DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 393 735SO 025 666

AUTHOR Auel, Lisa B.TITLE Ties That Bind: Communities in American History.INSTITUTION National Archives and Records Service (GSA),

Washington, D.C.REPORT NO ISBN-0-911333-93-2PUB DATE 93NOTE 41p.; Corresponds to a National Archives and Records

Administration exhibit, Spring 1992 through Spring1993.

PUB TYPE Guides General (050)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS Community; *Community Characteristics; Community

Study; Higher Education; History; Neighborhoods;Secondary Education; Social Studies; *United StatesHistory

IDENTIFIERS National Archives DC

ABSTRACT

The communities that individuals have created areendlessly diverse. They have followed ancient patterns and haveexperimented boldly with innovative ideas. This publication and theexhibition it complements present only a few of the many ways thatindividuals have found to live together. It is divided according tothe specific forces behind the creation of communities in the UnitedStates: "Family Tiest! and "Ethnic Environment" show associationsorganized around those basic bonds; "The Dollars and Sense ofCommunity" describes groups that form for economic reasons; "Plansfor Perfection" examines religious and secular utopias; and "FromCrisis to Community" deals with people forced by circumstances ordiscrim;-ation to congregate. Census pages, petitions, maps,photographs, and other federal records are included. Individually,these documents can tell only incomplete stories of the specificgroups represented. But taken together they reveal some of thesubtleties and complexities of the U.S. style of congregation--and ofthe human bond itself. (JAG)

***********************************************************************Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made

from the original document.***********************************************************************

TIES THAT BINDCOMMUNITIES IN

AMERICAN HISTORY

11

"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS

MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY

ti.eigateikk

TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)."

---

-

U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION011ice ol Educaloonal Research and Improvement

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER (ERIC)

This document has been reproduced asreceived from the person or organizationoriginating it.

I3 Minor changes have been made toimprove reproduction quality.

Points of view or opinions stated in thisdocument do not necessarily representofficial OERI position or policy.

J

NATIONAL ARCHIVES

TIES THAT BINDeGP

COMMUNITIES INAMERICAN HISTORY

By Lisa B. Auel

An exhibition at the

NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION

Washington, DC

Spring 1992 through Spring 1993

3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-NDI:cation Data

Mel, Lisa Benkert.Ties that bind : communities in American history / by Lisa Benkert

Auel.p. cm.

"An exhibition at the National Archives and RecordsAdministration, Washington DC, Spring 1992-Spring 1993."

ISBN 0-911333-93-21. Community development United States History Exhibitions.

2. Community life History Exhibitions. 1. United States.National Archives and Records Administration. II. Title.HN90.C6A94 1992

307.1'4'074753 dc20 91-40704CIP

Cover "Mountain Meeting:' by David Lanrbson. 1848. from

'Tvo Years Experience Among the Shakers

Courtesy of Hancock Shaker Village. Pittsfield. Massachusetts

Designed by Serene Feldman Werblood. National Archives

4

CONTENTS

v Preface

I Introduction

3 Family Ties

4 Native Americans

5 Native Hawaiians

7 Ethnic Environments

8 Immigrants

14 African Americans in Harlem

16 The Dollars and Sense of Community

17 The Suburbs

18 Boom Towns

19 Company Towns

20 Plans for Perfection

21 Utopias

22 The Shakers

24 The Mormons

26 New Towns

27 From Crisis to Community

28 Slave Communities

30 Indian Reservations

32 Japanese Relocation Camps

33 The AIDS Community

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PREFACE

"The ties thatbind the

lives ofourpeoplein one indissoluble union are perpetuated

in the Archives of our government . .

Inscription on the National Archives Building by its architect. lohn Russell Pope. ca IQ30s

Jr. the Rotunda, of the National Archives, visitors wait in hushed lines to view the greatdocuments of American democracy and history. Seeing the handwritten, original copies ofthe Declaration of Independence. the Constitution. and the Bill of Rights is often stirring:Americans of all ages and backgrounds describe the experience as awe-inspiring, reverential.moving. As expressions of the values and freedoms that all Americans cherish, the Charters of

Freedom are powerful symbols of our collective beliefs and ideals. They are the tangible links

that unite Americans in a vast, national community.The freedoms accorded United States citizens by the Charters have also encouraged the

creation of an infinite variety of more intimate communities. As early as 1831, when Alexis deTocqueville traveled through the United States. he noted with some curiosity and admirationthe American inclination to associate. Americans of all ages, conditions, and dispositions. hewrote. constantly form associations of a "thousand kinds, religious, moral. serious, futile.eeneral or restricted. enormous or diminutive." Indeed. the history of this country is rife withthe successes and failures of every imaginable kind of community. Their stories are animportant part of our collective past: they tell us scmethingof the freedoms and constraints ofAmerican democracy and of the organization and experier,ze of American life.

This book presents documents from the National Archives that are the tangible traces ofthat experienceof the ties that bind us to one another as Americans, and as human beings.It accompanies the 1992 National Archives exhibition "Ties That Bind: Communities inAmerican History." The Office of Public Programs of the National Archives prepared theexhibition and this book: Lisa B. Auel of the Exhibits Branch was the author of both. SereneFeldman Werblood of the Development and Production Branch, Publications Division.designed the publication. For all of their generous contributions of time and support to the"Communities" project. special thanks are extended to Stacey Bredhoff. Bruce I. Bustard,Anne DeLong, Stephen Estrada. Henry I. Gwiazda, Martha Merselis. Kitty Nicholson, MarilynPaul, Thomas D. Saunders. Emily Soapes, and lames D. Zeender.

