The Woodlawn Organization, 1963

The Woodlawn Organization, a premier example of the organizing style of Saul Alinsky, gained national prominence in the 1960s as a militant protest organization. In struggles with its South Side neighbor, the University of Chicago, and with the city administration, TWO developed tactics that empowered Woodlawn residents and advanced TWO's goal of “black self-determination.” As TWO developed, it engaged in less controversial activities. Unable to halt neighborhood deterioration in the seventies, TWO continued to provide service programs and survived to become a major player in the rebuilding of a new Woodlawn neighborhood at the end of the century.

John Hall Fish