Community Service Organization

The Community Service Organization (founded 1947) was an important California Latino civil rights organization, most famous for training Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. It was founded in 1947 by Fred Ross, Antonio Rios and Edward Roybal and was a source of political support for Roybal during his long political career. Ross had been hired by Saul Alinsky and was employed by his Industrial Areas Foundation.
Community Service Organization, now Centro CSO remains active. The group based in Boyle Heights is fighting against police killings of Chicanos, the environmental cleanup of Exide, against privatization of education, and for legalization of the undocumented.
The archives of the Community Service Organization are held at California State University, Northridge in the Library's Special Collections and Archives.