 Progress is measured in tiny ways. To those who partake of a revolution, the speeding years seem to crawl. Builders of roads that cross a continent measure each day's work in feet or inches. So too our story unfolded in little ways, and it was greatest when we thought at least. The night that had fallen over this land was reluctant to depart, and the shadows seemed to fight back the dawn. But not by eastern windows only, when daylight comes, comes in the light. In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly, but westward, look, the land is bright. The National Broadcasting Company, in cooperation with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, presents The Land Is Bright, the twelfth in a series of programs describing the tremendous changes that have come lately to the American South. To report this latter-day revolution, NBC assigned Henry Cassidy, distinguished reporter and UN correspondent, to travel throughout the South and to bring back on his tape recorder The voices and the sounds that have, like some offstage music, accompanied one of the most dramatic developments of our time, the changes that have come to the South. The journey starts this week in a city heavy with history, but alive to the new forces that are struggling for expression, Spartanburg, South Carolina. It's Saturday night, the brightly lit movie marquee, the unusually heavy crowds on the streets, the shops still open all proclaim the fact, and in the lobby of the big old-fashioned hotel, Mr. Cassidy set up his microphone to record part of the story, the story of a land that is moving from the old to the new. This is Spartanburg on Saturday night. The Spartanburg, South Carolina, that calls itself with pride the city of friendly people and also the textile center of the nation. You see, Spartanburg is not only friendly, the old South, then proud, but also it's aggressive. It's not a big city as cities go. If you ask the size of the population, they'll tell you it's about 36,000, but then they'll also tell you that the city proper and the real population is 68,000 for greater Spartanburg. That includes the textile mills in the surrounding areas. On the desk of the Hotel Franklin here in Spartanburg, they have a copy of the Spartanburg City Directory, and it contains information like this. The community is exactly halfway between New York City and New Orleans on the main line of the Southern Railway. It has a city manager, four parks, 79 churches of 20 denominations, and 163 manufacturing establishments, the most important being textiles. But it's not all modern industry here. The city director says Spartanburg's historical background is revolutionary. The name of the city comes from a unit of the American colonial forces known as the Spartan Rifles, formed in this region, and they're proud of that too. The city was incorporated in 1831. After the war between the states, and they still call it that down here, there's not the Civil War, and there's an important difference there, because it means it was not a Civil War really, but a war between two countries. After that war, whatever you call it, Old King Cotton ruled in Spartanburg. And with the advent of cotton mills, the population doubled here between 1880 and 1890. That remained static then for a while, but now in the very center of the cotton belt, Spartanburg is feeling the new surge of the new South. As it looks right now from the window of the Hotel Franklin, where we're broadcasting from, it looks here like any good sound American town, north, south, east, or west. Under my window, I've got a parking block. I would say about a dozen cars here. Across the street from that, there is something called a kitty corner. Across from it, the Palmetto Theater. And across from it, rounding the four sides of the intersection, a department store. Here, as I say, this could be in New England. It could be in the Middle West. Actually, we are in the South. So now up here, we're going to ask some of these people, these friendly people of the friendly city to come in and tell us about it. Could I ask your name, sir? I am Traywick. And you live in Spartanburg? Yes, sir. What do you do here, sir? Well, I'm just now teaching at the Spartanburg Junior College. How long have you been in the South, Dr. Traywick? All my life. What would you say you've seen in the way of change in the South? In the South? Well, I've seen changes in railway construction and in highway construction and in buildings and schools and churches. Oh, I've seen a change in politics also. We used to talk a great deal about the solid South. But for some reasons, it isn't altogether solid. It never has been, as far as that's concerned. It's just another one of those slogans you were talking about. But people have an independent way. Cities have their individuality as well as human beings. Spartanburg has its individuality. When you speak of a friendly city, that's an individual thing. And Spartanburg certainly lives up to that reputation. And now could I ask your name, sir? My name is E. R. McConnell. And since I've been about two years old, that one has always called me Tuck. Well, could I call you Tuck? That's right. And who are these fine young fellows with you? The largest boy here is Tuck Jr. And the middle boy is Joe and the baby is Sandy. And Mr. McConnell, what are you doing down here? Well, at the present time, I'm in the insurance business. For about, for the past 18 years, I've been in the coaching business. What were you coaching? Football and baseball. I came to Spartanburg in 1927 as a member of the Davidson College football team. And I was so impressed with the city. By the way, I might say we were playing Warford College at that time. I was so impressed with the city and the people were so nice to me that I made the remark that when I finished college, I'd like to live in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and what had just turned that way. Well now, Mr. McConnell, you've seen this town