Don W. WilsonArchivist of the United States

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INTRODUCTION

The communities that Americans have created are endlessly diverse: they

have followed ancient patterns and have boldly experimented with innova-

tive ideas. This book and the exhibition it complements present only a few of

the myriad ways that Americans have found to live together. It is divided

according to some of the specific forces behind the creation of community in

this country: "Family Ties" and "Ethnic Environments" show associations

organized around those basic bonds; "The Dollars and Sense of Community"

describes groups that form foreconomic reasons; "Plans for Perfection" looks

at religious and secular utopias. and "From Crisis to Community" deals with

people forced, by circumstance or discrimination, to congregate.

The census pages, petitions, maps, photographs, and other federal records

shown on the following pages were produced or collected by the U.S.

government for many different reasons. In most cases, they were not kept in

order to fully portray particular communities. Individually, therefore, these

documents can tell only incomplete stories of the specific groups repre-

sented. But taken together they reveal some of the subtleties and complex-

ities of the American style of congregation and of the human bond itself.

9

A

Biackfeet Indians on the shore of Two Medicine Lake, GlacierNational Park, Montana, ca. 1890.

RG 79. Records of the National Park Service 179-PGN-1161

WE ARE ALL BORN INTO THE MOST INTIMATE COMMUNITIES THAT

WE'LL EVER KNOW: OUR FAMILIES. TODAY THESE GROUPS. WHICH ARE

USUALLY THE MOST MEANINGFUL ASSOCIATIONS OF OUR LIVES, CON-

SIST OF SMALL NUMBERS OF IMMEDIATE RELATIVES, AND OUR -COMMU-

NITIES" INCLUDE THE UNRELATED PEOPLE IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS,

PROFESSIONS, OR GENERATION. BUT PRIOR TO THE 1600s, WHEN

EUROPEANS BEGAN TO COLONIZE THE "NEW WORLD" IN EARNEST, MOST

AMERICAN COMMUNITIES WERE BASED ON EXTENDED FAMILY RELA-

TIONSHIPS. IN THE NATIVE POPULATIONS OF AMERICAN INDIANS,

INUITS !HISTORICALLY KNOWN AS ESKIMOS), AND HAWAIIANS, THE

INTRICATE RELATIONSHIPS OF KIN AND CLAN DETERMINED THE CHAR-

ACTER AND STRUCTURE OF COMMUNITIES. SUSTAINED BY THE SENSE

OF LOYALTY AND OBLIGATION INHERENT IN SUCH FAMILY TIES, THESE

EARLIEST AMERICAN ASSOCIATIONS FLOURISHED. AS EURO-AMERI-

CAN CULTURE INEXORABLY ADVANCED ACROSS NATIVE LANDS, HOW-

EVER, THEIR CHANCES FOR CONTINUED SURVIVAL DIMMED.

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An Eskimo orchestra in Point Barrow, Alaska, ca. 1900, byStanley Morgan.

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Native AmericansThough many Native American communities were based on kinshipassociations, individual communities varied greatly. When lohn Smith andother British colonists sailed into the Chesapeake Bay in 1607, over 2,000indigenous languages were spoken in America. The number of nativetongues bespoke the great diversity of Native American cultures: somewere aggressive, others were peaceful; some farmed and traded in theSoutheast, others followed seasons and herds on the Alaskan tundra. Thecommunities built by Native Americans ranged from small bands or villagesto larger, more complex societies, each practicing its own religion,producing its own art, and conducting its own government. Religiousceremonies, feasts, athletic contests, and shared beliefs about the naturaland spiritual worlds cemented relationships and sustained community life.

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Native HawaiiansVillages and towns on the Hawaiian Islands also developed along clan lines,but the population as a whole was more homogenous than that of theAmerican mainland. Polynesian voyagers colonized the islands between300-400 AD, and by the arrival of British explorer Capt. lames Cook in 1778, aroyal family governed the islands and a uniquely Hawaiian culture haddeveloped. In communities throughout the islands people truly shared theirdaily lives property and food were held in common, and work was acommunal effort. Ohana (fam ily) a nd puwalu (cooperation) were universally themost treasured Hawaiian values.

As on the mainland, the traditional way of life on the islands was challengedand changed by the introduction of European and American cultures. Whenthe United States annexed Hawaii in 1898, the dissolution of nativecommunities and lifestyles was virtually assured. Today a small number ofnative Hawaiians attempts to preserve their culture in ceremonies, traditionalactivities (such as the hula), and experimental communal societies.

512

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Irish dam diggers In Boston, 1882.

