Bolton Hall (activist)
Encyclopedia
Bolton Hall was an American lawyer, author and activist who worked on behalf of the poor and was the originator of the back-to-the-land movement in the United States at the beginning of the 20th century.
Hall was active on behalf of various progressive
movements. He was an admirer of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
, French politician, philosopher and socialist, of Benjamin R. Tucker, editor and publisher of the individualist anarchist periodical Liberty, and Leo Tolstoy
, the Russian novelist, pacifist and reformer. He was opposed to Marxism
and agreed with classical liberal political theorist Herbert Spencer
, who called it "the coming slavery."
Hall was the founder of the American Longshoremen's Association in New York City. In 1898, when he was the treasurer of that labor organization
, he drew condemnation from delegates to New York City's Central Labor Union
because he submitted a motion to oppose opening a Spanish-American War
inasmuch as the latter country had agreed to arbitration
in the Havana, Cuba, sinking of the battleship Maine
. The motion lost by a small margin.
Before 1908 he established the Vacant Lot Gardening Association in New York City, which grew to "about 200 members" who "conducted a number of experiments in and near New York during its existence." One of them included the use of thirty acres of land on Bronxdale Avenue, near White Plains Road
, "which the Astor estate
had allowed us to use and on which a number of families had been living." Afterward, the association used property on Dyckman Street
near Prescott Avenue, not for cultivation, but for the establishment of a tent city
. The difficulty in getting free land for "vacant lot gardening" led Hall to establish the Little Land League, whose idea was to buy property no more than 90 minutes from New York for a training school, "and the people who have proved capable there we shall put on their feet as farmers on a larger piece of land further away." In 1909 he made a trip to Europe to study vacant-lot gardening.
In 1910 he deeded some 68 acres of land to establish the egalitarian community of Free Acres in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey
, under which the residents pay tax to the community, which, in turn, pays a lump sum to the city.
On June 5, 1916, he was arrested along with Ida Raub Eastman on a misdemeanor charge of distributing pamphlets on birth control
at a public meeting in Manhattan
's Union Square
on May 20 of that year.
He was a disciple of Henry George
and one of the leading exponents of the single-tax theory
. He advocated the building of "model tenements" in New York City. He was opposed to Tammany Hall
, the organization that dominated the political life of the city in the early 20th century. He founded the New York Tax Reform Association.
, who later became pastor of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church
in New York City. Because he was a teenager when the family came to the United States in 1868, he continued to speak English with an Irish accent. In 1875 he was graduated from Princeton University
(where he rowed crew
), and he received his law degree from Columbia Law School
in 1881. He and Susie Hurlbut Scott were married in 1884 or 1888, and they had one daughter, Lois, who later married Gerard P. Herrick.
Around 1886, Hall was a member of the export firm of McCarty and Hall, which failed that year. He filed for bankruptcy, but withdrew the action after settling with creditors.
It was reported after the death of the elder Hall in 1898 that the minister had disinherited Bolton "because of the latter's friendly attitude to labor and his friendship for Henry George and his belief in the single tax." Bolton Hall denied the report.
He died on December 10, 1938, at the age of 85 while visiting Thomasville, Georgia
, on the advice of his physician.
in Tujunga, California — a structure that is now on the National Register of Historic Places
.
Activism
Hall was active on behalf of various progressive
Progressivism in the United States
Progressivism in the United States is a broadly based reform movement that reached its height early in the 20th century and is generally considered to be middle class and reformist in nature. It arose as a response to the vast changes brought by modernization, such as the growth of large...
movements. He was an admirer of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon was a French politician, mutualist philosopher and socialist. He was a member of the French Parliament, and he was the first person to call himself an "anarchist". He is considered among the most influential theorists and organisers of anarchism...
, French politician, philosopher and socialist, of Benjamin R. Tucker, editor and publisher of the individualist anarchist periodical Liberty, and Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
, the Russian novelist, pacifist and reformer. He was opposed to Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
and agreed with classical liberal political theorist Herbert Spencer
Herbert Spencer
Herbert Spencer was an English philosopher, biologist, sociologist, and prominent classical liberal political theorist of the Victorian era....
, who called it "the coming slavery."
Hall was the founder of the American Longshoremen's Association in New York City. In 1898, when he was the treasurer of that labor organization
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
, he drew condemnation from delegates to New York City's Central Labor Union
Central Labor Union
The Central Labor Union of New York, Brooklyn, and New Jersey was an early trade union organization that later broke up into various locals, which are now AFL-CIO members...
because he submitted a motion to oppose opening a Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
inasmuch as the latter country had agreed to arbitration
Arbitration
Arbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution , is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, where the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons , by whose decision they agree to be bound...
in the Havana, Cuba, sinking of the battleship Maine
USS Maine (ACR-1)
USS Maine was the United States Navy's second commissioned pre-dreadnought battleship, although she was originally classified as an armored cruiser. She is best known for her catastrophic loss in Havana harbor. Maine had been sent to Havana, Cuba to protect U.S. interests during the Cuban revolt...
. The motion lost by a small margin.