over a period of time. I wonder if you could tell us what are some of the changes that you've seen. In 1933, when I came here, it's almost a changed town. If you hadn't seen it in the last 20 years, you'd hardly recognize it. So the building program here has gone along very well. Spartanburg has improved a lot in looks to begin with. I think that the farming section around here has improved so much. I noticed that methods of farming are so different, and that's due partly to this wonderful program at Clemson College over here. They have turned to lots of those red hills, which would only grow small crops into nice grazing lands. And this section of the country has really gone in for this cattle raising. Well now let's ask the boys about this. Now this big fella here, that's Tuck Jr., is it? That's right. Tuck, how old are you? 11. Where were you born, Tuck? Spartanburg, South Carolina. And this is home to you, is it? Yes, sir. Now Tuck, tell me, in your 11 years, have you seen any change around the town? No, I haven't seen change because I haven't been living here not too long. Tuck, do you have any fellas in your school who don't come as you do from around here, who weren't born here? Got any Northerners? Yes, sir. How many? There's two in our room. But Tuck, tell me, who were the two new boys? Well, one of them was a girl. I was Callan Jones, and she was from Providence. And then another boy came in, and he was from Providence. And a girl came in from Oregon, and all the way the other one came in from. Now, Tuck, the other day in a cafe down this way, we met a Northerner who had been to school down here about 10 years ago, told us that he used to get beaten up about 10 years ago. And now he's come back, and he's gone to work in a plant, and he gets along fine, and nobody beats him up. You aren't beating up Callan Jones or any other of those Northerners, are you? No. How do you like them? Fine. What's the difference between them and you folks? Well, the boy and I are in Pete Henson, and he's all the time running around calling Callan Jones a Yankee, and that aggravates her, and so she aggravates him. Some other boys, she always has a new way. Now, what do you call Callan Jones? Callan Jones. I see. Not Miss Jones or Callan? No. Do you like her? He's a nice girl, but way over my age. Oh, well, that's an important difference. I would think, Tuck, actually, that difference in age is more important than the difference between North and South, isn't it? Yes, sir. Saturday night in Spartanburg, South Carolina, we're in the Brass Rail on Main Street, Spartanburg. Could I ask you a name, please? My name's Jack Price. Jack, what do you do down here? I run the Brass Rail, and I have a used car line a few blocks from there. And you're the host of the establishment here? That's correct. Yeah. Jack, how long have you been here? About six and a half years. Where do you come from? Long Island, New York. Long Island, New York, actually. What part of Long Island? Well, I lived in Patua for a while, I lived in Freeport. Last place I lived was in Hicksville, Long Island. What brought you down here? Well, I have an uncle down here. He advised me to come down here. Living was easier. And just live a little slower and live longer, I guess. He's glad you came. I certainly am. I didn't like that. I should go back. The changes here are being observed, being discussed, recorded, and analyzed. It was one of my pleasures to drop into the city room of the local newspaper or perhaps the school in those towns where night interrupted our journey to talk of the new forces that were striding down streets that once knew the footfall of slaves on their way to the marketplace. It was a particularly fortuitous nightfall that caught me at Chapel Hill in North Carolina, the location of the University of North Carolina, and the home of a number of astute gentlemen who were to explain much of what I had seen and heard. It was there that I met George L. Simpson, associate professor of sociology at the university and a close observer of the changes that have come. I think I would like to talk about one rather dramatic change that's close to so many of us here in North Carolina. This is the change in the way people live throughout a large part of the South. This change is reflected in a term we may lift from the census. That is, we have had a great increase in the last two generations in the number of what the census called rural non-farm people. Rural non-farm people refers to those people who live neither in town nor in a city, nor, on the other hand, are they actually engaged in any large-scale farming. Now, this category of people was not significant enough to be even listed in the census until 1920. Since that time, this whole category of people has grown tremendously. This movement and population is significant in several respects. First of all, it reflects basic changes in agriculture and in industry and business in the South, changes that have occurred over the last several generations. It reflects on the one hand the decrease in the amount of labor required in Southern agriculture. It reflects on the other hand an increase in the demand for industrial labor in Southern industry. It also reflects the growth of service industries in the South. This emergence of this middle group, the middle third in North Carolina, we call it sometimes, reflects, I think, new ways of living. It is very interesting to speculate, as a matter of fact, as to whether or not this is a transitional development and will pass over into a larger urban development or whether or not we may not very well have here a somewhat new way of life in America. And I would like to put that in individual terms. The figures show that individually, most of the Southern people have had the good fortune to come into contact in the last several generations with education, with services such as power and telephones, good roads, and all that type of thing. Now we think of those things so often in