A Guide to the Records of the Fairhope Industrial Association and the Fairhope Single Tax Corporation, 1893-1997 Fairhope Industrial Association, Fairhope Single Tax Corporation, Records 10517-a, -b

A Guide to the Records of the Fairhope Industrial Association and the Fairhope Single Tax Corporation, 1893-1997

A Collection in
Special Collections
The University of Virginia Library
Accession Number 10517-a, -b


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Processed by: Special Collections Staff

Repository
Special Collections, University of Virginia Library
Accession number
10517-a, -b
Title
Records of the Fairhope Industrial Association and the Fairhope Single Tax Corporation 1893-1997
Physical Characteristics
This collection consists of 34,800 items.
Language
English

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Records of the Fairhope Industrial Association and the Fairhope Single Tax Corporation, Accession #10517-a,-b, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This collection was made a gift to the Library by the Fairhope Single Tax Corporation, 340 Fairhope Avenue, Fairhope, Alabama on March 26, 2001.

Scope and Content Information

The Records of the Fairhope Industrial Association and the Fairhope Single Tax Corporation, 1893-1997, consist of ca. 34,800 items, chiefly concerning the routine activities of the Corporation. Records include correspondence and papers, legal files, financial records, annual reports, minutes of the Board, printed articles, maps, and issues of the Fairhope Courier . Included are the correspondence and papers of Secretaries of the Corporation, Ernest B. Gaston, Cornelius "Cornie" Alonzo Gaston, and Gale W. Rowe, concerning routine and special activities of the Corporation; annual reports, 1944-1977; business papers and bound volumes, 1895-1993; and, legal documents and other papers concerning the Rezner v. Fairhope Suit. There are also early papers and correspondence of James Bellangee, his daughter, Anne B. Call, Ernest B. Gaston, Joseph Fels, the Fairhope Cemetery, the Fairhope Courier , and Lydia J. Newcomb Comings.

In Rezner vs. Fairhope Single Tax Corporation, Rudolph John Rezner and other resident citizens and non-member lessees of Fairhope Single Tax Corporation filed complaint against the corporation for not lawfully upholding its constitution as a non-profit organization based on the principles of Henry George. The case challenged the constitution's statement of equitable approximation, commenting that the constitution fails to provide that a member must be a lessee; that the Fairhope Single Tax Corporation pays real property and personal property taxes for its lessees even though rent determination remains the same; that there has been a substantially greater percentage of increase on rents on country leaseholds compared to the rents on city leaseholds, thereby creating an atmosphere of discrimination against country lessees; and, that the violation of constitutional requirements has diminished the status of non-member lessees and created a situation in which the non-member lessees' properties have become essentially unmarketable. Plaintiffs also challenged the right of the Fairhope Single Tax Corporation's attempt to reorganize as a "For Profit" corporation without notice to its lessees.

Historical information may be found in the papers and volumes of this collection, such as "History of Fairhope..." in Gale W. Rowe's papers, as well as in Paul M. Gaston's book, Man and Mission: E. B. Gaston and the Origins of the Fairhope Single Tax Colony , The Black Belt Press: Montgomery, Alabama, 1993.

Contents List

Correspondence and Papers of Fairhope and Related
Correspondence and Papers of Secretaries of Fairhope
Business Papers of the Fairhope Single Tax Corporation
Oversize Bound Volumes-Separate from boxes
Rezner Vs. Fairhope Papers
Rezner Vs. Fairhope Research Papers