The Spencer Heath Archive comprises more than 3300 documents illuminating the work of Spencer Heath (1876-1963), including some material written by his grandson and intellectual heir, Spencer Heath MacCallum (1931-2020).

Spencer Heath was a remarkable man whose experience as an engineer, inventor, manufacturer, lawyer, social scientist, teacher, poet, and philosopher gave him a unique worldview far ahead of his time. As he predicted commercial aviation long before it became a reality, he predicted voluntary, contractual governance that in the 2020s is starting to be realized.

One can speak of Heathian anarchism, but he never considered himself an anarchist, despite his view of political governance as dysfunctional. Instead, he always considered himself a liberal--what we would call a classical liberal these days. He saw individualism as a necessary part of community and collectivism as antithetical to the society humanity was evolving toward.

Although many classical liberals of his time who were much better known than him saw the value in his insights, it was his grandson, Spencer Heath MacCallum, who realized the importance of preserving his thought.

The archive consists of works of Spencer Heath, covering the period between 1887 and 1963, and around 100 items written by Spencer MacCallum after his grandfather’s death. It is contained in 22 boxes, organized by item number. It includes seven series: Articles, Audio, Book (Citadel, Market and Altar), Correspondence, Conversations, Photos, and Subject Files. The collection contains personal correspondence with notable figures, including F.A. (Baldy) Harper, Leonard Read, Ludwig von Mises, Henry Hazlitt, and Murray Rothbard, as well as articles and other documents related to renowned economists, especially Henry George. There are also hundreds of handwritten notes showing the development of Heath’s thought.

Spencer MacCallum spent years of his life collecting, preserving, and advancing his grandfather’s ideas. Between 1954 and 1957, he recorded an astonishing number of Heath’s comments in audio-taped conversations or contemporaneous handwritten notes. When Heath died in 1963, MacCallum saved every scrap of handwritten notes in his home, all the carbon copies of correspondence he could find, and a trove of essays, both drafts and finals, published and unpublished. He typed and retyped, first on typewriters and later in Microsoft Word, all of that material, including his transcripts of their conversations.

Most of the images presented in the digital archive were obtained from the original documents; a few are from photocopies. The Ludwig von Mises Library at Universidad Francisco Marroquín in Guatemala was responsible for all the scanning, image verification, and metadata processing.

Scholars wishing to work with the physical archive should contact biblioservicios@ufm.edu

Heath Articles: This series contains approximately 200 articles and essays, written mainly by Spencer Heath and Spencer MacCallum. There are also a few articles about Heath and pieces he found interesting and saved.

Heath Audio: This series is seven audio files of either Heath or lectures about Heath.

Heath Book: This series is related to Citadel, Market and Altar, the only book he published in his lifetime. It includes multiple versions of each chapter and material related to the promotion of the book. It contains around 50 documents.

Heath Conversations: This series contains approximately 450 files that are either transcripts of conversations between Heath and his grandson or verbatim notes MacCallum made from such discussions.

Heath Correspondence: Made up of approximately 1250 letters from 1894 to 2014, about 1100 of the letters are from Heath between 1954 and 1962. Most of the documents are carbon copies of letters from Heath, but there are some original letters to Heath. There are also some drafts of letters composed by Heath.

Heath Photos: There are half a dozen photos of Spencer Heath, including one from his youth.

Heath Subject Files: This series of approximately 1000 documents includes various items that don’t fit into the other series. The majority of the items are handwritten notes on a wide range of subjects. This series, like the others, is searchable in several ways, but the most useful may be by keyword.