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A NATURAL EXTENSION OF FAMILY-BASED COMMUNITIES ARE THOSE

UNIFIED BY ETHNICITY OR CULTURE. DESPITE ITS POPULAR IMAGE AS A

MELTING POT, THE UNITED STATES HAS BEEN HOME TO THOUSANDS OF

ETHNIC, RACIAL, AND CULTURAL GROUPS THAT HAVE REMAINED DIS-

TINCT FROM OTHER AMERICANS. SOMETIMES THIS SEPARATION WAS A

CONSCIOUS CHOICE. NEW IMMIGRANTS USUALLY FOUND THE TRANSI-

TION FROM OLD WORLD TO NEW EASIER WHEN THEY WERE SUR-

ROUNDED BY FAMILIAR FACES AND CUSTOMS. FOR OTHER GPOUPS,

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ATED BY CHOICE OR FORCE, ETHNIC TOWNS AND NEIGHBORHOODS

HAVE BECOME A COMMON FEATURE OF THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE.

7 14

ImmigrantsSome of the earliest immigrants to America crossed the Atlantic in small groups,hoping for new opportunities in a new land or seeking refuge from political orreligious persecution. Upon arrival here, these groups often stayed together,creating small, closely knit, ethnically homogenous communities. When the firstBritish colonists arrived, for instance, they remained together in small settle-ments rather than dispersing into the wilderness. Such settlements offered moreprotection and comfort than lonely homesteads: the compact New Englandtowns were designed to be easily defended. They also fostered close communityrelationships, provided economic security for inhabitants, and imposed a Britishsense of physical and social order on the alien land.

In 19th-century America, immigrants often settled in ethnic neighborhoods inlarge cities. New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Chicago all hadquarters or sections that were inhabited largely by immigrants from the samecountry or region. Many of these communities became compact, vibrant versionsof home: the sound of native languages, the aroma of familiar foods, and theprevalence of traditional dress or architecture helped define communityboundaries and cushioned the cultural shock of a new and urban world.Traditional religious and social practices also persisted. often longer than anyvisible manifestations of ethnicity or culture, and these customs wove strengthinto the fabric of neighborhood life.

Once settled in the United States, immigrants did not always find themselvesliving the American dream. Discrimination and the challenges of assimilationbecame obstacles to the realization of the promise that the United States seemedto hold. For many immigrants, poverty, disease, and death were constantcompanions, and home and community were contained in squalid citytenements. To combat these and other problems; some immigrant groupsformed their own social, legal, and economic organizations. Such associationsserved immigrants in established ethnic communities and also those who livedoutside the community's protective embrace. Ethnic organizations provided thestructure and comfort of a culture-based community even for immigrantsdispersed throughout the country.

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Grant Avenue in Chinatown, San Francisco,California, ca. 1954.

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Petition to the Congress of the United Statesfrom the Irish Emigrant Society of New York,

January 26, 1847. The Irish Emigrant Societyassisted immigrants in the United States. In this

letter to Congress. the Society requestsattention to the plight of Irish immigrants

on board passenger ships

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Residents of Pelham, Massachusetts. walk downa welt -trod path to the town meeting house.November 1943. Following a tradition begun incolonial times, the community still congregatesregularly in some New England towns to discussand decide matters of local importance

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African Americansin HarlemThe problems faced by African-American communities perhaps exceededthose of any other ethnic group. Since their arrival in America as servantsand slaves in the 17th century, African Americans have been one of themost visible and most persecuted minorities in this country. Even after thepassage of the 13th amendment in 1865. discrimination persisted: blackswere denied voting rights: equal access to jobs, education, and housing;and in many places the right to live among the white majority. As a resultthey often created or were forced into their own racially restrictedcommunities.

The kinds of communities that African Americans created were diverse.In the mid-19th century, for instance, groups of blacks bought land andformed their own frontier towns in the American West. In the later 19thcentury, as former slaves migrated north in search of work, they oftencreated enclaves in cities that were much like those of other ethnic groups.By the early years of this century. Harlem. in New York City, became thelargest African-American community in the United States.

In the 1920s Harlem was the center of black consciousness and politicalpower in the United States. Leaders, such as W.E.B. DuBois and MarcusGarvey, and African-American artists and intellectuals living there drew theworld's attention to the community. At the same time, however. Harlemalso emerged as the largest black ghetto in the country. Discrimination,poor education, and unemployment created relentless poverty andsuffering. Harlem residents found many ways to protest and combat theseconditions, often working through political organizations (like Garvey'sUniversal Negro Improvement Association), church groups, and socialclubs. Despite individual and community actions, however, the struggleagainst discrimination proved long and laborious. In Harlem, and through-out the United States, African Americans found that America held fo themboth hope and hardship, both opportunity and oppression.

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Parade-goers in Harlem, February 17. 1919.

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PROPORTION OF NEGRO FAMILIESTO TOTAL FAMILIES

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LESS THAN I% % TO 14.99% 25% TO 14.9i% 15% TO c14.91% 953 TO loOT.

SIRiNt.14

See MAPS AND NOLL

ON NODS ItIg POP.

DATA IV DLOr...N.5.

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Map showing the "Proportion of Negro Families to lbtal Families In Harlem," 1934.

RG 31. Records of the Federal Housing Administration

Iv 15 M.77,r\l"Prsx-r:n r

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"Baltimore," by Palmer Hayden. date unknown.

