In October 1957 King agreed to serve on CORE’s Advisory Committee. During the Montgomery bus boycott, CORE publicized King’s work in its pamphlets. Jack wrote to his colleagues, “I never expected to see such a disciplined, effective protest in the South in 1956, ” and suggested CORE send field workers to support the movement (Jack, 9 March 1956). In the first weeks after the start of the Montgomery bus boycott, CORE-affiliated activists such as James Peck, Rustin, and Jack visited King. This precursor to the 1961 Freedom Rides was met with minimal violence, although several of the riders were arrested, and two were sentenced to work on a chain gang in North Carolina. In 1947 CORE organized the Journey of Reconciliation, a multi-state integrated bus ride through the upper South in order to test the previous year’s Supreme Court ruling against segregation in interstate travel. Influenced by Gandhi, in the 1940s CORE used sit-ins and other nonviolent direct actions to integrate Chicago restaurants and businesses. King worked with CORE throughout the late 1950s and into the mid-1960s, when CORE abandoned its dedication to nonviolence and adopted black separatist policies.Įarly CORE activists James Farmer, Bayard Rustin, Homer Jack, and George Houser had all been affiliated with FOR, an international peace and justice organization. Along with its parent organization, the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), CORE members provided advice and support to Martin Luther King during the Montgomery bus boycott.

Founded in 1942 by an interracial group of students in Chicago, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) pioneered the use of nonviolent direct action in America’s civil rights struggle.

Aim definition 1960s