Milwaukee was a hot-bed of Socialism in the first half of the twentieth century. The Milwaukee Leader newspaper served as the official organ of the national party and brought Socialist ideas into the popular press. The editor of The Leader, Victor Berger, opposed the First World War and was initially denied his seat when he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1918 (he ended up serving several terms in Congress). Milwaukeeans lived under Socialist mayors for thirty-eight years between 1910 and 1960, including Frank Zeidler who, before serving as mayor of Milwaukee from 1948 to 1960 and running as the Party's presidential candidate in 1976, was a teenaged leader of the Milwaukee branch of the Red Falcons in the 1930s. Milwaukee socialism reflected a practical approach to government and labor; the mayors promoted public welfare programs (better sewers, a city health bureau) and labor unions were large and powerful.

The Socialist Party in Milwaukee and elsewhere made direct efforts at recruiting young people. In October, 1912, the first Young People?s County Central Committee was organized, made up of delegates from the South Side, the West Side, the East Side, the North Side and the Marxian Circles. Young Socialists were organized into several different groups: the Red Sparks was for young children, the Red Falcons for older children, and the Young People's Socialist Party for youth. These groups resembled the Boys Scouts. They organized activities for children such as camping, sports, and crafts. These organizations had a strong political slant, as children were encouraged to learn the ideas of the Party, to participate in and support strikes, and to understand the history of the Socialist movement. In addition to these organizations, there were also Socialist picnics and Sunday Schools.

Supporting the work of these organizations were publications like the Falcon Call and the Challenge. A letter from the head of the Red Falcons of America national office in New York declared that the publication of the Falcon Call was "the next logical step in the creation of a mass proletarian children's movement. . . . With this, now we can really begin to batter down the prejudices built up by the jingoists and militarists. With this, we can have a real influence on the large masses of working class children whom our movement has not yet reached."

It is difficult to ascertain how many children read the Falcon Call or participated in these activities and organizations, but it is clear that the many of the county's children participated willingly and deeply in the educational and entertainment programs sponsored by the Socialist Party.

--Julie Tatlock

The documents in this special section include editorials and articles as well as a play, a poem, and a short story from the Falcon Call, the newspaper published for young Socialists; the Young People's Socialist League constitution; and various other descriptions of young socialists' activities.

Additional documents related to this topic may be discovered by searching the CUAP archive with the following keywords: citizenship, clubs, communism, government, politics