Democratic Socialists of America Records

Call Number

TAM.105

Dates

1940-2023, ongoing, inclusive

; 1972-2006, bulk

Creator

Democratic Socialists of America (Role: Donor)

Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (U.S.) (Role: Donor)

Democratic Socialists of America

Extent

164.7 Linear Feet in 140 record cartons, 16 manuscript boxes, 4 half manuscript boxes, 4 media boxes, 4 small flat boxes, 1 oversized flat box, 2 audio reels in oversized shared manuscript box, 1 folder in oversized shared flat box, and born digital items in 1 shared media box

195.26 Gigabytes

43 websites in 43 archived websites.

87 videocassettes (vhs)

146 audiocassettes

7 videocassettes (hi8)

6 videocassettes (u-matic)

40 sound tape reels

Language of Materials

The majority of the materials are in English; a few items are in Spanish. Websites are in English, Arabic, and Spanish.

Abstract

Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) was founded in 1982 with the merger of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC) and the New American Movement (NAM). DSOC was led by Michael Harrington (1928-1989), the author of The Other America (1962). NAM grew out of the New Left and feminist movements. The Democratic Socialists of America is the largest socialist organization in the United States, with over 92,000 members, chapters in all 50 states (both statistics as of 2022), and a youth and student section, Young Democratic Socialists of America. The Democratic Socialists of America Records consist of materials created by the organization, its leaders, and its members from its inception to its current state. These materials include publications; national board and committee meeting minutes and agendas; local chapter meeting minutes; conference programs; member correspondence and mailings; reports and proceedings of the Socialist International, of which DSA is the U.S. affiliate; files on the DSA-founded Institute for Democratic Socialism; and files on other labor and left organizations, as well as websites created by the DSA. The collection also contains published and unpublished writings of Michael Harrington.

Historical Note

Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) was founded in 1982 with the merger of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC) and the New American Movement (NAM). DSOC was led by Michael Harrington (1928-1989), the author of The Other America (1962). NAM grew out of the New Left and feminist movements. Harrington and others, including Carl Shier, left the Socialist Party, USA (later known as the Socialist Party-Democratic Socialist Federation, USA, or SP-DSF) over its support of the Vietnam War, and became the principal founders of DSOC. In its early days, DSA established chapters in virtually every state, including chapters at many colleges and universities; worked to build a progressive presence in the Democratic Party through its Democratic Agenda project; collaborated closely with progressive labor unions and leaders, feminists, and others to promote a social democratic agenda and a peaceful foreign policy; and advocated for socialism while strongly criticizing Communism. DSA also published Democratic Left, founded the Socialist Scholars Conference (now known as the Left Forum), and established the Insitute for Democratic Socialism. DSA is the largest socialist organization in the United States, with over 92,000 members, chapters in all 50 states (both statistics as of 2022), and a youth and student section (Young Democratic Socialists of America). It serves as the U.S. affiliate of Socialist International. The organization is committed to the idea that "working people should run both the economy and society democratically to meet human needs, not to make profits for a few."

Sources Cited:

Democratic Socialists of America. "History." Accessed June 14, 2023. https://www.dsausa.org/about-us/history/.

Democratic Socialists of America. "Leadership and Structure." Accessed June 14, 2023. https://www.dsausa.org/about-us/structure/.

The Democratic Socialists of America Fund. "History." Accessed June 14, 2023. https://fund.dsausa.org/history/.

Young Democratic Socialists of America. "Home." Accessed June 14, 2023. https://y.dsausa.org/.

Arrangement

The records have been arranged into 14 series; the series arrangement is as follows:

Series I. Organizational History

Series II. Governing Bodies

Series III. Committees and Commissions

Series IV. Youth Section/Young Democratic Socialists of America

Series V. Staff and Administrative Materials

Series VI. Conventions

Series VII. Publications

Series VIII. Chapters

Series IX. Events and Publicity

Series X. Membership and Fundraising

Series XI. Socialist International

Series XII. Institute for Democratic Socialism/Democratic Socialists of America Fund

Series XIII. Subject Files

Series XIV. Archived Websites

All of the series are arranged chronologically, with the exception of Series XIII, which is arranged alphabetically.

