Community Service Organization Collection, 1948-1998

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Summary

Creators:
Community Service Organization
Abstract:
Founded in 1947 by Fred Ross Sr., Edward Roybal, and Anthony Rios, the Community Service Organization (known as the CSO) was a grass-roots civic-action organization led by its membership. The goal of the organization was to empower community members to become civically engaged to improve their lives and fight for social justice. The CSO began in East Los Angeles focusing on the Latino and Mexican-American communities, and then expanded with Chapters across California. The collection documents the daily operations of the State CSO as well as the local Los Angeles Chapter of the CSO, and the CSO Regional Council No. 1. Materials also include the administrative records generated from the operation of multiple social service programs.
Extent:
43.82 linear feet and 7.16 Gigabytes
Language:
English , Spanish; Castilian .
Preferred citation:

For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual, or see the Citing Archival Materials guide.

Background

Scope and content:

The Community Service Organization Collection documents the daily operations of the State CSO as well as the Los Angeles Chapter of the CSO, and the CSO Regional Council No. 1. The materials were largely generated out of the offices of Anthony Rios (State and Los Angeles Chapter President from 1947-1995), Rosie Vasquez (State and Los Angeles Chapter Vice President from early on until 1995), Irwin Seigel (State CSO Attorney and head of the Legal Services Department), and Carlos Montes (State and Los Angeles Chapter President from 1995 onwards). The materials range in date from 1948 to 1998, but are mostly centered around State CSO operations from 1975 to 1996. The State level, Local Los Angeles Chapter, and Regional Council No. 1 records are intermixed having been run out of the same office with much of the same leadership.

The materials include but are not limited to financial records, correspondence, newsletters, project management documents, meeting minutes and agendas, membership information, and funding documentation. The materials document the organization of the annual state convention, project management for multiple social service programs, membership management, and event production activities.

The annual State Convention papers are organized chronologically by year. In addition to convention schedules and agendas, the convention papers often contain Board of Directors meeting minutes, Executive Committee meeting minutes, constitution and by-laws, financial statements, resolutions, and other administrative documents.

The State Membership Services Department handled member applications, as well as the daily operations for the Death Benefit Society. The materials include membership logs from all local chapters and membership dues reports. The materials from this department also include a small sample of Death Benefit Society claims, Death Benefit Society applications, membership applications, and membership records.

A significant portion of the collection documents the CSO's Alcoholism Programs. The materials include administrative materials, grant applications, funding reports, correspondence, and reports to and from the City of Los Angeles and the County of Los Angeles regarding the CSO's AB541 programs, Drinking Driver Program, First Offender programs, Outpatient programs, Multiple Offender programs and other substance abuse treatment programs.

The Legal Services Department covered both the affordable legal services the CSO provided for their members and clients, as well as the legal services provide to the CSO itself by its staff attorneys. The department was headed by Irwin Siegel. The materials include documentation of the types of services provided to CSO members, CSO articles of incorporation, correspondence with the City and County of Los Angeles, grant applications, case log books, and appointment books.

Other programs the materials document include but are not limited to the La Voz Newsletter, the Bingo events, a Credit Union, Camp Seniel Ostrow (a summer camp and event rental area in the Los Padres National Forest), the Casa Wabash housing program, the Barrio Services and Leadership Development Program, emergency food services, the Navidad en el Barrio fundraising and donation program, citizenship classes, immigration services, the PUENTE tutoring program, a young adult leadership program (YALP), and a consumer's buyer's club to take advantage of collective buying power.

Files are organized alphabetically by subject, department, and title of program.

Biographical / historical:

The Community Service Organization, known as the CSO, was founded in 1947. Fred Ross Sr. who worked for Saul Alinsky's Industrial Areas Foundation, approached Edward Roybal and Anthony Rios (aka Antonio Rios), and together they began organizing the Mexican-American population in the East Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle Heights. Along with Jaime Gonzales Monroe, Maria Duran Lange, and Monsignor William Barry, among others, these community organizers helped to build the first CSO chapter and its Board. Anthony Rios became president of the Los Angeles Chapter as well as the State CSO. The State CSO was incorporated in 1953.

The CSO Started as a grass-roots civic-action organization in East Los Angeles, and grew into a membership-led organization with chapters across the entire state of California. The CSO began their work with voter registration and citizenship campaigns to empower the Latino immigrant population. In 1949, these voter registration campaigns resulted in the election of the first Mexican American since 1881 to the Los Angeles City Council: Edward Roybal.

After Roybal's election, the CSO expanded their efforts to establishing chapters throughout California and providing social services through multiple programs focused on such things as voter registration, substance abuse treatment programs, citizenship classes, immigration services, emergency food services, legal services, a summer camp (Camp Seniel Ostrow), a tutoring program (PUENTE), a young adult leadership program (YALP), and a buyer's club. They also ran for-profit endeavors including Bingo and Barrio Enterprises, Inc. Another prominent part of their operations was the Death Benefit Society (established in 1965), to which members were automatically enrolled in upon joining the CSO. The purpose of the CSO Death Benefit Society was to provide a fund to be used to assist in defraying funeral expenses for members of the CSO. Also, in 1964, the Los Angeles and Stockton Chapters organized a community based credit union open to all CSO members.

Members of local chapters elected their local chapter board, and delegates to the annual state convention. Each chapter governed itself with its own Board of Directors and participated in a Regional Council as well as the State Organization. The State Organization of the CSO was the overall coordinating body. The State Executive Committee was elected every two years by delegates at the State Convention. The State Board of Directors was made up of the President and two members from each chapter plus the nine State Officers. The first state convention was held in 1954.

Local chapters included Alviso, Bakersfield, Harbor Area, Hayward, Madera, Los Angeles, Oxnard, Pico Rivera, Portersville, San Gabriel, San Joaquin, San Jose, Santa Maria, Stockton, West Los Angeles, and Visalia. Regional Council No. 1 included the Los Angeles, Harbor Area, Pico Rivera, San Gabriel Valley, and West LA-Venice local chapters, and was incorporated in 1953.

Members and Organizers who participated in the CSO included Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso, and Assemblyman Gil Cedillo, among others. Leaders of the organization included but are not limited to Anthony Rios, Rosie Vasquez, and Carlos Montes.

In 1977 the CSO purchased a multipurpose center at 2130 East First Street in Los Angeles from the Hollenbeck Masonic Lodge. The CSO began operating their State administrative offices, the credit union, a dance hall, and spaces for community programs out of this building.

Beginning in 1995 the State CSO and local Los Angeles Chapter struggled with allegations of mismanagement, a change in executive leadership, litigation, and debt. In 1995 a delegation representing the CSO State Board of Directors took possession and control of the CSO Los Angeles chapter and the CSO State assets due to "significant financial mismanagement." In the late 1990s the Community Service Organization was reorganized into the Centro CSO.

Acquisition information:
Carlos Montes and the Community Service Organization, 1998
Processing information:

Carri Frola, 2024

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research use.

Terms of access:

Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge. Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Preferred citation:

For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual, or see the Citing Archival Materials guide.

Location of this collection:
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330, US
Contact:
(818) 677-4594
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