| Summary |
The purpose of this thesis is to examine how one individual, a mayor of a small North Carolina city, was able to reopen a dormant Air Force Base, Seymour Johnson, unused for more than seven years. Mayor Scott Berkeley, because of his untiring perseverance, and with the unrelenting assistance of a North Carolina Congressman, Graham A. Barden, challenged, on the behalf of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, the United States Congress, Department of the Air Force, and other North Carolina Congressmen. Both Mayor Berkeley and Congressman Barden, through a seven-year process, ultimately convinced Congress and the Air Force to reactivate the Goldsboro base, a secondary choice, and not the preferred decision at Raleigh, North Carolina. In 1956, Mayor Berkeley finally fulfilled his dream, the rebirth of Seymour Johnson Air Force. The growth of the base and the urbanization of Goldsboro lasted for the next four decades. In 1996, Goldsboro and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, celebrated their fortieth anniversary. Three years earlier, Goldsboro was cited by Money as one of the top ten cities to live in the United States. Goldsboro continued to grow to more than 40,000 strong. If it had not been for Mayor Berkeley's striving devotion to Seymour Johnson's regeneration, Goldsboro's urbanization would have come to an abrupt standstill. |