Courtesy of the Harmon FoundationRG 200. Records of the National Archives Gift Collection

r

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THE CHARACTER OF MANY ETHNIC COMMUNITIES WAS DETERMINED

NOT ONLY BY THE CULTURE OR COLOR OF THEIR INHABITANTS; THE

TENOR OF THE COMMUNITY WAS OFTEN SET BY THE ECONOMIC

CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH THE GROUP LIVED. INDEED, ECONOMIC

CIRCUMSTANCE HAS PROVIDED THE IMPETUS FOR MANY DIFFERENT

KINDS OF AMERICAN COMMUNITIES. BOOMTOWNS, WITH THE PROMISE

OF QUICK RICHES, DREW PEOPLE TO THE REMOTEST CORNERS OF THE

COUNTRY; COMPANY TOWNS ATTRACTED RESIDENTS BY OFFERING

SIMPLY JOBS AND SURVIVAL. EVEN TODAY MOST AMERICANS LIVE IN

COMMUNITIES SHAPED BY ECONOMIC INFLUENCES. IN URBAN AND

SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOODS, THE MOST COMMON DENOMINATORS

ARE INCOME AND ECONOMIC CLASS.

2316

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,

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CAPE COD COTTAGE FOR A FORTY FOOT LOT

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"Cape Cod Cottage for a Forty Foot Lot," a familiar suburbanhousepian designed for the low -to- middle income suburbs nearBoston, Massachusetts, ca. 1930s or 1940s.

R. 1,45 Record., of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board

Teenagers socialize in a community center In ChevyChase, Maryland, an affluent suburb of Washington, DC,

luly 2, 1951.

RC, 30o ItcLord; of the US Information Agency 1306-P5-B-52-10611

BEST V AkiLABLE

The SuburbsSuburbs began to develop in the United States in the19th century as communities of summer residences forthe wealthy. When railroads and streetcars made itpossible to live there year round and commute to workin the city, many people abandoned overcrowdedurban areas for greener pastures.

In the 1920s accessibility to the automobile spurredthe democratization of the suburbs. Cars allowedgreater numbers of people possessing a wider rangeof incomes to work in the city and live somewhereoutside of it. For more and more people, peace andquiet. green lawns. and affordable, single-familyhomes became symbols of the American dream.

After World War II the suburbs boomed: new onesgrew seemingly overnight from large tracts of land,dotted with similar (and similarly priced) houses.Criticism of suburban life also grew at this time, withcharges that mass-produced housing encouraged adeadening conformity among residents and mega-iopolisitic trends in land development. Critics, how-ever, often did not take into account the variety oflifestyles in the suburbs or the internal structures thatemerged there. Despite the appearance of uniformity,suburbia seems capable of containing communitiesthat are diverse and that generate satisfying humanassociations. In some cases, such communities havebeen cohesive enough to attempt to battle as a unit thesuburban problems of unguided development. trafficcongestion. and increasing crime.

17 24

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TO tilt, ficsomeol:the

'Net $1104 ad *rim if 14ttstogibm if lie ibati *des,

IN CON(iftlt:AS A.1414NIFILED.

Veer Millman, woad mow respectfully represent, that they tee stases. and wimp/reMe Clay d Virskiis fad Tows of Gold Hi1L County of Morey. Ptah of Nem.* sod se

oak tit, imply interested In the Comsock Lode, all in to tmeounienatat of developeamt

sad Was operations thereon. sod let the sailplane* of mid City and Toss. es Ores of

&MAW^ &Foods isolsly volt the onstiossote et work a mid 1.0.4..

ARA patitlimetee farther reprofst that they view with alarm the 'Aloud adios ofCesetreso retariss eumposies sad elaituaalo oa thy tkusetnek yak to apply for Patent. 4within s likated time, sal to Melees their right. forkited for biters to make molt epalothoes.

Asti yosr pratioscre further represent that they ere filly murkier.d that fuel, setion ofCessmos if adopted. meet moomeity remit is most lajtvy and Cooler is Ike imiateer...K. a Mossy Comity. ul thereby to the soisilm tatermto of the who101iate of Sends.

sod that the erideto moth will he to retard onopeetiott. delay derelopttoubt, ertiouly

Sunders with the tarrying to of mituaK operatittos0111 the 1.411104.. 144. ; 4 of tolint

hub/Alma &rep eipoinewo, ether he Owe read pnrmy AI *Or. .044 efirroialmi is odor.

V oaf teal cal oda* wrath.,Awl your Witham. farther repmeoat that the pnoistooe Ass entitled "As Art

to pesmote to &enactment of the t.laintt reenureee of the Uhl. .11MiN.A." approved may

1/T& em crigitolly adopted. hare proved eatufartury, and sulkiest to protect the later.

Old of all evaberstd. They therefore ask them aid Art may he costimutd without smut.

oust, sod thst the before.mentiotied propmed awl any other Manses is laid Art.

whereby toestoniet and eltifotaate 11 the Com...loch Lode will be required to moldy for sad

.crept )'ekes. erithis limited Vim, tray be defeated.And whet iamb proposed aotioa. end say wet chop.. your with/mem do lama

reeprlfally revoutetrate.

Pat..] 270. In;

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44V44444 G4- [,I 44.441..44.

Petition to the United States Congress from the residents ofVirginia City and Gold Hill. Nevada, expressing concern abouttheir claims on the Comstock Lode, March 27, 1874.

