Congress of Racial Equality, Seattle Chapter records, 1954-2010

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Congress of Racial Equality. Seattle Chapter
Title
Congress of Racial Equality, Seattle Chapter records
Dates
1954-2010 (inclusive)
Quantity
6.64 cubic ft. (14 boxes)
Collection Number
1563
Summary
Records of the Seattle chapter of the national civil rights organization
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

The records are open to all users.

Request at UW

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was partially provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Historical NoteReturn to Top

The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was one of the leading non-violent organizations that spearheaded the 1960s civil rights movement. Although it had been in existence in Chicago for two decades, it was not until the early 1960s that the organization became highly visible and reached its peak, establishing local chapters across the country. Seattle CORE became one of the organization’s most ambitious and successful chapters. During the 1960s, Seattle CORE helped support the organization’s national campaigns and undertook many projects to fight local discrimination in employment, housing, and education.

In 1942 a group of Chicago pacifists founded the Congress of Racial Equality. However, the group did not receive much attention until 1960 when four African American students in North Carolina violated segregation practices by sitting at a Woolworth’s lunch counter. Realizing that the demonstrators had used the non-violent methods that CORE advocated, the organization rushed to assist them after their arrest. CORE was not responsible for this event, but the protest brought widespread publicity and showed the effectiveness that non-violent direct action could have.

The following year was even more pivotal for the organization when it organized the Freedom Rides. Despite the publicity that CORE gained from the Woolworth sit-in, the following year proved to be more momentous and led people in cities such as Seattle to open local chapters. Following a Supreme Court decision prohibiting segregation in interstate travel, including on buses and in terminal accommodations, CORE organized groups of African Americans to ride buses throughout the South and violate customary segregation wherever they went.

After its founding in 1961, most of Seattle CORE’s initial work was to support CORE’s national efforts, especially the campaigns in the South. One example was in 1961 when Seattle CORE teamed up with the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to support the Haywood County Civic and Welfare League. This action was to raise money for black sharecroppers and tenant farmers near Brownsville, Tennessee, who had been evicted for registering to vote.

Soon, however, the chapter began to focus on local discrimination. The chapter’s first target was employment discrimination, and in October 1961 it began its campaign against the Bon Marché department store. By 1962 protests spread to J.C. Penney, Nordstrom, Frederick & Nelson, A&P, Tradewell, and Washington Natural Gas. Protest methods included a “selective buying” campaign, picketing, and other demonstrations. One of the largest protests came in 1963 when Seattle CORE and the local NAACP led 1,000 marchers to the Bon Marché. At department stores the chapter also led “shoe-ins.” During these events CORE flooded the stores with protesters who tried on numerous pairs of shoes without buying any of them. Seattle CORE also picketed A&P grocery stores for fifteen weeks in 1963 until reaching an agreement with management. However, by March 1964 the chapter said that the company had not lived up to its agreement and began protesting again. For the first time, Seattle CORE used the “shop-in,” in which protesters filled their carts with non-perishable goods and rang them up at the cash register, then left without buying the items.

By 1964 the chapter’s actions had convinced management to agree to start hiring more African Americans at Bon Marché, Safeway, J.C. Penney, A&P, Wonder Bread, Frederick & Nelson, Nordstrom, and other stores. By the end of 1964, Seattle CORE claimed that its actions had resulted in the hiring of more than 250 white-collar employees. In terms of the number of jobs opened to African Americans, Seattle CORE was one of the most successful chapters in the nation.

Despite initial jubilation, many Seattle CORE members began to see their gains as minor compared to the employment discrimination that still existed. Thus the chapter began Operation DEEDS (Drive for Equal Employment in Downtown Stores), one of the most ambitious programs ever undertaken by a CORE chapter. DEEDS was a boycott of the entire downtown shopping area in October 1964, with a demand for 1,200 jobs for African Americans. Members quickly became frustrated when they were unable to obtain their ambitious goal, even though the results of this project compared favorably with previous campaigns.

Housing discrimination was another target of the chapter. Late in 1963, Seattle CORE conducted “Operation Windowshop” which encouraged blacks to look for housing outside the Central District. On designated weekends, CORE encouraged African Americans to visit realtors and attend open houses to try to move into white neighborhoods. However, many homeowners and members of the real estate industry were adamantly opposed to housing integration. As a result, many “for sale” signs came down and many realtors closed their businesses on Operation Windowshop weekends. Seattle CORE then lobbied the city council to pass an open-housing ordinance. When that effort failed, it tried to pass an open-housing referendum in 1964, which the local realtors’ association fought vigorously. Seattle voters soundly rejected the measure in eleven of twelve voting districts.

Following the defeat of the open-housing ordinance, Seattle CORE turned to direct action protests to fight housing segregation. In March 1964, it began sit-ins at the Picture Floor Plans Company, one of the local real estate firms accused of discouraging African Americans from buying homes in white neighborhoods. This protest signaled a change in the actions of the chapter’s membership in a way that seemed out-of-line with CORE’s rules of conduct. For the first time, many CORE protesters chanted and sang, shouted insults, and pushed and shoved when a locked door was opened to admit a customer. When a salesperson grew hostile and struck a demonstrator, the chapter suspended the protests. The next day a court injunction halted all picketing against realtors.

