Brook Farm

George Ripley founded Brook Farm based on Transcendental ideals.

In October 1840, George Ripley announced to the Transcendental Club that he was planning to form a Utopian community.[7] Brook Farm, as it would be called, was based on the ideals of Transcendentalism; its founders believed that by pooling labor they could sustain the community and still have time for literary and scientific pursuits.[8] The experiment was meant to serve as an example for the rest of the world, based on the principles of "industry without drudgery, and true equality without its vulgarity".[9] At Brook Farm, as in other communities, physical labor was perceived as a condition of mental well-being and health. Brook Farm was one of at least 80 communal experiments active in the United States in the 1840s, though it was the first to be secular.[10] Ripley believed his experiment would be a model for the rest of society. He predicted: "If wisely executed, it will be a light over this country and this age. If not the sunrise, it will be the morning star."[4] As more interested people began to take part in planning, Ripley relocated meetings from his home to the West Street bookshop operated by Elizabeth Palmer Peabody.[11]

Ripley and his wife Sophia formed a joint stock company in 1841 along with 10 other investors.[8] He sold shares of the company for $500 with a promise of 5% of the profits to each investor.[7] Shareholders were also allowed a single vote in decision-making and several held director positions.[4] The Ripleys chose to begin their experiment at a dairy farm owned by Charles and Maria Mayo Ellis in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, near the home of Theodore Parker.[12] They began raising money, including holding a meeting at Peabody's bookshop to raise $10,000 for the farm's purchase.[13] The site was eventually purchased on October 11, 1841, for $10,500,[14] though participants began moving in as early as April.[15] The 170-acre (0.69 km²) farm about eight miles (13 km) from Boston was described in a pamphlet as a "place of great natural beauty, combining a convenient nearness to the city with a degree of retirement and freedom from unfavorable influences unusual even in the country".[12] The purchase also covered a neighboring Keith farm, about 22 acres (89,000 m²), "consisting altogether of a farm with dwelling house, barn, and outbuildings thereon situated".[14]

The first major public notice of the community was published in August 1841. "The Community at West Roxbury, Mass." was likely written by Elizabeth Palmer Peabody.[16] Though they began with 10 investors, eventually 32 people became Brook Farmers.[8][17] Writer and editor Margaret Fuller was invited to Brook Farm[18] and, though she never officially joined the community, was a frequent visitor, often spending New Year's Eve there.[19] Ripley received many applications to join the community, especially from people who had little money or were in poor health, but full-fledged membership was granted only to those who could afford a $500 share of the joint stock company.[20]

One of Brook Farm's founders was author Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne did not particularly agree with the experiment's ideals, hoping only that it would help him raise enough money to begin his life with his wife-to-be, Sophia Peabody.[9] She considered moving there as well and even visited in May 1841, though Hawthorne sent her away.[21] Ripley was aware of Hawthorne's motivations, and tried to convince him to get involved more fully by appointing him as one of four trustees, specifically overseeing "Direction of Finance".[14] After requesting his initial investment returned, Hawthorne resigned from Brook Farm on October 17, 1842.[22] He wrote of his displeasure with the community: "even my Custom House experience was not such a thraldom and weariness; my mind and heart were freer ...Thank God, my soul is not utterly buried under a dung-heap."[23]

Brook Farm was reorganized to follow the work of Charles Fourier.

In the late 1830s, Ripley became increasingly engaged in "Associationism", an early socialist movement based on the work of Charles Fourier. Horace Greeley, a New York newspaper editor, and others began to pressure Brook Farm to follow more closely the pattern of Fourier[24] at a time when the community was struggling to be self-sufficient.[20] Albert Brisbane, whose book The Social Destiny of Man (1840) had inspired Ripley,[25] paid Greeley $500 for permission to publish a front-page column in the New York Tribune that ran in several parts from March 1842 to September 1843. Brisbane argued in the series, titled "Association: or, Principles of a True Organization of Society", that Fourier's theories could be applied in the United States.[20] He published similar articles in 1842 in The Dial, the journal of the Transcendentalists.[26] Fourier's societal vision included elaborate plans for specific structures and highly organized roles for its members.[24] He called his system for an ideal community a "Phalanx".[27]

To meet this vision, now under the name "Brook Farm Association for Industry and Education",[5] Brook Farmers committed themselves to constructing an ambitious communal building known as the Phalanstery. Construction began in the summer of 1844. The structure would accommodate 14 families and single people as well.[28] It was planned to be 175 feet (53 m) by 40 feet (12 m) and include, as Ripley wrote, "a large and commodious kitchen, a dining-hall capable of seating from three to four hundred persons, two public saloons, and a spacious hall or lecture room".[29]