RG 40 Records of the US SenateReproduced with permission or the Senate

18

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

Boom TownsAmerican boom towns were assemblages of diverse individ-uals with one common goal: to get rich quick. With thediscovery of gold, oil, or other valuable natural resources,adventurers rushed by the thousands to distant regions ofthe country clustering together in towns like Andarko,Oklahoma, and Gold Hill, Nevada. Hastily built banks andsaloons sprang up on main streets, and town populationsebbed and flowed as fortunes were made or lost Becausetheir existence hinged on the well-being of individuals andnot of the community. most boom towns did not have thestrength to withstand the depletion of a gold vein or an oilfield. Many became ghostly silhouettes of themselves,others, such as Houston, Texas, and Valdez, Alaska, grew into

successful cities.

"The O.A.M. Social Order of Copper River Prospectors at Valdez,"Alaska, 1902, by the Miles Brothers. Valdez has boomed twice as acopper and gold mininc, town in the late 1800s and currently as an oil

distribution port

RC, III Rewrd, ,. ol Chief 5ir.n,110flikcr ffil-AGD-11 41

25

Workers' homes, owned by the HighlandYarn Mills Company, near High Point. North

Carolina, ca. 1930s, by Lewis Hine.

R. OP Ret.orti,, t,1 tht, Wort, Protects Administrxion160-RP-2621

Company Towns

The National Guard In Pullman,Illinois, during a workers' strikeagainst the Pullman Palace CarCompany, 1894.

Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society11C1-11-21195i

In contrast to haphazardly created boom towns, companytowns were carefully planned by private companies to attractemployees. These ready-made communities came completewith houses, streets, stores, and schools -- amenities thatcompanies hoped would keep workers happy and produc-tive. More importantly, companies also expected to benefiteconomically from the ability to control workers' lives.

Company towns varied greatly in size, appearance, andlocation. Small. dusty coal mining or mill towns contrastedsharply with the likes of Pullman, Illinois, a larger and moresophisticated railroad car company community. Economi-cally however, company towns varied little. Companies not

only determined workers' wages, they also controlled theirfinancial solvency by paying wages in scrip instead of cash.Workers were thus forced to patronize company-ownedestablishments and were subject to the prices that thecompany set for food, clothing, and other goods. Further-more, the company controlled rents and utility and medicalcosts. When economic times got tough, companies raisedprices and maintained or cut wages. The suffering thiscaused among workers and residents sometimes incitedstrikes and violent confrontationsand too often bloodiedthe streets of company towns.

'9 26

-71"-"7-

"Corn Planting;' by Olof Krans, 1896. Settled by Swedishimmigrants in 1846. the Bishop Hill Colony was a religious utopiancommunity in western Illinois. It was known for its efficient businessenterprises and successful farming techniques (pictured herel, but itfailed in 1861 because of financial problems.

Courtesy of the Bishop Hill State Historic Site. Illinois Historic PreservationAgency

SOME COMPANY TOWNS, SUCH AS PULLMAN, INITIALLY WERE UTOPIAN

ATTEMPTS AT COMMUNITY BUILDING. THEIR CREATORS ENVISIONED A

WORKFORCE "ELEVATED AND IMPROVED" BY A CAREFULLY PLANNED

ENVIRONMENT AND COMMUNITY STRUCTURE. SUCH IDEALS WERE

PART OF THE BROADER HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN SEARCH FOR THE

PERFECT COMMUNITY. IN ADDITION TO INDUSTRY MAGNATES,

REFORMERS, RELIGIOUS LEADERS. AND EVEN BUREAUCRATS HAVE

PLANNED AND BUILT EXPERIMENTAL TOWNS IN HOPES OF RESHAPING

AMERICAN SOCIETY. SOME PLANNED COMMUNITIES SOUGHT TO

IMPROVE THE LOT OF THE WORKING CLASS; OTHERS CHALLENGED

PREVAILING NOTIONS ABOUT PROPERTY, LABOR, FAMILY, AND MAR-

RIAGE. BUT EACH EXPERIMENT PROPOSED THAT WITHIN THE CLOSE

BONDS OF COMMUNAL LIVING, PEOPLE WOULD FIND THE IDEAL

EXISTENCE.

2720

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"Owen's Proposed Village," of New Harmony, Indiana, ca. 1820s.Because the community dissolved after only a few years. Owen'splans for New Harmony. shown here. were never realized.

RG 97. Records of the Bureau of Agricultural and Industrial Chemistry

UtopiasDozens of utopian societies formed in this country in reaction againsttraditional American politics and economics. In the 19th century, the coldcompetitiveness of industrialization provoked the creation of communitieswith alternative, reform-oriented political and social systems. At NewHarmony, Indiana, for instEmce. Robert Owen founded a community in the182)s that opposed the American capitalist order and attempted to embracecomplete economic, political, and sexual equality. In the 1890s, the KaweahColon; in northern California similarly proposed that egalitarianism. socialistaims, and communal living would foster an "enlightened civilization" bothwithin the community and in the outside world. Seventy-five years later, in the1960s, some Americans again left mainstream society to live in communes.where work, economic success, and day-to-day living were joint endeavors.Unity in utopian societies did not always prevail, however: internal conflicts,financial hardship. and the lure of capitalism often shortened the lives of theseAmerican experiments.

The ShakersMany utopian communities in the United States havebeen based on religious ideals. Some of the firstChristian planned communities were established inthe 1780s by the Shakers. Followers withdrew from theoutside world, living together in small villages andseeking spiritual perfection through worship anddevotion to their faith. They shared all property andwork and believed that men and women were trulyequal. These principles, along with a broad socialconcern and a strict belief in celibacy, encouraged aunique unity of purpose among community members.