The actions of protesters at the Picture Floor Plans Company demonstrated the internal divisions that were taking shape within Seattle CORE as well as the national organization itself. Like other local chapters, Seattle CORE maintained a relatively small membership, which was partly by design. Seattle CORE had a “closed membership” policy which meant that people could only receive active memberships after serving a probationary period, participating in action projects, receiving approval from two-thirds of the chapter, and committing themselves to following the CORE rules of conduct. As a result of such stringent requirements, the membership of Seattle CORE usually remained below fifty. One of the reasons that CORE remained so effective was that its sympathizers, who contributed money and participated in demonstrations, outnumbered active members of the chapter. However, with each successive victory more people wanted to join the ranks of the organization and the chapter grew in size through 1964. Some members complained about this growth, arguing that the organization was getting too large and that it was becoming too easy for people to join. The rise of Black Power ideology by 1965 influenced many younger members of the chapter, who believed more fervently in retaliation than in non-violent resistance, and who were less willing to accept white integration in the organization.

Dissidents within CORE, who more readily accepted Black Power, formed themselves into the Ad Hoc Committee and even rented their own office. They were the ones who had inaugurated the confrontations at the Picture Floor Plans Company and had allegedly escalated confrontation at the A&P shop-in. Members of the Ad Hoc Committee accused the chapter leaders of being “too respectable” and not militant enough. When the chapter called off the Picture Floor Plans Company protests, dissident members tried to defeat the leadership in the next election. After failing, members of the committee withdrew from CORE and planned to function as a ghetto-oriented institution, but soon disintegrated. However, their departure did not end the chapter’s internal problems, as many members began leaving the organization. By 1965 Seattle CORE had a membership of only 65, compared to over 200 the year before.

Seattle CORE faced the same problems that were confronting the national organization and chapters across the country. While African Americans held most of the top leadership positions, CORE had always been a multiracial organization. In Seattle and in many other cities with a relatively small black population, it was not uncommon for the membership to include more whites than blacks. Although this issue was not the major one that split Seattle CORE in the mid 1960s, it did become a factor after the 1967 national CORE convention which deleted the word “multiracial” from its constitution. Seattle chairperson John Cornethan publicly criticized this action and declared that it was an effort to drive out white supporters. Dissidents Frances White and Les McIntosh seized on this opportunity to oust Cornethan from his post and then made Seattle CORE the city’s first civil rights group to embrace Black Power. After this event, most whites disappeared from the organization, which continued its decline until its end in 1970.

Despite internal rifts, Seattle CORE managed to continue anti-discrimination campaigns until the late 1960s. In the summer of 1965, it started running “Freedom Patrols” to follow police officers and monitor their behavior. In the spring of 1966 it led a two-day boycott of Seattle public schools to protest de facto segregation of schoolchildren. In the same year it also protested discrimination by labor unions, particularly the Building Trades Union which represented construction workers.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Most of the materials relate to Seattle CORE's activities both in local and national civil rights campaigns. The records include correspondence, minutes, case files, financial records, committee records, convention and workshop materials, and subject files concerning civil rights projects in several southern states as well as housing, education, and employment in Seattle. Included is material relating to the American Civil Liberties Union, the Washington State Board Against Discrimination, James Baldwin, George Washington Bush, and James Farmer.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Consult the rights governing publication and reproduction for each accession listed below.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

Organized into 3 accessions.

  • Accession No. 1563-001, Congress of Racial Equality, Seattle Chapter records, 1961-1970
  • Accession No. 1563-002, Congress of Racial Equality, Seattle Chapter records, 1954-2010
  • Accession No. 1563-003, Congress of Racial Equality, Seattle Chapter records, 1965-1966

Bibliography

August Meier and Elliott Rudwick, CORE: A Study in the Civil Rights Movement, 1942-1968(New York: Oxford University Press, 1973).

Quintard Taylor, The Forging of a Black Community: Seattle’s Central District from 1870 through the Civil Rights Era(Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994).

Larry S. Richardson, “Civil Rights in Seattle: A Rhetorical Analysis of a Social Movement” (Ph.D. dissertation, Washington State University, 1975).

Inge Powell Bell, CORE and the Strategy of Nonviolence (New York: Random House, 1968).

Doris Pieroth, “With All Deliberate Caution: School Integration in Seattle, 1954-1968,” Pacific Northwest Quarterly 73:2 (April 1982).

Related Materials

The State Historical Society of Wisconsin holds the records from the CORE national office, the Western Regional Office, the Southern Regional Office, and the archives of the Scholarship, Education and Defense Fund for Racial Equality. All but the papers of the national office are available on microfilm, and the University of Washington Libraries’ Microforms and Newspapers division has a copy of the Western Regional Office records as well as a guide to the society’s entire CORE collection. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center in Atlanta, the Bancroft Library at the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Michigan also hold CORE records.

The Special Collections division in the University of Washington Libraries holds three Seattle CORE publications, including two studies by Charles Valentine regarding segregation in public schools and Operation DEEDS.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

 

Accession No. 1563-001: Congress of Racial Equality, Seattle Chapter records, 1961-1970Return to Top

5.41 cubic feet (12 boxes)

Scope and Content: Most of the materials relate to Seattle CORE’s activities, both in local and national civil rights campaigns. The records include correspondence, minutes, financial records, committee records, convention and workshop materials, and subject files regarding the national and local civil rights movement. Subject files include material on housing, education, employment (including case files), and civil rights projects in various Southern states. The collection also includes civil rights literature from Seattle CORE, national CORE, and other sources.

