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The Rockford Institute is an American conservative think-tank associated with paleoconservatism, based in Rockford, Illinois. It ran the John Randolph Club and publishes Chronicles magazine.
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Chronicles peaked in the 1990s, helping shape the paleoconservative revival that accompanied Patrick Buchanan's 1992 and 1996 presidential campaigns. At its peak, it had 15,000 subscribers. As of September, 2016, there were 6,700 subscribers.
History
The Institute was founded in 1976 by Rockford College President John A. Howard as a response to American social changes of the 1960s. Allan Carlson served as president until 1997. He and Howard left to found The Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society, an offshoot of the Rockford Institute. It is also located in Rockford, Illinois. They took with them two publications: Religion and Society Report newsletter and the monthly, Family in America.
Thomas Fleming, editor of Chronicles, succeeded Carlson as president of the Rockford Institute. The Institute also retained the Ingersoll Prize.
In 1988 the Institute and Richard John Neuhaus, a Lutheran pastor, invited Cardinal Ratzinger to give a lecture in New York in January. On May 5, 1989, Neuhaus and his Religion and Society Center were evicted from the Institute's New York office after he complained about what he said were "the racist and anti-Semitic tones" of Chronicles. The charge, which was supported by other leading conservatives, was denied by the institute. They said the office, called Rockford East, was closed for budgetary reasons and because of concerns that Neuhaus was not following institute policies. According to political commentator David Frum, the split was seen by leading conservatives as a sign of the division between the paleoconservative and the neo-conservative elements of the movement.
Chronicles magazine
Chronicles is a U.S. monthly magazine published by the Rockford Institute. Its full current name is Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. The magazine is known for promoting anti-globalism, anti-intervention and anti-immigration stances within conservative politics, and is considered one of the leading paleoconservative publications. Its present editor is Chilton Williamson, who succeeded Thomas Fleming. The executive editor is Scott P. Richert, Aaron D. Wolf is associate editor, and Dr. Srdja (or Serge) Trifkovic is editor for foreign affairs. Contributors over the years have included the conservative activist Peter Gemma, now living in Sarasota, Florida.
Chronicles was founded in 1976, soon after the establishment of the Rockford Institute earlier that year. Originally known as Chronicles of Culture, the magazine was originally published by Leopold Tyrmand and John A. Howard. Thomas Fleming joined the Institute's staff in 1984 and became editor in 1985, after Tyrmand died. Fleming changed the title to Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. Chronicles also promoted the activities of the John Randolph Club, another project of the Rockford Institute to merge conservatives and libertarians. It was dissolved in the late 1990s.