Provides an historical overview of the Socialist Party of America as it struggled to gain support and realize its goals. Documents in the collection include correspondence, position papers, memoranda, financial records, pamphlets and broadsides, and leaflets. The records in the collection reflect the party's internal disputes, including the 1919 split, which resulted in the formation of the American Communist Party. An important segment of the material focuses on the 1950s and 1960s, when the party's momentum was aided by social unrest and the concomitant increase in civil rights activities. These were also the years when the Socialist Party of America finally received widespread attention from intellectuals and influential government leaders in President Johnson's War on Poverty. The files from 1963 to 1976 document the Socialist Party's new alignment with the Democratic Party as it worked to forge a labor-liberal coalition. These records will allow researchers to investigate the changes that occurred within the party during the 1960s and early 1970s: the formation of the Social Democrats, U.S.A., of the "Debs Caucus," and the Socialist Party, U.S.A.