Henry George Historical Society

189 Ellsworth Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

ph: 415-970-9306

info@henrygeorgehistoricalsociety.org

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Welcome!

Who was Henry George? A 19th Century social philosopher and economist who distinguished Land from Capital, and with that insight stood for the unalienable birthright in gifts of nature for all people.

"What I, therefore, propose, as the simple yet sovereign remedy, which will raise wages, increase the earnings of capital, extirpate pauperism, abolish poverty, give remunerative employment to whoever wishes it, afford free scope to human powers, lessen crime, elevate morals, and taste, and intelligence, purify government and carry civilization to yet nobler heights, is--to appropriate rent by taxation."

George hailed from Philadelphia, came of age in San Francisco, and attained worldwide prominence in New York City. He worked as a sailor, a newspaperman, an author, and an orator.

This site will tell you more about George and his thought. It will also indicate the relevance of George's thought to your life.

Beyond this site, a great introduction to the breadth and shape of Henry George's socio-economic proposal is to be found at http://www.answersanswers.com

 

What We Do

Based as we are in San Francisco, we focus on George's life here in the city where he was married, fathered most of his children, and wrote his seminal masterpiece, Progress & Poverty (1879).

Come along on our Walking Tour of historic downtown San Francisco.

Invite us to address your club, event or organization about Labor Rights, Housing Issues, Real Estate Matters, Money Questions, Race Topics, Class Warfare, or San Francisco history. All from a georgist perspective.

Join our Bicycle Club or Sailing Team.

Apply for sponsorship of your schtick, gig or writing.

 

Call Us Today!

Our office is located in the Bernal Heights neighborhood of San Francisco.

189 Ellsworth Street                        

San Francisco, CA  94110

info@henrygeorgehistoricalsociety.org

telephone: 415-970-9306

June Events:

 June 6 - Land and Wages

       June 16 - Not by faith alone

 June 23 - Liberal-Conservaitve film series

Thursday, June 6

Land and Wages

seminar

Thursday evening seminar illuminating

Henry George's  profound understanding of the wage question:

Why are wages low and unemployment high for so many?

And what to do about it.



Thursday, June 6

7-9 pm

189 Ellsworth St.  San Francisco

Inquire here

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Saturday, April 6

Poetry Feed!

It's Pilates! It's Yoga! It's StairMastery!

It's pita bread sandwiches!

It's four poets humming, hummus-ing, human-ing the too often merely rhetorical phrase

The Earth is the Birthright of All People.

Walk the Greenwich Street steps from Kearny to the crown of Telegraph Hill

1-3 pm   Saturday, April 6

feasting on the sonic sense of poets

John Curl, Virginia Barrett,

Dee Allen and Karen Magoon;

chomping through tahini, hummus, and salad sandwiches;

auditing  fowl and birdsong;

and gleaning the green, clean air of San Francisco's first pilot house promontory

 

hosted by the conviction that the social matrix of humanity reifies in the social revenue potential of location, location, location

 

Telegraph Hill Stairs

How much of the light is yours?

How much, how much?

How much of Treasure Island?

And across the bay,

How much of the Mormon Temple, and north,

How much of Sproul Plaza and the carillon?

How much of those Oakland hills and Berkeley hills?

How much of these steps is yours?

How much, how much?

Now look at the eastern span of the bay bridge,

Which, like a cocoon in progress,

Or like a daring spider's grand opus spun from the tower,

How much, how much?

And the water and land,

The air, the green,

The stuff of which the cities in view are built,

How much is yours?

How much, how much?

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Thursday, March 14

Shannon Biggs

of Global Exchange

talks

Community Rights and The Commons

7-9 pm, with complimentary supper

189 Ellsworth St.

RSVP deeply appreciated



Shannon Biggs is the director of the Community Rights program at Global Exchange. She recently co-authored two books, Building the Green Economy: Success Stories from the Grass Roots (PoliPoint Press), and The Rights of Nature: The Case for a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth, a project of Council of Canadians, Global Exchange, and Fundacion Pachamama.
Her current work focuses on assisting communities confronted by corporate harms to enact binding laws that place the rights of communities and nature above the claimed legal "rights" of corporations. Over 140 communities across the US have used this new understanding to stop working defensively against corporations and take courageous action to assert their rights to make governing decisions where they live. This very different organizing model stems from a new understanding about the origins of corporate power, developed by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF). She teaches this new framework, known as "rights-based" organizing at weekend long Democracy Schools, taught in San Francisco and in 23 states around the country. She also teaches shorter trainings on both Community Rights and Rights of Nature.
 
Previously, she was a senior staffer at International Forum on Globalization (IFG), where she organized large international teach-ins and wrote and edited for IFG publications. She also was a Lecturer in International Relations at San Francisco State University.
 
Shannon holds a Masters in Economics/Politics of Empire the London School of Economics (LSE), and has a BS in International Relations from San Francisco State University (SFSU).
 

