Oneida: Utopian Community to Modern Corporation

by Maren Carden

This volume describes how the initiation of young girls into the sexual practices of the commune became a major source of conflict. The study appraises information about the history, practices, organization, and principles of Oneida.

228 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1969

Reviews

[Renee King · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting history of an utopian community that morphed into to a kind of common-ideals society based around an evolving corporation. The text is dry and there is no mistaking that this is a scholarly work, but that is much to be appreciated in the factual representation of the timeline of events.

Fascinating that there were more than just a few societies like these in the 19th century in New York state. I am left wondering about the present towns of Kenwood and Sherrill and if there are any remnants of the old Oneida Community. Certainly, we know the Oneida flatware company still exists, but not sure if any of the benevolent benefits of employment there are still available.

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an historical overview of the evolution of the Oneida community from its founding by John Humphrey Noyes in 1848 until the late nineteen-sixties when this book was published, all from a sociological perspective. Having originated as a doctoral dissertation, the text is dry but accessible.

I've long been interested in utopian experiments and have read quite a bit previously about Oneida, but nothing so extensive and nothing carrying its history so far forward into the present. Indeed, several years ago I was able to visit Putney, Vermont, where Noyes actually began his experiment in Christian Perfectionism in 1841.

Like many utopian communities, Oneida began with egalitarian ideals along communist lines, each member contributing what they had to the commonweal, each member drawing what they needed. Like those communities which tend to last the longest, Oneida had strong economic and religious foundations. The business side continues today. The religious side, a liberal protestant theology which emphasized grace through works and human potentials, did not, however, long survive the demise of the founder or the transformation of Oneida from a commune to a (relatively progressive and benevolent) corporation in 1881.

Christian communism is an old idea, practiced since the days of its founders. What was most peculiar about Oneida, though, was its implementation of Christian ideals of universal love in the realm of sex and sexual ethics. Oneida religious publications were odd in that articles exegeting Pauline theology would be alongside ones about birth control and female sexual response, these Perfectionists being, unlike many other protestants, all in favor of the pleasures of life enjoyed responsibly. Students of sexuality and gender relations will find this aspect of the Oneida experiment particularly interesting.

[Elizabeth Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was part of my research for my novel-in-progress, Perfecting Eden, which is a fictional account of the lives of my ancestors in the Oneida Community. The contents should be taken with a grain of salt. Many academics view this as a bowdlerized history written with the consent -- and within the limitations of -- the company executives who burned much of the Oneida archive.

[Steve Wiggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, sociological study of the Oneida Community. This was an impulse buy for me while in nearby Syracuse, and it provided the basic information I was seeking. See more at: Sects and Violence in the Ancient World

[Amanda B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and sometimes disturbing look at a utopian community.