Before 1908 he established the Vacant Lot Gardening Association in New York City, which grew to "about 200 members" who "conducted a number of experiments in and near New York during its existence." One of them included the use of thirty acres of land on Bronxdale Avenue, near White Plains Road
White Plains Road
White Plains Road is a major thoroughfare which runs the length of the Bronx, New York, from Castle Hill and Clason Point in the south to Wakefield in the north, where it crosses the city line and becomes West 1st Street of Mount Vernon, New York. The Bronx River Parkway lies to its west and...
, "which the Astor estate
Astor family
The Astor family is a Anglo-American business family of German descent notable for their prominence in business, society, and politics.-Founding family members:...
had allowed us to use and on which a number of families had been living." Afterward, the association used property on Dyckman Street
Dyckman Street
Dyckman Street is a street in the Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It is commonly considered to be a crosstown street because it runs from the Hudson River to the Harlem River and intersects Broadway...
near Prescott Avenue, not for cultivation, but for the establishment of a tent city
Tent City
A tent city is a temporary housing facility made using tents. Informal tent cities may be set up without authorization by homeless people or protesters. As well, state governments or military organizations set up tent cities to house refugees, evacuees, or soldiers...
. The difficulty in getting free land for "vacant lot gardening" led Hall to establish the Little Land League, whose idea was to buy property no more than 90 minutes from New York for a training school, "and the people who have proved capable there we shall put on their feet as farmers on a larger piece of land further away." In 1909 he made a trip to Europe to study vacant-lot gardening.
In 1910 he deeded some 68 acres of land to establish the egalitarian community of Free Acres in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey
Berkeley Heights, New Jersey
Berkeley Heights is a township in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 13,183....
, under which the residents pay tax to the community, which, in turn, pays a lump sum to the city.
On June 5, 1916, he was arrested along with Ida Raub Eastman on a misdemeanor charge of distributing pamphlets on birth control
Birth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
at a public meeting in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's Union Square
Union Square (New York City)
Union Square is a public square in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York.It is an important and historic intersection, located where Broadway and the former Bowery Road – now Fourth Avenue – came together in the early 19th century; its name celebrates neither the...
on May 20 of that year.
He was a disciple of Henry George
Henry George
Henry George was an American writer, politician and political economist, who was the most influential proponent of the land value tax, also known as the "single tax" on land...
and one of the leading exponents of the single-tax theory
Georgism
Georgism is an economic philosophy and ideology that holds that people own what they create, but that things found in nature, most importantly land, belong equally to all...
. He advocated the building of "model tenements" in New York City. He was opposed to Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society...
, the organization that dominated the political life of the city in the early 20th century. He founded the New York Tax Reform Association.
Personal life
Hall was born in Ireland on August 5, 1854, the son of the Rev. John HallJohn Hall (Presbyterian pastor)
Reverend John Hall, D.D., L.L.D. was Pastor of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York City, from 1867 until he died in Bangor, Northern Ireland in 1898. The landmark New York church, which still stands today on Fifth Avenue at 55th Street, was built during his tenure.-Biography:Said of Dr...
, who later became pastor of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church
Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church
The Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church is a large congregation of the Presbyterian Church . The church was founded in 1808 as the Cedar Street Presbyterian Church and has been located on Fifth Avenue at 55th Street in midtown Manhattan since 1875. It has approximately 3,250 members from a variety...
in New York City. Because he was a teenager when the family came to the United States in 1868, he continued to speak English with an Irish accent. In 1875 he was graduated from Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
(where he rowed crew
Sport rowing
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
), and he received his law degree from Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, is one of the oldest and most prestigious law schools in the United States. A member of the Ivy League, Columbia Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Columbia University in New York City. It offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in...
in 1881. He and Susie Hurlbut Scott were married in 1884 or 1888, and they had one daughter, Lois, who later married Gerard P. Herrick.
Around 1886, Hall was a member of the export firm of McCarty and Hall, which failed that year. He filed for bankruptcy, but withdrew the action after settling with creditors.
It was reported after the death of the elder Hall in 1898 that the minister had disinherited Bolton "because of the latter's friendly attitude to labor and his friendship for Henry George and his belief in the single tax." Bolton Hall denied the report.
He died on December 10, 1938, at the age of 85 while visiting Thomasville, Georgia
Thomasville, Georgia
Thomasville is the county seat of Thomas County, Georgia, United States. The city is the second largest in Southwest Georgia after Albany.The city deems itself the City of Roses and holds an annual Rose Festival. The town features plantations open to the public, a historic downtown, a large...
, on the advice of his physician.
Legacy
After providing for his wife and daughter, Hall bequeathed his residuary estate and $2,000 to the Henry George School of Social Science in New York City, to which he had contributed generously. In 1913, an admirer, George Harris, built Bolton HallBolton Hall
Bolton Hall is a historic American Craftsman era stone building in Tujunga, Los Angeles County, California. Built in 1913, Bolton Hall was originally used as a community center for the Utopian community of Los Terrenitos. From 1920 until 1957, it was used as an American Legion hall, the San...
in Tujunga, California — a structure that is now on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.