Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Founded
The civil rights group the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was founded in Chicago on this day as an offshoot of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (founded on November 11, 1915).
CORE conducted a sit-in challenging a racially segregated restaurant in Chicago on May 8, 1943, which along with sit-ins by African-American students at Howard University in Washington, DC, 0n April 17, 1943 and April 22, 1944 were the first known civil rights sit ins in American history.
CORE is most famous for organizing the 1961 Freedom Rides that began on May 4, 1961. Its most important leader was James Farmer, who organized and led the Freedom Rides. After his departure from the organization in 1966, CORE lost its influence as a civil rights organization.
Read about the history of CORE: August Meier and Elliott Rudwick, CORE: A Study in the Civil Rights Movement, 1942–1968 (1973)
Read about the historic CORE-sponsored 1961 Freedom Ride: Raymond Arsenault, Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice (2006)
Watch a 1965 interview with CORE’s leader, James Farmer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXVcUZZQZRA
Learn about the first freedom ride, the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation here
Visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture here
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Read Farmer’s autobiography: James Farmer, Lay Bare the Heart: An Autobiography of the Civil Rights Movement (1985)
Visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture here