Wilmington Waterfront Development – Bill McLaughlin, Mayor & Sam Beard, Wilmington Waterways – 1982

Wilmington Waterfront Development – William McLaughlin, Mayor and Sam Beard, Wilmington Waterways

May 30, 2008 WDEL:
Ex-Mayor McLaughlin passes away at 91
Former Wilmington Mayor William T. “Bill” McLaughlin has passed away at age 91.

Born in 1917 on Wilmington’s east side, McLaughlin was one of 12 children.

He eventually got a job at Du Pont, where he worked for 30 years.

In 1976 he ran successfully for Mayor and served between 1977 and 1984.

McLaughlin’s credited with laying the groundwork for Delaware’s rebirth as a financial services center, and helping implement desegregation in Wilmington schools.

After leaving office, he founded the William T. and Mary McLaughlin Education Fund, catering to deserving students in New Castle County.

https://www.wdel.com/news/ex-mayor-mclaughlin-passes-away-at-91/article_b6fb0d70-8545-543f-895e-75a538838da0.html

Sam Beard (born 1939) is a social entrepreneur, and public servant. With Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Robert Taft Jr., Sam created and Co-Chaired the Jefferson Awards, an American Nobel Prize for public service and youth leadership training. The Jefferson Awards has since been re-branded to Multiplying Good, and impacts one million students a year.

In 1969 after the assassination of Senator Kennedy, Beard founded the National Development Council. The council has since been responsible for billions of dollars of revitalization financing.

Beard has initiated and chaired programs for eight Presidents of the United States, including Presidents Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush. One highlight of working with the eight presidents is the creation of more than 10 million jobs in impoverished communities across America.

Beard ran in the Democratic primary for the 1988 U.S. Senate election in Delaware. In 1992, he helped to create the President’s Youth Service Awards for volunteerism. Beard also worked with former Delaware Governor Pete du Pont and Wilmington Mayor, Bill McLaughlin to revitalize the Wilmington, Delaware riverfront. He also served on President George W. Bush’s Social Security Reform Commission.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Beard_(public_servant)

From Focus Delaware 12/2/1982

“Focus Delaware” aired on Rollins Cablevision & WNS-TV Channel 2 and WTGI Channel 61 from 1980 to 1987 and was hosted by Bob Weiner.

More info here: https://www.focusdelaware.com/