The Ad Hoc Committee folder in box 3 contains information from the chapter’s established leadership about the dissident Ad Hoc Committee. This container also contains a detailed description of the investigation of discrimination at the Picture Floor Plans Company and subsequent protests against the firm, as well as complaints about committee members who allegedly did not adhere to CORE rules during the demonstrations.

In box 3, the Negotiating Committee folder provides the African American employment statistics for each of the stores that Seattle CORE accused of discrimination. Case files in boxes 7 and 8 contain Seattle CORE materials related to their investigations, negotiations with, and protests against specific companies.

Restrictions on Access: Open to all users.

Restrictions on Use: Creator's literary rights not specifically transferred to the University of Washington Libraries, but assume that users may copy and quote for publication.

Acquisition Info: Gift of the Congress on Racial Equality, Seattle Chapter, via Mrs. Frances White in 1971.

Processing Info: Processed by Jason Moore. Processing completed in 2013

Container(s) Description Dates
Organizational records
Box Accession
1 1563-001
Constitution
undated
1 1563-001
Organizational materials
undated
Correspondence
Box Accession
1 1563-001
General correspondence
7 folders
1961-1968
1 1563-001
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) correspondence
1965-1966
1 1563-001
Human Rights Commission, bulletins
1964-1965
Washington State Board Against Discrimination
Box Accession
1 1563-001
Correspondence
1961-1962
1 1563-001
Restaurant figures
undated
1 1563-001
Notices, reports, miscellaneous
undated
1 1563-001
Miscellaneous
undated
Box Accession
2 1563-001
Minutes
1963-1966
2 1563-001
Financial records
General Notes: see also: oversize box 12: 3 ledgers, 1 cash book
1966
2 1563-001
Reports
undated
Lists
7 folders
Box Accession
2 1563-001
Attendance
Scope and Content: General meetings and orientation meetings.
undated
2 1563-001
Book lists
undated
2 1563-001
Civic organizations and churches
undated
2 1563-001
Mailing lists
undated
2 1563-001
Membership lists
General Notes: see also: oversize box 12: membership file cards
undated
2 1563-001
Pledge lists
undated
Box Accession
2 1563-001
News releases
undated
2 1563-001
Notes
undated
2 1563-001
Newsletter – The CORElator
1961-1968
2 1563-001
Clippings
3 folders
undated
2 1563-001
Photographs
undated
2 1563-001
Ephemera
undated
Miscellaneous
Box Accession
3 1563-001
Fire inspection requirements for office
undated
3 1563-001
Officers and elections
1964-1965
3 1563-001
Maps of Central Area
undated
3 1563-001
Record of office phone calls
undated
3 1563-001
Telephone answering service data
undated
Committees
Box Accession
3 1563-001
Ad Hoc Committee -- Congress of Racial Equality faction
undated
3 1563-001
Complaints Committee -- miscellaneous discrimination complaints
undated
3 1563-001
Negotiations Committee
undated
3 1563-001
Sign Making Committee
undated
3 1563-001
Speakers Bureau
undated
3 1563-001
Miscellaneous committees
undated
Civil rights literature -- Congress of Racial Equality, Seattle
Box Accession
3 1563-001
"Freedom Songs"
undated
3 1563-001
"Labor Unions"
1966 November 9
3 1563-001
"Race Relations Exam"
undated
3 1563-001
"Seattle CORE"
undated
3 1563-001
"Some General Goals and Principles of CORE"
undated
3 1563-001
"Talk, Talk, Talk"
undated
3 1563-001
Unauthorized leaflet
undated
3 1563-001
"We Need You"
undated
3 1563-001
"What is CORE?"
undated
3 1563-001
"Why Legislation?"
undated
3 1563-001
"You Can Help"
undated
Conventions and workshops
Box Accession
3 1563-001
National Congress of Racial Equality Convention
1963
3 1563-001
Seattle Congress of Racial Equality workshop
1963
3 1563-001
California Congress of Racial Equality Conference
1964
3 1563-001
Seattle Congress of Racial Equality Retreat
1964
3 1563-001
National Congress of Racial Equality Convention
1964
3 1563-001
Regional Congress of Racial Equality Convention
1964
3 1563-001
Seattle Congress of Racial Equality Office Open House
1965
3 1563-001
National Congress of Racial Equality Convention
1965
3 1563-001
Seattle Congress of Racial Equality Retreat
1966
3 1563-001
National Congress of Racial Equality Convention
1967
Subject files
Alabama-Selma
Box Accession
4 1563-001
Sign-up sheet
undated
4 1563-001
Telegram suggestions
undated
Baldwin (James) Benefit
Box Accession
4 1563-001
Outgoing correspondence
1963
4 1563-001
Financial records
1963
4 1563-001
Clippings
1963
4 1563-001
Ephemera
1963
Bush, George Washington
Box Accession
4 1563-001
Incoming correspondence
1967-1970
4 1563-001
Outgoing correspondence
1967-1970
4 1563-001
News releases, notes, clippings, photographs
1967-1970
4 1563-001
Ephemera
1967-1970
Box Accession
4 1563-001
Central Area Coordinating Committee for Civil Rights--registration forms
undated
Civil rights literature -- other organizations
19 folders