Scope and Contents

The Democratic Socialists of America Records consist of materials created by the organization, its leaders, and its members from its inception to its current state. These materials reflect the organization's efforts to fight for reforms that empower working people through a variety of tactics, including legislative reform and direct action. Materials include Michael Harrington's early writing (both published and unpublished), which reflects positions later adopted by DSA; correspondence, memos, publications, resolutions, and mailings from Harrington's term as the chair of the Socialist Party, USA; letters documenting his resignation as chair and subsequent resignation from the party; and meeting minutes and correspondence of the Coalition Caucus, the predecessor of DSOC. Materials also include publications, correspondence, and meeting minutes from DSOC and the New American Movement (NAM) before they merged; also included are materials documenting the merger. Other materials consist of minutes, agendas, statements, and reports from DSA's governing bodies (National Board, National Executive Committee, and National Political Committee) and minutes, reports, statements, and publications from its various committees, commissions, and caucuses (including the Feminist Commission, Religious Socialism Committee, and the Democratic Agenda, among others). There is a large amount of material from the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA), which began as the Youth Section; included are convention proceedings, mailings, chapter reports, and executive committee minutes. On the national level, there are materials from the office (staff meeting minutes and correspondence); convention programs, papers, and speeches; events and projects (such as Justice for All and Center for Democratic Values, among others); publications (Democratic Left, Socialist Forum, and position papers); clippings and articles about DSA; membership mailings; and fundraising campaigns and grant applications. On the regional and local level, there are chapter meeting minutes, reports, and local convention programs. Additionally, there are meeting minutes, resolutions, and conference proceedings from Socialist International, and financial records, correspondence, and conference programs from the Institute for Democratic Socialism. DSA often worked with other organizations and unions with similar interests, like the National Organization for Women and Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union; included are printed matter from these organizations (brochures and newsletters) and conference materials. The websites of the national organization, chapter organizations, committees, YDSA, and other offshoots are also included in this collection. This collection also includes audio and video recordings of convention sessions, lectures, and television appearances by DSA leaders on analog and electronic formats. Additional born-digital materials contain mailings, printed matter (brochures, flyers, and conference programs), and position papers, mostly from the early 1990s-2010s.

Subjects

Donors

Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (U.S.); Democratic Socialists of America

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open without restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use materials in the collection in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date; Democratic Socialists of America Records; TAM 105; box number; folder number or item identifier; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

To cite the archived websites in this collection: Identification of item, date; Democratic Socialists of America Records; TAM 105; Wayback URL; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

Location of Materials

Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please request materials at least two business days prior to your research visit to coordinate access.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Materials were donated by the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee in 1980. Additional accessions were donated by the Democratic Socialists of America in 1983-1985, 1989, and 2019-2023. The accession numbers associated with these gifts are 1970-018, 1980-017, 2019-017, 2019-051, 2019-088, 2019-147, 2019-128, 2020-014, 2020-018, 2021-006, 2021-001, 2021-017, 2021-044, 2021-042, 2021-069, 2021-062, 2021-080, 2021-087, 2022-031, 2022-039, 2022-050, 2022-064, 2022-066, 2022-072, 2022-092, 2023-025, NPA-2001-088, NPA-2005-191, NPA-2002-022, NPA-2006-030, and NPA-2005-128.

http://www.dsausa.org/, http://theactivist.org/, http://www.ydsusa.org/, and https://talkingunion.wordpress.com/ were initially selected by curators and captured through the use of The California Digital Library's Web Archiving Service in 2008-2009 as part of the Communism, Socialism, Trotskyism Web Archive. https://fund-dsausa.nationbuilder.com/ was added in 2013. In 2015, this website was migrated to Archive-It. Archive-It uses web crawling technology to capture websites at a scheduled time and displays only an archived copy, from the resulting WARC file, of the website. In 2018, https://y.dsausa.org/, https://dsa.actionkit.com/donate/dsa-fund/, https://electoral.dsausa.org/, https://ecosocialists.dsausa.org/, https://democraticleft.dsausa.org/, https://teachers.dsausa.org/, and https://store.dsausa.org/ were added. The accession number associated with these websites are 2019.088. In April-May 2019, https://labor.dsausa.org/, https://fund.dsausa.org/, https://socialistforum.dsausa.org/, and https://international.dsausa.org/ were added. The accession number associated with these websites are 2019.128. In October 2019, https://dsaantiwar.com/, https://tech.dsausa.org/, https://breadandrosesdsa.org/, https://medicareforall.dsausa.org/, http://closethecampsoct.org/, and https://bernie.dsausa.org/ were added. The accession number associated with these websites is 2019.147. In December 2019, https://www.religioussocialism.org/ and https://socialistcall.com/ were added. The accession number associated with these websites are 2020.014. http://feeds.feedburner.com/religioussocialismpodcast/ and https://blubrry.com/thecallradio/ were added. The accession number associated with these websites are 2020.018. In 2020, 96 DSA related Google Documents and Sheets were added to Archive-it to better capture these materials directly. The accession numbers associated with these websites are 2021.006, 2021.011, 2021.017, 2021.042, and 2021.044. In January 2021, https://workerorganizing.org/ was added. The accession number associated with this website is 2021.062. In February 2021, additional Google documents and https://design.dsausa.org/ was added. The accession number associated with this website is 2021.069. In March 2021, https://powerfortexas.org/ was added. The accession number associated with this website is 2021.080. In May 2021, https://pro-act.dsausa.org/ and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp2lDGhpmtJdBRIwznXH0vQ/ were added. The accession number associated with these websites is 2021.087. In November 2021, https://greennewschools.com/ was added. The accession number associated with this website is 2022.031. In December 2021, https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1z87YDk3DGkPJF59atZdiDoOgtVp8xc2Q/ was added. The accession number associated with this website is 2022.039. In March 2022, https://laborsolidarity.com/ and https://www.youtube.com/DemocraticSocialistsofAmericaDSA/videos was added. The accession number associated with these websites is 2022.050. In June 2022, https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSZU995aYZamOReQJBIyrgTiifoAzg950aBGnJ4u7MCFryuY6v7ud5e_WsOH_oftLOu6ilmfi-UWTDD/pub was added. The accession number associated with this website is 2022.064. In July 2022, https://protectabortion.org/ and https://www.dishrag.org/. The accession number associated with these websites is 2022.066. In August 2022, https://palestine.dsausa.org/ and https://education.dsausa.org/ were added. The accession number associated with these websites is 2022.072. In November 2022, https://cam4a.org/, https://rfs.dsausa.org/, https://dsaic.org/, and https://convention2021.dsausa.org/ were added. The accession number associated with these websites is 2022.092. In February 2023, https://www.greennewslate.com/ and https://convention2023.dsausa.org/. The accession number associated with these websites is 2023.025. In August 2023, https://linktr.ee/DSADisability/ was added/ The accession number associated with this website is 2023.070.

