Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Civil Rights Congress, Los Angeles
- Language:
- English.
Background
- Biographical / historical:
-
The Civil Rights Congress, Los Angeles Chapter (CRCLA) was organized in 1946 as an outgrowth of the merging of the local National Negro Congress and the Los Angeles Mobilization for Democracy. Its program was the defense of the rights of labor, Left political activists, and Black, Mexican-American and other racial minorities. There were eight functioning sub-chapters and committees in the Los Angeles area. CRCLA also had the only Lawyers' Panel of its kind in the entire country, headed by Fred Steinmetz. Marguerite Robinson was the group's Executive Director, and Emil Freed (later founder of the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research) was organizational secretary. The administrative staff consisted of Shifra Myers, Celia Rodriguez, Irma Zakon and Rose Chernin. CRCLA operated successfully for ten years until its demise in 1956. The Los Angeles CRC and the national Civil Rights Congress are examined in Gerald Horne's book, Communist Front? The Civil Rights Congress, 1946-1956 (Associated University Presses, Rutherford, New Jersey, 1988).
- Physical description:
- 23 boxes
Access and use
- Location of this collection:
-
6120 S. Vermont AvenueLos Angeles, CA 90044, US
- Contact:
- (323) 759-6063