National Council of La Raza - History

History

In the early 1960s, a group of young Mexican Americans in Washington, DC formed the National Organization for Mexican American Services (NOMAS). The organization existed primarily to provide technical assistance to Hispanic groups and bring them together under one umbrella. NOMAS presented a proposal to the Ford Foundation to conduct a study of Mexican Americans, which ultimately led the foundation to finance two studies. The first was conducted by the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), while the second less academic study was conducted by three Mexican Americans, Herman Gallegos, Dr. Julian Samora, and Dr. Ernesto Galarza. The resulting reports showed that Mexican Americans needed more organized advocacy groups to work on their behalf at both the local and national level.

As a result, Gallegos, Samora and Galarza founded the Southwest Council of La Raza (SWCLR) in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1968. SWCLR was given financial support from the Ford Foundation, the National Council of Churches, and the United Auto Workers, and the organization received 501(c)(3) status later that year.

In 1973, the SWCLR became a national organization, changed its name to the National Council of La Raza, and moved its headquarters to Washington, D.C. Early disagreements among the organization's leadership caused the Ford Foundation to threaten to withhold funding, resulting in President Henry Santiestevan's resignation and the election of Raul Yzaguirre.

In 1973, the NCLR bylaws were amended to require equal representation of women on the board of directors.

Beginning in about 1975, the NCLR began expanding its focus to include the issues of non-Mexican American Latinos. This policy was made official in 1979. By 1980, the NCLR was funded almost entirely by the federal government.

When the Reagan Administration slashed social funding, the NCLR was forced to cut back the scale of its operations. As a result, the organization began focusing on national policy and concentrating its efforts in Washington, D.C. After the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, state governments exerted more control over the disbursement of welfare funds, which led to the development of the NCLR's Field Advocacy Project to influence decisions at the state and local levels.