Peter N. Herndon
Bestor, Arthur.
Backwoods Utopias
.
The Sectarian Origins and the Owenite Phase of Communitarian Socialism in America
:
1663-1829
. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1970. 300 pages.
Excellent discussion of Robert Owen’ s contribution to communitarian thought and practice in the United States. Demonstrates how communitarian experiences varied, but were part of the same basic philosophy. The last chapter, “The Owenite Legacy” is thought-provoking. Well-documented; essential to my research.
Harrison, J.F. C.
Robert Owen and The Owenites in Britain and America
.
The Quest for the New Moral World.
London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1969. 392 pages.
Particularly full discussion of the New Lanark experiment and its impact in Britain. Treats Owen in a favorable light for the most part.
Hayden, Delores.
Seven American Utopias
.
The Architecture of Communitarian Socialism
,
1790-1975
. Cambridge, Mass: The M.I.T. Press, 1976. 401 pages
.
A most thorough work. Wonderful photographs, including building designs which illustrate the various communal attempts to design functional living-space. Divided into three sections (1) Seeking Utopia, (2) Building Utopia, and (3) Learning from Utopia, a thorough treatment of nineteenth-century communal experiments. Excellent bibliography, charts and Index.
Hinds, William Alfred.
American Communities and Co-operative Colonies
. Chicago: Charles H. Kerr and Co., 1908. 608 pages.
The observations of a contemporary historian of over thirty communitarian groups including the Shakers, Owenites and the Perfectionists. Interesting reading, quite insightful. Good student text. (In paperback)
Holloway, Mark.
Heavens on Earth
.
Utopian Communities in America
,
1680-1880
. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1966. 246 pages.
A brief overview of the communities discussed in my unit (In paperback)
Kern, Louis J.
An Ordered Love. Sex Roles and Sexuality in Victorian Utopias—The Shakers, The Mormons, and The Oneida Comunity.
Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1981. 430 pages.
A fascinating look, well-documented, into the thought and theology of the Shakers and Perfectionists.
Nordhoff, Charles.
The Communistic Societies of the United States
;
From Personal Visit and Observation
. London: John Murray, Albermarle Street, 1875. 439 pages.
Exhaustive personal study; a classic in-depth report on the Rappites, Zoar Separatists and Oneidans, plus others. Interesting concluding chapter titled, “Comparative View and Review.”
Owen, Robert. A
New View of Society and Other Writings
. London: Everyman’s Library, 1927. 298 pages.
Scholarly writings of Owen and various public addresses on his environmental determinism view of personal character formation and his overall vision for society as a whole.
Rexroth, Kenneth.
Communalism: From Its Origins to the Twentieth Century
. New York: The Seabury Press, 1974. 316 pages.
A “readers digest” version of American Communities with brief chapters on Oneida and Owen, plus an excellent section called “Early Communes in America,” to set the historical stage. Recommended as student reading.
