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DEDICATION
President when Delegate first appeared, and it was against this turbulent background that Mel Patrick sought reason and sanity with coverlines which invited one and all to New York.
Mel used the international flavor of the Fair to include Black America as a part of the American mix. The main thoroughfare leading from Manhattan to Flushing Meadow Park had been officially designated World's Fair Boulevard. The old 125th Street sign was replaced with the new one and streets were repaved and repaired, stores and businesses were polished and jobs were becoming more and more plentiful with the War on Poverty and the Great Society programs coming to fruitation in Harlem.
A plan to rehabilitate the world's most famous Black community was published in Delegate, and Mel Patrick wrote optimistically of a "new" Harlem, for and by its residents. But Mel could see beyond Harlem and into the heart of New York. Delegate served as a tourist guide to the out-of-town visitor, listing landmarks in each borough- Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island.

Robert Moses, president of the Fair Corporation, was prominently pictured in the book alongside a photo of Michelangelo's "Pieta," a sculpture on loan from The Vatican, and the statue of Saint John by the same artist. Mayor Robert F. Wagner and Borough President Constance Baker Motley, now a judge, formed a strong Democratic alliance which ushered in reforms for Harlem during the Fair years. In the same book the late Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. was published. His "Marching Blacks, 1963:A Black Position Paper for America's 20,000,000 Negroes." was re-printed in its entirety to add each voice to the editorial format.

Mel wanted the world to know the Black America is a comprehensive community, as versatile and diverse as is this nation of ours. He knew that priceless works of art were on view to the world not far from the Black communities in the borough of Queens and upper Manhattan, namely Harlem.

Using Pepsi Cola's exhibition theme, "It's A Small World After All," Mel Patrick hoped to generate goodwilll and a stronge note of civility in the disturbed world of the day. by espousing peace and racial harmony, Mel beleived earnestly and with all of his heart that the civi rights struggles would ostensibly correct the racial imbalance in America.

But his editorial mix proved to be a formula which worked for Delegate. Each successive issue featured prominent writers, authors, college presidents, strong organizational leaders, historians, and thinkers within the photographic scrapbook of "delegates" in convention. Presidential appointees, office seekers, and in short, anyone with something profound to say could find an outlet of expression within the pages of Delegate. The magazine included pithy newsletters, think-pieces in letter form from Dr. Benjamin Hooks of the NAACP, for example.

The state of Black America could be eclipsed within the pages of this annual book. Civil rights progress or set-backs, awards, praises, and criticisms were enkindled by Mel's own editorials which reviewed and chronicled social and political history of a people, As he found his voice, Mel used it adroitly but without flamboyance for he denied himself the right to by-line his works, or even use publisher's license to headline his pieces. But the gentle giant was also an humble, almost self-effacing personality, preferring instead to feature others more prominently than himself.

In 1967, The Delegate logo was launched. Modelled on the ribbon duster familiar to dignitaries at political and fraternal conventions, the delegate's "badge" became a symbol for the magazine, and each year it appeared on the cover and on its special pages.

In the same edition, Mel Patrick's first Publisher's Statement was printed:
"Delegate is proud to print the pictures and short biographical sketches of those persons who adorn the ensuing four pages. Their dedication to duty and service to all Americans serve as an inspiration to the youth of America and more so to the youth of the Negro community. You say to us by your achievements 'it can be done.'"

[[image]]
Mel's mother as a young woman.

As well as:
"ensuing four pages profile Blacks in business, sports, club life, labor, advertising, and politics."
This was a section, not always so markedly designated, that featured a variety of individuals, their bios, their good deeds, and their support mechanisms for Blacks meeting in convention. These included Hilda Stokely, his co-publisher and co-editor, former Democratic Female co-leader of a Harlem Democratic District; comedian Richard Pryor, the late Herb Wright, businessman; the late A. Philip Randolph, labor leader and 1963 March on Washington organizer; the late John Strachn, postmaster, New York; the late Fred Weaver, public relations entrepreneur; L. Joseph Overton, labor leader, and the names go on.

Movies, theater, television, sports, art, culture, history, and any arena of professional endeavor received star status in Delegate. Every Black American elevated or appointed to national public notice received feature and singular notice in Delegate. Mel Patrick wanted to see more and more Black achievement in every area of American life, and he covered as many as he reasonably could. 

But the individual convention delegate served as the foundation and editorial base of Delegate. In photographs, often snapped on location by himself or by his associate publisher Hilda Stokely, filled each issue which resembled a family album. 

History was Mel's forte. Well read, knowledgeable, with a wizard sharp memory - and wit - Mel embraced all of the finest leisure time activities life could provide. He read newspapers and magazines and continued to refine the art of publishing - his way. He enjoyed museums and fine art, and he loved music - both classical and jazz.

But no example of virtue was Mel patrick. His humor, often wry, droll, was well known, and his proclivity for a drink and good conversation after working hours, his family, and Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts were elements which made him happiest.

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A young Mel Patrick and his sister Edna.

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