|
Humanities and Social Sciences Library > Collections > Manuscripts > Finding Aids Henry George Papers, 1840s-1950ContentsBiographical SketchHenry George, printer-journalist, political economist, and reformer, was the most important and influential radical theorist of nineteenth century America. Born in Philadelphia in 1839, the second of ten children of Richard S. H. George and Catharine (Vallance) George, he was raised in modest circumstances and in a pious, evangelical Protestant atmosphere. After brief attendance at three schools and two years of private tutoring, George began work, at the same time embarking on a life-long regime of self-education. At 16 he shipped out as foremast boy on the vessel Hindoo, bound for Melbourne and Calcutta. On his return in 1856 he had difficulty finding work, and after nine months apprenticeship as a typesetter, he again left home, this time in search of new opportunities in California. But times were hard in the West, and George found only temporary jobs as a typesetter. He fell deeply in love with Australian-born Annie Corsina Fox and, though out of work and in debt, married her in 1861; his financial burden was soon increased by the birth of two sons. By 1865 the family was near starvation, but George was beginning to build a reputation as a contributor to the local press. Over the next decade he worked as a reporter and editor for several papers, including four years (1871-1875) as editor of his own San Francisco Daily Evening Post. Active in local politics, he shifted his loyalties from Lincoln Republicanism to the Democrats, and became a trenchant critic of railroad and mining interests, corrupt politicians, land speculators, and labor contractors. He failed as a Democratic candidate for the state legislature, but landed the patronage job of state inspector of gas meters. In an 1871 pamphlet, Our Land and Land Policy, he first set out his theory of rent as the primary cause of monopoly and poverty, and advocated a single tax on land. Between 1877 and 1879 he pursued work on a major treatise, his masterpiece, Progress and Poverty. After failing to find a publisher, George brought out five hundred copies on his own. The plates were then taken by Appleton's and the book soon became a sensation, translated into many languages and assured George's fame. At the heart of his oft-repeated critique of Gilded Age capitalism was the conviction that rent and private land-ownership violated the hallowed principles of Jeffersonian democracy and that poverty was an affront to the moral values of Judeo-Christian culture. Now in demand as a writer and lecturer, George moved to New York in 1880 and soon became closely involved with the Irish nationalist community. The publication of his The Irish Land Question resulted in his being sent to Ireland and England in 1881-1882 on assignment for the radical Irish World. There he became acquainted with Michael Davitt and other leaders of the Irish Land League, and with many English socialists and radicals, including H. M. Hyndman and Helen Taylor. He returned to New York a hero, with a strong transatlantic following, and agreed to run for mayor in 1886 as the candidate of the United Labor Party. After a strenuous campaign against Democrat Abram S. Hewitt and Republican Theodore Roosevelt, George came second in the poll; many supporters charged that fraud had robbed him of victory. George now found his own base in a national network of Single Tax clubs, and his own organ in the New York Standard (1887-1892). He toured Britain again in 1888 and 1889, and was warmly welcomed to Australia and New Zealand in 1890. He suffered a slight stroke in the winter of 1890-1891, but continued to lecture widely and write prolifically. Among his later works are Protection or Free Trade (1886); An Open Letter to the Pope (1891), a reply to Leo XIII's encyclical The Condition of Labor; A Perplexed Philosopher (1892), a critique of Herbert Spencer; and The Science of Political Economy (1897), a grand summation of his economic and ethical ideas. In his later years George found himself more and more at odds with both socialists and mainstream labor leaders; his movement increasingly attracted middle class progressives. In 1897, aged fifty-eight and in poor health, George allowed himself to be persuaded to run again for mayor, this time as an independent Democrat. At the very close of the campaign, on October 29th, he suffered a stroke and died; his eldest son and close collaborator, Henry George, Jr., stepped in to complete the campaign, but earned only 22,000 votes. The respect and affection felt for Henry George were demonstrated in the funeral ceremonies, in which more than a hundred thousand people viewed his body and joined the procession to the burial site in Brooklyn, and in the outpouring of written tributes from around the world. Scope and Content NoteTaken as a whole this collection provides rich documentation of nearly every phase of Henry George's life and career. The correspondence forms the largest and most comprehensive