1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:07,680 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Last Saturday's Classic mentioned the Boatload of Knowledge 2 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:10,559 Speaker 1: that was brought to New Harmony, Indiana to create its 3 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:14,160 Speaker 1: educational system, so we thought, why not go ahead and 4 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:17,400 Speaker 1: run our episode on that as a classic too. This 5 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:21,200 Speaker 1: one originally came out on August fifth, twenty nineteen. Enjoy 6 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 7 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:37,080 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 8 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:40,640 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. So if you listened 9 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:44,000 Speaker 1: to our recent episode on the New Harmony utopian societies, 10 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:47,240 Speaker 1: you may recall that we referenced a group of scientists 11 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:49,920 Speaker 1: and educators that were recruited for the second of those 12 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:55,000 Speaker 1: communities that was nicknamed the Boatload of Knowledge. And I 13 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: have not been able to stop thinking about the Boatload 14 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:00,280 Speaker 1: of Knowledge, so much so that even though I've actually 15 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: been working on research and writing for a completely different 16 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:06,039 Speaker 1: topic that I was planning to have us talk about 17 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:09,200 Speaker 1: this week, I moved over to reading about the boatloaders, 18 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:13,920 Speaker 1: and then I was like, uh, oh, so now it's 19 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:17,520 Speaker 1: just an episode about the boatload I'll get back to 20 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:19,760 Speaker 1: that other one and I'll have a head start on it. 21 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 1: But I just you know, sometimes the brain obsesses over 22 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:25,959 Speaker 1: a thing. So for basic framing, just in case you 23 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: did not listen to the live show that I just referenced. 24 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 1: When Robert Owen founded his Owenite community in New Harmony 25 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:35,959 Speaker 1: in eighteen twenty five, and that was in Indiana, he 26 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:38,800 Speaker 1: wanted to have the best minds that he could find 27 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:43,000 Speaker 1: running the education system there, and for that he recruited 28 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:47,319 Speaker 1: William McClure, who also gave a substantial financial contribution to 29 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 1: the community and also in turn brought many great minds 30 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 1: with him, and the boat that brought them to the 31 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:56,640 Speaker 1: community was nicknamed the Boatload of Knowledge. We'll talk about 32 00:01:56,680 --> 00:01:59,480 Speaker 1: how I got that nickname, and it's journey to New 33 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: Harmony with pretty fascinating. So today we're kind of tying 34 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:05,200 Speaker 1: about things and maybe an odd order. We're going to 35 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 1: talk about the boat load itself and its journey, and 36 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:11,919 Speaker 1: then we'll start talking about individual people, including getting into 37 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:14,520 Speaker 1: a little bit of detail on McClure, and we'll name 38 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:17,120 Speaker 1: a few of the other intellectuals that were involved in 39 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 1: this trip and in this project, although they won't get 40 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 1: as much detail. And then finally we're going to talk 41 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:24,240 Speaker 1: a little bit about how the school that they designed 42 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:28,120 Speaker 1: worked and what the group's legacy was. So the keelboat 43 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 1: that carried all these luminarias of Intellect left from the 44 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:34,760 Speaker 1: harbor at Pittsburgh at two pm on December eighteen twenty five. 45 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:37,920 Speaker 1: There were just over forty people aboard, and that included 46 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:41,920 Speaker 1: a crew of eleven and the conveyance the Philanthropists that 47 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: was with a T not a thch was eighty five 48 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: feet long that's about twenty six meters by fourteen feet 49 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 1: wide that's four point two meters, and the group was 50 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:54,560 Speaker 1: supposed to travel by steamer, but the Ohio River was 51 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:56,639 Speaker 1: too low at the time for a steamer to make 52 00:02:56,639 --> 00:03:00,880 Speaker 1: the trip. The Philanthropist had four sections. The front area 53 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: was for the crew, the next was for the men, 54 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:05,120 Speaker 1: the third was for the women, and the fourth was 55 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:06,760 Speaker 1: for the children. And they were all kind of set 56 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:10,640 Speaker 1: up like dormitory style, with like group living. This was 57 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 1: definitely a downgrade from the original plan, and a lot 58 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:17,360 Speaker 1: of the passengers were pretty dismayed by these arrangements. Robert 59 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:20,120 Speaker 1: Dale Owen, the son of the Robert Owen who had 60 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:22,640 Speaker 1: catalyzed this whole project, wrote that quote, some of the 61 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:27,080 Speaker 1: ladies of our party appear already quite impatient and dissatisfied, 62 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:30,960 Speaker 1: the more so since they almost cannot do anything for themselves. 