Road trip to New Harmony, Indiana

“New Harmony’s past is rich and deep. It began as a Utopian enterprise by the Harmonists, an end-of-the-world religious community of German exiles with a charismatic leader in the early 1800s. Its second Utopian experiment was led by the pioneering industrialist and social reformer Robert Owen, who brought in many top thinkers and made it a world famous intellectual and scientific center for the young United States.

 

“The Owenites, as they are called, and their dependents, played key roles in the advance of scientific knowledge, particularly in geology, geography, and other natural sciences; and [sic] were at the forefront of progressive education theory and practice, providing one of the first kindergartens in the U.S. and schooling for all classes of people. This small village on the Wabash was also a hotbed of the abolition movement, and in one of those unique twists of fate, New Harmony actually played a large part in the creation of the aforementioned Smithsonian Institution.”