[2] Following his father's death in September 1903, William decided to enter politics himself, giving up plans on practicing law to instead become an activist in the movement for public ownership of the municipal railway system — the primary mode of civic transportation in the pre-automotive era.

In 1918, William Bross Lloyd entered the world of practical politics for himself, running for United States Senate on the Socialist Party ticket.

[1] Lloyd was a member of one of the earliest explicitly Bolshevik political organizations in the United States, the Communist Propaganda League, established in Chicago in 1918.

[4] After just three months of public existence this organization was subjected to government repression as one of the targets of the Palmer Raids of January 2/3, 1920, and was driven underground.

[6] Lloyd received a sentence of from 1 to 5 years in prison[7] but remained free on bail pending resolution of the appeal process.

[9] The collection, totaling 24 linear feet of material, is housed in 41 archival boxes and includes writings, publications, photographs, and family correspondence.