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Manuscript Group 518
JAMES N. WADE PAPERS
1971-1976
(2.5 cu. ft.)


James N. Wade was born October 3, 1933 in Paterson, New Jersey, son of Edward and Eleanor Wade. He attended Vorhees Junior College and graduated with a B.A. from St. Augustine College in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1956. Subsequently earning an M.S.W. in Community Organization from Howard University in 1967, and later pursuing a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Pittsburgh, he served as a Juvenile Probation Officer for the Delaware County Juvenile Court from 1959-1960, as a Philadelphia City Policeman from 1960-1963, as Executive Director of the Erie Urban Coalition from 1968-1971, as Deputy Secretary of Community Affairs for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from 1971-1974 as Special Assistant to the Governor for Programs and Community Development from 1974-1975, and as Secretary of the Commonwealth under Governor Milton J. Shapp from 1975-1979. After leaving government service, Wade founded Wade Communications that operated Wade Cablevision serving 155,000 homes in the city of Philadelphia and also owned and operated WSSJ in Camden, New Jersey. In Orlando, Florida he chaired the board of the Walt Disney Cancer Memorial Institute and served as a trustee for the Orlando Science Center.

These materials relate primarily to the period of his life before his appointment as Secretary of the Commonwealth. Subjects covered include the Crime Commission Report on Philadelphia Gang Activity, the Erie Improvement District Comprehensive Plan, the Intergovernmental Planning Task Force, the Federal Regional Council, the Governor's Justice Commission, the plan for addressing Civil Tensions, the Urban Philadelphia Coalition, and the Young Great Society, Inc.



PA State Archives Hours, Directions, & Fees Research Topics Finding Aids for Collections Land Records