diff --git a/Lib/threading.py b/Lib/threading.py
--- a/Lib/threading.py
+++ b/Lib/threading.py
@@ -745,6 +745,34 @@
 
 # Main class for threads
 
+class SimpleThreadGroup:
+    'A minimal featured class for aggregating related threads'
+
+    def __init__(self, name):
+        self.name = name
+        self.threads = []
+
+    def _add(self, thread):
+        'Add a thread to the group'
+        self.threads.append(thread)
+
+    def __repr__(self):
+        return '{0.__class__.__name__}({0.name})'.format(self)
+
+    def __iter__(self):
+        # ??? does this need locks or some such
+        return iter(list(self.threads))
+
+    def start(self):
+        'Start all threads in the group'
+        for thread in self.threads:
+            thread.start()
+
+    def join(self):
+        'Wait for all threads in the group'
+        for thread in self.threads:
+            thread.join()
+
 class Thread:
     """A class that represents a thread of control.
 
@@ -787,7 +815,8 @@
         else to the thread.
 
         """
-        assert group is None, "group argument must be None for now"
+        if group is not None:
+            group._add(self)
         if kwargs is None:
             kwargs = {}
         self._target = target