Box Accession
4 1563-001
The Advance, Brotherhood Week
1963 February 17-24
4 1563-001
The Afro-American Journal
1968 January, February, April
American Friends Service Committee
Box Accession
4 1563-001
King, Martin Luther, Jr., "Letter From Birmingham Jail"
1963
4 1563-001
The Northwesterner.
1964 February
4 1563-001
Rustin, Bayard, "Non-Violence and the Harlem Riots"
1964
4 1563-001
Statement of Support of the August 28 March on Washington
undated
4 1563-001
Miscellaneous
undated
Anti-Defamation League of the B'nai B'rith
Box Accession
4 1563-001
The Anti-Defamation League of the B'nai B'rith
1963
4 1563-001
Review of the 88th Congress
1964
Box Accession
4 1563-001
Baptists, Clyde Hill Baptist Church, "The Church and Race"
1964
4 1563-001
Baptists, Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Zionews.
1966 October 9
4 1563-001
Berrigan, (Father) Philip, "WAR -- Wrong Approach to Righteousness"
1965
4 1563-001
California Fair Employment Practices Commission, Fair Practices News
1964 March, June
4 1563-001
Central Area Committee on Civil Rights, announcement
undated
4 1563-001
Central Area Community Council, Statement of Purpose and Program
undated
Central Area Motivation Program (CAMP)
Box Accession
4 1563-001
General report
1965-1967
4 1563-001
Newsletter
undated
4 1563-001
Trumpet
1967-1968
Box Accession
4 1563-001
Chamber of Commerce, Seattle, Junior, Resolution
1963
Christian Friends for Racial Equality
Box Accession
4 1563-001
Statement of Purpose
undated
4 1563-001
Racial Equality Bulletin.
1962 April, 1963 May
Box Accession
4 1563-001
Christian Social Action Committee, Newsletter
1963 October
4 1563-001
Council of Churches, Seattle, Memo to Ministers
undated
Civil Rights Action Group (CRAG)
Box Accession
4 1563-001
"Historical and Social Context of the Civil Rights Movement"
1964
4 1563-001
"Purpose of CRAG"
undated
Civic Unity Committee
Box Accession
4 1563-001
Fair Play
1963 June
4 1563-001
"Fair Play in Our Cosmopolitan Seattle"
undated
4 1563-001
"The Housing Situation of Minority Groups in the State of Washington"
1961
4 1563-001
Statement (John F. Gordon)
undated
4 1563-001
Miscellaneous
undated
Box Accession
4 1563-001
Committee of Women for Freedom Now, miscellaneous
undated
4 1563-001
Convention Center, New Politics News.
1968
4 1563-001
Council for Civic Unity (San Francisco), "Property Values and Race"
1960
4 1563-001
Council of Federated Organizations (COFO), excerpts regarding the Mississippi Project
undated
4 1563-001
Current, "Federal Action for Civil Rights"
undated
4 1563-001
Democratic Party, King County Democratic Central Committee, Resolution
1963
4 1563-001
East Side Conference on Religion and Race, Workshop Program
1963
4 1563-001
Emergency Civil Liberties Committee, Rights
1966
4 1563-001
Episcopalians, The National Council, "The Church Speaks on Race"
undated
Fellowship of Reconciliation
Box Accession
4 1563-001
"Freedom, the South, and Non-violence"
undated
4 1563-001
"The Struggle for Racial Equality"
1956
4 1563-001
King, Martin Luther, Jr., "Facing the Challenge of a New Age"
undated
4 1563-001
Smith, Lillian, "The Right Way is Not a Moderate Way"
undated
4 1563-001
"Unwise and Untimely?," a letter from eight Alabama clergymen to Martin Luther King, Jr., and his reply
1963
Box Accession
4 1563-001
Fortune, editorial - "There Isn't Sny Time"
1964 July
4 1563-001
Friends of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee Newsletter
1967 July 15
4 1563-001
Fund for Public Information: Hall, Gus, "Negro Freedom"
1964 July
4 1563-001
Getz, William, "The Equal Rights Movement in Seattle"
1964
4 1563-001
Hearde, Oscar, "Inter-Marriage," "To All Christians and Especially of the Pentacostal Faith"
undated
Hillman (Sidney) Foundation
Box Accession
4 1563-001
MacDonald, Dwight, "Our Invisible Poor"
1963
Box Accession
4 1563-001
Human Rights Commission, Seattle, Proposed Open Housing Ordinance
undated
4 1563-001
King County Library System, "Civil Rights --It's Our Problem, Too"
undated
4 1563-001
League of Women Voters of Seattle, press release
circa 1965
4 1563-001
Liberation.
1963 October
4 1563-001
May Valley (Washington) Co-op Community, Statement of Aims
undated
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
Box Accession
4 1563-001
The Crisis
1964 February
4 1563-001
Current, Gloster B., "Understanding NAACP Policy"
undated
Newsletter
Box Accession
4 1563-001
1961 September
1961 September
4 1563-001
1962 January
1962 January
4 1563-001
1962 March
1962 March
4 1563-001
1963 November
1963 November
4 1563-001
1963 December
1963 December
4 1563-001
1964 June
1964 June
4 1563-001
1964 August
1964 August
4 1563-001
1964 September
1964 September
4 1563-001
1964 November
1964 November
4 1563-001
1964 December
1964 December
Box Accession
4 1563-001
Ovington, Mary White, "How the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Began"
1919
4 1563-001
"What's Your NAACP Been Doing"
1963 July
4 1563-001
Wilkins, Roy, "Humiliation Stalks Them"
