Historic New Harmony: Explore and Learn-Post Communal Period

POST COMMUNAL PERIOD

After the collapse of the Owen-Maclure community in the spring of 1827, many members stayed in New Harmony and the activities of the town proceeded. In the late 1820s schools were directed by Mme. Fretageot. William Maclure established a school in various locations adapted to different ages in the late 1820s, including a school for orphans founded in 1827. In the 1840s and 1850s a number of private schools were established.

The School of Industry continued into the 1840s; some of its students produced a newspaper, The Disseminator of Useful Knowledge, from 1828 to 1841, though not continuously. The New Harmony Gazette continued to be published by Robert Dale Owen and Frances Wright until 1828 when they moved the paper, retitled the Free Enquirer, to New York City. In the 1840s three other papers were published; however there were no New Harmony newspapers from 1849 until the publication of The New Harmony Advertiser began in 1858.

Scientific activity continued in the late 1820s and 1830s by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur and Thomas Say. When the Maximilian-Bodmer expedition passed through New Harmony in 1832, Prince Maximilian was impressed with the work of both these men. The period from 1827 to 1860 saw much geological study. David Dale Owen conducted state and federal geological surveys during this time, using New Harmony as his headquarters. He trained many geologists in an unofficial New Harmony field school. By 1860 most of the scientists and educators had died or left New Harmony, and the Civil War brought a halt to most other scientific and scholarly activities.

Social activities such as concerts, balls, and lectures were held throughout the period. The Thespian Society was established by William Owen in the fall of 1827, and gave its first performance in 1828. The local theatrical groups performed in New Harmony off and on until the 1880s. Many touring national theatrical troupes also played in the town.

Clubs for men included the New Harmony Jockey Club, organized in 1835. Members, who included Robert Dale Owen and William Owen, raced horses on a one mile track. The club ended in 1839. The Agricultural Society of Posey County was organized in 1835; among its membership were members of several prominent New Harmony families.

The Minerva Society, a literary club for younger women of the town, was founded by Constance Fauntleroy in 1859. It is considered one of the earliest women's clubs in America with a written constitution and by-laws; the Society was disbanded in 1863.