Ellen Wayland-Smith - Oneida : From Free Love Utopia to the Well-Set Table--An American Story MOBI book
9781250043085 English 1250043085 A fascinating and unusual chapter in American history about a religious community that held radical notions of equality, sex, and religion--only to transform itself, at the beginning of the twentieth century, into a successful silverware company and a model of buttoned-down corporate propriety. In the early nineteenth century, many Americans were looking for an alternative to the Puritanism that had been the foundation of the new country. Amid the fervor of the religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening, John Humphrey Noyes, a spirited but socially awkward young man, attracted a group of devoted followers with his fiery sermons about creating Jesus' millennial kingdom here on Earth. Noyes established a revolutionary community in rural New York centered around achieving a life free of sin through God's grace, while also espousing equality of the sexes and "complex marriage," a system of free love where sexual relations with multiple partners was encouraged. Noyes's belief in the perfectibility of human nature eventually inspired him to institute a program of eugenics, known as stirpiculture, that resulted in a new generation of Oneidans who, when the Community disbanded in 1880, sought to exorcise the ghost of their fathers' disreputable sexual theories. Converted into a joint-stock company, Oneida Community, Limited, would go on to become one of the nation's leading manufacturers of silverware, and their brand a coveted mark of middle-class respectability in pre- and post-WWII America. Told by a descendant of one of the Community's original families, Ellen Wayland-Smith's Oneida is a captivating story that straddles two centuries to reveal how a radical, free-love sect, turning its back on its own ideals, transformed into a purveyor of the white-picket-fence American dream., Amidst the religious fervor of the Second Great Awakening, John Humphrey Noyes, a spirited but socially awkward young man, attracted a group of devoted followers with his fiery sermons about creating Jesus'millennial kingdom here on earth. Noyes and his followers built a large communal house in rural New York where they engaged in what Noyes called "complex marriage," an elaborate system of free love where sexual relations with multiple partners was encouraged. Noyes was eventually inspired to institute a program of eugenics, known as "stirpiculture," to breed a new generation of Oneidans from the best members of the Community-many fathered by him. When Noyes died in 1886, the Community disavowed Noyes'disreputable sexual theories and embraced their thriving business of flatware. Oneida Community, Limited would go on to become one of the nation's leading manufacturers of silverware, and their brand a coveted mark of middle-class respectability in pre- and post-WWII America. Told by a descendant of one of the Community's original families, Oneida is a captivating story that straddles two centuries to reveal how a radical, free-love sect, turning its back on its own ideals, transformed into a purveyor of the white picket fence American dream. For readers of Jill Lepore, Joseph J. Ellis, and Greg Grandin., At the beginning of the nineteenth century, many Americans were looking for an alternative to the Puritanism that had been the foundation of the new country. As the fervor of the Second Great Awakening led to a religious revival, John Humphrey Noyes, a spirited but socially awkward young man from Vermont believed he could bring about Jesus' millennial kingdom here on earth. He gathered 87 devoted followers and established a community, first in Vermont, and then in Oneida, New York. One of Noyes's central beliefs was "complex marriage," a system of free love where members were encouraged to have sexual relations with different partners. Men practiced a form of continence and all couples were warned about "sticky love," or developing an attachment to one person. Eventually Noyes began a program of eugenics, known as stipiculture, where high-ranking members of the community were encouraged to breed. This produced a generation that often shared at least one parent, and were almost all related to Noyes. Meanwhile, gender relations were enlightened for the time: labor was divided equally and women were encouraged to live lives of independence and education. As the Community grew, they built up their own industry, first making fur traps, and then flatware for dining.When Noyes died at the beginning of the twentieth century, stirpiculture and complex marriage ended, while the production of flatware increased and the Community became the Corporation. Oneida's profile grew after WWII when the growing middle-class was encouraged to buy Oneida silver-plated flatware as a mark of bourgeois respectability.
9781250043085 English 1250043085 A fascinating and unusual chapter in American history about a religious community that held radical notions of equality, sex, and religion--only to transform itself, at the beginning of the twentieth century, into a successful silverware company and a model of buttoned-down corporate propriety. In the early nineteenth century, many Americans were looking for an alternative to the Puritanism that had been the foundation of the new country. Amid the fervor of the religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening, John Humphrey Noyes, a spirited but socially awkward young man, attracted a group of devoted followers with his fiery sermons about creating Jesus' millennial kingdom here on Earth. Noyes established a revolutionary community in rural New York centered around achieving a life free of sin through God's grace, while also espousing equality of the sexes and "complex marriage," a system of free love where sexual relations with multiple partners was encouraged. Noyes's belief in the perfectibility of human nature eventually inspired him to institute a program of eugenics, known as stirpiculture, that resulted in a new generation of Oneidans who, when the Community disbanded in 1880, sought to exorcise the ghost of their fathers' disreputable sexual theories. Converted into a joint-stock company, Oneida Community, Limited, would go on to become one of the nation's leading manufacturers of silverware, and their brand a coveted mark of middle-class respectability in pre- and post-WWII America. Told by a descendant of one of the Community's original families, Ellen Wayland-Smith's Oneida is a captivating story that straddles two centuries to reveal how a radical, free-love sect, turning its back on its own ideals, transformed into a purveyor of the white-picket-fence American dream., Amidst the religious fervor of the Second Great Awakening, John Humphrey Noyes, a spirited but socially awkward young man, attracted a group of devoted followers with his fiery sermons about creating Jesus'millennial kingdom here on earth. Noyes and his followers built a large communal house in rural New York where they engaged in what Noyes called "complex marriage," an elaborate system of free love where sexual relations with multiple partners was encouraged. Noyes was eventually inspired to institute a program of eugenics, known as "stirpiculture," to breed a new generation of Oneidans from the best members of the Community-many fathered by him. When Noyes died in 1886, the Community disavowed Noyes'disreputable sexual theories and embraced their thriving business of flatware. Oneida Community, Limited would go on to become one of the nation's leading manufacturers of silverware, and their brand a coveted mark of middle-class respectability in pre- and post-WWII America. Told by a descendant of one of the Community's original families, Oneida is a captivating story that straddles two centuries to reveal how a radical, free-love sect, turning its back on its own ideals, transformed into a purveyor of the white picket fence American dream. For readers of Jill Lepore, Joseph J. Ellis, and Greg Grandin., At the beginning of the nineteenth century, many Americans were looking for an alternative to the Puritanism that had been the foundation of the new country. As the fervor of the Second Great Awakening led to a religious revival, John Humphrey Noyes, a spirited but socially awkward young man from Vermont believed he could bring about Jesus' millennial kingdom here on earth. He gathered 87 devoted followers and established a community, first in Vermont, and then in Oneida, New York. One of Noyes's central beliefs was "complex marriage," a system of free love where members were encouraged to have sexual relations with different partners. Men practiced a form of continence and all couples were warned about "sticky love," or developing an attachment to one person. Eventually Noyes began a program of eugenics, known as stipiculture, where high-ranking members of the community were encouraged to breed. This produced a generation that often shared at least one parent, and were almost all related to Noyes. Meanwhile, gender relations were enlightened for the time: labor was divided equally and women were encouraged to live lives of independence and education. As the Community grew, they built up their own industry, first making fur traps, and then flatware for dining.When Noyes died at the beginning of the twentieth century, stirpiculture and complex marriage ended, while the production of flatware increased and the Community became the Corporation. Oneida's profile grew after WWII when the growing middle-class was encouraged to buy Oneida silver-plated flatware as a mark of bourgeois respectability.