Four hundred Atlantans gathered at the Dinkler Plaza Hotel last week to witness the presentation of the National Conference of Christians and Jews’ Silver Plaque to John A. Sibley, Edgar J. Forio, and Richard H. Rich for their outstanding civic accomplishments and contributions to improved inter-group relations.

Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan offered the invocation and special music was presented by the Courtland Voices, a selected group from the Glee Club of St. Joseph’s High School under the direction of Sister Mary Maddala. The Reverend John W. Teahy, superintendent of Catholic schools was seated with the honored guests at the dais.

James F. Oates, Jr., president of the Equitable Life Assurance Society, New York City, was the featured speaker of the evening. Speaking on the businessman’s responsibilities of citizenship, Oates said: “Are businessman properly concerned with results other than immediate dollar profits? A moment’s reflection is convincing that long term continuing profits can be achieved only where the enterprise is found to be acceptable by the public which it serves and where the society in which it operates enjoys health, education, economic strength, and political and religious freedom.”

“Present day managers are concerned not only with short-term profits, but also, and more importantly, with maintenance of a social, political, and economic climate which assures long term business success.

“Good men will seek to serve the social concerns of their environment and particularly seek to do so if they are wise business administrators.”

Dinner Chairman James V. Carmichael, president of Scripto, Inc., lauded those who had gathered as a “living witness of our determination to build an ever-greater city, the strength of which is not only in the altitude of its buildings, the latitude of its commerce, but also in the attitudes of its citizens.”

In bringing greetings from the city of Atlanta, Vice-mayor Sam Massell, Jr. declared, “We have come to the time when we must recognize that there is only one reasonable response to those minorities who are demanding of us that we stop discriminating against them—and that is simply to stop discriminating.”