reading (Oneida Community, An Autobiography)

I finished "Oneida Community, An Autobiography" earlier this week, Tuesday maybe. This book is titled an autobiography because it is primarily made up of selections from items published by the community through their circular. Each chapter is dedicated to a particular theme like Health, Business, and Education. At the beginning of each chapter there is an introduction with choice quotes from the quotes that will come. The introductions can be skipped and probably should have been skipped in the publishing. The selections give a some good glimpses into the workings and thoughts of the community. This, of course, has to be taken with a grain of salt. These were all publications that the community chose to publish, so you won't see many negatives.

This book isn't for light reading. It does give some insight into different bits and attitudes, but it's not an even telling or a good introduction to the history and theory of the community. Many of the concepts are still cached in the terminology of the community, so other sources can be better for explanation.

57. "Oneida Community, An Autobiography, 1851-1876" edited by Constance Noyes Robertson

The Oneida Community

The Oneida Community started out with some incredibly ambitious aims. Did they fail or succeed? I think by their original standards they failed. But in a lot of other measures, they succeeded.

( A monograph on the Oneida Community, cut for length )