63 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:34,000 Speaker 1: He was worried that there would be an uprising, that 64 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 1: the passengers would force the boat to turn around and 65 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: go back to Philadelphia. Some were driven to the breaking 66 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:43,160 Speaker 1: point and they just cried openly. And this might sound really, 67 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: really silly, but I want you to keep in mind 68 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: that these people were expecting to participate in a well 69 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 1: funded utopian experiment, and already at this point their first 70 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:57,120 Speaker 1: interaction with the project was well below expectations based on 71 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: what they had been told that they could anticipate, So 72 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 1: this probably shook their confidence in the whole thing. They 73 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: were moving away from their homes to this new community, 74 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:10,320 Speaker 1: and it was from the onset completely not what they 75 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: had been told to expect. But once everyone got used 76 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:17,120 Speaker 1: to these alternate, sort of last minute arrangements on the 77 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: keel boat, which were going to be their home for 78 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:21,760 Speaker 1: a month and a half that it took to make 79 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 1: the journeyal that they didn't know it would be quite 80 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:27,120 Speaker 1: that long. They did settle in, and by most reports, 81 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:28,920 Speaker 1: they even managed to have quite a bit of fun. 82 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:32,159 Speaker 1: Just a few days into the trip, though the philanthropist 83 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:35,600 Speaker 1: ran aground. That happened just sixteen miles down the Ohio. 84 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:39,960 Speaker 1: They could not get the boat free. And coincidentally, this 85 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:43,680 Speaker 1: happened just seven miles away from Economy, Pennsylvania, and that 86 00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:45,760 Speaker 1: was the new town that had been established by the 87 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:50,679 Speaker 1: Rapite community that had built New Harmony. Initially, McClure, owen 88 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:53,600 Speaker 1: Son and the two other men made the track on 89 00:04:53,839 --> 00:04:57,040 Speaker 1: land to ask if the rat Bites could help them. 90 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 1: Six men were sent out from Economy. They managed to 91 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:03,560 Speaker 1: get the boat free. And what's even funnier is that 92 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:06,800 Speaker 1: in Robert Dale Owen's assessment of these rescuers, he didn't 93 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 1: find them to be particularly smart or engaging, which is 94 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:14,359 Speaker 1: odd given their great success at the very type of 95 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:16,719 Speaker 1: endeavor that he and his father were trying to do, 96 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:21,240 Speaker 1: although they were also achieving commercial success. Yeah, he was like, oh, 97 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:24,680 Speaker 1: they were kind of stupid and not very entertaining, But 98 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:27,440 Speaker 1: I just I want to this is another time where 99 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: I want the time travel machine so I can go 100 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:31,520 Speaker 1: back and shake him and go dude. They built a 101 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:37,600 Speaker 1: successful communal living experiment, they just moved on to another PLACESE. 102 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:42,599 Speaker 1: You haven't proven yourself yet, Champion, maybe don't be so judgy. 103 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:46,600 Speaker 1: So the day after the keel boat was shifted into 104 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 1: a better position, the passengers visited Economy. They had been 105 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:52,720 Speaker 1: invited to spend the day there at the invitation of 106 00:05:52,839 --> 00:05:55,040 Speaker 1: Rapite leader George Rapp, and they seem to have had 107 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 1: a really lovely time. This was the last time that 108 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 1: Robert Owen, the one who started this whole new community, 109 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 1: spent with the boat passengers. He left from Economy to 110 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:10,080 Speaker 1: travel to Pittsburgh on business. He had some final arrangements 111 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:12,960 Speaker 1: to make in terms of the legalities of taking over 112 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:16,039 Speaker 1: the land, and he left the science and educators, along 113 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:18,479 Speaker 1: with his son Robert Dale, on their own for the 114 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:21,240 Speaker 1: rest of the journey. They didn't get very far though. 