I feel that I have learned quite a bit after further researching Robert Owen’s New Harmony community. I originally wanted to focus my research on why New Harmony did not withstand the test of time, and why social utopian communities never seem to be successful. Although I like this idea, I would like to focus on the individual and how certain people’s experiences in New Harmony reveal a lot about the nature of such a community.

After reading Carol A. Kolmerten’s chapter on Frances Wright, I realized how much we can learn from her story. She faced a lot of resistance and criticism for fighting for women’s rights. This source showed how New Harmony treated the women as second hand citizens. In some cases, women were not even viewed as citizens at all. It’s ironic how a community that preached egalitarianism oppressed its women.

My refined research question would look something like this: “What do the individual stories of those who lived in New Harmony reveal about the community?”