Industrial Areas Foundation

The Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), founded in Chicago in 1940, trains citizens to organize their own communities.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the IAF organized in Chicago, Los Angeles, Buffalo, and Rochester. Later, it developed national training institutes, fostering a network of community organizations. Saul D. Alinsky (1909-1972) developed the IAF's principles of community organization and citizen participation, expressed in his books Reveille for Radicals (1946) and Rules for Radicals (1971). After his success in organizing Chicago's Back-of-the-Yards neighborhood council, Alinsky founded the IAF with the support of Chicago clergy and philanthropists. Upon being invited into a community, IAF organizers trained local leaders to develop grassroots organizations. Prominent successes were The Woodlawn Organization (TWO) in Chicago, and the Community Service Organizations in California (CSO),where IAF organizer Fred Ross trained Cesar Chavez. Late in his life, Alinsky began the IAF's institute or national organizational school. Edward T. Chambers, who joined the IAF in 1959, succeeded Alinsky as IAF Director and developed the institutes further. Trained at a 1972 IAF institute, Larry B. McNeil organized in Nashville, New York, and Chicago, later joining the IAF national staff as a trainer and West Coast Director.

In 1940, with financial support from Marshall Field III, Saul Alinsky (1909-1972) established the Industrial Areas Foundation. The Foundation headquarters were located in Chicago, Illinois, until the 1970s when it moved to New York. The philosophy of the Foundation is to organize the powerless, propertyless people of an area for the purpose of building an organization which would afford them the opportunity and power to act on matters involving their welfare, and to elect or designate representatives to participate in decision making and/or lobbying for them on a local and national level. Community organizations set up by the Industrial Areas Foundation became self-sufficient entities because their program was an integral, meaningful part of the life of the people who supported it. The power block community organizations established in urban areas focused attention on housing (slums, discrimination, urban renewal), economics (higher wages, better working conditions), and social conditions (reduction of crime rate, recreational facilities, school integration). Numerous community groups were organized by the Industrial Areas Foundation in white working class urban communities throught the United States. Whithin the city of Chicago, the Industrial Areas Foundation not only organized community committees in both white middle class and African American ghetto areas, but it served as consultants and conducted extensive studies. From 1955-1965, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago supported some of the work of the Foundation as Alinsky and his colleagues possessed the expertise to help people acquire the necessary skills which enabled them to deal with the economic, social, and moral problems affecting their livelihood and community. Initially, the Roman Catholic Church was concerned about organizational work among Puerto Ricans who were moving into the city. Then, it commissioned the Industrial Areas Foundation to study housing conditions in two areas of the city adversely affected by urban renewal which had dislocated a large segment of the poor population. In 1959, pastors of both Roman Catholic and Protestant churches and businessmen on the southwest side of the city of Chicago hired the Industrial Areas Foundation to organize a community committee. After a two-year effort, the Organization of the Southwest Community was formed. In 1960, with financial support from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese and other religious denominations, the Industrial Areas Foundation was invited into an African American ghetto community; the Woodlawn section of Chicago. The Temporary Woodlawn Organization, formerly constituted in March of 1962 as The Woodlawn Organization (TWO), was immediately confronted with many issues. They included southward extension of the University of Chicago, slum housing conditions, consumer exploitation, and integration of public schools. Subsequent to their success in Woodlawn, the Industrial Areas Foundation received invitations from African American ghetto communities throughout the United States. While working in the Woodlawn area, the Industrial Areas Foundation organized in 1961 the Northwest Community Organization. This predominantly Polish Roman Catholic community supported the Northwest Community Organization for two years without receiving any financial aid from the Roman Catholic Archidiocese of Chicago. The Industrial Areas Foundation also worked with individuals of Mexican heritage. Alinsky and his colleagues helped the Mexican farm workers in California to organize the United Farm Workers under the direction of Caesar Chevez. In 1968, the Industrial Areas Foundation became a national institute. Alinsky and his associates trained representatives of white middle class urban and suburban areas to become social action leaders. While focusing on the concerns of the white middle class, the Institute also admitted persons who represented minority concerns. Initial subsidization for the Institute in the city of Chicago was provided by Gordon Sherman, president of Midas International Foundation of Chicago. Besides directing the Industrial Areas Foundation program, Alinsky wrote numerous articles on crime, community organization, social action, poverty, and trade unionism.

The Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), founded in Chicago in 1940, trains citizens to organize their own communities. In the 1950s and 1960s, the IAF organized in Chicago, Los Angeles, Buffalo, and Rochester. Later, it developed national training institutes, fostering a network of community organizations.

Saul D. Alinsky (1909-1972) developed the IAF's principles of community organization and citizen participation, expressed in his books Reveille for Radicals (1946) and Rules for Radicals (1971). After his success in organizing Chicago's Back-of-the-Yards neighborhood council, Alinsky founded the IAF with the support of Chicago clergy and philanthropists. Upon being invited into a community, IAF organizers trained local leaders to develop grassroots organizations. Prominent successes were The Woodlawn Organization (TWO) in Chicago, and the Community Service Organizations in California (CSO),where IAF organizer Fred Ross trained Cesar Chavez. Late in his life, Alinsky began the IAF's institute or national organizational school. Edward T. Chambers, who joined the IAF in 1959, succeeded Alinsky as IAF Director and developed the institutes further. Trained at a 1972 IAF institute, Larry B. McNeil organized in Nashville, New York, and Chicago, later joining the IAF national staff as a trainer and West Coast Director.