115 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:24,080 Speaker 1: As they reached the station called Safe Harbor, which was 116 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:26,680 Speaker 1: just about eight miles from where they had run aground, 117 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 1: they got iced in. The philanthropists stayed there, stuck on 118 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:34,120 Speaker 1: ice for four full weeks. The group didn't extricate the 119 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 1: boat until January ninth, which was twenty eight days after 120 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:39,800 Speaker 1: they had been first iced in, and during that time 121 00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:42,640 Speaker 1: there had been just a number of misfortunes, including people 122 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 1: who fell through the ice but survived. One passenger who 123 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 1: fell and hit his head on a log while out hunting, 124 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:52,200 Speaker 1: which caused a delirium and fever. He eventually did recover, 125 00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:54,960 Speaker 1: though there were also a number of people who opted 126 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: to leave the boat and shelter elsewhere or travel over 127 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 1: land before ultimately regrouping with everyone else. Yeah. I when 128 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:04,279 Speaker 1: I was first researching this and they were saying, like, 129 00:07:04,320 --> 00:07:06,039 Speaker 1: some people just left the boat, I was like, uh oh, 130 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 1: but they all managed to hook back up with everybody. 131 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:12,000 Speaker 1: They didn't just wander out into the snowy wilderness and 132 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:14,760 Speaker 1: perish or meets some bad end. This whole thing comes 133 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:17,400 Speaker 1: off as kind of comical because this is a boat 134 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:20,160 Speaker 1: full of smart people that keeps running into problems, But 135 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 1: it's more of an indication of how difficult travel was. 136 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 1: I feel like it was like the the micro cosm 137 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:34,240 Speaker 1: version of how their entire commune played out, because it 138 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:37,120 Speaker 1: just wasn't planned as well as it should have been, right, 139 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:41,080 Speaker 1: and they didn't know enough about traveling by boat down 140 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:44,840 Speaker 1: a river, yeah, to know. Like there are some of 141 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: their writings where they're like, we don't know if the 142 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:50,000 Speaker 1: captain is bad at his job or if it's just 143 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:53,600 Speaker 1: really bad situations, And it's like they just had no 144 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:55,320 Speaker 1: idea what they were doing well, and it's just the 145 00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:57,960 Speaker 1: wrong time to be taking a steamer down a river 146 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:01,080 Speaker 1: that freezes over well, and they didn't even have a steamer. 147 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:03,240 Speaker 1: They're in a keelboat. Like okay, a steamer may have 148 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:10,239 Speaker 1: wiggled through, but the keelboat was like no, ma'am. While 149 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:13,920 Speaker 1: they were ice bound, though, some passengers sketched and played games, 150 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:16,880 Speaker 1: and they explored the river banks, they had assessed their 151 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 1: situation and agreed that to make everything work, they were 152 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:22,120 Speaker 1: just going to eat two meals a day, both to 153 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:26,360 Speaker 1: stretch their supplies and to prevent someone from having to 154 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 1: take on the load of making three meals a day. 155 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:33,160 Speaker 1: While they were in this odd situation, they also organized 156 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:35,560 Speaker 1: themselves to be able to relieve eight of the crew 157 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:38,880 Speaker 1: members on a rotating schedule. They traveled by land eight 158 00:08:38,920 --> 00:08:41,560 Speaker 1: miles south to the town of Beaver from time to 159 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:44,400 Speaker 1: time to get some supplies and socialize. On one of 160 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 1: these occasions, Robert Dale Owen got into a discussion with 161 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:51,520 Speaker 1: a Methodist minister, who, he wrote quote reasoned with quite 162 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:55,559 Speaker 1: good temper and some talent, but has the most incorrect ideas. 163 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 1: Robert Dale Owen, like his father believed that religion was 164 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:02,679 Speaker 1: more of a problem than a source of good. Yeah, 165 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:06,160 Speaker 1: the Owenites whole thing was that religion was useless and 166 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:08,400 Speaker 1: that you just needed to raise people right to make 167 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: a better world with good education. But yeah, it's sort 168 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:15,360 Speaker 1: of one of those every time I'm reading anything that 169 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:18,599 Speaker 1: Robert Dale Owen writes, just like he talked about the 170 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:22,160 Speaker 1: Rappites being like not very smart or interesting, I'm like, 171 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:27,280 Speaker 1: you are not. You seem like a person whose intentions 172 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:30,400 Speaker 1: are good and makes a lot of foolish judge hits. 173 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:35,080 Speaker 1: The group also incidentally