Socialist Party of North Dakota

The Socialist Party of North Dakota was the semi-autonomous affiliate of the Socialist Party of America established in 1902 in the state of North Dakota. The organization had roots in a socialist club founded by Norwegian immigrants in Fargo in 1900. One of the party's professional organizers, a failed farmer named Arthur C. Townley, abandoned the group in 1915 to establish a new organization called the Non-Partisan League which adapted socialist principles to the specific needs of the state. The rapid growth of this organization spelled the demise of the official Socialist organization in the state.

The first organized socialist group in North Dakota was a socialist club started by Arthur Basset in the town of Fargo, located just across the Minnesota border. A considerable number of Scandinavian immigrants had settled in the Upper Midwest, often bringing with them cooperative traditions from the old country. This was particularly true of the Norwegian community which congregated in the Red River Valley in the Eastern part of the state. This Fargo club would provide the initial core of the Socialist Party organization in the state of North Dakota.

The Socialist Party of America was established at a convention held in Indianapolis, Indiana in August 1901. The group made its initial national headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska and maintained a physical presence in the American Midwest. Two leaders of the Fargo socialist club — Basset and a young lawyer named Arthur LeSeuer — decided to establish a North Dakota state organization of the new political party. This organization was formally launched in 1902.

After a slow initial phase, the Socialist Party of North Dakota began to show substantial growth as the second decade of the 20th Century began. In 1911 LeSeuer was elected president of the City Commission in the town of Minot, located in the North Central part of the state. This victory made LeSeuer the most widely recognized face of the Socialist Party of North Dakota and helped to make the town the center of the party's activity. The North Dakota Socialist Party grew rapidly, touting 175 party locals and branches by 1912.

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