Shaker unity and faith were expressed in their work.Crops and livestock were lovingly tended, and objectswere crafted with attention to function and simplicity.Today their craftmanship is world renowned: individ-ual Shaker chairs can sell for thousands of dollars. andthe Shakers' architectural legacy is carefully preservedin a handful of restored villages. The few Shakers whoremain, however, hope to be remembered not for theirfurniture or architecture, but for what such objectsrepresent: a communal quest for a perfected, sancti-fied way of life.

"The Memorial of the United Society (commonly called theShakers) of the State of New York." requesting exemption

from military duty, March 3, 1824.

RG 46 Records of the U S SenateReproduced with permission of the Senate

4

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"Improvement in Chairs," patent for a chairtilting device, by George 0. Dor 4e11, aShaker from New Lebanon','New York,March 2, 1852. Their many inventions (includinga buzz-saw and a revolving oven) testify to theShakers love of innovation However. inventionswere seldom patented individual achievementwas secondary to its contribution to thecommunity

RC 241 Records of the Patent and trademark Office

29BEST COPY AVAILABLE

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Shaker women on an apple-picking outing, Canterbury,New Hampshire, early 20th century.

Courtesy of the Canterbury Shaker Village Archives. Canterbury.New Hampshire

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JUL ya.

"Mountain Meeting;' by David Lambson, 1848, from Two YearsExperience Among the Shakers. Worship was a social act for Shakers.involving praying. singing. and dancing (their unique dances, in fact.gave the Shakers their namel. These activities were an integral part ofcommunal life

Courtesy 01 Hancock Shaker Village. Pittsfield Massachusetts

23 30

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The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, ca. 1950s.

RC 306. Records of the US Information Agency1306-P5-B-50-167651

BEST COPY AVAILABLE24

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Excerpt from ' Memorial to the Senators andRepresentatives of the United States from the CityCouncil of Nauvoo:' December 21, 1843.

RG 46. Records of the U S SenateReproduced with permission of the Sen;:te

The MormonsThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints also began asa utopian, communal religious society. In 1830 a heavenlyrevelation inspired loseph Smith to found the religion. Heand his followers, known as Mormons, removed themselvesfrom worldly influences and lived together in closely knitsettlements. Through the repentance of sin, missionarywork. and strict obedience to the laws of the church,Mormons believed that salvation - and a special relation-ship with God could be attained.

Mormons created highly ordered communities. Most menheld positions in the church; work was shared by landber 2fited 1 everyone; systems of aid and assistance providedfor the disadvantaged. In addition, Mormon economicventures were often cooperative in nature and very success-ful, helping to foster large and prosperous Mormon commu-nities such as Nauvoo, Illinois. But these successes-and thecommunal inclusiveness of the Mormon religion werethreatening to outsiders. Many denounced the religion asheretical, and others plagued Mormon communities withviolence and legal harrassment. To escape threats, intimida-

31

WOMEN OF UTAH COUNTY.,

,..,44

411WNI !AM 401011KOND LOBOS ITN= wigs nom rum= or Luz TANNter racmsarreto ACIAINNT TTt>b NIIJMNPRNINNTATIONS OF TRW

MAO= IN Tfal ANTIAPOLTOAIIT cautsLom..:farrt,w, .

A/D WM= TIME mut AND IINAVISRABLN7 r . WAIVE IN PL'CrIAL NARILIAGS AA A

.orrna ORDIWA.NON.

Apses .11feseinge in Prove, Springville, Spanish Pork, iiaiM14licsittaguis, Goshen, Cedar Valley, Alpitso,

Aisordean Awls and Pleasant Grove.IL I

J. ^

;ILPiiiiiiiiiPitsibibelilitAlosal Pomonaan% thy theft Noose so Soltso-

Asyststaig.Densabos III*, Irt, "to aspenOmit Inn matissols soilh tognot to tin psis.

- Ora+.1.6117nalgoss min paint Aphis as..i. 1 -. dIfinas.., in Km M. Joie. Km;I -c . 1101:11imosi qrair elk& W Wm 1M elbitliti.

tlintillne Drub woo slotted onneory. ad

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tootigit UN sky toNW Ins no-

glott. It is said to tom beau gourdvir hi mmialtlso Si bass, mei It

seeing mid moat to Km Hayes. wit* of theInsitlirst of am Vaal Wein for tin powpose el Woes* ooltiothe people sod tree w1 a4rtiltiti.:41e:111Wait neat tins lot is weigh sway word.UM it for whol 61 is worth,,WUM

Wm. Issortrriltliaball dna rood is enstWasbon

sal Wages* amour. the *darns of thesolt-pollostay Mots .1 thlt Was to Um

=dins oisesks Inn lin ono woosSo Ike singysses the nylon is.

so110044011111 thosughnit tho UAW knotIna et shish b000tonsts oot nolsrs ass kapMir with. shop haw* sit only bosslimn? WI ossopopass of the Wirt: r.d.

lita. SUMS&the sokl. We oadontsal that mina MissWoos had boss itivind to no bibUsel plowWan soda polygon . Ws *lot mho willdal soak as a sonowhot Ads&No. Ths MM renklan Loons. ottonlagM... Moo to the Komna, owl then posolisslumitutions, ratuatkm4 tbat polvgazny unaind-*4 his of bags log that laid la lb. anise of

"Defense of Plural Marriage by the Women of UtahCounty," ca. 1878.