took on several additional passengers just 174 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:37,320 Speaker 1: a few days before they were able to move on 175 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:39,880 Speaker 1: from the ice, and when the ice started to break, 176 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:42,120 Speaker 1: the sound of it scared them all so much that 177 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 1: they were convinced that the boat was sinking again, kind 178 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:47,720 Speaker 1: of evidence that they maybe weren't fully prepared for this trip. 179 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:51,360 Speaker 1: But after they evacuated and carted all of their trunks 180 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:54,760 Speaker 1: and luggage ashore, they realized things that were okay and 181 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:57,000 Speaker 1: even good because that meant the ice was breaking up, 182 00:09:57,080 --> 00:09:59,040 Speaker 1: and then they had to haul everything back onto the 183 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:03,079 Speaker 1: boat and make preparations to get underway. To that end, 184 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:05,400 Speaker 1: they also cut a pathway in the remaining ice to 185 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:08,040 Speaker 1: get the keel boat moving, and they were soon once 186 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:11,240 Speaker 1: again headed to their new utopia. They made a stop 187 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:15,040 Speaker 1: that first evening in Steubenville, Ohio, and took on another passenger, 188 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:18,800 Speaker 1: which was the son of Judge Benjamin Tappan, who wanted 189 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:22,280 Speaker 1: to have his child educated in New Harmony. They stopped 190 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:25,280 Speaker 1: in other towns along the way, most notably Cincinnati, where 191 00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:28,280 Speaker 1: several of the boat loaders toured the Museum of Natural History. 192 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:31,440 Speaker 1: When they got to Louisville, Kentucky, they once again grew 193 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:34,600 Speaker 1: in numbers as Joseph Neefe, who was an educational reformer, 194 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:38,120 Speaker 1: joined up with them along with his wife, and after Louisville, 195 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:41,480 Speaker 1: the Philanthropists made its way to Mount Vernon, Indiana, and 196 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:43,559 Speaker 1: there they made land to start the final leg of 197 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:46,360 Speaker 1: the journey. So most of them at that point traveled 198 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:49,800 Speaker 1: the final fifteen miles to New Harmony by wagon, arriving 199 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:52,000 Speaker 1: on January twenty third, and at that point they had 200 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:55,760 Speaker 1: been in transit for forty seven days. A small handful 201 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:58,160 Speaker 1: of them, however, remained on the keel boat and they 202 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:01,240 Speaker 1: traveled farther south on the Ohio before linking up with 203 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:04,160 Speaker 1: the Wabash River and turning north into it to make 204 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:06,480 Speaker 1: their way to New Harmony. So the origin for the 205 00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:10,160 Speaker 1: nickname Boatload of Knowledge came from a speech by Robert Owen. 206 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:13,400 Speaker 1: While the keel boat that the scientists and educators were 207 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:16,439 Speaker 1: on made its way down the Ohio River, Owen had 208 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:18,880 Speaker 1: traveled ahead by land, and he started telling the New 209 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:21,920 Speaker 1: Harmony residents who were setting up their new utopia about 210 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:25,360 Speaker 1: McClure's really fantastic group. He gave a speech to this 211 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:28,880 Speaker 1: new community in which he commented on the vast amount 212 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:33,160 Speaker 1: of knowledge that was contained in this one boat continuing quote, 213 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:37,480 Speaker 1: not Latin and Greek and other languages, but real substantial knowledge. 214 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:41,599 Speaker 1: From that point, people started calling the philanthropist the boatload 215 00:11:41,679 --> 00:11:45,760 Speaker 1: of Knowledge. I love that nickname so much. Owen had 216 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:49,239 Speaker 1: called the educators aboard quote, some of the ablest instructors 217 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:51,720 Speaker 1: of use that could be found in the US or 218 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:55,400 Speaker 1: perhaps the world, And all of that knowledge and ability 219 00:11:55,440 --> 00:11:58,040 Speaker 1: had been gathered by a man named William McClure, who 220 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:02,000 Speaker 1: is often called Owen's partner in his utopian enterprise. We'll 221 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:04,480 Speaker 1: get into McClure's life after we pause for a quick 222 00:12:04,559 --> 00:12:17,800 Speaker 1: sponsor break William McClure was born on October twenty seventh, 223 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:21,640 Speaker 1: seventeen sixty three in Ayr, Scotland. His father was a 224 00:12:21,679 --> 00:12:24,800 Speaker 1: merchant and was successful enough that William got a private education. 