Correspondence, photographs, book manuscripts and other materials pertaining to Fred Ross, Sr. (b. 1910-d. 1992), an influential community organizer who founded the Community Service Organization (CSO) in San Jose in 1948. Ross was a mentor to Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, among other key figures in the U.S. labor and civil rights movements. The majority of this collection is Fred Ross Sr.'s correspondence, handwritten notes, and book manuscripts. The date range for this collection is 1945-2000, but the bulk of the material falls between 1970-1992, the last few decades of Ross' life.