ABSTRACT
ALTHOUGH THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF AMERICA SERVED THE POLITICAL needs of many in the working class, party leaders understood the necessity to educate the masses as well. During the earliest years of the party, from 1901 until 1906, the American Socialist Society served that purpose by arranging lecture courses and classes for the study of economics and socialism, as well as aiding in the acculturation of newly-arrived immigrants. However, from its inception, the ultimate goal of the society was to create a permanent educational institution to meet these and other needs. Finally, in 1906, the society created the Rand School of Social Science with two stated purposes: first, to offer to the public facilities for the study of socialism and related subjects; and second, to offer socialists instruction and training in order to make them more efficient party functionaries.
