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Richard III Society, American Branch:
An Introduction
[Membership
appliation, parent society]
| [Membership application, American Branch]
Man and Myth
Richard III, last
Plantagenet king of England, was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field
by the forces of Henry Tudor on August 22, 1485 after a reign of only
two years.
Throughout most of his life, Richard had a well-earned reputation for
irreproachable loyalty to his brother, King Edward IV, as well as for
prowess as a soldier, skill as an administrator, and fairness as an
adjudicator. During his brief reign, he sponsored legislation that extended
the rights of the common man and safeguarded the free exchange of ideas.
After his death, he was accused of a progressively more extensive series
of crimes and treacheries, including the murders of his brother, his
wife, and his two nephews. Shakespeare's Richard III immortalized
the legend and established the playwright's reputation at the expense
of the king's.
As soon as the Tudor rule ended, scholars began to question the legend
of Richard, the hunchbacked villain. The controversy over his life and
reputation continues to this day.
History
and Aims
The Richard III Society
was founded in England in 1924 by the late Dr. Saxon Barton as the Fellowship
of the White Boar and was renamed the Richard III Society in 1959. Headquarter
in London, the Society has a worldwide membership. The Richard III Society,
Inc. was chartered under the laws of the State of New York as a non-profit
educational institution. Members of the American Branch also hold membership
in the English society.
Dues, grants, and contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed
by law. The Society's aims are:
- To
promote in every way historical research into the life and times of
King Richard III.
- To
secure a reassessment of the historical material relating to this
period and of the role in English history of this monarch.
- To
circulate all relevant historical information to members of the Society,
the media and all educational organizations.
Membership in the
Richard III Society is open to all. The Society's unique blend of professional
scholars, theater professionals, and general readers with a love of history
and literature fosters an especially vigorous exchange of ideas and information.
Member
Benefits
- Periodicals.
Members receive the Ricardian, the parent society's quarterly
journal, which is highly regarded by historians of the period, and
the informal newsletter, Ricardian Bulletin. Members of the
American Branch also receive its quarterly newsletter, Ricardian
Register, containing a combination of scholarly articles, Branch
news, and less formal articles and commentary.
- Lending
Libraries. Many historical and literary works relating to
the Yorkist and early Tudor era are out of print or otherwise difficult
to find. The Society maintains a circulating library, non-fiction
and fiction, for member use, as well as a growing collection of audio-visual
materials.
- Annual
Meeting. In England, a one-day
meeting is held on the Saturday closest to October 2, Richard's birthday.
Members of the American Branch are welcome to attend. The American
Branch sponsors a two- to three-day Annual General Meeting in varying
locations. This business meeting is supplemented by a plenary address,
a series of concurrent workshops and lectures on fifteenth-century
topics, an awards luncheon, and a banquet.
- Sales
Office. The American Branch's Sales Officer stocks a range of
reference works, stationery items, and Ricardiana.
Programs
and Accomplishments
Since undertaking
its first memorial -- a window in the Collegiate Church of St. Mary and
St. Alkelda in Middleham in 1934 -- the parent society has been instrumental
in establishing a Ricardian presence at other significant sites, including
Bosworth Field, Fotheringhay, and Westminster Abbey. Perhaps the most
ambitious of the Society's memorial undertakings was the commission of
a statue of Richard III by James Butler, which is installed in Castle
Gardens, Leicester.
In keeping with its aim to foster scholarship, the Society has worked
to make important source documents more accessible for study. One of
its most significant accomplishments was the transcription and publication,
in four volumes, of Harleian MSS 433, the surviving registers
for the signet offices of Edward V and Richard III.
The Society has also contributed to public events such as the 1973 Richard
III exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery and the 1984 ITV production
of a modern-day trial of Richard III. Since 1980, the Society has had
the honor to have as its patron H.R.H. Richard, Duke of Gloucester.
American
Branch
The American Branch
has members in every state and several regional chapters. It can point
to an impressive roster of accomplishments in its own right:
- Academic
Programs. The Branch sponsors graduate study in fifteenth-century
English history and culture through its William
Schallek Memorial Graduate Fellowship Awards program, honoring
the founder and sponsor of the Society's scholarship efforts. A distinguished
panel of historians and literature scholars judges the entries each
year. The Branch also sponsors an annual session at The International
Congress on Medieval Studies; and, since 1995, has co-sponsored a
triennial two-day conference with
Ohio University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Another new program is the American Branch's monograph project, the
first of which, on Giles Daubeney, is currently in preparation.
- Local
Chapters. Chapters in several regions of the country hold regular
meetings and conduct activities such as library exhibits and lectures
to extend the reach of the Society within their communities.
- Member
Publications. Ricardians have made significant contributions to
the scholarship of the period, including a historiographical survey
of Richard's life and reputation, an annotated edition of a landmark
nineteenth-century biography, and a study
unit for high school students that has gained enthusiastic acceptance
in secondary schools. Members have also produced critically-acclaimed
works of fiction for adult and juvenile audiences.
This section has
been based on the membership brochure of the American Branch of the
Richard III Society.
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the Parent Society | Joining
the American Branch
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