-
Brook Farm Announcement
George Ripley, American social reformer, Unitarian, and journalist, announced to the Transcendental Club that he planned to form a utopian community. The society (to be called Brook Farm) was based on the idea that pooling labor could sustain a community and leave time for literary and scientific persuits. He expected that the rest of the world would follow suit. -
Formation of Joint Stock Company
George Ripley, his wife Sophia, and 10 other investors formed a joint stock company. Shares of the company sold initially at $500 apiece with a promise of 5% of the profits to each investor. The 12 investors acted like a board of directors, voting on decisions. -
First Major Public Notice
The first public notice was most likely written by Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, who was the owner of the dairy farm on which the experiment was staged. Brook Farm was named "The Community at West Roxbury, Mass" in this first public notice. The notice attracted a lot of new people hoping to join the community, mainly unhealthy and poverish people. However, the only ones granted with full citizenship were those who could pay the $500 dollar stock buyin. -
Director of Finance Drops out.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was the overseer of the direction of finance and one of the initial investors, realized that we was not going to get the return on his money that he had initially hoped for and because that was the main reason he had become a part of the project, he decided to drop out and ask for his initially money back. -
Construction of Phalanstery Begins.
There was a lot of preasure for George Ripley to follow Charles Fourier's model of Associationism and decided to construct a complex communal building called a Phalanstery. -
New Constitution Formed.
Ripley and two associates created a new constitution for Brook Farm, which began the experiments shift to closely following Fourier’s Phalanx system. Many of the farmers at Brook Farm supported the transition and they even had a dinner to honor Fourier's birthday. -
Economic Decline
The economy of Brook Farm declined rapidly. The citizens were given less food and they were expected to donate more. Citizens who wanted to eat meat were charged more. Ripley was forced to ask creditors and stockholders to cancel $7,000 of debts. -
Associationism-inspired publications.
The residents of Brook Farm were offered the chance to take over two Associationism-inspired publications, The Phalanx and The Social Reformer. They had four printers at the time and ended up accepting the offer by combiningthe two into one journal. The farmers thought taking on the publications would boost their popularity and income. -
Smallpox Outbreak
The economy was recovering when an outbreak of smallpox occurred, making living in the community less desirable. Although it killed no one, 26 Brook Farmers were infected. -
Foundation Destroyed
The Phalanstery caught on fire. Within two hours, the foundation of the society was destroyed. $7,000 had gone to waste, marking the beginning of the decline of Brook Farm. -
Downfall
Ripley abandoned the experiment. He auctioned his book collection to help cover the association’s debt, which totaled $17,445. Ripley began working for The New York Tribune and in 1862, after 13 years of work, he paid off the Brook Farm debt.