terms merely of figures, but we must understand that these changes have brought about new conditions of life. These people having learned about these things, having had them, having participated in building them are now no longer going back to old conditions. Sometimes we say in class about this general movement that the old song, how are you going to keep them down on the farm after they've seen Paris, applies rather well to this situation. The legend has it that Southern women are charming persons, delightful at light conversation, expert at the ancient art of flirtation, but deplorably uninformed about the world beyond their doorstep. I was delighted to find that while Southern charm is as intriguing as in the time of fluttering fans and soft candlelight, there's a new attitude, and the daughters of women who looked upon accomplishment as something masculine are now performing tasks that call for stern talents, for hard work of the sometimes harsh facts of 20th century living. In Griffin, Georgia, I had the pleasure of meeting a person who typified the new attitude, Mrs. Ernest Carlisle, Secretary of the Griffin Chamber of Commerce. Well, of course, we are like most women everywhere. We are very interested in politics, how they affect our children. We're interested in schools and in hospitals, and all of those things. I think we've made great many strides in the past. We're interested in it. What do you do about it? Well, we have democratic organizations down here, and some of my friends, by the way, were Republicans for the first time this last year. That seems to have been common in the South. But we did have active groups and discussion groups on those things. And then in the schools in Griffin, we have just completed the million and a half dollar expansion program. Which, by the way, is a great deal of it. Most of it, in fact, were the Negro schools. And we think that we've made marvelous strides with the schools. And we've just completed a beautiful new hospital. And so we have very good hospital facilities. All of those things, I think, affect the South and our improvements. Mrs. Carlisle touched upon one aspect of the new South that was to thrust itself upon us more and more as our journey wound through the cities and the villages. The human relationships, the infinitely subtle but highly important interchange between employer and employee. I learned that what only a few years ago was a nebulous concept without premise or vocabulary is now a full-fledged science. Listen to Mr. Frank Shaw, Industrial Relations Manager of the Atlanta-Georgia Chamber of Commerce. Human relations is probably the number one factor in maintaining and expanding our industry down here. Smart management by the underground is close to the workers and makes a project out of good human relations in the industry. Then, as an industrial engineer, you recommend first that application be given to human relations. Yes, sir. Alabama Progressive Democratic Association is an organization of Negro Democrats throughout the state of Alabama. It was only natural that a discussion of human relations should lead to a discussion of a great problem still to be resolved in the South, as indeed it must be resolved in other parts of the country. Here again, we found tremendous changes from the attitudes of a scant decade ago. Here is Mr. Arthur D. Shaw's prominent Negro attorney in Birmingham, Alabama and president of the Alabama Progressive Association. This group recognizes that many of the social problems still remain difficult to solve until the Negro in the South completely exercises that basic right and responsibility of vote in local and national contests. Mr. Shaw, as I asked, how is this going? Up until the presidential election of 1948, the Negro voting in Alabama was approximately 10,000. But during the last presidential election, approximately 50,000 Negroes voted. The problem of Negroes voting in Alabama hasn't been that Negroes were not allowed to vote in the so-called white primary, but the problem in Alabama has been that of registration. And several counties in the state, no Negroes have registered since the state constitution was enacted in 1901. These are predominantly what is known as black belt counties where you have a majority of the population being Negroes. Recently, on the administration of the governor prior to the present governor, registration facilities were open to Negroes and a large number of Negroes were permitted to register. Then Negroes went into the federal courts and into the state courts, and in some counties where no Negroes had been registering are now Negroes in those counties hold a balance of power. Well, then here you have a sign of progress. It used to be 10,000 in the last election, 50,000. But what proportion would that be of the total potential Negro vote? The 50,000 would be approximately 10%, I should think, of the potential Negro vote. So even with this progress, you still have only 10% of the Negroes voting? That is correct. Why is it that you don't have more? We still have the problem of registration. From time to time when a new board is installed, it might begin by registering token number of Negro voters. But with the exception of some three or four counties, you still have Negroes facing considerable difficulty in being registered. The registrars just arbitrarily refuse to register them. And I suppose, too, on the part of the Negroes, there's some restraint in trying to register. Well, in some section there is considerable restraint, but in some sections Negroes have been quite interested and have tried time and time again to be registered. I wonder if you could take a look way into the future and tell us how you think that this is finally going to work out. We feel that because of world-wide conditions and the leadership that our national government holds in the eyes of the world, that race relations must become better and they will become better if our country is to maintain its position. We feel