Planned Brotherhood

Park Forest, a junior-executive suburb 30 miles south of Chicago's Loop, is as meticulously planned as any postwar community in the nation. Its 31,000 residents live mainly in ranch houses, shop in glossy supermarkets, generally vote Republican, send their children to ultramodern schools. Late last month, into Park Forest moved a new family--Charles Z. (for Zachary) Wilson, 30, an assistant professor of economics at De Paul University, his wife and their three pre-school children. Some of the neighbors dropped in to welcome them, offer assistance, invite Mrs. Wilson to neighborhood coffee klatsches. Ethel Klutznick, wife of Park Forest Developer Philip Klutznick, baked a cake with the inscription, "Welcome to the Wilsons to Park Forest. The Klutznicks." Others kept a dignified if haughty distance, for the Wilsons were the first Negroes to move into Park Forest.

The Wilsons' move was as thoughtfully preplanned as any other project in Park Forest. Unlike nearby Deerfield, which was thrown into panic at the sudden prospect of a Negro influx (TIME, Dec. 7), Park Forest years ago arranged a course of action for peaceful integration. As soon as it became known that Charles Wilson intended to move in, he was met by a seven-man Commission on Human Relations and questioned about his job, the size of his family, whether or not he was a member of any active pressure groups (he was not). Then two-man teams moved through a two-block radius of Wilson's new house to acquaint each household with the facts about the new neighbors.

In a few cases, the family clergyman had to be called in to soothe unduly ruffled householders. Press, radio and TV were told about the move, asked to say nothing about it to avoid attracting crackpots. They agreed.

Last week the Chicago Sun-Times broke the story to tell the good news of successful integration. Explained Village President Robert Dinerstein: "The principal reason we've been successful is that the people of Park Forest are intelligent, responsible Americans who realize a person's rights under law. They may not be happy about a Negro living in Park Forest, but given the facts, they respect his rights under the law."

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