225 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:28,280 Speaker 1: William first traveled to the US at the age of nineteen, 226 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:30,920 Speaker 1: and after a brief stay, he went to London, where 227 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:33,520 Speaker 1: he started a job with Miller Hart and Company, an 228 00:12:33,559 --> 00:12:37,679 Speaker 1: American commerce firm, and while working there he was constantly traveling, 229 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:40,680 Speaker 1: mostly to France and Ireland, but also on occasion to 230 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:43,959 Speaker 1: the US. In seventeen ninety six, McClure moved to the 231 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:47,640 Speaker 1: United States, permanently settling in Philadelphia. He also became a 232 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 1: US citizen. He was already wealthy, but he quickly started 233 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:55,520 Speaker 1: adding to his fortune with business interests in Pennsylvania and Virginia. 234 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:58,560 Speaker 1: By eighteen hundred, he was able to leave work behind 235 00:12:58,559 --> 00:13:01,079 Speaker 1: and focus on his other interests, which were science and 236 00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:04,400 Speaker 1: education reform, full time, and he felt that the way 237 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:07,720 Speaker 1: that education had been managed up to that point was catastrophic, 238 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:10,480 Speaker 1: writing quote, I had been long in the habit of 239 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:13,960 Speaker 1: considering education one of the greatest abuses our species were 240 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:17,080 Speaker 1: guilty of, and of course one of the reforms most 241 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:21,720 Speaker 1: beneficial to humanity. He saw that society was generally separated 242 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:26,000 Speaker 1: in categories of non productive and productive classes, governors and 243 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:28,320 Speaker 1: the governed, and that the only real thing that kept 244 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:30,840 Speaker 1: the system in place was the education that the upper 245 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:33,760 Speaker 1: classes were receiving. So he wanted to buck against that 246 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:37,800 Speaker 1: age's old arrangement and offer equal knowledge to rich and poor. 247 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:41,160 Speaker 1: He believed that once someone was armed with knowledge, they 248 00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:44,360 Speaker 1: could rise up, so the lower classes, if they had education, 249 00:13:44,559 --> 00:13:47,800 Speaker 1: could meet the upper class in equality. He also saw 250 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:50,600 Speaker 1: that the young Republic of the United States needed an 251 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:53,520 Speaker 1: educated populace if it was going to survive. He wrote 252 00:13:53,559 --> 00:13:56,200 Speaker 1: quote power being in the hands of the people through 253 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:59,640 Speaker 1: the medium of popular governments renders a diffusion of knowledge 254 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:02,680 Speaker 1: necess to the support of freedom. He looked to the 255 00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:07,480 Speaker 1: work of Swiss education reformer Johann Heinrich Pestilazzi, who had 256 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:10,440 Speaker 1: built a curriculum plan based on the ideas in Jean 257 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:14,440 Speaker 1: Jacqesrusseau's Emil, which examined the individual in society and the 258 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:20,440 Speaker 1: relationship between the two. McClure visited Pestilazzi's school several times 259 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:23,720 Speaker 1: to observe and it was that model that he sought 260 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:26,640 Speaker 1: to emulate when he planned out New Harmony's education system. 261 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:31,160 Speaker 1: McClure had tried to convince Pestilazzi to move to the US, 262 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:34,000 Speaker 1: and even offered to bankroll a new school for him, 263 00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:37,920 Speaker 1: but Pestilazzi turned that offered down. And even as McClure 264 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:41,400 Speaker 1: was studying and promoting the latest ideas in education reform, 265 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:45,120 Speaker 1: he was also engaged in his own scientific work, specifically 266 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:48,280 Speaker 1: in geology. In eighteen oh nine, he offered up a 267 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:51,680 Speaker 1: geological map of the United States to the American Philosophical 268 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:54,840 Speaker 1: Society during a lecture, and this is considered to be 269 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:59,080 Speaker 1: a breakthrough moment in geology. He had put together data 270 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:02,120 Speaker 1: that no one else had assembled, and as his fame 271 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:05,440 Speaker 1: for his scientific work grew, McClure started to spend his 272 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:08,960 Speaker 1: time bouncing from geological tours and surveys to meeting with 273 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:12,360 Speaker 1: education experts and setting up schools. Because he made a 274 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:15,640 Speaker 1: name for himself in the geological sciences, when the Academy 275 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:18,760 Speaker 1: of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia was formed in eighteen twelve, 276 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:22,160 Speaker 1: McClure was invited to become a member. In eighteen seventeen, 277 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:24,840 Speaker 1: he became the organization's president, which was a post he 278 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:27,080 Speaker 1: would hold for more than two decades right up till 279 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:29,440 Speaker 1: the end of his life, and it was the connections 280 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:32,240 Speaker 1: that he made through that organization that really enabled him 281 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:36,080 Speaker 1: to assemble an academic dream team for New Harmony. There 282 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:39,760 Speaker 1: was an Owenite society in Philadelphia by eighteen twenty three, 283 