Members' 25-Year Reminiscences

Samuel J. Cullers, FAICP

President, Samuel J. Cullers & Associates
Sacramento, California

It pleases me to participate as a charter member in the commemoration of the consolidation of AIP and ASPO. The preparation of reminiscences focusing on professional association involvement prior to the merger provides an opportunity to recall past personalities and activities so influential in my early career.

One of the earliest experiences was while I was still a student at MIT. In April, 1951, I was involved in putting on a seminar on redevelopment which included Coleman Woodbury, then Director of the Urban Redevelopment Study Research Project, Chicago; Edmund N. Bacon, Executive Director, Philadelphia City Planning Commission; and Charles Abrams, lawyer, teacher and author on housing. I was detailed to pick up Abrams from the Boston airport, and I recall how sitting in the car, he said, "O.K. — What are we discussing today and how many people do you expect?" After I answered him, he pulled an envelope from his pocket and began to scribble some notes. After listening to his presentation that afternoon, I was one impressed student.

We kept in touch. He was a lecturer at MIT, and accompanied us on a field trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia. As we entered an area called Africville — located right on the ocean and a settlement that supposedly was a destination at the end of the "Underground Railroad" during the slavery period in the United States — Abrams remarked, "The residents here should not be moved from here easily — they have the most valuable real estate in this area."

The last time I met with him was also significant. It was 1961 and I had just returned from three years on the Bangkok Plan, and we had lunch in New York. Abrams had been Chairman of the New York State Commission Against Discrimination, and as we were discussing the job situation, he said: "For years I have been fighting to open opportunities for minorities; but things have changed. The problem is that the openings are now here, but we cannot find the qualified minorities to fill the positions."

I first joined AIP in 1953 when Perry Norton was Executive Director. I immediately became active in the Hartford Section of the New England Chapter, including serving as a member of the Hartford Steering Committee, the Connecticut Section Executive Committee, as well as Connecticut Reporter for the NEC-AIP News. This active AIP involvement continued until 1958, when I left to join the team preparing the Greater Bangkok Plan. This assignment was completed in 1961 (see photo).

My AIP involvement resumed when I assumed the position of director of the Urban Renewal Study in Chicago in 1961. Between 1963 and 1966, as director of the Metropolitan Toronto Urban Renewal Study I was affiliated with the Canadian Institute of Planners; but continued AIP involvement when I joined the California state planning office in 1966.

The years following embraced some of the most professionally challenging and rewarding activities of my career. The profession was wrestling with numerous internal and external issues and pressures, which culminated in the 1978 consolidation. During this period I served in the following positions: