Out of the despair of the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy and the need to address issues of the inner city, the Goals for Dallas plan was initiated and orchestrated by Mayor J. Erik Jonsson and included a number of Dallas philanthropists and captains of industry.  Although the plan was not initiated by the City of Dallas, it was endorsed by the Dallas City Council and was purportedly modeled after the corporate planning system developed by Jonsson’s business, Texas Instruments.

Citizen groups met to develop initially 100 goals on a range of topics such as improved public transportation, better schools and higher education opportunities, economic development and environmental quality.  The process resulted in an expanded public library system, the Dallas County Community College District, a new city hall, a revamped University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and the University of Texas at Dallas.  While it did make many improvements, it did not achieve all of its goals and was criticized for neglecting some sectors of the city.

The collection includes one copy ofGoals for Dallas: Summaries of the Proposals for Achieving the Goals for Dallas, and  two copies of Achieving the Goals for Dallas and one folder of loose photocopies.

 

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