunteer to advise them on nutrition.
Barbara Monty continued as a volunteer until 1971 when she became a full time employee. The same year, she started the Mobile Meals program and on November 1, 21 meals were delivered to senior citizens.
It’s funny how. . .
. . . When Things Don’t Happen As Quickly As We Want, We Lose Interest In It and Move On To the Next Thing
As has been found out over the years since the 1960’s, there is no easy cure to eliminate poverty. It is very difficult and takes much work. Frequently the changes necessary take place in baby steps.
Even though everyone knew it would take a lot of work and much effort to eliminate poverty, very few understood how much work and effort would be necessary. The public and many elected officials became discouraged when they saw very little progress. They started to move on to other issues which they perceived more pressing.
By the late 1960’s, the focus shifted to the War in Vietnam.
Many of the states and congressmen and senators felt the Federal Government had too much power over the efforts to reduce poverty. They felt the states should have more control over how the money was spent and the work being done.
One of President Nixon’s goals was to return control to the states and to eliminate the Office on Economic Opportunity (OEO). He planned to do this in his second term. In 1973, he appointed Howard Phillips as interim director of the OEO.
The plan to eliminate the OEO would result in the closure of Community Action Agencies nationwide.
Legal action was filed at the national level. The court ruled Mr. Phillips’ appointment as the interim director was not valid. He had no authority to close the CAC or other Agencies.
Around the same time, the Watergate Scandal occurred. President Nixon had to spend his time focused on that. Work to eliminate the OEO and the Community Action Agencies stopped.
The Energy Crisis of 1973 and the economy worsened in the following years. Less Federal money was allocated to Community Action Agencies.
CAC’s Staff Digs In
While this hurt the local CAC, it did not stop the staff. They dug in and continued to do as much as they could to reduce poverty. They started looking for money from other sources to fund their programs.
One new initiative undertaken was the opening of the CAC Office on Aging in 1975.
You may wonder what impact the work CAC and its counterparts in other states along with the other programs had on poverty. Here are the poverty rates in 1966 and 1979
1966
- Nationwide – 12%
- Female Head of families – 27%.
- Black people – 26%.
- Female Black Heads of Family – 61%
1979
- Nationwide – 11.6%
- Female Head of families – 23.5%
- Black people – 23.6%.
- Black Female Heads of Family – 50.6%
Locally poverty was significantly lower in 1966. Then it rose again by 1979.
One would have to believe this happened because of the shift of the interest of the public and elected officials to other pressing issues
From the very start of the CAC in 1964 through 1979, CAC’s staff continued to do all they could to reduce poverty locally.
At times there were cuts in Federal money for specific programs. CAC’s staff continued the affected programs and looked for funding from other sources.
Well-known local historian and journalist, Jack Neely, has written a book containing a more detailed overview of CAC and the work its staff has done during its first 60 years of existence. The title of the book is “Helping People. Changing Lives.” Copies are available for $15 each at the Ross Building on Western Avenue or by visiting CAC’s website.
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If you have any comments on what you have read in this post, I would love to know them. Please email them to me. Also – if you have any ideas about subjects you would like to see discussed in future posts, please send me an email and let me know. My email address is bob.ooablog@gmail.com.