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The League for Industrial Democracy (or LID) was founded in 1905 by a group of notable socialists including Jack London, Norman Thomas, and Upton Sinclair. Its original name was the Intercollegiate Socialist Society, and its stated purpose was that of "educating Americans about the need to extend democracy to every aspect of our society." Under its former name, the League focused its efforts on proselytizing to college students about the labor movement, socialism, and industrial democracy; in 1921, it assumed its new name and enlarged its scope to society at large. The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) grew out of its youth section, the Student League for Industrial Democracy (SLID).

At Port Huron, Tom Hayden clashed with Irving Howe and Michael Harrington over perceived potential for totalitarianism. Hayden said, "While the draft Port Huron Statement included a strong denunciation of the Soviet Union, it wasn’t enough for LID leaders like Michael Harrington. They wanted absolute clarity, for example, that the United States was blameless for the nuclear arms race...In truth, they seemed threatened by the independence of the new wave of student activism..."

By 1965, SDS had totally divorced itself from the LID, and it became a publishing front for the followers of Max Shachtman, who had dominated the organization since the late 1950s. To this day, the post office box of the Shachtmanite legacy group Social Democrats USA is held under the name League for Industrial Democracy.

• The League for Industrial Democracy: A Documentary History ISBN 0-313-22614-8, 1980

• Intercollegiate Socialist Society (1905 - 1921). Online documents at Early American Marxism site. Retrieved August 23, 2006.
• Underground Struggle in Germany by Evelyn Lend. A pamphlet published by the LID