The records of CORE's Western Regional Office, spanning the years 1948 to 1967, consist of correspondence and five subject files, including constitutional and policy documents, reports, minutes, newsletters, financial records, pamphlets, posters, cartoons, clippings, and photographs. The subject files concern the administration of the Western Region, education, employment, housing, and reference materials on the civil rights movement. The correspondence is arranged chronologically, with the subject files following in alphabetical order; the majority relate to the term that Chet Duncan served as Regional Field Secretary from 1964 to 1965.
The correspondence contains requests for information from California state agencies and legislators, students, and the general public; requests for help in escaping discriminatory hiring policies; internal memos; and hate mail. Major correspondents include the officers of CORE's national and Southern and Western Regional offices and chapters as well as U.S. Senator Thomas H. Kuchel and three California legislators: Mervyn M. Dymally, John W. Holmdahl, and W. Byron Rumford.
The subject file on Administration is the most extensive of the five files. Financial statements, check stubs and bank books, a telephone log, and collection notices document the financial condition of the Western Regional Office. The breakdown of responsibility within the organization is reflected in the papers concerning the chapters, the California CORE Council, and the Western Regional Action Council. Material on publicity is diverse and includes articles and speeches, newsletters, press releases, printed material, and material on Black history television programs and on the appearances of James Baldwin and of famous jazz musicians on behalf of CORE. Concerning smaller projects undertaken by the Western Regional Office are two folders, one on court cases, and one on voter registration drives. The administrative file also contains explicit statements of the philosophy of non-violence and the tactics suitable to it.
The small subject file on Education is comprised of material on Black history programs and the headway made in combating de facto segregation in the school systems of New York, Ohio, Washington State, and three major cities in California.
Western Regional CORE was at its most active in pressing for equal employment opportunities. In the Employment file are reports and newsletters from the California Fair Employment Practices Commission; the records of non-discrimination negotiations with such employers as the Bank of America and the Lucky grocery store chain; and various reports and surveys pertaining to the problem of equal employment for members of minority groups.
The bulk of the material in the Housing file concerns open housing as it was guaranteed by the Rumford Act of 1963 and Proposition 14, which nullified the act. Other papers concern urban redevelopment programs in various cities, especially San Francisco.
In the Reference file are papers on other organizations, individuals, and publications active in the civil rights movement, a “Summary of 1962 and 1963 State Anti-Discrimination Laws,” and ephemera.