section of the collection and reflects his habit of writing constantly to his family and his closest political colleagues, especially while travelling abroad. His close relationship to the Irish national movement is well demonstrated, not only in his letterbooks of correspondence with the (New York) Irish World, but also in his diaries and notebooks, and in manuscripts of articles and lectures. While the growth and inner workings of the American Single Tax movement are well illustrated in the correspondence, diaries, and writings, other aspects of George's political activity are less adequately covered. In particular, there is little material here concerning George's two New York City mayoral campaigns (1886 and 1897). To complete the records of George's intellectual and political ideas and activity, as well as the passionate response (both pro and con) he evoked, it is necessary to consult the full body of published work by and about him. Users should be aware that a large part of Anna George de Mille's original donation of Henry George material, including scrapbooks of clippings, bound volumes of pamphlets, loose pamphlets and periodicals, and books, can be found in the Economics and Public Affairs Division of the Library. For details of these holdings consult the two bibliographies cited below. Bibliography: Series ListI. Correspondence, 1854-1939II. Writings and Notes, 1865-1896; n.d.III. Diaries and Memoranda, 1855-1896IV. Family Papers, 1856-1950V. Miscellany, Printed Items, and EphemeraVI. Visual Materials and Oversize ItemsSeries DescriptionsI. Correspondence, 1854-1939General correspondence includes incoming and outgoing correspondence of Henry George on family, political, and business matters. Henry George's letters to his wife, Annie Fox George, and elder son, Henry George, Jr., are included here; their letters to him are in Series VI (Family Papers). There are also many letters to and from Henry George's parents and other relatives. Early correspondence concerns his sea voyage and his life and work in California. The bulk of the series chronicles his relations with political associates in the Single Tax and Irish nationalist movements in America and Europe. There is also extensive correspondence with editors and publishers concerning his journalistic work and other writing projects. A letterbook of 1869 contains copies of letters relating to his work for the San Francisco Herald and his dealings with the Associated Press. Four letterbooks of 1881-1882 consist mostly of letters written from Britain to Patrick Ford, editor of the (New York) Irish World; these give detailed assessments of the policies and actions of Charles Stewart Parnell, Michael Davitt, and other leaders of the Irish Land League, as well as reports of his lectures and meetings with English and Scottish sympathizers. The American correspondence charts the development of the Single Tax movement and George's relations with major political supporters, among them Father Edward McGlynn, Francis G. Shaw, August Lewis, Tom L. Johnson, Louis F. Post, Thomas G. Shearman, and Dr. Edward R. Taylor, a California friend. Among the notable British correspondents are H.M. Hyndman, Helen Taylor, J.L. Joynes, F. Max Müller, and Thomas F. Walker of Birmingham. Smaller subseries include a scrapbook of letters related to a testimonial dinner in 1884; correspondence of Father Thomas Dawson, an Irish priest and longtime family friend, consisting chiefly of transcripts of George's letters to Dawson in the Brotherton Library, Leeds; and documentation of the tangled litigation arising from a legacy of George Hutchins of Ancora, New Jersey to Henry George. II. Writings and Notes, 1865-1897; n.d.Included are manuscript (and some typescript) notes, drafts, and finished texts of articles, lectures, and occasional writings. There is a selection of Henry George's early writing as a California journalist and reformer, an extensive group of essays and lectures (and one interview) from his British tours of the 1880s, and a smaller number of items on the theory of the single tax and his involvements in American party politics and the labor movement. His major published work is represented here by the full autograph manuscript of Progress and Poverty (publ. 1879) and partial drafts and notes for the introductory matter and Books I and II of The Science of Political Economy (publ. 1897). The famous lecture, "Moses," is represented in drafts, galleys, and a printed copy. Among the essays are studies of Abraham Lincoln, J.S. Mill, James Garfield, and Michael Davitt, several accounts of his travels and brief imprisonment in Ireland in 1882, and an explanation of his support for the Democrats in 1896. There are also several folders and one notebook of rough notes and extracts. III. Diaries and Memoranda, 1855-1896The diaries and notebooks cover (with some gaps) Henry George's life from the age of sixteen until the year before his death. The earliest volumes are accounts of his sea voyage in 1855-1856, illustrated with rough sketches. Volumes for