Origins of split 1937 Social Democratic Federation leader
Louis Waldman noted in his memoirs that while the official split of the Socialist Party that resulted in the creation of the Social Democratic Federation took place in 1936, "the crucial events occurred at the party's
national convention in
Detroit in 1934." A stern warning was issued that it was "not enough" to merely defeat the Detroit Declaration of Principles in the party referendum held for their ratification, but that "the Socialist Party must be made safe for Socialism, for social democracy." Names of sympathizers were gathered, funds collected, and an office established in New York City. A "Provisional Executive Committee" of the faction was named, including such long-time members of the SPA as
James Maurer of Pennsylvania,
Algernon Lee and Louis Waldman of New York, George Roewer of Massachusetts (Chairman of the Provisional Executive Committee),
George Goebel of New Jersey, and Mayor
Jasper McLevy of
Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Louis Hendin was engaged as Executive Secretary of the faction, which had already in 1934 taken the form of a "party within the party." In his 1944 memoir, Socialist Party of New York State Chairman Louis Waldman freely acknowledged that he and his New York Old Guard comrades disregarded the authority of the 1934 National Convention and immediately attempted to lock up party assets in his faction's control: Back from Detroit, I was immediately confronted with a problem which involved millions of dollars of property controlled by subsidiaries of the Socialist Party. In New York alone there were such institutions as the
Jewish Daily Forward, the leading Jewish newspaper in the world with a circulation running into hundreds of thousands and with reserve funds amounting to millions. There was
The New Leader, a weekly newspaper published in English; there was the Rand School of Social Science which, together with Camp Tamiment, had enormous property value, not to speak of their importance as propaganda and educational instruments. Control of the
Forward alone also meant probable control of fraternal and labor organizations such as the
Workmen's Circle, with its millions of dollars in property and tens of thousands of members throughout the United States... After Detroit it was obvious that the militant Socialists controlled the Socialist Party. I saw that all they had to do in order to gain control of the valuable property in New York was to revoke the New York State charter and expel all state organizations controlled by the Social Democrats or the Old Guard. Since there was always a minority of militant Socialists in each of these corporate institutions, these properties involving millions of dollars in property value and cash reserves would quickly fall into the hands of the militants... All during 1935 and the early part of 1936 my office was converted into a meeting place for the various committees and members of the organizations threatened by the militants. Constitutions and bylaws were modified in such a way as to prevent control falling into the hands of
Norman Thomas' super-revolutionists. This continued until the decision was made to disband and reorganize as an "educational organization for the dissemination of socialist ideals" at two-day convention was held during the weekend of March 27–28, 1937, at the
Rand School of Social Science in New York City. The SDF went on to formally organize itself on a national basis at a convention held in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on May 29–30, 1937. This foundation gathering elected Mayor
Jasper McLevy of
Bridgeport, Connecticut as National Chairman of the new organization. The gathering passed a resolution of support to the
Loyalist government of
Spain and supporting an anti-Nazi boycott. The convention also voted to apply to the
Labour and Socialist International as an affiliate.
Reunification with the Socialist Party (left) and
Darlington Hoopes shake hands at the 1957 SP-SDF Unity Convention. Reunification with the dissident Social Democratic Federation was long a goal of the Socialist Party regulars, with initial attempts beginning as early as 1937. In his 1938 book,
Socialism on the Defensive, SP leader Norman Thomas acknowledged that a number of issues had been involved in the split which led to the formation of the SDF, including "organizational policy, the effort to make the party inclusive of all socialist elements not bound by communist discipline; a feeling of dissatisfaction with social democratic tactics which had failed in Germany" as well as "the socialist estimate of Russia; and the possibility of cooperation with communists on certain specific matters." Still, he held that "those of us who believe that an inclusive socialist party is desirable, and ought to be possible, hope that the growing friendliness of socialist groups will bring about not only joint action but ultimately a satisfactory reunion on the basis of sufficient agreement for harmonious support of a socialist program." This speedy reunification failed after
Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939 revealed the threat of a coalition of two totalitarian states. The threat revealed by this pact reduced the influence of pacifists in the Federation, the Socialist Party, and the labor movement. During the years of
World War II through the first half of the 1950s, the SDF's paid membership drastically declined. Its influence on New York politics and labor unions similarly dropped. These declines corresponded with a general decline in the prestige of socialist organizations in the
Cold War period, as well as the growth of
Americans for Democratic Action and other liberal organizations, which tapped the SDF's support among sympathetic progressives. This decline made the SDF more amenable to reunification with the
Socialist Party, which lost members while maintaining its opposition to communism and critical support for the U.S. policy of
containment. After several years of negotiations, a merger was finally accomplished in 1957 to form the Socialist Party-Social Democratic Federation (SP-SDF). A small group of holdouts refused to reunify, establishing a new organization called the
Democratic Socialist Federation. == Publications ==