Mrs. Faith Rich's participation in the civil rights movement began in the late 1950s when she joined the Chicago chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), in which she served as chairman of the education committee. Subsequently she joined the Chicago chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), acting as corresponding secretary and chairman of the school committee from 1960 to 1966. Chicago CORE had a four-point program of 1.) obtaining quality integrated education, 2.) “good jobs and all they entail, ” 3.) open occupancy in housing, and 4.) an end to discrimination in general without regard to race, creed, or color. This chapter did not suffer from the lack of funds or membership that plagued many other local CORE chapters. It had six units in the Chicago metropolitan area: De Paul University CORE, North Side CORE, South Side CORE, University of Chicago CORE, West Side CORE, and Harvey-Phoenix CORE of the South suburbs.
The chapter was most active in pressing for educational reforms in the Chicago public school system. Its research committee gathered statistics and reports used by the school committee in planning such action as writing letters, having members attend public meetings concerning Chicago's schools, and arousing public attention over deficiencies and inequities in the schools. By 1965, however, the chapter abandoned the tactic of direct action in response to a specific problem in favor of involvement in community affairs, their reasoning being that prevention of the causes of social ills was more effective than treatment of their symptoms.