that if democracy is to survive, that here in the South where the greatest test that democracy faces will depend upon the treatment of minorities and the continued racial progress here in the South. And there still remains, well, you might call it, unfinished business. Volumes have been written about the Ku Klux Klan and, of course, I had heard of the riders and the mysterious ceremonies that take place in the flickering light of burning crosses. Actually, the real power of the Ku Klux Klan is almost non-existent now and where it does exist, it's a furtive thing, living in darkness, feeding on ancient hates and suspicions that have no real meaning. And what was conceived in darkness has been killed in sunlight. Here are two voices of the due South, Representative Addison Hewlett of New Hanover County, North Carolina and Senator J. V. Whitfield of Pender County. They are joint sponsors of a bill to outlaw forever those who would band together and ride on evil errands. The purpose of this bill is to outlaw any secret society having unlawful purposes. What are some of the details that you specified to achieve that end? Well, in the bill we define what is a secret society having unlawful purposes and we set up mechanics which will enable prosecuting attorneys about over the state to rapidly chase down the members of these organizations and bring them to justice. Senator Whitfield, what is the origin of the bill? About a year or more ago we had trouble in Columbus County over on the South Carolina line. Our people were, without any rhyme or reason, apprehended at night by mobs, mass mobs, and sometimes beaten there but frequently carried over to South Carolina. It was very difficult, of course, for the officers to apprehend these perpetrators of what we would call crime. However, gradually we did. And I was solicited of the district. Finally broke up this clan and sent them everyone to jail. Senator Whitfield, have you any idea how many members of the Ku Klux Klan they may be in North Carolina? That is very difficult to answer. Just now I would say if there are any, they are certainly underground. Yes, and your bill will bring them into the light. Bring them into the light. Well, now an interesting point occurs to me here. If you're outlawing the Ku Klux Klan and all other unlawful secret societies, aren't you representative Hewlett outlawing the Communist Party? That's true. We didn't realize we were doing that at the time we introduced the bill, but it seems like we may have done that in the course of what we did while we all fall back. But the changes in this land are not to be explained alone in terms of economics or politics or even the new feelings of men toward men. There's another ingredient in this mixture. Older even than this land, older by centuries is an old oak that stands guard over the door to the little church. And there are those whose vision of tomorrow is cleared and brightened by an awareness of our heritage. It was Mr. R. W. Spears, president of Columbia College in Columbia, South Carolina, who began this story. The church traditionally has been strong in this section of the country. There's a tremendous spread of the churches, particularly in communities that are fast growing, that is in residential areas of the various cities of the South. There's a tremendous growth of churches. And I believe this is true of practically all the denominations. The churches are springing up right and left, and there seems to me to be a definite trend away from the large downtown church to the community-centered church. How would you account for this change and this growth, Dr. Spears? Well, I think something of the industrial revolution that's taking place here in the South is very definitely a part of it. Our population is growing by leaps and bounds, as you well know. More and more, our people are seeing the value of a new emphasis upon religion. I believe that's true. And Mr. Hamilton Moses, chairman of the board of the Arkansas Power and Light Company, citing chapter and verse. I believe that the South is more spiritual, that the South devotes much more time and attention to the spiritual things and spiritual affairs of life than at least the sections of the country with which I've been associated up here. I believe there's a marked improvement in the spiritual feelings of our people and our spiritual hopes in the South. We are known, of course, as the Bible reading South, and that's true. Down our way, there's quite an urge now, quite an effort now for more evangelization and a development of our people spiritually. I think we people down South recognize it to build a nation and to maintain and sustain a nation that our folks have got to be developed spiritually, more than you have economically, and that the spiritual phase of life means much more to the future peace and solidarity of our country than there's all the economics that you pile in there in a set of books. My dear friend, God makes it plain what he wants us to do, doesn't he? When God speaks to our heart, we know. We know that it's God that's speaking. God spoke to some hearts three years ago. That's why we're here tonight. God is speaking to your heart tonight. He's saying, my child, go to work. Go to work today in my venue. May God help us to do it. So ends the long night. Already those on the hilltops can see the beginnings of the day. Much remains of the past, and the night still lurks in a thousand places. But not by eastern windows only when daylight comes, comes in the light. In front, the sun climbs slow, how slowly, but westward look, the land is bright. You have been listening to The Land Is Bright, the twelfth in a series of programs, Heritage Over the Land. This series is written and directed by William Allen Bales and produced by Ms. Lee F. Paynan. Mel Brand speaking. It is anticipated that a future series will deal with changes in other sections of the country. Join us next week for the 13th and last in this series on the New South.