Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)

A radical student organization of the 1960s. In the influential Port Huron Statement (1962), the organization, founded in 1960, presented its vision for post–Vietnam War America and called for students to join in a movement to establish “participatory democracy.”

It was not until later in the decade, however, with the growth of the anti–Vietnam War movement, that the organization became well known. SDS demonstrations against the war drew thousands of protesters. Members of the SDS, The Yppies and MOBE gathered for protest at the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention and were indicted as "co-conspirators" in the Chicago Seven Trial.

Also In 1968, the SDS sponsored a protest at Columbia Univ. that was ended by the arrest of more than 700 protesters. Tom Hayden In that same year, increasingly divided by factional disputes, the organization collapsed, leaving behind a small faction, known as the Weathermen, that advocated violent revolutionary action.