Custodial History

Democratic Socialists of America Audiocassette Collection (OH 058), previously a discrete collection, was incorporated into TAM 105 in June 2023.

Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures

Audiovisual materials have not been preserved and may not be available to researchers. Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive, special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596, with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.

Born-Digital Access Policies and Procedures

Advance notice is required for the use of computer records. Original physical digital media is restricted. Born-digital materials have not been transferred and may not be available to researchers. Researchers may request access copies. To request that material be transferred, or if you are unsure if material has been transferred, please contact Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive, special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596, with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.

Take Down Policy

Archived websites are made accessible for purposes of education and research. NYU Libraries have given attribution to rights holders when possible; however, due to the nature of archival collections, we are not always able to identify this information.

If you hold the rights to materials in our archived websites that are unattributed, please let us know so that we may maintain accurate information about these materials.

If you are a rights holder and are concerned that you have found material on this website for which you have not granted permission (or is not covered by a copyright exception under US copyright laws), you may request the removal of the material from our site by submitting a notice, with the elements described below, to the repository email.

Please include the following in your notice: Identification of the material that you believe to be infringing and information sufficient to permit us to locate the material; your contact information, such as an address, telephone number, and email address; a statement that you are the owner, or authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed and that you have a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; a statement that the information in the notification is accurate and made under penalty of perjury; and your physical or electronic signature. Upon receiving a notice that includes the details listed above, we will remove the allegedly infringing material from public view while we assess the issues identified in your notice.

Related Archival Materials

New American Movement Records (TAM 051)

Michael Harrington Papers (TAM 209)

Maurice Isserman Research Files for The Other American: The Life of Michael Harrington (TAM 239)

Accruals

Additional accruals are expected.

Collection processed by

Peter Meyer Filardo and Lauren Stark

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-09-05 12:21:18 -0400.

Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Language: English

Processing Information

Photographs were separated from this collection during initial processing and were established as a separate collection, the Democratic Socialists of America [International Union of Socialist Youth World Festival] Photographs (PHOTOS 129). In 2014, the photograph collection was reincorporated into the the Democratic Socialists of America Records.

Portions of the collection were processed in January 1985, May 1991, and 2009, by Alizah Zinberg, David Donabedian, and others.

In 2014, the archived websites were added as Series XIV. Additional websites were added to Series XIV in 2019-2023.

Materials in the 2019 accretion were rehoused in acid-free boxes. Loose VHS tapes were rehoused in cases and posters were intellectually added. Born-digital materials were identified and physically inventoried, but not forensically imaged.

In June 2023, a new survey, processing plan, and updated organizational structure were compiled; in addition, the first series and audiovisual materials for all corresponding series were processed and rehoused in acid-free boxes and folders. Two audio reels were stabilized and need no additional treatment at this time; one issue of Socialist Forum was treated by Preservation in order to unglue its pages. Materials from OH 058 (Democratic Socialists of America Audiocassette Collection), a previously established distinct collection, were incorporated into this collection. 697 floppy disks, 2 zip disks, and 58 CDs and DVDs were forensically imaged. New York University Libraries follow professional standards and best practices when imaging, ingesting, and processing born-digital material in order to maintain the integrity of the content.

Revisions to this Guide

February 2019: Finding aid was edited by Amy C. Vo to reflect a 2019 accretion.

September 2023: Edited by Nicole Greenhouse for additional administration information and the incorporation of archived websites

June 2023: Finding aid was revised by Lauren Stark to reflect updated arrangement, processing of Series I, and processing of AV materials.

Repository

Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives