Changing Tides: 1965 Journal of Brooklyn CORE

Founded in Chicago in 1942, the Congress of Racial Equality - better known as CORE - is an interracial organization focused on nonviolent, direct action to achieve equal rights for Black Americans in all areas of US society. While southern chapters of the organization often made national headlines, there were chapters outside the South, including in Brooklyn, New York. The Brooklyn chapter of CORE had its own journal, Changing Tides: Journal of Brooklyn CORE, and a copy of the 1965 edition is in the Arnie Goldwag Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Collection, in the on-site archives at the Center for Brooklyn History.

Dedicated to Mrs. Hattie Carthan ("a symbol of all dedicated people who cannot be active in CORE but who support the cause of FREEDOM NOW! with regular contributions"), Changing Tides: 1965 Journal of Brooklyn CORE was produced by Franklin Peterson Associates, located at 303 West 42nd Street in Manhattan. The edition had several boosters, or those whose financial contributions made the publication of the journal possible. Among them were the Bibuld family, the Brandon brothers, anonymous ("in memory of Malcolm X," who was recently assassinated), and Major Owens, who was then chairman of the Brooklyn CORE chapter. In a letter from the chairman in the 1965 edition, Owens said:

"Let's go foward to the new good days when Brooklyn CORE will be fighting with the people as well as for the people. Let's go forward to build an army. Our goals remain the same. And our belief that only militant and dramatic non-violent confrontation of the power structure can move black men toward the time freedom and a decent life remains the same. Our methods also remain the same except for one basic change - to achieve significant impact we must involve not dozens but hundreds. And to mobilize hundreds we must be willing to pay the price. We must commit ourselves to a long cold winter of organizing."

In the year 1965, organizing for the Brooklyn chapter included - according to a double-page spread in Changing Tides: 1965 Journal of Brooklyn CORE - a rental office sit-in; threat of a mass rent strike; and picket lines in protest of racial discrimination in the building trades union, in the hiring practices of a chain of local bakery stores; and in the funding of a World's Fair in Flushing Meadow in Queens when so many New Yorkers were going without. Titled "Brooklyn CORE's Historical Headlines," the two-page article in the journal serves as a recap of the year's actions not only for members of the Brooklyn chapter but also for whomever was interested in how the Civil Rights Movement was playing out in New York.

At the time of publication of Changing Tides: 1965 Journal of Brooklyn CORE, the chapter's executives were William Sullivan, Oliver Stiles, Jerry Covicci, Mary Phifer, Stan Brezinoff, Anne Littlejohn, Major Owens, Sandy Sabler, Paul Heinegg, Calvin Powell, Oliver Leeds, Sharon Gerson, Rita Heinegg, Kay Frances Bethune, and Cara Briggs, all of whom are in a photo published in the 1965 edition of the journal. Arnie Goldwag, whose archival collection at the Center for Brooklyn History contains Changing Tides: 1965 Journal of Brooklyn CORE, was active in the chapter from 1960 through 1965, starting as a student while still at Brooklyn College and up through his role as Community Relations Director during his later years in the organization. Goldwag is not seen in the photo, which features the 1966 excutives of Brooklyn CORE.

Changing Tides: 1965 Journal of Brooklyn CORE is eight pages long, plus a front and back cover, and measures 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches (16.5 x 20.3 cm) in size.  In addition to articles and chapter updates, plus the dedication to Mrs. Hattie Carthan and a letter from Brooklyn CORE Chairman Major Owens, the journal contains advertisements from local businesses; original artworks; and black-and-white photo collages that center Black lives in mid-1960s Brooklyn, especially as they pertain to living conditions and housing rights. The slender edition was printed in black and white on cardstock, and it's bound by two metal staples along its spine. Its limited number of pages and basic production would have made the journal fairly easy to print and reproduce, and distribute among CORE membership.

The journal is among the 13.75 linear feet (13 manuscript boxes, 5 record cartons, and 2 artifact boxes) of materials in the Arnie Goldwag Brooklyn Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Collection, housed on-site in the archives at the Center for Brooklyn History. This CBH archival collection encompasses a wide range of documentation, including correspondence, newsletters, fliers, directions for demonstrators, photographs, press releases, and clippings, which illustrates the extensive activities of the Brooklyn chapter of CORE from 1961 to 1971. To make an appointment to see the CORE collection in person, and for research questions about the collection, please email the Center for Brooklyn History at [email protected]. In the meantime, browse the container list for the collection HERE.