Rand School of Social Science

The Rand School of Social Science began its life in nineteen hundred and six as a radical experiment in workers education. Established with an endowment from a wealthy benefactor named Carrie Rand, it operated with the goal of training laborers to become effective organizers, speakers, and writers for the socialist movement. While its original classrooms were located elsewhere in the city, the school eventually moved into a prominent six-story building near Union Square that its members affectionately dubbed the Peoples House. This facility served as a central hub for leftist thought in New York, housing a library, an auditorium, a bookstore, and offices for various trade unions and political organizations.