History of the Hopedale Community

The Hopedale Community was one of the most important and successful of the many utopian communities started in the mid-nineteenth century United States. It outlasted its famous contemporary, Brook Farm, by nearly a decade. Though it did not succeed in ushering in "a new civilization radically higher than the old," Hopedale did provide its members with security, companionship, meaningful work, and the chance to make a difference in the world around them.

In History of the Hopedale Community, Hopedale's principal founder and theoretician, Adin Ballou, provides a detailed record of the successes, failures, hopes, and disappointments of a small group of people attempting to live together harmoniously, balancing fairness and compassion, and giving practical expression to "their ideal of what human life and human society upon the earth ought to be."

This new edition features:

• a newly restored map of Hopedale
• over 300 many explanatory notes
• a table of members, drawn from the membership records of the community