RG 48, Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior

tion, and danger, Mormons were forced to move from placeto place.

In the 1840s a large group of Mormons reached thedeserted plains of what would become the Utah Territory.Thinking they had finally found safe haven in so isolated alocation, they built Zion (later renamed Salt Lake City) andlived according to the tenets of their faith. But one tenetpolygamy still incited hostility among outsiders and theU.S. government. As a result, Mormons lost territorial voting

__A

rights, Utah's statehood was deferred, and battles eruptedbetween followers and federal troops. Under such pressures,Mormons abandoned polygamy in 1890.

Temples. universities, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choirare familiar symbols of the modern Mormon community.Though now dispersed throughout the country, their com-mitment to their faith and their enduring cohesion makeMormons an influential force in American religion andsociety.

32BEST COPY AVAILABLE

aindado

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114 .Agi Ali 4:4-J3 ; .711;4ad 0%n.

New TownsTowns

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In modern America urban planners are among thosewho have taken on the challege of creating the idealor at least the improved community. Their designspresent alternatives to shapeless, anonymous subur-ban sprawl and to the economic and social segregationof metropolitan areas. In the 1930s, New Deal plannerscreated Greenbelt Towns. These planned communitiescombined a new land-use pattern and a cooperativesystem of community government in a radical attemptto improve American towns. More recently, the privatesector has attempted similar experiments. Throughinnovative zoning laws and architecture, modern newtowns have sought to enhance the relationshipsamong the residential, business, and open spaces incommunities. and ultimately among the residentsthemselves. All of these new town planners havehoped that a carefully laid out physical environmentwould nurture a warm community spirit.

O

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c.4 di

Plan of a proposed housing development In Cheyenne, Wyoming,February 1933. Designers of this neighborhood purposely placed parksamidst houses and apartments They thought that a centrally locatedcommunity space would help create a "close harmony" among residents

RG l<k) Records of tne Public Housing Administration

A summer day in Greenbelt, Maryland, one of three Greenbelt townsbuilt during the New Deal era, June 1939.

RG 196. Records of the Public Housing Administration

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26 33BEST COPY AVAILABLE

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Refugee Camp Number 2, Hickman, Kentucky, 1912, by Captain Elliot. Afterthe great Mississippi River flood of 1912. refugee camps drew formerly scatteredarea residents together in quickly assembled communities.

RG 92. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General l92- MRF -5 -Al

IN CONTRAST TO THE CAREFULLY CRAFTED COMMUNITIES OF CONTEM-

PORARY AND HISTORIC IDEALISTS, SOME COMMUNITIES HAVE BEEN THE

PRODUCT OF DIRE CIRCUMSTANCE. CRISES CAN PROPEL INDIVIDUALS

TOGETHER IN SEARCH OF HELP, COMPANIONSHIP, AND COMPASSION.

DROUGHT, HURRICANES, AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS OFTEN

CREATE BONDS BETWEEN PEOPLE IN THE AFFECTED AREAS; NATIONAL

DISASTERS - SUCH AS WAR - CAN UNIFY THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. AT

OTHER TIMES THE COMMUNITY ITSELF HAS GENERATED CRISIS. PLAN-

TATIONS, RESERVATIONS, AND RELOCATION CAMPS HAVE BEEN USED IN

THE UNITED STATES TO FORCIBLY CONTAIN AND CONTROL CERTAIN

SEGMENTS OF THE POPULATION. THESE INVOLUNTARY COMMUNITIES

DISPLACED AND DESTROYED LIVES. BUT IN THE MIDST OF MANY SUCH

CRISES, THE SHARED EXPERIENCE OF DESTRUCTION AND RECOVERY

FORGED MEANINGFUL, LASTING TIES.

27A

Slave CommunitiesPrior to the Civil War, slavery was a fundamental economic institutionin the American South. While plantation owners benefited from this

system of free labor, African Americans suffered unimaginably. Theslave trade ripped Africans from their homes and families andsubjected them to brutal working conditions and merciless mistreat-ment. On southern plantations Africans from completely differentcultures were thrown together, sometimes unable even to communi-cate with one another. Still, in the shared hardships and closequarters of plantation life, enslaved Americans managed to createcommunities that defied efforts to destroy them. On South Carolina's

Sea Islands, for example, ties were so strong that some communitiesevolved into villages and towns. retaining many of the traditions,languages. and relationships that developed during slavery. Today,however, the land, livelihood, and lifestyle of these people arethreatened by land development pressures.

"Group at Drayton's Plantation," Hilton HeadIsland, South Carolina, 1862, by Henry P. Moore.

Courtesy of the New Hampshire Historical Society. Concord

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Plan of Mrs. Marsh's Plantation on Hutchinson's Island,South Carolina, 1785, by John Diamond.

RG 77. Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers

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Indian ReservationsIndian reservations were also involuntary collections ofpeople. In 1830 the Indian Removal Act authorized theexchange of land inhabited by Native Americans in theeastern United States for open, unsettled land in the West.By the 1870s this "exchange" became the forced enclosure ofAmerican Indians on government reservations.