 Shannon speaks to the following topics through her base at Global Exchange:

    Community Rights
    Rights of Nature
    Democracy School
    Food sovereignty, climate justice, water rights and other issues in the context of community rights.
    Rights-based organizing as a model for subordinating corporations to local, democratic self-governance by communities.


 

 

Saturday,

February 23

7 pm

Liberal-Conservative

Film Series

 

Sierra Baron

join us for a free screening, nachos estupendo, and a post screening discussion of the georgist take on this tale of forty acres and a mule

Notable House

189 Ellsworth St.  SF  94110


A Spaniard owns a ranch in California in 1848.  A sleezy real estate agent wants to sell off lots on his land to settlers.  The realtor hires a gunslinger to kill the Spaniard, but the gun for hire ends up working for the Spaniard instead.    The story is about gringos trying to steal the land of the Spaniard, who is the only honorable man in the bunch.  He allows the settlers to use the land on his ranch to start their farms, so they ultimately have no conflict with him.  The only one who is not satisfied is the land speculator.

There are also several romances and some gunfights, for those who like that sort of thing.

Plot
In this western set in the California territory in the mid-19th century, a rancher tries to protect his Spanish land grant from greedy American landgrabbers. Unfortunately the eastern interlopers bring in a Texas gunfighter to frighten the man. The gunfighter ends up falling in love with the rancher's sister, and decides to spare them. In the end, the gunman is killed during the climactic shoot out. The girl who loved him is devastated. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Cast

    Brian Keith - Jack McCracken
    Rick Jason - Miguel Delmonte
    Rita Gam - Felicia Delmonte
    Mala Powers - Sue Russell
    Steve Brodie - Rufus Bynum

Carlos Muzquiz - Andrews; Lee Morgan - Frank Goheen; Alan Lewis - Hank Moe; Pedro Galvan - Judson Jeffers; Fernando Wagner - Grandall; Enrique Lucero - Anselmo; Alberto Mariscal - Lopez; Reed Howes - Sheriff; Stillman Segar - Butcher; Alicia del Lago - Juanita; Jose Chavez Trowe - Majordomo; Armando Saenz - Eduardo; Ricardo Adalid - 1st Playboy; Jose Angel "Ferrusquilla" Espinosa - Felipe
Credit
John Mansbridge - Art Director, Georgette Somohano - Costume Designer, James B. Clark - Director, Frank Baldridge - Editor, Paul Sawtell - Composer (Music Score), Bert Shefter - Composer (Music Score), Alex Phillips - Cinematographer, Plato A. Skouras - Producer, Houston Branch - Screenwriter, Tom Blackburn - Book Author


 

Saturday,

   February 9  

Drown the Drones!

Spreckles Lake

Golden Gate Park

12:30-2 pm

While military applications of remote-controlled devices spin out of control,

there's a wholesome way to exercise your digits as you maneuver craft through this bio-dise called Earth.

Join the Henry George community as we sail a daunty two-foot sailboat across and forth on Spreckles Lake in Golden Gate Park.

We'll be quick to hand over the controls to this radio-controlled craft to you so we can picnic and chat about the surest way to end standing armies . . . by drowning them in the fun of sharing Mother Earth as a universal birthright . . . the georgist way!

 

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Saturday,

November 18

7 pm

Liberal-Conservative

Film Series

 

The Red-headed Stranger

join us for a free screening, ginger-spiced popcorn, and a post screening discussion of the georgist take on this tale of want and woe

Notable House

189 Ellsworth St.  SF  94110


A bible-totin' preacher from out East arrives in wild Montana to spread the Good Word to all. When his wife takes off with another man, he straps on the pistol and extracts his vengeance. Then he must struggle to find his way back to the hallowed life. Willie Nelson plays the preacher and Morgan Fairchild is his inconstant wife. ~ Rovi

R, 1 hr. 48 min.

Western, Drama, Action & Adventure

Directed By: William D. Wittliff , Bill Wittliff

In Theaters: Jun 1, 1987 Wide

Nelson Entertainment

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Wednesday,

Oct. 10

10 am

Benefit walking tour

for IndyBay

IndyBay is the Bay Area's frontline on-line resistance news service

Come along on our walking tour of San Francisco social movement history, and make a $20 contribution to independent media.

 

For details click HERE

 

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Saturday,

Sept.  29

Benefit walking tour

for KPFA radio's

Up Front

morning program

KPFA is in the middle of it's Fall Pledge Drive

and we'd like to help keep the voice of independent media up and broadcasting.

Come along on our walking tour of San Francisco social movement history, and make a $20 contribution to free speech radio.

 

For details click HERE

 

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Occupy Bernal presents:

CJ Holmes & Foreclosures

Our popular “Get real with a realtor” series illuminating the different sorts of real estate debt and speculation that drove the foreclosure fiasco . . . and what we can do about it continues.

