* Closed Materials are available only with premission of the owner.
Researchers may also be interested in the Manuscript Collection for the related
Opportunities Industrialization Centers International.
BACKGROUND
OICA is a national network of employment and training centers which serve the hardcore poor and unemployed. The community based organization was founded in 1964 by Reverend Leon Howard Sullivan, pastor of Zion Baptist Church in Philadelphia. OICA provides assistance to local affiliates in areas of program development, proposal development, fiscal management, and management information systems.
The OICA records contain a wealth of information on a variety of programs initiated since help those individuals with special barriers to employment such as ex-offenders, former alcoholics and drug abusers, high school drop-outs, veterans, older workers and women. Files also contain documents pertaining to OICA economic development activities, particularly the Community Investment Cooperatives Program. This Program provided opportunities for minorities and other disadvantaged groups to pool resources and start business ventures in their own communities.
ORGANIZATION
Organized into seven series:
- Series I: Administration (Boxes 1-7)
- Series II: OICA Departments (Boxes 8-70)
- Series III: OIC Programs and Projects (Boxes 71-78)
- Series IV: OIC Sub-Organizations (Boxes 79-82)
- Series V: Convocations (Boxes 83-85)
- Series VI: Audio-Visuals Materials (Boxes 86-88)
- Series VII: Student Files (Boxes 89-90) CASE ANONYMITY
Scope & Content Note
This series contains the records documenting OICA activities at the national conferences held once a year in various cities nationwide. Records include program agendas, publications, correspondence and memorandums from 1969-1982.
