Presenter: Carol Walker, Sally Keehn
Seminar: 19th Century American Utopian Societies
Founded in 1848 by the itinerant preacher, John Humphreys Noyes, this religiously based Utopian Society, which started in Putney, VT and later moved to Oneida, NY, challenged contemporary views on work, gender roles, child rearing practices, monogamy, and property ownership. The community’s insistence on life-long learning and determination to make all work enjoyable, fostered a work ethic and well of industriousness that sustained the group for over thirty years, making it one of the most successful and longest lasting communal experiments of the 19th century. Sally Keehn will discuss the Vermont years and Carol Walker will discuss the New York years.
