The Intercollegiate Socialist Society Records, 1900-1921, originate from the papers of Harry W. Laidler. (Laidler was the organizing secretary of the ISS from 1910 to 1921 and the executive director of the League for Industrial Democracy from 1921 to 1956.) The collection consists five series, divided into 29 subject files (some contain more than one folder of material), including correspondence; financial and membership records; Executive Committee minutes; Organizing Secretary reports; printed, mimeographed, and office materials; and newspaper clippings.

The contents of each subject file have been arranged chronologically, with all undated items placed at the end of the file. Each subject file has been assigned a frame number and has been cited in the complete reel list which follows this description of the arrangement of the collection. In the representative frame number, XII:1, the number "1" stands for the first subject file, while the roman numeral "XII" indicates that the ISS Records are the 12th of the 19 collections in the microfilm set Socialist Collections in the Tamiment Library, 1872-1956.

The second largest quantity of records in this collection is the correspondence (XII:1). Most of the correspondence covers the period, 1904 1910, although there are several items for 1912 and 1918. The correspondence contains information about the establishment of the ISS, activities of various ISS chapters, and routine organizational matters, such as sponsoring fund raising drives and scheduling speaking events and special conferences. Among the most prominent correspondents in this file are Harry W. Laidler, Upton Sinclair, William English Walling, James Graham Phelps Stokes, M. R. Holbrook, William Feigenbaum, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, W. J. Ghent, and John Spargo.

Two important, though not sizable, files in this collection are the Executive Committee minutes and the organizing Secretary reports. The Executive Committee minutes (XII:7) contain informative reports on ISS activities and proposed policy resolutions. This is undoubtedly the most complete set of Executive Committee minutes in existence, although some minutes are missing. The organizing Secretary reports (XII:8) document many of the activities which occurred in the ISS chapters throughout the country. These reports, which were written by Harry W. Laidler, also contain information about membership, new chapters, special events relating to the ISS, and financial matters. It should be emphasized that these reports are incomplete for the period covered in this file.

The printed, mimeographed, and office material (XII:9 XII:27) constitute the largest group of records in this collection. These papers are actually the contents of several ISS scrapbooks, which were compiled by Harry W. Laidler. The materials consist of memoranda, pamphlets, form letters, annual convention reports, lecture announcements, press releases, statements, and miscellaneous printed matter. These items have been arranged chronologically by year, month, and day, with undated items placed at the end of each year. The pamphlets and leaflets in these files have been bibliographically cited in the complete reel list under the particular file in which they are located.

This collection also contains most issues of the Bulletin of the Intercollegiate Socialist Society, 1908-1912, and a large number of newspaper clippings pertaining to the ISS. Serving as the major serial publication of the ISS during its formative period, the Bulletin of the Intercollegiate Socialist Society(XII:28) offers information about major policy developments and activities of the organization. The newspaper clippings (XII:29) were taken from a variety of socialist and non-socialist newspapers during the period, 1906 1918. These clippings contain information about the ISS's response to World War I, the ISS's idealistic visions of a socialist millennium, Rose Pastor Stokes and the controversy over distributing birth control information, the ISS's position regarding the 1912 and 1916 Presidential campaigns, and the important developments occurring at ISS meetings and quest lectures.