00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:43,000 Speaker 1: a year before Robert Owen bought New Harmony. He made 284 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:46,120 Speaker 1: that purchase at the end of eighteen twenty four, and 285 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:49,120 Speaker 1: members of the Academy of Natural Sciences had read Owen's 286 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:52,280 Speaker 1: essays on communal living as early as the eighteen teens 287 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:54,800 Speaker 1: and they were pretty enthralled by his ideas because it 288 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:58,720 Speaker 1: was exciting and new, and some, including McClure, had even 289 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:01,920 Speaker 1: visited Owen's community in New Lanark, Scotland, where Owen had 290 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:04,760 Speaker 1: focused on improving the conditions for the poor working class 291 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:08,040 Speaker 1: that kept his textile mills running. And eventually it was 292 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:11,520 Speaker 1: McClure that Robert Owen entrusted to design and establish the 293 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:15,040 Speaker 1: education system and bo New Harmony Indiana. One of the 294 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:18,160 Speaker 1: people that McClure worked with closely to get New Harmony's 295 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:22,320 Speaker 1: children educated was Maria ducros Fletagiaux, and she was born 296 00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:24,920 Speaker 1: in France in seventeen eighty three and had married Joseph 297 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:27,520 Speaker 1: Fletageaux as a young woman, although the exact date of 298 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:31,280 Speaker 1: their marriage is unknown. The couple had a child named Achilles, 299 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:34,840 Speaker 1: a son, but they lived separately, so her husband Joseph 300 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:38,000 Speaker 1: does not seem to have factored very prominently in her 301 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:42,360 Speaker 1: life at all. Marie's first contact with William McClure took 302 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:46,200 Speaker 1: place in eighteen nineteen when he was visiting Paris. Fretijeaux 303 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:49,200 Speaker 1: moved from Paris to Philadelphia in eighteen twenty one to 304 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:53,840 Speaker 1: set up a Pestiluzian school. She helped spread Owen's ideas 305 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:56,480 Speaker 1: when she came to North America. She brought some essays 306 00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:59,200 Speaker 1: that had been published in Europe and started circulating that 307 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:02,280 Speaker 1: and discussing it with other members of the Philadelphia science 308 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:04,760 Speaker 1: and education communities. Yeah, in a lot of ways, she 309 00:17:04,840 --> 00:17:09,200 Speaker 1: really seeded some of these ideas that Owens had had 310 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: by just she was very charming and people really took 311 00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:14,720 Speaker 1: a shine to her generally, and so when she was like, 312 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:16,680 Speaker 1: I have this exciting essay that I want you to read, 313 00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:19,840 Speaker 1: people read it. It appears that it was actually Freda 314 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:22,720 Speaker 1: Joe that convinced McClure that he should partner with Owen. 315 00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:26,399 Speaker 1: Although McClure had written to her after he first visited 316 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:28,600 Speaker 1: New Lanark and he spoke of his time there as 317 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:31,919 Speaker 1: the most pleasant of his life, it was her urging 318 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:35,000 Speaker 1: that really amplified his interest in his desire to invest 319 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:38,040 Speaker 1: in the New Harmony project and to recruit like minded 320 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:41,800 Speaker 1: intellectuals to their cause. She met Robert Owen in November 321 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:45,360 Speaker 1: of eighteen twenty four when he visited Philadelphia and specifically 322 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:48,879 Speaker 1: her school. She later wrote McClure that she and Owen 323 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:51,399 Speaker 1: had immediately hit it off. They were like old friends 324 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:54,000 Speaker 1: from the moment they met. Owen told her that if 325 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:56,480 Speaker 1: they worked on their education ideas in a place where 326 00:17:56,520 --> 00:18:00,119 Speaker 1: the various obstacles to those ideas could be removed, a 327 00:18:00,119 --> 00:18:02,920 Speaker 1: community like the one he was planning, they could truly 328 00:18:03,119 --> 00:18:06,360 Speaker 1: see what a proper education could do for a child's development. 329 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:08,840 Speaker 1: He went on to make the case to Fretajou that 330 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:12,040 Speaker 1: she could keep working at her school in Philadelphia for decades, 331 00:18:12,119 --> 00:18:14,760 Speaker 1: but she would never really get to see just how 332 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:17,560 Speaker 1: impactful her work could be there. But if she came 333 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:19,840 Speaker 1: to New Harmony, things would be different because she could 334 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:23,159 Speaker 1: work without societal ills of a large city, ruining and 335 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:26,600 Speaker 1: countering her efforts. Coming up will do a quick rundown 336 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:29,040 Speaker 1: a few of the other people who put so much 337 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:31,640 Speaker 1: work into setting up the education system in New Harmony. 