1963 July
National Conference on Religion and Race
Box Accession
4 1563-001
"An Appeal to the Conscience of the American People"
1963 January
4 1563-001
Reston, James, "The First Significant Test of the Freedom March" ( NewYork Timesreprint
1963 August 30
Box Accession
4 1563-001
National Sharecroppers Fund, "The Condition of Farm Workers and Small Farmers in 1965"
circa 1965
4 1563-001
Northwood, L.K., "A Housing Fact Sheet"
1962
4 1563-001
Parent Youth Camp, Employment Announcement
1966
4 1563-001
Peace News Pamphlets (London), Henry David Thoreau, "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience"
1963
4 1563-001
Rich, Marvin, "Civil Rights Strategy after the March" ( New Politics reprint)
Scope and Content:
1963
Box Accession
4 1563-001
The Congress of Racial Equality and Its Strategy ( Annals of American Academy of Political and Social Sciences reprint)
1965
4 1563-001
Rosen, Ellsworth E., "When A Negro Moves Next Door" ( Saturday Evening Post reprint)
1959 April
4 1563-001
Seattle Citizens Against Goldwater, "Why Not Goldwater?"
1968
Seattle Conference on Religion and Race
1963 June 5
Box Accession
4 1563-001
Literature display
1963 June 5
4 1563-001
Statement on the proper role of the clergy
1963 June 5
Box Accession
4 1563-001
Seattle Women for Peace, announcement of Frank Wilkinson lecture
1963 November 20
4 1563-001
Socialist Party, New America
1963 August 31
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Box Accession
4 1563-001
Newsletter
1963 October
4 1563-001
Some Important Fiscal Facts about Southern Christian Leadership Conference
undated
Box Accession
4 1563-001
Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, The Student Voice.
1963 December 30
United Church of Christ
Box Accession
4 1563-001
"Samples of Congregational Involvement"
undated
4 1563-001
"Shall We Still Betray Our Lord?"
1963 September 3
Box Accession
4 1563-001
United Nations, "Universal Declaration of Human Rights"
1948
Urban League, Boston
Box Accession
4 1563-001
McPherson, J. Westbrook, "A Change of Heart on Picketing"
1963 October 31
Urban League, National
Box Accession
4 1563-001
"The Urban League Role: Unique and Crucial"
1964
Urban League, Seattle
Box Accession
4 1563-001
Annual reports
1961, 1962
4 1563-001
"Better Schools for a Better Tomorrow"
undated
4 1563-001
"Doors are Opening"
1963
4 1563-001
"Ed Pratt-- Dedicated Urban League Director" ( Argus reprint)
1965 April 30
4 1563-001
Finley, Otis E., Jr., "Discrimination"
1963
4 1563-001
"In Pursuit of Equal Opportunity"
1963
4 1563-001
Memorandum regarding Central Area schools
1963 September 4
4 1563-001
Memorandum regarding school transfers
1963 September 27
4 1563-001
Newsletter
1962 October, 1963 January-October, 1965 July
4 1563-001
"Progress in Race Relations"
1966 January 2
4 1563-001
"Seattle Urban League Prepares for Future"
1966 April 15
4 1563-001
"Social Welfare Agencies and the Negro"
undated
Box Accession
4 1563-001
War Resisters League, "What Is the War Resisters League?"
1964
4 1563-001
Washington Citizens Committee for Civil Rights Legislation, Newsletter
1962 December 15
4 1563-001
World Without War Conference, letter
1963 September 20
Education
Box Accession
5 1563-001
Incoming correspondence
1965-1966
5 1563-001
Outgoing correspondence
1962-1966
5 1563-001
Minutes
1966
5 1563-001
Reports
undated
5 1563-001
News releases
undated
5 1563-001
Notes
undated
5 1563-001
Clippings
undated
5 1563-001
Ephemera
undated
5 1563-001
Miscellaneous
Scope and Content: NAACP-CORE - Transfer plan pledge cards.
undated
5 1563-001
Freedom School
General Notes: see also: oversize box 12 - card file of Freedom School participants
Box Accession
5 1563-001
Incoming correspondence
1966
5 1563-001
Outgoing correspondence
1966
5 1563-001
Minutes
1966
5 1563-001
Financial records
1966
5 1563-001
Reports
1966
5 1563-001
Notes
1966
5 1563-001
Clippings
1966
5 1563-001
Ephemera
1966
5 1563-001
Miscellaneous programs and participants
1966
Negro history class
Box Accession
6 1563-001
Class materials
1966-1967
6 1563-001
Student work
1966-1967
Box Accession
6 1563-001
Home visits regarding education
1965
Box Accession
6 1563-001
Interview area assignments
1965
6 1563-001
Evaluation sheets
1965
Employment
Incoming correspondence
Box Accession
6 1563-001
California Fair Employment Practices Division
1964, undated
6 1563-001
Chamber of Commerce, Seattle
1965
6 1563-001
United States Army
1964
6 1563-001
United States Coast Guard
1964
6 1563-001
United States General Services Administration
1965
Box Accession
6 1563-001
Outgoing correspondence
1962-1964, undated
6 1563-001
Reports
undated
6 1563-001
News releases
undated
6 1563-001
Notes
undated
6 1563-001
Clippings
undated
6 1563-001
Ephemera
undated
6 1563-001
Miscellaneous applications for employment
undated
DEEDS (Drive for Equal Employment in Downtown Seattle)
Box Accession
6 1563-001
Incoming correspondence
1964-1965
6 1563-001
Outgoing correspondence
