South End Press was founded in 1977 by Michael Albert, Lydia Sargent, John Schall, Pat Walker, Juliet Schor, Mary Lea, Joe Bowring, and Dave Millikin, among others. It was based in Boston's South End and run as an egalitarian collective with decision-making equally shared.

The publisher experienced financial difficulties in the financial crisis of 2007–08, with sales dropping by 12.8% in 2008. In 2009, South End Press moved to a new office in Brooklyn, New York, partnering with Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York. A fundraising campaign was run in 2012 to help ease its financial situation.

South End Press closed in July 2014. Howard Zinn and an anonymous author had reportedly not received royalties for several years.