William Ford: “29 years ago, within the first few months of my first term as a Member of Congress, President Lyndon Johnson spoke these…”

“29 years ago, within the first few months of my first term as a Member of Congress, President Lyndon Johnson spoke these words at a Rose Garden ceremony announcing Project Head Start: Today we are able to announce that we will have open, and we believe operating this summer, coast-to-coast, some 2,000 child development centers serving as many as possibly a half million children. This means that nearly half the preschool children of poverty will get a head start on their future. These children will receive preschool training to prepare them for regular school in September. They will get medical and dental attention that they badly need, and parents will receive counseling on improving the home environment. This is a most remarkable accomplishment and it has been done in a very short time. It would not be possible except for the willing and the enthusiastic cooperation of Americans throughout the country. Five and six year old children are inheritors of poverty's curse and not its creators. Unless we act these children will pass it on the next generation, like a family birthmark. Project Head Start was a nationwide effort launched in the summer of 1965 to assist preschool children from poor families to enter kindergarten or first grade. The project offered health services, social services, and educational services. Local Head Start programs were run by colleges, schools, local government, or private nonprofit organizations.”