University of California, Santa Barbara

Davidson Library

Department of Special Collections

California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives

 

GUIDE TO

Confederation of La Raza Organizations COLLECTION

(C.O.R.O.)

1975 - 1980

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Collection Number: CEMA 31.

 

Size Collection:  1 linear foot (2 boxes, 1 oversize box).

 

Acquisition Information: Donated by the Center for Chicano Studies, ca. 1980.

 

Access restrictions: None.

 

Use Restriction: Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB.  All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections.  Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.

 

Processing Information: Processed by Carmelita Pickett; completed August 2001.

 

Location:  Del Norte.

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ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY

 

 

In the late 1970’s several local Latino advocacy groups in Santa Barbara united to form C.O.R.O. (Confederation of La Raza Organizations).  C.O.R.O. began with over one hundred members representing a spectrum of Spanish-speaking groups, which included the Association of Mexican American Educators, Casa-Hermandad General de Trabajadores, CINAC, La Casa de la Raza, El Congreso, La Escuela Tiburcio Vasquez, Hermanas Mujeres Unidas, Migrant Parents Council, SBCC Junta Directiva, and the UCSB Chicano Caucus.  The creation of C.O.R.O. symbolized the need for a unified voice to assert the needs of the Mexican/Chicano population in Santa Barbara.  C.O.R.O. identified employment, housing, social services, legal assistance, and education as pressing key issues that would be addressed by the organization.  C.O.R.O. recognized that the Mexican/Chicano community needed political clout and solidarity in order to challenge the status quo in Santa Barbara.

 

SCOPE NOTE

The collection contains newsletters, government publications, action plans, announcements, and correspondence that document C.O.R.O. activity within the Santa Barbara community.  It is arranged in two series.  Series I: Organizational Activity is arranged alphabetically by folder title. This series consists of fifteen folders. The series contains statistical data and information on government sponsored housing resources for communities, government publications related to community development, and federal housing laws. Series II: Newsletters  Publications is arranged alphabetically by folder title; it provides important material that document C.O.R.O.’s fight for equal housing, civil rights and education. It includes numerous news articles and newsletters that document boycotts, school reform, zoning and housing proposals that affected the Mexican/Chicano community in Santa Barbara during the late nineteen seventies. The oversize box contains several issues of Today, a Goleta community newspaper.

CONTAINER LIST

SERIES I: ORGANISATIONAL ACTIVITY

Box            Folder                 Contents

 

1                 1                           Affirmative Action/Civil Rights, 1977-1980

1                 2                           Arroyo Case, 1978

1                 3                           Casa de La Raza, 1978-1979

1                 4                           Community Development Part I, 1975-1978

1                 5                           Community Development Part II, 1977-1979

1                 6                           C.O.R.O. Correspondence, 1978-1979

1                 7                           Education Committee, 1978-1979

1                 8                           Election Committee, 1978-1979

 

2                 1                           General Membership Meeting Notes, 1975-1979

2                 2                           Health Issues, 1979-1980

2                 3                           Housing, 1977-79

2                 4                           Immigration Action Committee, 1978

2                 5                           Steering Committee, 1978-1979

2                 6                           U.D.A.G. (Urban Development Action Grant), 1978

2                 7                           Voting Rights Committee, 1978

 

SERIES II: NEWSPAPERS AND PUBLICATIONS

 

Box            Folder                 Contents

 

2                 8                           C.O.R.O. Newsletters, 1979

2                 9                           Newsletters (related organizations), 1978-1979

2                 10                         Newspaper Clippings, 1978-1980

3                                              Today newspaper, 1979 (oversized container)