Ripley and two associates created a new constitution for Brook Farm in 1844, beginning the experiment's attempts to follow Fourier's Phalanx system.[30] Many Brook Farmers supported the transition; at a dinner in honor of Fourier's birthday, one member of the group proposed a toast to "Fourier, the second coming of Christ".[31] Others did not share that enthusiasm, and some left the commune.[31] One of those who left was Isaac Hecker, who converted to Catholicism and went on to become the founder of the first American-based order of priests, the Paulist Fathers, in 1858.[32] In particular, many Brook Farmers thought the new model was too rigid and structured and too different from the carefree aspects that had attracted them.[33] Both supporters and detractors called the early part of Brook Farm's history the "Transcendental days".[31] Ripley himself became a celebrity proponent of Fourierism and organized conventions throughout New England to discuss the community.[34]

November 7, 1846, issue of The Harbinger, printed at Brook Farm

In the last few months of 1844, Brook Farmers were offered the chance to take over two Associationism-inspired publications, Brisbane's The Phalanx and John Allen's The Social Reformer. Four printers were part of Brook Farm at the time and members of the community believed it would elevate their status as leaders of the movement, as well as provide additional income.[35] Ultimately, the Brook Farmers published a new journal combining the two, The Harbinger.[28] The journal's first issue was published on June 14, 1845, and it was continuously printed, originally weekly, until October 1847, when it relocated to New York City, still under the oversight of Ripley and fellow Brook Farmer Charles Anderson Dana.[36] Naming the publication turned out to be a difficult task. Parke Godwin offered advice when it was suggested to keep the name The Phalanx:

Call it the Pilot, the Harbinger, the Halycon, the Harmonist, The Worker, the Architect, The Zodiac, The Pleiad, the Iris, the Examiner, The Aurora, the Crown, the Imperial, the Independent, the Synthesist, the Light, the Truth, the Hope, the Teacher, the Reconciler, the Wedge, the Pirate, the Seer, the Indicator, the Tailor, the Babe in the Manger, the Universe, the Apocalypse, the Red Dragon, the Plant, Beelzebub—the Devil or anything rather than the meaningless name Phalanx.[37]

Brook Farm began to decline rapidly after its restructuring. In October 1844, Orestes Brownson visited the site and sensed that "the atmosphere of the place is horrible".[38] To save money, "retrenchments", or sacrifices, were called for, particularly at the dinner table.[39] Meat, coffee, tea, and butter were no longer offered, though it was agreed that a separate table with meat be allowed in December 1844.[38] That Thanksgiving, a neighbor donated a turkey.[28] Many Brook Farmers applied for exceptions to these rules and soon it was agreed that "members of the Association who sit at the meat table shall be charged extra for their board".[40] Life on Brook Farm was further worsened by an outbreak of smallpox in November 1845; though no one died, 26 Brook Farmers were infected.[28] Ripley attempted to quell the financial difficulties by negotiating with creditors and stockholders, who agreed to cancel $7,000 of debt.[41]

Construction on the Phalanstery progressed well[28] until March 3, 1846, when it was discovered that it had caught fire. Within two hours, the structure had completely burned down;[42] firefighters from Boston arrived too late.[43] The fire was likely caused by a defective chimney. One participant noted, "Ere long the flames were chasing one another in a mad riot over the structure; running across long corridors and up and down the supporting columns of wood, until the huge edifice was a mass of firework".[44] The financial blow from the loss of the uninsured building was $7,000 and it marked the beginning of the end of Brook Farm.[43]

Ripley, who had begun the experiment, made an unofficial break with Brook Farm in May 1846.[45] Many others began to leave as well, though the farm's dissolution was slow. As one Brook Farmer said, the community's slow decline was like apple petals drifting slowly to the ground, making it seem "dreamy and unreal".[43] On November 5, 1846, Ripley's book collection, which had served as Brook Farm's library, was auctioned to help cover the association's debts.[46] By the end, Brook Farm had a total debt of $17,445.[47] Ripley told a friend, "I can now understand how a man would feel if he could attend his own funeral".[46] He took a job with the New York Tribune and it took him 13 years to repay Brook Farm's debt, which he did in 1862.[48]

Participants at Brook Farm were also shareholders and were promised 5% of the annual profits or free tuition for one student. In exchange for 300 days of work per year, they were granted free room and board.[4] Members performed whatever work most appealed to them and all, including women, were paid equal wages.[59] The philosophy of labor, according to Ripley, was "to insure a more natural union between intellectual and manual labor than now exists; to combine the thinker and the worker, as far as possible, in the same individual."[60]

The organization of work in Brook Farm changed over time because of both financial troubles and changes in ideology. Members of Brook Farm initially participated in an "attractive industry" system where each could pick his or her work assignments based on their preferences.[61] This method had no specific authority to ensure that essential tasks were done. After initial leniency, some sensed that not all members were doing their fair share of the labor, so in 1841 the community adopted standards for work: ten hours of work were required per day during the summer and eight hours during winter.[33] When Brook Farm first adopted Fourierist notions, it created a more structured work environment with a system that consisted of three series of industry: agriculture, mechanical, and domestic. Within each series were a number of groups that handled more specific tasks.[62] Each group had a chief who kept a record of the work done. While this system created a new work hierarchy, the members still had the flexibility to move between groups easily.[62] These new measures caused Brook Farm to make a profit in 1844, a feat it had not accomplished in its first few years of existence.[62]