1964
6 1563-001
Reports
undated
6 1563-001
Notes
undated
6 1563-001
Clippings
undated
6 1563-001
Ephemera
undated
Miscellaneous
Box Accession
7 1563-001
Information from neighborhood meetings
undated
7 1563-001
Employment records
undated
7 1563-001
Returned employment coupons
undated
7 1563-001
Drive for Equal Employment in Downtown Seattle pledge cards
undated
Box Accession
7 1563-001
Restaurant file
Scope and Content: Principal correspondent: Washington State Restaurant Association.
General Notes: see also: Case files--Clark's Restaurant Enterprises; Mannings Coffee Cafes
undated
Case files
A & P Tea Company
Box Accession
7 1563-001
Incoming correspondence
1963 September-1964 October
7 1563-001
Outgoing correspondence
1962 October-1964 July, undated
7 1563-001
Minutes
undated
7 1563-001
Reports
undated
7 1563-001
Lists
undated
7 1563-001
News releases
undated
7 1563-001
Notes
undated
7 1563-001
Clippings
undated
7 1563-001
Ephemera
undated
Box Accession
7 1563-001
Albertson's Food Store
1962 January
7 1563-001
Bartell's survey
undated
Bon Marché
9 folders
Box Accession
7 1563-001
Incoming correspondence
1963 June-October
7 1563-001
Outgoing correspondence
1963 May-1964 February
7 1563-001
Minutes
undated
7 1563-001
Reports
undated
7 1563-001
Lists
undated
7 1563-001
News releases
undated
7 1563-001
Clippings
undated
7 1563-001
Ephemera
undated
Box Accession
7 1563-001
Carnation Company
1964 June-August
7 1563-001
Clark's Restaurant Enterprises, Inc.
Box Accession
7 1563-001
Outgoing correspondence
1966
7 1563-001
Minutes
1966
7 1563-001
Reports
undated
7 1563-001
Reports - survey
undated
7 1563-001
Notes
undated
7 1563-001
Ephemera
undated
7 1563-001
Crown Zellerbach Corporation
1965 February
7 1563-001
Darigold (Consolidated Dairy Products)
1963-1964
8 1563-001
Fisher Flouring Mills
1965
8 1563-001
Frederick & Nelson
1963
8 1563-001
Greyhound Bus Lines
1964
8 1563-001
Lucky Grocery Stores
1962-1963
8 1563-001
Mannings Coffee Cafes
1966
8 1563-001
Nordstrom-Best
Box Accession
8 1563-001
Incoming correspondence
1964-1965
8 1563-001
Outgoing correspondence
1964
8 1563-001
Minutes
undated
8 1563-001
Reports
undated
8 1563-001
Lists
undated
8 1563-001
News releases
undated
8 1563-001
Notes
undated
8 1563-001
Clippings
undated
8 1563-001
Pay 'n' Save Corporation
1965
8 1563-001
J.C. Penny Company, Inc.
1962-1963
8 1563-001
Rainier Brewery
1965
8 1563-001
Rhodes of Seattle
1962
8 1563-001
Safeway Stores, Inc
1961-1963
Box Accession
8 1563-001
Incoming correspondence
1963-1964
Outgoing correspondence
1961-1963
Box Accession
8 1563-001
Minutes, reports, lists, notes, clippings, ephemera
8 1563-001
Seattle Police Department
undated
8 1563-001
Seattle Observer
undated
Taxi survey
Box Accession
8 1563-001
Incoming correspondence
1963-1965
8 1563-001
Outgoing correspondence
1963-1964
8 1563-001
Reports
undated
8 1563-001
Notes
undated
8 1563-001
Clippings
undated
8 1563-001
Ephemera
undated
Box Accession
8 1563-001
Thriftway Stores, Inc.
1962
Tradewell Stores, Inc.
7 folders
Box Accession
8 1563-001
Incoming correspondence
1962-1965
8 1563-001
Outgoing correspondence
1962-1964
8 1563-001
Minutes
1961-1964
8 1563-001
Lists and news releases
undated
8 1563-001
Notes
undated
8 1563-001
Clippings and ephemera
undated
Box Accession
8 1563-001
United Air Lines
undated
Washington Natural Gas Company
Box Accession
8 1563-001
Incoming correspondence
1964
8 1563-001
Outgoing correspondence
1964
Minutes
1963-1964
Box Accession
8 1563-001
News releases
undated
8 1563-001
Notes, clippings, ephemera
undated
Box Accession
8 1563-001
Western International Hotels
undated
Box Accession
8 1563-001
Miscellaneous discrimination complaints
undated
Farmer, James
2 folders
1965
Box Accession
8 1563-001
Outgoing correspondence
1965
8 1563-001
Financial records
undated
8 1563-001
Clippings
undated
8 1563-001
Ephemera
undated
8 1563-001
Miscellaneous - reservation lists and cards
undated
Freedom Patrols
Box Accession
8 1563-001
Memo
undated
Reports
Box Accession
8 1563-001
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
undated
8 1563-001
Citizens' Committee on Police Practices
undated
8 1563-001
Morris, Arval, "Constitutional Controls over Criminal Procedure"
undated
Box Accession
8 1563-001
Clippings
undated
8 1563-001
Miscellaneous
undated
Housing
Box Accession
9 1563-001
Incoming correspondence
Scope and Content: Major correspondent: Harmony Homes, Inc.
1963-1964
9 1563-001
Outgoing correspondence
1963-1965
9 1563-001
Reports
undated
9 1563-001
Reports - other organizations
undated
9 1563-001
News releases
undated
9 1563-001
Legislation
undated
9 1563-001
Notes
undated
9 1563-001
Clippings
undated
9 1563-001
Ephemera
undated
9 1563-001
City Hall demonstration--clippings
1963
Fair Housing Listing Service
Box Accession
9 1563-001
Newsletters
1963-1965
9 1563-001
Ephemera
undated
Box Accession
9 1563-001
Injunction--real estate board case
1965
Operation Window Shop
2 folders
1963
Box Accession
