Robert Schalkenbach Foundation

Overview

The Robert Schalkenbach Foundation (RSF), founded in 1925, is the oldest organisation dedicated to advancing the ideas of Henry George. Established under the will of New York printer Robert Schalkenbach, its founding purpose was to keep George's works in print and promote the study of his economics.

Role in the Field

For nearly a century RSF was the custodian of George's intellectual legacy: it published authoritative editions of Progress and Poverty — including the 75th-anniversary (1954) edition used as the standard modern text of George's work — funded academic work (including an endowed chair), and supported the American Journal of Economics and Sociology.[2] Its most significant single publishing project was Critics of Henry George: A Centenary Appraisal of Their Strictures on Progress and Poverty (1979), a 27-chapter edited volume assembled by Robert V. Andelson to mark Progress and Poverty's centenary — RSF both published and, jointly with Basic Economic Education, Inc. of San Diego, funded the project, which brought together contributors including Mason Gaffney to give George's academic critics a fair hearing.[3] RSF was also a member organization of the Council of Georgist Organizations, the movement's coordinating umbrella body alongside the Henry George School.[4]

In 2025, marking its centennial, the Foundation renamed itself the Progress and Poverty Institute — presented as "a new name, a continuing mission" — repositioning the organization as a research-forward institute with a published LVT research-priorities agenda, a researcher registry, and grant programs, while continuing the publishing and stewardship role it built over its first century.[5]

Significance

RSF is the institutional through-line of the Georgist movement — the body that carried George's texts and ideas across the 20th century, from the decline of the single-tax movement to the modern revival, and whose renamed successor now sets much of the field's contemporary research agenda.

See Also

• Progress and Poverty Institute — the Foundation's current name and mission, post-2025
• Critics of Henry George — RSF's centenary-appraisal publishing project
• Council of Georgist Organizations — the umbrella body RSF belonged to
• Henry George · Lincoln Institute of Land Policy · Single Tax

Sources

1. Robert Schalkenbach Foundation — official site. schalkenbach.org — used for the Foundation's 1925 founding, its mission, and its role as custodian of Henry George's works.
2. Henry George, Progress and Poverty, 75th anniversary edition (Schalkenbach Foundation, 1954) — used as the basis for RSF's standing as the canonical George publisher; also cited on the book page as the standard modern edition and custodian of the text.
3. Robert V. Andelson (ed.), Critics of Henry George: A Centenary Appraisal of Their Strictures on Progress and Poverty (New York: Robert Schalkenbach Foundation, 1979), p. 14 — used for RSF's publication and joint funding (with Basic Economic Education, Inc., San Diego) of the volume and its contributor roster; see the book page for the full treatment.
4. This wiki's Council of Georgist Organizations research page — used for RSF's membership in CGO's coordinating role alongside the Henry George School.
5. Progress and Poverty Institute, "Announcing The Progress and Poverty Institute: A New Name, a Continuing Mission" (2025). Announcement — used for the 2025 centennial renaming and continuity framing; see the Progress and Poverty Institute page for the full treatment of the organization's current activities.