George Houser

The son of missionaries who spent portions of his early life in the Far East, George Houser served on the staff of the Fellowship of Reconciliation in the 1940s and '50s. With James Farmer and Berniece Fisher, he co-founded the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in 1942 in Chicago. With Bayard Rustin, another FOR staffer, Houser, a white Methodist minister, co-led the Journey of Reconciliation, the first interracial Freedom Ride through the South in 1947, in response to the Supreme Court's ruling in Irene Morgan vs. Virginia the previous Year.

Related Topics:
Fellowship of Reconciliation - James Farmer - Berniece Fisher - CORE - Bayard Rustin - Journey of Reconciliation - Freedom Ride - South - Supreme Court - Irene Morgan

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Houser left the FOR in the 1950s and turned his attention to African liberation struggles. He led the American Committee on Africa for many years, spending decades on the continent promoting freedom from colonial rule.

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