Correspondence, minutes, resolutions, theses, and internal bulletins relating to Trotskyist and other socialist activities in Latin America, Western Europe, Iran, and elsewhere, and to interactions of the Socialist Workers Party with the Fourth International; and trial transcripts, briefs, other legal documents, and background materials relating to the lawsuit brought by Alan Gelfand against the Socialist Workers Party in 1979. Most of collection also available on microfilm (108 reels).

The Socialist Workers Party had its origins in the Communist League of America, formed in 1928 by former members of the Workers (Communist) Party of America who had been expelled as followers of Leon Trotsky. The Communist League of America merged with the American Workers Party in 1934 to create the Workers Party of the United States. This organization dissolved in 1936 to allow its members to enter the Socialist Party, where they constituted a left wing. Members of the left wing, after expulsion from the Socialist Party, founded the Socialist Workers Party at the beginning of 1938.

135 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box (57.8 Linear Feet)

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.