page_title: Young People's Socialist League (1907)
section_title: Growth in the early 1930s
hierarchical_section_title: Young People's Socialist League (1907) / History / Growth in the early 1930s
context_page_description: The Young People's Socialist League, founded in 1907, was the official youth arm of the Socialist Party of America. Its political activities tend to concentrate on increasing the voter turnout of young democratic socialists and social democrats affecting the issues impacting that demographic group.
context_section_description: The Great Depression beginning in 1929, combined with a new and energetic Socialist Party leadership around 1928 Presidential Candidate Norman Thomas and party Executive Secretary Clarence Senior lead to a revitalization of the Socialist Party's youth wing, as the YPSL grew along with the adult party. According to National Secretary Emanuel Switkes, at the end of 1930 the national YPSL organization had about 1500 members, divided into 65 branches in 25 cities of 9 states.
  The for a time the YPSL  was subdivided into two divisions, a "junior" group including boys and girls from the ages 13 to 16 and a "senior" group of young women and men aged 16 to 30. The organization raised funds and collected clothing for strikes in Danville, Virginia and Ward, West Virginia, and assisted in picketing on behalf of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union, the Furriers Union, the Retail Clerks Union, and others. The group also held a jamboree in Reading, Pennsylvania, the national headquarters of the YPSL organization.
  The official organ of the YPSL during the depression decade was a monthly tabloid newspaper launched in April 1933 initially called The Challenge, the name later being changed to The Challenge of Youth. The YPSL also produced a theoretical magazine and discussion bulletin called Young Socialist Review, which was available for 10 cents a copy. The magazine seems to have appeared irregularly. National Chairman of the YPSL in 1935 was Arthur G. McDowell and National Secretary was Winston Dancis.
caption: YPSL pinback from the 1930s, featuring the Socialist Party's traditional hand-and-torch logo.
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