ROBERT OWEN
AND THE OWEN/MACLURE EXPERIMENT
In 1825, with his business partner William Maclure, Robert Owen purchased the community of New Harmony, hoping to establish a model community where education and social equality would flourish. Maclure, a wealthy businessman and well-respected geologist, attracted many well-known scholars of the early 19 th century to New Harmony, including American naturalist Thomas Say; French naturalist Charles-Alexandre Lesueur; and Pestalozzian educators Joseph Neef, Phiquepal d’Arusmont, and Madame Marie Duclos Fretageot. Gerard Troost, a Dutch geologist, and Frances Wright, a Scots-born early feminist, were also drawn to New Harmony.
Robert Owen’s “Community of Equality,” as the experiment was known, dissolved by 1827, ravaged by personal conflicts and the inadequacies of the community in the areas of labor and agriculture. Despite the breakdown of his experiment, Owen’s utopian dream brought significant contributions to American scientific and educational theory, study, and practice. Owen’s efforts to effect change and enlightenment came to fruition through the work of his children in New Harmony and the young scientists and educators who came with William Maclure.Read more>> Expanded Owen-Maclure Experiment Document (.pdf)
Historic New Harmony • Post Office Box 579 • New Harmony, Indiana 47631
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