During the first decades of the twentieth century, Butte stood at the center of Montana's socialist movement, driven by a huge working class and opposition to the Anaconda Copper Mining Company's dominance of the state's politics, economy, and nearly everything in Butte. Socialists in Montana helped force mainstream politicians to consider labor reforms during a turbulent era of labor unrest and political action. Members constructed Socialist Hall in 1916, and it became the heart of socialist activity in Montana, housing the Socialist Party of Montana, the Butte Local, and the Butte Socialist Publishing Company. World War I hysteria led Montana to enact the nation's most stringent measures against radicalism and dissent, and the Socialist Party suffered severely. In 1920, the party deeded the building to the Bulletin Publishing Company, whose Butte Bulletin, edited by electrician and radical unionist W.F. Dunne, continued the party's principles by supporting the Non-Partisan League. Dunne lost the building to taxes in 1924, and the Bulletin ceased publication. As one of the few socialist meeting halls remaining in the United States, Socialist Hall endures as a reminder of efforts to create a cooperative commonwealth and of the solidarity fostered by the Socialist Party of Montana.