Chicago Single Tax Club Collection

An inventory of the collection at the University of Illinois at Chicago

Administrative History of the Chicago Single Tax Club

The Chicago Single Tax Club was an active political force in Chicago during the late 1890s and early 1900s. Governor John Peter Altgeld (1892-1896) supported the Club's economic ideas and was a close associate of Henry George, the economist who advocated a single tax on land. George reasoned that land existed in a fixed amount and became more valuable as the human population increased thus bestowing a substantial profit or "unearned increment" to landlords; George believed that this profit should be appropriated for use by society and all other forms of taxation should be abolished. Henry George and the numerous single tax advocacy organizations he inspired throughout the United States and English speaking world believed that monopolies and poverty could be eliminated through the single tax.

Scope and Contents

The Chicago Single Tax Club Collection consists of minutes of general meetings of the Club, clippings regarding the 1892 gubernatorial campaign of John Peter Altgeld, and a ledger listing financial contributions.

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

The University of Illinois at Chicago acquired these materials from Richard S. Barnes.

Detailed Description/Box and Folder Listing