Socialist party mascot

Actually, founded in 1901, the Socialist Party grew rapidly in the years before World War I, claiming 113,000 members in 1912, making it, briefly, one of the largest socialist movements in the world. The SP won more than 900,000 votes in elections in 1912 and again in 1920. The movement's strength was evident also in the hundreds of party affiliated newspapers and the election of mayors, council members, and other officials in more than 300 cities. The Red Scare that began in 1917 and the loss of the majority of members to the two communist parties founded in 1919 severely damaged the movement, but through the 1920s and 1930s the SP enjoyed significant strength in some states and cities.