THE AMERICAN BRANCH

The Richard III Society-American Branch is a lively group of Americans interested in history generally and in the reign of Richard III of England specifically. Our mission is to bring forward a historically accurate and balanced assessment of this misunderstood king, to educate the public, and to support research into the so-called Wars of the Roses. Our organization connects Americans with the global Ricardian community through joint membership with our affiliated society in the UK. We publish literature and hold events in the USA to encourage and deepen our knowledge of medieval life. Through our scholarship programs, we have provided over $1,000,000 to students pursuing degrees in medieval studies, and have supported the preservation, digitization, transcription, and translation of important Wars of the Roses manuscripts.

The American Branch was founded in 1961 and was later incorporated as the “Richard III Society, Inc.” In 1970, it received tax-exempt status as a non-profit educational organization under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code. It is a registered public charity in New York state. There are several hundred members nationwide with chapters in Florida, Illinois, the Michigan area, the Northwest, the New York-Metro area, Virginia and Colorado.

The American Branch publishes the research journal Ricardian Register and a digital newsletter Ricardian Chronicle. Members are invited to attend talks on a wide range of topics, given by professional historians and talented independent scholars. Society elections are conducted biennially, on even-numbered years, at the General Membership Meeting, held at different locations around the country or online as warranted.

Members of the American Branch also hold membership in our affiliate organization, the Richard III Society, Ltd., based in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom (sometimes called the “main” or “parent” society). This organization was founded in 1924 by Liverpool surgeon Dr Saxon Barton, and originally called the Fellowship of the White Boar. In 2022, the UK society reconstituted itself as a Company Limited by Guarantee, abbreviated as “Ltd.” The UK Society has its own leadership and website (richardiii.net) but frequently collaborates with the American Branch. Our members receive the UK magazine Ricardian Bulletin and the UK research journal The Ricardian, and invitations to all events, talks, and meetings in the UK.

Membership in the American Branch is open to all. Our 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.

 

PROGRAMS & PROJECTS

The American Branch offers three academic programs which provide scholarship assistance, publication outlets and a forum for presentations.

 

The William B. and Maryloo Spooner Schallek
Memorial Graduate Fellowship Awards

The Schallek Awards program memorializes Dr. William B. Schallek, whose vision and generosity established the original scholarship fund, and his wife, Maryloo Spooner Schallek. Today the program is supported by a $1.4 million endowment and is administered by the Medieval Academy of America. Beginning in 2024, the program offers five annual dissertation awards of $5,000 each and a dissertation fellowship of $40,000 annually.

Apply

Past Awardees

 

Special Projects Fund

During her life, Maryloo Spooner Schallek gave generously to the American Branch so that it could support young scholars of Richard III and his time period through high school essay contests and bursaries given to undergraduate research projects. In 2009, following Maryloo’s death, the general membership of the American Branch voted to combine her lifetime gifts with the Medieval Artifacts Conservation Fund, creating a “Special Projects Fund” (SPF).  The SSPF is aimed at helping young scholars as noted above, but is also to be used for the preservation of medieval artifacts and heritage whether in the United States or elsewhere.

Although the United States has relatively few medieval artifacts compared with England, it has several with Ricardian associations, like the beautifully illuminated “Genealogical chronicle roll of the Kings of England to Edward IV”, commonly called the Edward IV roll. The Richard III Society considers the preservation of our Ricardian heritage to be an important part of our mission, and the American Branch seeks to safeguard those objects.  The Branch would consider any object (manuscript, painting, sculpture, etc.) with a connection to Richard III, his family or, more generally, England during the Yorkist era.

In 1998, the American Branch financially supported a major conservation project on the copy of the “Edward IV Roll” manuscript held by the Philadelphia Free Library (MS Lewis E201.)  In 2009, the Branch helped to fund a complete digitization of another copy of the Roll, this one at the University of Pennsylvania library.

View images of this stunning document and learn more about the preservation processes at the link below.

Our Edward IV Roll Page

McGee Fund

The McGee fund is an endowed fund to provide Honoraria for our Annual General Meeting speakers.  Morris McGee was a past Chairman and one of the driving forces, and for many years the chairman and principal fund-raiser, of our graduate scholarship program, the William B. Schallek Memorial Graduate Fellowship Awards. The American Branch Board voted to name the keynote speech at the AGM in his honor and to earmark $2,500 from the general fund toward the endowment of a fund to pay honoraria to the speakers each year.
As of 2024, we not longer accept donations to this fund.

 

The Judy R. Weinsoft Memorial Research Library Fund

Established in 1993, The Judy R. Weinsoft Memorial Research Library Fund will be used every year to buy books and other materials for the nonfiction library, helping the Branch to keep pace with the explosion in fifteenth- century studies and to give members access to the kinds of materials on Yorkist-era England found only in major library centers. 

As of 2024, we not longer accept donations to this fund.