Native American communities struggled for survival onreservations. Uprooted from ancestral homes, tribes losttraditional means of self-support. They now depended onthe federal government for such basic necessities as clothingand food, and traditional dress, dance, social customs, andgovernment were prohibited. Native American children wereoften separated from families and sent to governmentschools to learn Euro-American ways.

For many years federal policy succeeded only in fragment-ing American Indian communities and threatening their veryexistence. New laws in the 1930s improved conditions

somewhat by allowing American Indians a voice in reserva-tion administration. They also encouraged the reestablish-ment of tribal governments and reinstitution of traditionalcustoms. But the destructive policies of the past inflictedsocial and psychological wounds that still linger. NativeAmericans continue the struggle to increase their oppor-tunities and to transform their reservations into the cohesivecommunities that once existed outside of federal bound-aries.

Indian Identification tags, used to identify NativeAmerican residents of the San Carlos IndianAgency in Arizona and to indicate theireligibility for government rations, 1888.

RG 48 Records cat t he O!!:ce oI t he Secretor \ 01 the Interior

ARTICLE IX -- TRIBAL EXPENSE IN CARE OF AGED, ETC.

This being a grazing country pith the sheep industry as primary

source of income, and in appreciation of tribal responsibility for

the aged and incapacitated, there shall be maintained a flock of

sheep not out of proportion to the total sheep population, the

returns of which shall go to care for the aged and incapacitated.

The returns coming into the hands of the Representative Tribal Council

from any portion of the flock assigned for general tribal purposes

maybe used to meet actual expenses of the tribal organization.

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"Constitution and Bylaws of the OcarinaApache illbe," ca. 1937. Following the IndianReorganization Act of 1934 many AmericanIndian communities wrote tribal constitutionsThis excerpt expresses the unique concerns 01one reservation community

RC, 75 Records of the Bureau 01 Indian Allotrs

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Navaho women learn ancient weaving techniques, May 7,1943. by Milton Snow. Traditional practices such as rug-weaving renew Native Americans ties with their heritage andare a source of needed income as well.

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Baseball players in a huddle at the ManzanarRelocation Center, Manzanar, California,July 2, 1942, by Dorothea Lange.

RG 210. Records of the War Relocation Authority1210-G-10-C7731

Japanese Relocation CampsIn the 1940s the federal government again forced collectionsof people into contrived communities. When Japan attackedPearl Harbor in 1941, waves of fear and paranoia swept thecountry, and West Coast Americans of Japanese ancestrywere ordered into internment camps.

The War Relocation Authority established ten campcommunties that each housed 10.000-12,000 residents.Schools and recreation centers simulated normal life, butarmed guards and barbed wire plainly stated the involuntarynature of these communities. The shock of internmentcaused profound despair among many of those incarceratedand sometimes split camps along generational and eco-nomic lines. More often, however, internees formed socialand professional groups and found common ground in bothlapanese and American traditions. Such mutual supporthelped many individuals to survive until 1944, when reloca-tion camps began to close. In the 1980s the federalgovernment made financial restitution to survivors of thesecommunities and their families.

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CONSTITUTION OF 14.611D9HIST HOLE

With firm faith, adore the three treatures.

Buddha is your mind.

Dhamma is your speech.

Sangha ic your body.

Your parents brought you into this world.

Your country always protects ym.

Yoir fellow-beings never cease to help you.

And thus you have the Buddha-dhamma with youforever.

Charities are your hands.

Precepts are your feet.

Perseverence is .your waist.

Const.ncy is :Your brain.

Dhyanc is your heart.

And Wisdom and 17.nowledge are your oyes.

Thre:: devotions, four gratitudes, and sixparamitas: these are the foundation ofBudclistic ethics.

"The Constitution of a Buddhist Home;' ca. 1940s, In

relocanoncampslapancseknericansloundsuengthinmstautionsollanlyandrehOon

ic; 210 Rewrch,o1 the War Relocation Au I hont

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The AIDS CommunityThe crises that generate communities do not always createlocalized groups of people. In the 1980s the AcquiredImmune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) crisis created a newcommunity among thousands of widely scattered Ameri-cans.

Intitially AIDS threatened homosexuals. drug users, andhemophiliacs. but slowly it began to claim victims from everywalk of American life. Tragically. many suffered alone.abandoned by family and friends. Others have found solacein organizations made up of doctors, loved ones, civilrights advocates that battle the disease, discrimination,and death itself. Individuals find in this mutual struggle asense of community, and in the community the strength andhope to persevere.

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Courtesy of the Smithsonian institution i80-201871

33 4 0

COM MU NI TY. n.IME communite, citizenry < OFr. communite < Lat.

cominunitas, fellowship < comunis,common, shared by alit

Community is the result of the age-old quest for sustenance security,

and fellowship. It is a social bond. absolutely integral to human life,

that creates a sense of mutual trust and obligation. In our commu-

nities we are socialized, supported, and sustained.

In many ways, communities in a modern and complex United

States are hard to define and are less distinctive than many of the

specific examples presented on these pages. The ties of blood and

land land the recognizable boundaries that they create) do not have

the tenacity they once did. Still, in small towns and sprawling

suburbs. in professional societies and citizens' groups. and in

sympathetic and emotional associations with others. Americans seek

and manage to find their own versions of community"

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