Summary Information
Young People's Socialist League Records
1926-1962
- Young People's Socialist League
Mss 13
0.4 c.f. (1 archives box)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Copies of circular letters, minutes, convention papers, publications, reports, resolutions, and other papers of a semi-autonomous the Young People's Socialist League, the youth branch of the Socialist Party of America. The collection primarily documents the more practical aspects of party life and activities, such as meetings, membership, fund raising, committee work, and conventions. The file of publications is comprised of issues of the YPSL newspaper, Challenge (1943-1946), Avanti (a bulletin), the Young Socialist Handbook, and the High School Socialist, as well as individual publications and mimeographed material. Also included is a 1953 report describing YPSL disorganization and lack of membership, a 1940 resolution on socialism and the war, and statements on Cuba, 1961.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00013 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
The Young People's Socialist League, founded in 1907, has operated as a semi-autonomous youth branch of the Socialist Party of America. In general its size has risen and fallen in consonance with that of the Socialist Party, and its activities have been geared to the needs of the parent body. But Y.P.S.L. members, or “Yipsels”, became differentiable from general party membership, particularly after the Russian Revolution, by their greater militancy and their eagerness to bring (in the League's slogan) “Socialism in Our Time”.
Often the Y.P.S.L. has exerted a Left pressure on the main body of Socialist Party members. In 1935 to 1936, the size and activism of New York Y.P.S.L. did much to swing the state organization in a radical direction. In the Social Democratic Federation, this brought about the exit of moderate adult socialists from the Socialist Party. In 1939 to 1940 the anti-war sentiment of Yipsels encouraged many socialists who favored aid to the Allies to drop their membership. At other times, the League has reflected its disaffection with the policies of Socialist Party leaders by cooperating with, allying with, or actually joining other adult radical organizations. In 1919 a majority of the League, then at its height with 10,000 members, broke with the Socialist Party to join the Workers Party (Communist). In 1937 to 1938 many Yipsels fused with the Trotskyists, expelled from the Socialist Party, to form the Socialist Workers Party. And again in 1953, a large percentage of Y.P.S.L. membership, then small in absolute terms, united with the Young Socialist League, youth affiliate of the Independent Socialist League.
In recent years the Y.P.S.L., in serious decline, has made itself felt primarily through larger, overtly liberal coalitions. In the 1930s and again in the 1950s many Yipsels exerted their efforts within the Student League for Industrial Democracy, later to become the Students for a Democratic Society. In the period immediately preceding World War II, many Y.P.S.L. members were active in the Youth Committee Against War. And in the early 1960s, Yipsels largely controlled the national policies of the Student Peace Union. More recently, Y.P.S.L., along with the Socialist Party, has lost almost entirely whatever influence it once exerted. Adopting the rigid anti-communism of the Socialist Party, the Young People's Socialist League has tended to dissolve into the liberal wing of the Democratic Party and the bureaucracy of industrial unions.
Scope and Content Note
The papers of the Y.P.S.L. are duplicates of materials held at Duke University. The collection is arranged in seven categories: circular letters; minutes; conventions and constitution; publications; press releases; memoranda, reports, statements, and resolutions; and miscellaneous materials. Unless noted otherwise, the papers within each category are arranged either chronologically or by issuing body.
Circular letters: Included in this category are letters (1938-1962), which were mimeographed and circulated both to the general membership and to key individuals. They are generally concerned with the more practical aspects of party life such as meetings, membership, and fund raising.
Minutes: This category contains minutes of the National Executive Committee, 1935-1962; National Organization Committee, 1940-1943, 1951-1953; and National Action Committee, 1958-1962.
Conventions and constitution: Proceedings of four national conventions are included in this category. These are the 17th, 1950; the 18th, 1951; the 19th, 1953; and the 20th, 1957. An undated copy of the Y.P.S.L. constitution is also included.
Publications: This category consists of publications, primarily in mimeograph form. It comprises almost half of the collection, and is probably its most valuable feature. Included are thirteen issues of Challenge, a Y.P.S.L. newspaper, 1943-1946. In addition, single numbers of specialized publications, such as Revolutionary Religion (1947), High School Socialist (1941), and Avanti!, a high school radical bulletin (1942), may be of interest to researchers. The eighteen titles represented in this category are arranged alphabetically.
Press releases: This category includes only seven Y.P.S.L. press releases. Two of these deal with opposition to the draft prior to World War II, two others with the rights of students. The eighth release, perhaps issued by the American Student Union, concerns a student anti-war strike at Wayne University (circa 1939).
Memoranda, reports, statements, and resolutions: Memoranda are statements of opinion by party members, and were evidently circulated, either to the entire membership or to the N.F.C. Reports served as a means of communication between committees and between the Y.P.S.L. and the Socialist Party. Two reports by S.P. members on Y.P.S.L. affairs are included. One of these (1953 July 18) contains a rather scathing account of Y.P.S.L. disorganization and gives the total membership as 145. Statements and resolutions are expressions of Y.P.S.L. positions on various topics. The collection includes a resolution on Socialism and the war (1940) and statements on Cuba (circa 1961). Material in this category covers the period 1939-1962.
Miscellaneous materials: Two folders comprise this category. 1) Miscellaneous correspondence and minutes includes three pieces of correspondence and five copies of minutes from locals in Los Angeles, Newark, New York, and Chicago, 1936-1957. 2) Miscellaneous printed material and ephemera includes brochures, pamphlets, flyers, and programs, as well as two financial reports, a copy of the Young Socialist Handbook (1950?), and other materials, covering the years 1926-1961.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Duplicates received from Duke University, Duke University Library, Durham, North Carolina, June 21, 1967.
Processed by Paul Buhle, February 15, 1968, and Barbara Kaiser, June 11, 1970.
Contents List
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Box
1
Folder
1
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Circular letters, 1938, Sept. - 1962, Aug.
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Minutes
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Box
1
Folder
2
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National Executive Committee, 1935-1962
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Box
1
Folder
3
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National Organization Committee, 1940-1943; 1951-1953
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Box
1
Folder
4
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National Action Committee, 1958-1962
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Box
1
Folder
5
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Conventions, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1957; constitution, , undated
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Publications, alphabetical
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Box
1
Folder
6
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Avanti to National Office Bulletin
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Box
1
Folder
7
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Organizer to Young Socialist
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Box
1
Folder
8
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Press releases, circa 1936-1961
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Box
1
Folder
9
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Memoranda, reports, statements, and resolutions, 1939-1962
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Box
1
Folder
10
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Miscellaneous correspondence, minutes, 1936-1937, circa 1950, 1957
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Box
1
Folder
11
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Miscellaneous printed material and ephemera, 1926-circa 1962
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