Young People's Socialist League Records
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Historical/Biographical Note
The Young People's Socialist League (YPSL) has been the name of the youth section of the Socialist Party USA (SP). It originated in New York City in 1907 as the Young People's Socialist Federation, however, by 1918 it became known as the YPSL (members were often referred to as Yipsels). In the 1930s, the majority of the YPSL membership sided with the Militant faction within the Socialist Party, led by Norman Thomas, against the more moderate "Old Guard" linked to the garment industry unions, the Rand School, and the SP's periodical, the New Leader, which withdrew from the SP in 1936 to form the Social Democratic Federation. In that same year, U.S. Trotskyists entered the SP and the YPSL en masse in an attempt to win them to their political program, and within the YPSL, they had considerable success. A number of Yipsels, such as sociologist Daniel Bell, would go on to become prominent intellectuals, in particular within the anti-communist left. The YPSL continued to exist, with some periodic mergers with other organizations and related name changes, into the 1980s, with Trotskyists, and former Trotskyists, playing an important role.
Scope and Content Note
The collection, which focuses on the Greater New York (City) and national organizations of the Young People's Socialist League, contains correspondence, minutes, reports including a proposed program by Hal Draper (1934), educational and study materials, bulletins, newspapers, pamphlets, convention materials,clippings, a membership manual, fliers and other printed ephemera, and a souvenir program from a 1960 reunion. Principal themes documented include relations between the YPSL and the Socialist Party USA (with which the YPSL was affiliated), political debate within the YPSL and within the Socialist Party, the influence of Trotskyism within the YPSL, and attitudes towards the Communist movement. There are also documents and printed ephemera from the Socialist Party's Youth Committee, The Workmen's Circle, and the Young Communist League. While the collection spans the years 1920-1964, the bulk of the material is from the 1930s.
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Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection, created by the Young People's Socialist League, was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Materials donated by Zachary M. Baker, Librarian at the Jewish Public Library in Montreal, Canada, in 1983. The accession number associated with this gift is 1950.229.
