Fourierist Communities of Reform : The Social Networks of Nineteenth-Century Female Reformers

This is a fine book and a significant contribution to the study of American Fourierism. Amy Hart's big theme--that her four communal experiments lived on in the post-communal lives of their members--enables her to make fascinating connections between various reform movements...The personal histories come alive on the page thanks to shrewdly chosen quotes and sharp commentary. Dr. Jonathan Beecher, Professor Emeritus, Department of History, University of California, Santa Cruz Finally, communal women get their due! Amy Hart's meticulously researched and most readable book demonstrates that modern feminism did not begin at Seneca Falls, but was part of a milieu of reform movements, many of which crossed paths frequently with the intentional communities of the first half of the nineteenth century. Dr. Timothy Miller, Professor Emeritus, Religious Studies, University of Kansas This book explores the intersections between nineteenth-century social reform movements in the United States. Delving into the little-known history of women who joined income-sharing communities during the 1840s, this book uses four community case studies to examine social activism within communal environments. In a period when women faced legal and social restrictions ranging from coverture to slavery, the emergence of residential communities designed by French utopian writer, Charles Fourier, introduced spaces where female leadership and social organization became possible. Communitarian women helped shape the ideological underpinnings of some of the United States' most enduring and successful reform efforts, including the women's rights movement, the abolition movement, and the creation of the Republican Party. Dr. Hart argues that these movements were intertwined, with activists influencing multiple organizations within unexpected settings. Dr. Amy Hart holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She has served as a lecturer at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and is currently a public historian for California State Parks Acknowledgments About the Book Praise for Fourierist Communities of Reform Contents List of Figures Chapter 1: Introduction to Intentional Communities and Social Change Utopias, Communes, and Intentional Communities The Life and Worldview of Charles Fourier Understanding the Long-Term Impacts of the Fourierist Communal Experiments Accessing the History of Intentional Communities Understanding Communitarians: The Challenges Facing Historians Finding a Shared Language: A Note on Terms Chapter 2: Reverberations of Reform Activism: The Lasting Impact of Trumbull Phalanx Fourier’s American Followers Forming a Community: The Founding of Trumbull Phalanx Opposing Approaches to Community: Angelique Le Petit Martin and Nathaniel Meeker Gender and Race in the Nineteenth Century Angelique Martin’s Feminism The Language of Reform Life After Community: Social Reformers The Next Generation: Lilly Martin Spencer’s Social Activism Through Art Chapter 3: Demonstrating Racial Diversity Within Community: The Northampton Association of Education and Industry A New Type of Communal Experiment Life at the Northampton Association: Experiences Filtered Through the Lens of Gender and Race Rituals and Religions Truth’s Sojourn Reformers Meet The End of a Community, Continuation of a Movement The Outcomes of Community Chapter 4: Contested Community: The Wisconsin Phalanx and the Western Frontier Creating Group Identity Within Community Founding a Community on Another’s Land A More Perfect Community: The Ideological Underpinnings of the Wisconsin Phalanx Religion, Ritual, and Community Cohesion at the Wisconsin Phalanx Reforming Society by Rejuvenating the Body and Soul Gendered Perspectives on the Wisconsin Frontier Reformers and the State: Participating in Wisconsin Statehood Life in Ripon and Beyond: The Lasting Impacts of the Wisconsin Phalanx Chapter 5: Brook Farm: Two Diverging Paths After Community From Anti-sectarian to Christian Socialism The Transcendentalists of Brook Farm Georgiana Bruce Anna Blackwell A Fiery Beginning Chapter 6: Fourierist Futures: The Lasting Impact of the Fourierist Communities in the 1850s and Beyond The Founding of the Republican Party Social Movements Religious Reform Health Reform Conclusion: The Webs of Reform Appendix 1: Timeline of Northampton Association Abolitionists Bibliography Archival Collections Primary Sources Newspapers Books/Collections Secondary Sources Index