Community Service Organization

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Cesar Chavez at a United Farm Workers rally in Delano, 1974 Cesar chavez crop2.jpg
César Chávez at a United Farm Workers rally in Delano, 1974

The Community Service Organization (founded 1947) was an important California Latino civil rights organization, most famous for training Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. It was founded in 1947 by Fred Ross, Antonio Rios and Edward Roybal [1] [2] and was a source of political support for Roybal during his long political career. Ross had been hired by Saul Alinsky and was employed by his Industrial Areas Foundation. [3]

Community Service Organization, now Centro CSO remains active. The group based in Boyle Heights is fighting against police killings of Chicanos, the environmental cleanup of Exide, against privatization of education, and for legalization of the undocumented.

The archives of the Community Service Organization are held at Stanford University [4] as well as at California State University, Northridge in the Library's Special Collections and Archives. [5]

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References

  1. "CSO History Project". comm-org.wisc.edu. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  2. "Hispanic Americans in Congress -- Roybal". www.loc.gov. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  3. Kenneth C. Burt, The Search for a Civic Voice: California Latino Politics (Claremont, CA: Regina Books), pp. 53-78.
  4. "Guide to Community Service Organization History Project records M1669" (PDF). Department of Special Collections and University Archives, Green Library. Stanford University. 2016. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
  5. "HSI Archival Collections" . Retrieved December 17, 2020.