Join Occupy Bernal for an evening with one of Northern California’s feistiest, winningest combatants of predatory banking

CJ Holmes hosts a KPFA anti-foreclosure program and runs http://www.Hofj.org as a first and second line of defense information channel in the fight against unethical foreclosures.

This program is part of Occupy Bernal strategy to build a profound understanding of the foreclosure debacle, leading to City and State-wide policy change.
 

Tuesday, Sept. 4

King Kong
& Foreclosures

7-8:30

515 Cortland Avenue


Our popular “comedy and a realtor” series illuminating
the different sorts of real estate debt and speculation that drove the foreclosure fiasco continues
 
Join Occupy Bernal for a short film, a live performance
(metaphorical) interpretation of the 500 lb. gorilla in the foreclosure room,
and a serious discussion of real estate debt
 
Jake Person, another Real Estate agent,
will guide us through a post screening/performance discussion
of the nature of real estate debt, addressing the issue of
speculation
 
This program is part of Occupy Bernal strategy to build a profound understanding of the foreclosure debacle, leading to City and State-wide policy change.
 
Tuesday, September 4    7 - 8:30 pm
Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center
515 Cortland Avenue
Your neighbors, our neighborhood!
 
Contact: David   415-948-4265    OccupyBernal.org

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Wednesday, August 8

Red Hill

 Jumps!

Though the bumper stickers and road signs say something different,
Please Mix with Texas!
This Wednesday evening,

August 8, 7-10 pm, a Texas duo of musician-nephews are in town to celebrate CommonsUnity. The Austin City limits extend all the way to 189 Ellsworth in SF's Bernal Heights neighborhood, and these goad-ropin' bucks will sing and strum in-between bouts of poetry, card and board games (and other hijinks), and a short (very short) paean to The Commons advocacy in Texas that keeps college tuition hikes there to a minimum (California has something to learn!). Challenge the privatization of everything by your presence Wednesday evening
at 189 Ellsworth Street
which is where we hope to see you for some veggie barbecue, southern greens, East Texas chili beans, and cornbread like the Texas Populists used to make.


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Friday, July 27

Foreclosure and Monopoly

The history of a game and its war on oppression

Occupy Bernal hosts an evening of thought-provoking fun at

Notable House

189 Ellsworth St.

7-8:45 pm

The game of Monopoly has its roots in a 1904 game called

The Landlord's Game.

It's inventor, Lizzie Magee, intended the game to illustrate why there are cyclically so many foreclosures and related housing hard times.

The evening begins with a short made-for-TV film about the origins of Monopoly, followed by a demonstration of Magee's original rules, demonstrating the relevance of Monopoly to today's efforts to preserve community in the face of foreclosures.

And then we'll play a quick round of Monopoly using the original game's anti-foreclosure alternate rules!

visit

http://www.OccupyBernal.org

for the full calendar

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Saturday, July 28

Routing Ba'al Ze Mitt

Walking Tour

 

Come along on this FREE walking tour of San Francisco social movement history, which concludes with two swift and devastating to the Republican/Romney agenda arguments for your use in private and public discourse.

One of the stories we present is the history of the Mormon diaspora to San Francisco before the Gold Rush. Did you know that Mormons believe that when righteous men die they become gods and CREATE their own planet? Mormons believe that Jesus Christ created this planet and begot Adam and Eve. Wow!

Now, for the sake of engaging Romney in a conversation let's agree to accept at face value that belief. What kind of a planet would Mitt Romney create, and with what social expectations? What would be his Sermon on the Mount?

And, by the by, what kind of a planet would you make, and with what social expectations?

Come along on a walk which makes the case, using San Francisco history, for treating land as THE COMMONS. 

For more, jump to our

Walking Tour page

 

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Saturday, June 23

Red Hill Jumps!

Saturday, June 23, is an afternoon poetry read in Bernal Heights.

Red Hill Jumps! is an occasional spoken word gathering sponsored by The Commons SF.

This time around we're featuring Bernal resident poets. Open mic, $1 a poem. That is, poets are paid $1 a poem. Must live between Bayshore and Mission, Crescent and Cesar Chavez to read.

But the rest of San Francisco is welcome.

Food and drink provided.

RSVP would be nice.

Notable House
189 Ellsworth St.
SF 94110

 

We had a major website meltdown, but will be restoring the viewable record of past events over the next week, beginning July 22.

August 4 Program

                                                    

                 Matt Gonzalez                                                Willie Ratcliff                               Phil Ting

                                                                                        spoke  about                            spoke about

                                                                              land use at Hunters Point        reform of Proposition 13 

 

       

                              

               Senator Leland Yee

             spoke about funding

     education through public land

                                                                            and Karl Fitzgerald tied it all together!

                                                                          Karl Fitzgerald on the Commons                                 

            

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright 2009 Henry George Historical Society. All rights reserved.

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189 Ellsworth Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

ph: 415-970-9306

info@henrygeorgehistoricalsociety.org