Summary Information
Socialist records
1935-1966
Micro 684
3 reels of microfilm (35mm)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Records of several socialist organizations which were loosely associated with the Socialist Workers Party, including the Socialist Party-Social Democratic Federation, the Fourth International, the Young Socialist Alliance, and the Young Socialist League. The collection includes correspondence, minutes, publications and other documentation of the activities of these small splinter groups, primarily during the 1950's.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-micr0684 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
The constantly shifting loyalties of the organizations associated with the American Left leave a complex array of records. The Socialist Workers Party, one of the more stable of the leftist groups, collected the records of a few of the organizations with which it was associated, and in 1970 when it loaned its files to the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for microfilming, some of these records were included. Among them were records of the Socialist Party-Social Democratic Federation, records of the Fourth International, and records of various socialist youth movements. In 1977 additions to the SWP records were loaned to the Society, along with the originals of the records loaned for filming in 1970. The two groups of records were organized and microfilmed as a single unit. The 1970 microfilm of SWP records was then destroyed except for those rolls containing the records of the allied organizations mentioned above. It is these three rolls of 1970 microfilm that now constitute this separate collection.
The Socialist Party-Social Democratic Federation is an organization formed by the merger, 1957-1958, of three groups descending from the Socialist Party of the 1930's. In 1936 the moderate wing of the Socialist Party withdrew, eventually calling itself the Social Democratic Federation. The following year the Socialist Party expelled its radical wing, which later became the Socialist Workers Party. The SWP itself was split in 1940 when Max Schachtman and others broke away to organize the Workers Party, which later became the Independent Socialist League. The Socialist Party was reunited in 1957 with its old moderate wing, the Social Democratic Federation, and in 1958 the Independent Socialist League joined the newly formed Socialist Party-Social Democratic Federation.
The Fourth International was the worldwide organization of the Trotskyite movement. The Socialist Workers Party was in sympathy with the Fourth International but was not formally affiliated with it because of the Voorhis Act, which required registration of subversive groups. Furthermore, the International Secretariat of the Fourth International, under the influence of Pabloism, was in opposition to the Socialist Workers Party. When the International Secretariat was reorganized into the United Secretariat in the early 1960's and the Pabloites lost their dominant position; the Socialist Workers Party was then able to endorse the United Secretariat.
Scope and Content Note
The collection documents the activities, primarily during the 1950's, of several small socialist splinter organizations. The records of the SOCIALIST PARTY-SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC FEDERATION, 1955-1959, document the mergers that occurred in the mid-1950's. The records consist of correspondence, policy statements, minutes, and convention proceedings. Also included are its publications: Hammer and Tongs, 1955-1958; Socialist Newsletter, 1958; and Socialist Bulletin, 1958. The FOURTH INTERNATIONAL records include a 1956 policy statement, minutes of the United Secretariat, 1964-1965, and publications, 1947-1966. Records of YOUNG SOCIALIST ORGANIZATIONS include publications of the Young Socialist Alliance, 1964-1965; policy statements, 1957-1958, and publications, 1940-1960, of the Young Socialist League (affiliated with the Socialist Party-Social Democratic Federation); the Wayne Socialist, published by the Young Socialist Club of Wayne County, Michigan (affiliated with the Socialist Workers Party); and The Student Outlook, 1935.
Note
Because this collection was initially a part of the 1970 microfilm of the Socialist Workers Party papers, these three reels have title sheets throughout which retain this designation. Reel one has title sheets designating it series 2; reel two is old series 4; and reel three is old series 5. These designations are to be disregarded.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Loaned by microfilming by George Novack, New York City, New York, 1970. Accession Number: M70-99
Processed by Max J. Evans, May 1978.
Contents List
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Series: Socialist Party-Social Democratic Federation
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Reel
1
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Correspondence, 1956-1959
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Reel
1
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Policy Statements, 1956-1959
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Operational Documents
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Reel
1
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Minutes, 1955-1958
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Reel
1
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Convention Proceedings, 1957-1958
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Publications
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Reel
1
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Hammer and Tongs, 1955-1958
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Reel
1
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Socialist Newsletter, 1958
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Reel
1
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Socialist Bulletin, 1958
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Reel
1
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Miscellaneous publications
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Series: Fourth International
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Reel
2
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Policy Statement, 1956
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Reel
2
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Minutes of the United Secretariat, 1964-1965
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Publications
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Reel
2
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Bulletin Interieur (French), 1947
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Reel
2
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Internal Bulletin of the International Secretariat of the Fourth International, 1948-1957
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Reel
2
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The Internationalist, 1959-1960
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Reel
2
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Bulletin Interieur de la Ive Internationale (French), published by the United Secretariat, 1963-1964
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Reel
2
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“Approaching a Decisive Turning Point in Great Britain,” 1966
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Series: Young Socialist Organizations
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Young Socialist Alliance Publications
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Reel
3
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Youth for Deberry and Shaw Campaigner, 1964
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Reel
3
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National Convention Directory, 1965
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Reel
3
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Newsletter: Bring the Troops Home Now, 1965-1966
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Reel
3
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International Information Bulletin, 1966
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Young Socialist League
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Reel
3
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Policy Statements, 1957-1958
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Publications
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Reel
3
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Left Wing Bulletin, 1 957 - April-June
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Reel
3
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Young Socialist Review, 1940-1960
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Reel
3
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Wayne Socialist, published by the Young Socialist Club, Wayne County, Michigan, 1956-1957
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Reel
3
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The Student Outlook, 1935
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