Mr. James Farmer (1920 – 1999) was a founder of the pioneering American civil rights organization, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). A native of Texas and graduate of the Howard University School of Religion, he considered the “secular” task of working for racial democracy as the essence of his sacred ministry. In that spirit he was a major organizer of the CORE-sponsored Freedom Rides that led to the end of racial discrimination in interstate travel in 1961.