the 1860s and 70s include family news, details of his work for California newspapers, and financial notations reflecting his desperate struggle to support his wife and young children. The 1880s diaries are largely devoted to his efforts to build the Single Tax movement in America and Britain, and include details of his lecture schedules and names and addresses of political contacts. The 1890s are dominated by American politics, George's editorial work on the Standard, and his dealings with New York publishers. There are no volumes of 1886 and 1897, the years of his New York mayoral campaigns. IV. Family Papers, 1856-1950This series consists mostly of the correspondence and papers of Annie Fox George and Henry George, Jr., including their letters to Henry George and letters to and from other relatives and friends. The Annie George correspondence includes many letters from Helen Taylor, step-daughter of John Stuart Mill, and a large group from Mrs. Belle Stickney (later Robbins), a California friend; there are single letters from Emma Willard and Samuel Gompers. Henry George, Jr.'s correspondence before 1897 consists largely of his letters to his father about political and editorial matters. A lengthy series from 1889 details the bitter split in the ranks of Single Taxers which developed while Henry George was touring Britain. After 1897, the correspondence, writings, and notes are mostly related to Henry George Jr.'s work on a biography of his father. Among the reminiscences solicited from old friends and colleagues of Henry George is a good deal of material not used in the published Life. There is a folder of condolence letters on the death of Annie George (1904), and many letters to and from Hamlin Garland concerning plans for an anniversary banquet in 1905. The letters to Garland include George Bernard Shaw's famous account of his "conversion" by Henry George in 1882. A small group of papers relating to other family members includes genealogical material, Henry George's marriage certificate, and a folder of papers of Anna George de Mille (1877-1947) chiefly concerned with her research on a biography of her father and her efforts to gather and preserve papers relating to him. V. Miscellany, Printed Items, and EphemeraThis series contains material providing background information on Henry George's life, career, and influence--much of it written by others. Included are a manuscript account of his sea voyage to Australia and India (by Samuel Miller), dispatch code books used in his journalist work, financial records, phrenological charts and a doctor's report, obituaries and other memorials, articles by colleagues in the Single Tax movement, and some items illustrating the history of the movement after George's death. A small group of books and pamphlets includes several works by Henry George, attacks on his theories, an 18th century tract on the land tax, and memoirs by Anna George de Mille. Among the ephemera are Henry George autographs clipped from letters, blank forms and stationery, miscellaneous cards and circulars, campaign ribbons and other souvenirs. VI. Visual Materials and Oversize ItemsIncluded are daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, photographs, and prints depicting Henry George at all stages of his life, beginning in the 1840s, as well as formal and candid portraits of family members, friends, colleagues, and homes associated with the George family. A large group photograph shows Henry George and other delegates to the 2nd National Single Tax Conference, Chicago, 1893. There is also a group of photostats of political cartoons featuring Henry George and a set of printed plates of the illustrations to Henry George, Jr.'s Life of Henry George.Microfilm Contents ListSeries I: Correspondence, 1854-1939General Correspondence, 1854-1897; n.d. Reel 11854 - 1876 March Reel 2 1876 May - 1882 December Reel 3 1883 January - 1884 December Reel 4 1885 January - 1889 April Reel 5 1889 May - 1893 February Reel 6 1893 March - 1897 October Reel 7 n.d. Letterpress copybooks, 1869-1882 Reel 8Scrapbook of correspondence re: Testimonial Dinner, New York City, April 20, 1884 Father Thomas Dawson, letters to Anna George De Mille (1929-1939) and transcripts of letters from Henry George and his family (1882- 1894). Correspondence and documents concerning litigation over the will of George Hutchins, 1886-1894, n.d. Series II: Writings and Notes, 1857-1896; n.d.Arranged chronologically
Slipcase: Progress and Poverty, manuscript Slipcase: Science of Political Economy, incomplete manuscript and galleys Reel 12Series III: Diaries and Memoranda, 1855-1896
Series IV: Family Papers, 1856-1950Annie Fox George, Correspondence and Papers, 1855-1903Reel 14Henry George, Jr., Correspondence, 1881-1918Henry George, Jr. Writings, Notes, and Papers
Papers of Other George Family Members, 1861-1950
Series V: Miscellany, Printed Items, and EphemeraMiscellany
Printed Items
Ephemera--Three folders of cards, ribbons, Henry George autographs, and circularsSeries VI: Visual Materials and Oversize Items
|