338 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:44,480 Speaker 1: But first we'll have a quick sponsor break. While Marie 339 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:47,359 Speaker 1: Fretajeaux was a cornerstone of the education system in New 340 00:18:47,359 --> 00:18:50,320 Speaker 1: Harmony and one of the most important members after Robert 341 00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:53,199 Speaker 1: Owen and William McClure, there were, of course plenty of 342 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:55,960 Speaker 1: others that came on that boatload of knowledge, and here 343 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:58,760 Speaker 1: are but a few of them. Thomas Say was born 344 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:02,439 Speaker 1: on June twenty seventh, seventeen eighty seven. He was an 345 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:06,359 Speaker 1: entomologist and a concologist, and someone who McClure had befriended 346 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:09,480 Speaker 1: early on in his time at the Academy of Natural Sciences. 347 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:13,679 Speaker 1: Say was the librarian there. McClure had funded some of 348 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:17,320 Speaker 1: Say's scientific research trips and then asked Say to accompany 349 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:20,800 Speaker 1: him on several of his geological surveys. Say is often 350 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:24,920 Speaker 1: called the father of American descriptive entomology. If you google 351 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:29,040 Speaker 1: him you can find lots of stuff from his entomology work. Yeah, 352 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:31,560 Speaker 1: and just in case you don't know what a concologist is. 353 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:36,440 Speaker 1: It's someone who studies mollusk shells, and he had expertise 354 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:39,159 Speaker 1: in this field. He was one of the leaders in 355 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:42,200 Speaker 1: that area. So when the boatload of knowledge was trapped 356 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:44,679 Speaker 1: in the ice and the passengers started covering shifts to 357 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:48,040 Speaker 1: relieve the crew, it was Say that everyone elected as captain, 358 00:19:48,119 --> 00:19:50,840 Speaker 1: and he was apparently really pretty good at managing the crew. 359 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:54,120 Speaker 1: In eighteen twenty seven, Say married one of the students 360 00:19:54,119 --> 00:19:56,560 Speaker 1: that Marie Fretegieaux had brought with her on the trip. 361 00:19:57,040 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: Once the school system of New Harmony was established, it 362 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:02,760 Speaker 1: to say that McClure entrusted with it whenever he was 363 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:06,080 Speaker 1: away from the village. Later on, when the utopian experiment 364 00:20:06,119 --> 00:20:08,800 Speaker 1: had ended, Say stayed at New Harmony. He used that 365 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:11,800 Speaker 1: as his primary location from which he conducted his research, 366 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:14,600 Speaker 1: and he wrote for the rest of his life that life, 367 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:17,280 Speaker 1: unfortunately was pretty short. He died in eighteen thirty four. 368 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:22,000 Speaker 1: French naturalist Charles Alexandre Lesieur born in seventeen seventy eight 369 00:20:22,119 --> 00:20:25,560 Speaker 1: was another friend from the Academy of Natural Sciences and 370 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:30,240 Speaker 1: in his work in paleontology, archaeology, ixeology, and general zoology. 371 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:34,280 Speaker 1: Lesieur made numerous discoveries of new species while he traveled 372 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:37,840 Speaker 1: the world, particularly Australia, and he served as curator at 373 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:42,000 Speaker 1: the Academy. Like Marie Fretejeaux, Lesur had been into Owen's 374 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:45,840 Speaker 1: idea of a utopian society even before McClure, and was 375 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:48,560 Speaker 1: eager when the chance came along to be part of 376 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:51,879 Speaker 1: New Harmony. During the boat ride down the Ohio River, 377 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:54,240 Speaker 1: he drew one hundred and twenty seven sketches of the 378 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:57,760 Speaker 1: landscapes that they traveled through. Yeah, those are, you know, 379 00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:00,320 Speaker 1: kind of the visual record of that entire trip, and 380 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:03,080 Speaker 1: they're really interesting. He was a really, really talented artist, 381 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:08,320 Speaker 1: and while Robert Owen, who founded the second Utopia New Harmony, 382 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:11,359 Speaker 1: left feeling as though McClure's curriculum had been part of 383 00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:15,840 Speaker 1: its demise, he recognized Lysier's art skills so much that 384 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:18,159 Speaker 1: he still sent one of his sons, Richard, back to 385 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:20,920 Speaker 1: New Harmony to study with Lysier. In eighteen twenty eight, 386 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:24,800 Speaker 1: after Thomas Say died, Lasour returned to France and he 387 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:27,720 Speaker 1: went on to become the curator at the Muse Distois 388 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:31,520 Speaker 1: Natuelle d Have. Although he served in that prestigious position 389 00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:34,199 Speaker 1: for less than a year before he also died in 390 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:39,920 Speaker 1: December of eighteen forty six. Williams. Fiquipal d'arrousement was like Fretagioux, 391 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:42,480 Speaker 1: an educator, and when he traveled in New Harmony, he 392 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:45,440 Speaker 1: actually brought ten students with