From Jessica McElrath,
Your Guide to African-American History.
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At first, a northern and mostly white middle class organization, the Congress of Racial Equality later expanded its focus to the South, and became involved in some of the civil rights movement’s most important events.

The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was founded by an interracial group of students, including James Farmer, in 1942 on the campus of the University of Chicago. CORE was an outgrowth of the Gandhi inspired organization, Fellowship of Reconciliation. CORE was predominantly a northern organization composed of mostly white middle class members who believed that change could be achieved through nonviolence. In February 1953, James Farmer, former race-relations secretary of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, became the first National Director of CORE.

Years earlier CORE had began working in the South, so it was prepared when it began organizing the 1961 Freedom Rides to desegregate interstate buses. CORE tackled another issue. Southern blacks were being intimidated at the polls. CORE began voter registration drives in Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina. Other civil rights projects CORE was involved in included the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott, the 1963 March on Washington, and Freedom Summer

As violent attacks on civil rights workers increased, some CORE members began to move away from the vision of integration, and shifted its focus to black separatism. In 1966, black separatist, Floyd McKissick replaced Farmer as National Director. CORE membership also shifted from primarily white to mostly black.

In 1968, Roy Innis became the National Director. CORE still exists today, and has its headquarters in New York City.