Challenge (1933)


Challenge was a tabloid-sized monthly newspaper established in Chicago in April 1933 that served as the official organ of the Young People's Socialist League, the youth section of the Socialist Party of America. The publication was subsequently renamed The Challenge of Youth and continued in existence through 1946.

Publication history

Establishment

The decision to launch a new official newspaper of the Young People's Socialist League was made at the 1932 National Convention of the YPSL. In April 1933, this publication was launched, a 4-page tabloid called The Challenge. Throughout its first year, the publication campaigned against the threat of international war, fascism, child labor, and deficiencies in the American education system and lobbied on behalf of efforts to politically organize unemployed workers and to expand the trade union movement.
The first issue of The Challenge featured a lengthy masthead, including Arthur G. McDowell as Editor, James Quick, Bob Parker, Jack Jaffe, Aaron Levenstein, and Paul Rasmussen as Associate Editors, Hy Fish as Business Manager, and a Socialist Party list including Norman Thomas, Powers Hapgood, Upton Sinclair, and Oscar Ameringer as "Contributing Editors."
Editor Syd Devin later quit in order to finish his studies. Devin was replaced by Melos Most, who had previously been a delegate to the executive committee meeting of the Socialist Youth International, held in Belgium in 1934. Most was later named as editor of the youth page of the New York weekly ''The Socialist Call.''

First hiatus

After shutting down for the summer of 1936, The Challenge of Youth returned in September. It was issued very irregularly, however, with an apologetic notice printed in the 4-page February 1937 issue noting that "the reason for it not appearing has been financial." It was noted that the newspaper received no publication subsidy from the Socialist Party, with all its costs borne by the YPSL organization, which was holding evening festivities in Chicago in an effort to raise funds to insure the publication's survival. Ernest Erber, National Secretary of the YPSL, had taken sole charge of the editorial task.

List of issue dates and key contents

The Challenge
Editor: Arthur G. McDowell. Associate Editors: James Quick, Bob Parker, Jack Jaffe, Aaron Levenstein, Paul Rasmussen. Business Manager: Hy Fish. Editorial Office: 549 Randolph Street, Chicago, Illinois.Vol. 1, No. 1 — April 1933
Editor: Arthur G. McDowell. Associate Editors: James Quick, Bob Parker, Jack Jaffe, Aaron Levenstein. Business Manager: Hy Fish. Editorial Office: 549 Randolph Street, Chicago, Illinois.Vol. 1, No. 2 — May 1933Vol. 1, No. 3 — June 1933Vol. 1, No. 4 — July 1933Vol. 1, No. 5 — August–September 1933
Editor: Arthur G. McDowell. Associate Editors: James Quick, Bob Parker, Ben Fischer, Aaron Levenstein. Editorial Office: 549 Randolph Street, Chicago, Illinois.Vol. 1, No. 6 — October 1933Vol. 1, No. 7 — November 1933
Editor: Arthur G. McDowell. Associate Editors: James Quick, Bob Parker, Ben Fischer, Aaron Levenstein. Business Manager: Sid Devin. Editorial Office: 549 Randolph Street, Chicago, Illinois.Vol. 1, No. 8 — December 1933Vol. 1, No. 9 — January 1934Vol. 1, No. 10 — February 1934Vol. 1, No. 11 — March 1934
Editor: Arthur G. McDowell. Associate Editors: James Quick, Ben Fischer, Aaron Levenstein. Business Manager: Sid Devin. Editorial Office: 549 Randolph Street, Chicago, Illinois.Vol. 2, No. 1 — April 1934Vol. 2, No. 2 — May 1934
The Challenge of Youth
Managing editor: Melos Most. Editorial Office: 549 Randolph Street, Chicago, Illinois.Vol. 3, No. 7 — October 1935Vol. 3, No. 8 — November 1935Vol. 3, No. 9 — December 1935Vol. 3, No. 10 — January 1936
Responsible Editorial Board: Ernest Erber, Ben Fischer, Hy Fish. Managing Editor: Melos Most. Editorial Office: 549 Randolph Street, Chicago, Illinois.Vol. 3, No. 11 — February–March 1936Vol. 4, No. 1 — April 1936Vol. 4, No. 2 — May–June 1936Vol. 4, No. 3 — July 1936
Responsible Editorial Board: Ernest Erber, Ben Fischer. Managing Editor: Melos Most. Editorial Office: 549 Randolph Street, Chicago, Illinois.Vol. 4, No. 4 — "Late September" 1936
Editor: Ernest Erber. Editorial Office: 549 Randolph Street, Chicago, Illinois.
  • '''Vol. 5, No. 1 — "Late February" 1937'''