Typical work duties at Brook Farm included chopping wood, bringing in firewood, milking cows, turning a grindstone, and other farming chores.[44] Not all were farmers, however. Some worked in the trades, including making shoes, and others were teachers. Regardless of the job, all were considered equal and because of the job distribution, as Elizabeth Peabody wrote, "no one has any great weight in any one thing".[63] In exchange for their work, participants were granted several "guarantees", including "medical attendance, nursing, education in all departments, amusements".[64] There were some occasional conflicts between different workers, partly because those who were educators believed themselves more aristocratic; overall, however, as historian Charles Crowe wrote, "indeed all aspects of communal life operated with surprisingly little friction" in general.[65]

People visited Brook Farm frequently, totaling an estimated 1,150 each year, and each was charged for their visit. Between November 1844 and October 1845, surviving records show that $425 was collected from visitor fees.[66] The list of visitors included theologian Henry James, Sr., sculptor William Wetmore Story, artist John Sartain, and British social reformer Robert Owen.[67]

Despite multiple sources of income, the community was in constant debt almost immediately after it began.[47] The community, including Ripley, had difficulty with farming, in particular because of poor soil and not enough labor. The major crop was hay, which was sold at low-grade prices; vegetables, milk, and fruit were not produced in sufficient numbers to be profitable.[68] The property was mortgaged four times between 1841 and 1845.[47] Brook Farm got into the habit of spending money before it had been raised. One Brook Farmer wrote, "I think here lies the difficulty,—we have not had business men to conduct our affairs ... those among us who have some business talents, see this error".[28]

On September 29, 1841, the "Brook Farm Institute of Agriculture and Education" was organized. The school was Brook Farm's most immediate (and at times only) source of income and attracted students from as far away as Cuba and the Philippines.[20] Children under 12 were charged $3.50 per week and, at first, boys over 12 were charged $4 a week and girls were charged $5; by August 1842, the rates were made identical.[64] Adult education was also available in the evenings. The schedule for adults included courses on moral philosophy, German language, and modern European history.[69]

Within the school there was an infant school for children under six, a primary school for children under ten, and a preparatory school that prepared children for college in six years.[69] When entering the school, each pupil under high-school age was assigned a woman of the community who was in charge of his/her wardrobe, personal habits, and exercise.[70] The teachers included three graduates of Harvard Divinity School (George Ripley, George Bradford, and John Sullivan Dwight) and several women (Ripley's wife Sophia, his sister Marianne, and his cousin Hannah, Georgianna Bruce, and Abby Morton).[71] Ripley was in charge of teaching English and was known to be relaxed in his class. Dana taught languages, speaking ten himself. Dwight taught music[72] and Latin.[13] Students studied European languages and literature and, at no extra cost, pupils could also indulge in the fine arts.[70] The primary school was overseen by Sophia and Marianne Ripley, using a progressive child-centered pedagogy that has been compared to John Dewey's later reforms.[69] Sophia Ripley's dedication to the school was remarked upon by many; she missed only two classes in six years.[73]

The people of Brook Farm spent most of their time either studying or working the farm, but they always set aside time for play. In their free time, they enjoyed music, dancing, card games, drama, costume parties, sledding, and skating.[8][74] Every week, the community would gather at The Hive for a dance by the young ladies of the community. They wore wreaths of wild daisies on their heads, and each week a special wreath, bought from a florist, was given to the best-dressed girl.[75] At the end of every day, many performed a "symbol of Universal Unity", in which they stood in a circle and joined hands and vowed for "truth to the cause of God and Humanity".[76]

Spirits remained high throughout the experiment, regardless of the community's financial standing.[7] The social structure demanded selflessness[73] and people rarely failed to fulfill their duties,[65] a requirement to earn leisure time. Leisure time was important to Brook Farm's philosophy. As Elizabeth Palmer Peabody wrote for The Dial in January 1842, "none will be engaged merely in bodily labor ... This community aims to be rich, not in the metallic representative of wealth, but in ... leisure to live in all the faculties of the soul".[77]

At Brook Farm, women could go beyond their typical sphere of tasks and their labor was highly valued.[78] They did have tasks typical of other women at the time, such as simple food preparation, and shared housekeeping. But during harvest time, women were allowed to work in the fields and men even helped out with laundry during the cold weather. Because no single religion could impose its beliefs on the community, women were safe from the typical patriarchy associated with religion at the time.[78] Because of the community's focus on individual freedom, women were autonomous from their husbands and allowed to become stockholders.[73] Women also played an important role in providing sources of income. Many devoted time to making, in Brook Farmer Marianne Dwight's words, "elegant and tasteful caps, capes, collars, undersleeves, etc., etc.," for sale at Boston shops.[78] Others painted screens and lampshades for sale.[65] Women were allowed to go to school and, because of the well-known education of women at Brook Farm, many female writers and performers visited. Sophia Ripley, who had written an outspoken feminist essay for The Dial on "Woman" before moving to Brook Farm,[79] was very educated and taught history and foreign languages at the farm.