9 1563-001
Outgoing correspondence
1963
9 1563-001
Reports
1963
9 1563-001
News releases
1963
9 1563-001
Legislation
1963
9 1563-001
Notes
1963
9 1563-001
Clippings
1963
9 1563-001
Ephemera
1963
Picture Floor Plan Demonstration
Box Accession
9 1563-001
Report
1964
9 1563-001
Clippings
1964
9 1563-001
Ephemera
1964
Box Accession
9 1563-001
Rent strike
1964
9 1563-001
Miscellaneous discrimination complaints
undated
Mississippi
6 folders
Box Accession
9 1563-001
Adopt-A-Civil-Rights-Worker Project
1964
9 1563-001
Freedom Democratic Party
1964-1965
9 1563-001
Liberty House
1966-1969
Box Accession
9 1563-001
Incoming correspondence
1966-1969
9 1563-001
Outgoing correspondence
1966-1969
9 1563-001
Notes
1966-1969
9 1563-001
Order
1966-1969
9 1563-001
Ephemera
1966-1969
9 1563-001
Newsletters from John Fawcett
1965
9 1563-001
Mississippi Summer Program
Scope and Content: Principal correspondent: COFO (Council of Federated Organizations).
1964
9 1563-001
Petitions regarding Mississippi
1964
National Congress of Racial Equality and other Congress of Racial Equality offices
10 folders
National Congress of Racial Equality
Box Accession
10 1563-001
Correspondence
9 folders
1961-1969, undated
10 1563-001
Minutes
1962-1968
10 1563-001
Reports
undated
10 1563-001
Newsletter - National CORELator
1961-1965
Civil rights literature
Box Accession
10 1563-001
"All About CORE"
undated
10 1563-001
Barry, Joseph, "On Going to Jail" ( New York Post reprint)
1961 September 20
10 1563-001
"Breaking the Noose"
undated
10 1563-001
Buckley, Helen, "The CORE Way" ( Survey Graphic reprint)
1946 February
10 1563-001
Calendar of Coercion
1964
10 1563-001
Christmas cards
1962-1966
10 1563-001
"Columbia Class Stresses Protest" ( New York Times reprint)
1967 February 20
10 1563-001
"McKissick Opens Training Center" ( The Sun, Baltimore, reprint)
1966 December 6
10 1563-001
"Cracking the Color Line"
undated
10 1563-001
"Equality Is Goal of Race Congress" ( New York Times reprint)
1960 February
10 1563-001
Farmer, James, "Louisiana Story"
1963
10 1563-001
Fresh Air Fling Announcement
1964
10 1563-001
"Have You Ever Started a Fad?"
undated
10 1563-001
"Haywood Handicrafters"
undated
10 1563-001
"Here We Stand" (regarding Black Power)
undated
10 1563-001
"Holiday Gift Suggestions"
undated
10 1563-001
"Introduction to a Sit-in" ( LOOK reprint)
1961 January 3
10 1563-001
Johns, Major and Moore, Ronnie, "It Happened in Baton Rouge, U.S.A."
1962
10 1563-001
"Justice?" (regarding committee of inquiry into the administration of justice in the freedom struggle)
1962
10 1563-001
Kempton, Murray, "The Trial" ( New York Post reprint)
1962 March 21
10 1563-001
McCain, James T., "The Right to Vote"
1962
McKissick, Floyd B.
Box Accession
10 1563-001
"A Black Manifesto"
circa 1966
10 1563-001
"Constructive Militancy"
1966
10 1563-001
"Genocide, U.S.A."
1967
10 1563-001
"Is Integration Necessary?" ( The New Republic reprint)
1966 December 3
Box Accession
10 1563-001
March on Washington album announcement
1963
10 1563-001
Memorial service (Chaney-Goodman-Schwerner) announcement
1964
10 1563-001
The Movement
1965
10 1563-001
"Position of the Congress of Racial Equality on the War in Vietnam"
undated
10 1563-001
"Rules for Action"
1961
10 1563-001
"Something New - Freedom Schools"
undated
10 1563-001
"A Strong Civil Rights Bill by Christmas"
1963
10 1563-001
"Summer Training Programs in NON-Violence"
1962
10 1563-001
Support Black Power sticker
undated
10 1563-001
"Target City Project, 1966 - A Beginning"
circa 1966
10 1563-001
"This Is CORE"
1962
10 1563-001
Wechsler, James A., "The Recruit" ( New York Post reprint)
1962 December 3
10 1563-001
"What Do Black People Know about the War in Viet Nam?"
1964?
10 1563-001
"What Is a CORE Community Center?"
undated
10 1563-001
"What Is CORE Doing Now?"
1966 October
10 1563-001
"Where Is Democracy?"
undated
10 1563-001
"Your Invitation to Join CORE"
undated
Western Regional Field Office
Box Accession
11 1563-001
Memos and newsletters
1962-1966
11 1563-001
Miscellaneous mailings
1963-1966
Box Accession
11 1563-001
Southern Regional Core: correspondence (mailings)
1965
11 1563-001
Other chapters: newsletters
undated
North Carolina--Monroe
Incoming correspondence
Box Accession
11 1563-001
Committee to Aid the Monroe Defendants
1962
11 1563-001
NAACP
1962
Box Accession
11 1563-001
News releases
1962
11 1563-001
Ephemera
1962
Police brutality
Box Accession
11 1563-001
Incoming correspondence
1964-1966
11 1563-001
Outgoing correspondence
undated
11 1563-001
Reports
undated
11 1563-001
Resolutions
undated
11 1563-001
Clippings
undated
11 1563-001
Ephemera
undated
11 1563-001
Miscellaneous complaints
undated
Miscellaneous oversize items
box:oversize Accession
12 1563-001
Financial records
3 ledgers
undated
12 1563-001
Financial records
1 cash book
undated
12 1563-001
Lists--membership file cards
2 boxes
undated
12 1563-001
Education--Freedom School participants file cards
1 box
undated

