July 8, 1843. Amidst the rolling hills of rural Massachusetts, a group of Transcendentalists come together to form a collective built around self-perfection and reverence for nature. And on this day poet Ralph Waldo Emerson stops by for a visit. Their name for this experimental Eden? Fruitlands. But every Eden has its fall, and by the time autumn winds blow over their 90 acres, the Fruitlanders are in trouble. How did a group of thinkers, writers, and educators come together to form one of the most famous utopian failures of the 19th century? And what can we learn from their attempt?
Special thanks to our guests, Richard Francis, author of Fruitlands: The Alcott Family and Their Search for Utopia. And Catherine Shortliffe, Engagement Manager of the Fruitlands Museum and the Old Manse at The Trustees.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
It Was Said - Season 1
Crisis in Cuba
Land of the Free?
Anthrax Attacks
Becoming the Dalai Lama
No Representation, No Peace
The Diet Wars
Grapes for Change
Global Seed Vault
Introducing: It Was Said
Shaving Russia
The First American Sex Scandal
Suffrage isn't Simple
The Birth of Hip Hop
Killing Fairness
Convert or Leave
Public Enemy #1
Destroyer of Worlds
Operation Mincemeat
The Great Stink
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Food That Built America
Not What You Thought You Knew
Letters of Love in WW2