Accession No. 1563-002: Congress of Racial Equality, Seattle Chapter records, 1954-2010Return to Top

1 cubic foot (1 box)

Scope and Content: Congress of Racial Equality, Seattle chapter documents on civil rights activities from 1961-1968 collected by Don Matson.

Restrictions on Access: Open to all users.

Restrictions on Use: Creator's literary rights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

Acquisition Info: Donor: Don Matson, March 29, 2013.

Processing Info: All listings are in one folder each unless otherwise specified.

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder Accession
1/1 1563-002
Ad Hoc Committee
1962-1964
1/2 1563-002
Bon Marche Employment Project
1963
1/3 1563-002
Boycotts
c1962-1963
1/4 1563-002
CORE and Black Power
1967
1/5 1563-002
CORE pamphlets and informational mailers
1961-1965
1/6 1563-002
Crosstown bus opening
undated
1/7 1563-002
Employment activities
1964
1/8 1563-002
Employment activities
1964
1/9 1563-002
Employment - Unions
1964-1966
1/10 1563-002
Exhibits and pamphlets
1961-2009
1/11 1563-002
Freedom Riders
1961-2010
1/12 1563-002
Fundraising projects
1962-1964
1/13 1563-002
Housing Committee
1962-1964
1/14 1563-002
Housing Committee
1964-2009
1/15 1563-002
Interviews
2006-2009
1/16 1563-002
Labor unions and racial bias
1964-2009
1/17 1563-002
Letters
1964
1/18 1563-002
Membership lists
1961-1965
1/19 1563-002
Police files from the Human Rights Commission
1964
1/20 1563-002
Police Patrol/ Freedom Patrol
1965
1/21 1563-002
Report on Research Leading to the Drive for Equal Emplyment in Downtown Seattle
1964
1/22 1563-002
Seattle chapter by-laws
1961
1/23 1563-002
Seattle Public Schools/Desegregation
1964-1999
1/24 1563-002
Seattle Public Schools
1964-2010
1/25 1563-002
Stationary & brochures/ Summary of CORE activities
1954-2007
1/26 1563-002
Taxis
1964
1/27 1563-002
Walt Hubbard file
1963-2009
1/28 1563-002
Housing - Picture Floor Plans, Inc.
1964
1/29 1563-002
Employment - Grocery stores
1961-1963
1/30 1563-002
Copies of court documents from Seattle Real Estate Board & Picture-Floor Plans, Inc. v. Seattle Congress of Racial Equality
1964
1/31 1563-002
CORElators & other fliers
1961-19686
1/32 1563-002
Bumper stickers
undated

Accession No. 1563-003: Congress of Racial Equality, Seattle Chapter records, 1965-1966Return to Top

.23 cubic feet (1 box)

Scope and Content: Clippings, newsletters, call for volunteers, handwritten notes, fact sheets, meeting minutes, and more, primarily relating to school integration and the racial imbalance in Seattle Public Schools in the 1960s, emphasis on the 1966 school boycott and Freedom Schools.

Restrictions on Access: Open to all users.

Restrictions on Use: Creator's literary rights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

Acquisition Info: Professor Alex Gottfried, 2010-04-28

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • African Americans--Civil rights--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • African Americans--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Civil rights demonstrations--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Civil rights movements--United States
  • Civil rights workers, Black--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Civil rights workers--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Civil rights--Southern states
  • Civil rights--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Civil rights--Washington (State)--Seattle--Societies, etc
  • Civil rightsUnited States--Societies, etc
  • Discrimination in employment--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)
  • Race discrimination--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Race--Religious aspects
  • Right to education--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Right to housing--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Right to labor--Washington (State)--Seattle

Personal Names

  • Baldwin, James, 1924-1987
  • Bush, George Washington, active 1845
  • Farmer, James, 1920-1999

Corporate Names

  • American Civil Liberties Union
  • Congress of Racial Equality
  • Congress of Racial Equality. Seattle Chapter--Archives
  • Washington State Board Against Discrimination

Geographical Names

  • Seattle (Wash.)--Politics and government
  • Seattle (Wash.)--Race relations
  • Southern states--Race relations

Form or Genre Terms

  • Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
  • Lists
  • Newsletters
  • Press releases
  • Publications
  • articles
  • case files
  • conferences
  • correspondence
  • ephemera
  • financial records
  • minutes
  • notes
  • reports