him. They were boys from 393 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:48,280 Speaker 1: a school that he taught at in Philadelphia. That school 394 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:51,920 Speaker 1: had been established by William McClure, and before working there, 395 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:55,000 Speaker 1: Fiquipal had worked in schools in France which had also 396 00:21:55,119 --> 00:21:59,280 Speaker 1: been funded and established by McClure. Fiquipal was the person, incidentally, 397 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:01,560 Speaker 1: who had hit his head on a log during that 398 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:03,440 Speaker 1: ic in on the river and seemed to be in 399 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:06,480 Speaker 1: pretty bad shape for a while. Two of his students 400 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:08,720 Speaker 1: were the first to fall through the ice as well, 401 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:10,840 Speaker 1: so that month they were stuck there. Was just not 402 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:14,000 Speaker 1: particularly kind to him. Yeah. He also kind of had 403 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:16,920 Speaker 1: a reputation for being a little bit of a grouchil Epithecus. 404 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:20,040 Speaker 1: There were some people that claimed that he never fully 405 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:23,399 Speaker 1: recovered and that was why he was so grumpy. Once 406 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:26,440 Speaker 1: the system at New Harmony was in place, Fickopaul taught, 407 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:29,840 Speaker 1: among other things, printing. He left the school in eighteen 408 00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:32,760 Speaker 1: thirty and in eighteen thirty one, he married social reformer 409 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:36,399 Speaker 1: France's Right. That marriage ended in divorce in eighteen fifty. 410 00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:39,359 Speaker 1: So that's just a sampling of these educators and to 411 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:42,160 Speaker 1: kind of move on to the curriculum and the legacy 412 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:46,199 Speaker 1: of these schools. Though Owen's New Harmony experiment ended just 413 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:48,760 Speaker 1: two years after it began, as we mentioned in our 414 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:51,840 Speaker 1: previous episode on the subject, the educators stayed around. They 415 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:55,199 Speaker 1: kept the school system going. They also started publishing a 416 00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:59,080 Speaker 1: regular journal called The Disseminator of Useful Knowledge, which continued 417 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:01,960 Speaker 1: publication until they eighteen forties. Yeah, they really felt like 418 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:04,159 Speaker 1: they had built something worthwhile and they weren't willing to 419 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:07,800 Speaker 1: just abandon it just because the utopian society wasn't going 420 00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:10,119 Speaker 1: to work out, and they had people that wanted to 421 00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:13,520 Speaker 1: send their children there. The curriculum for New Harmony children 422 00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:16,359 Speaker 1: started when they were still toddlers. So children enrolled in 423 00:23:16,359 --> 00:23:18,680 Speaker 1: the first school, called the Infant School at the age 424 00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:22,199 Speaker 1: of two, and at that point it's obviously just about play, 425 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:24,600 Speaker 1: and the educators were kind of noting the development of 426 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:27,560 Speaker 1: the children, and children stayed in Infant School until they 427 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:30,560 Speaker 1: were five years old. At age five, children moved into 428 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:33,720 Speaker 1: the Higher School. They also boarded away from their families 429 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:36,480 Speaker 1: in a large dormitory. This was intended to keep the 430 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:40,360 Speaker 1: educational plan free from parental influence and also to introduce 431 00:23:40,359 --> 00:23:42,760 Speaker 1: the children to the idea of communal living from a 432 00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:46,439 Speaker 1: very early age. The Higher School educated children until they 433 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:49,960 Speaker 1: were twelve and included trades training in workshops and textile 434 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:51,840 Speaker 1: mills so that they were contributing to the good of 435 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:58,760 Speaker 1: society from early on. Their academic work included courses in mathematics, mechanics, art, music, language, science, 436 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:02,800 Speaker 1: and writing, with jim nastics for physical exercise. Throughout the 437 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:05,640 Speaker 1: lessons of the Higher School, all the scientists that had 438 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:10,280 Speaker 1: been recruited gave lectures. Yeah, it was basically like having 439 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:13,760 Speaker 1: teachers who were the Krem de la Crem and all 440 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:17,960 Speaker 1: of their fields come and give talks periodically. That aspect 441 00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:21,960 Speaker 1: of it is really unique and quite special. After completing 442 00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:24,240 Speaker 1: the Higher School, students would move on to the School 443 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:27,480 Speaker 1: of Industry, and that's where real trade instruction took place, 444 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:30,320 Speaker 1: and there students learned a great deal more than that 445 00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:33,600 Speaker 1: early training that they had gotten in the Higher School. 446 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:38,399 Speaker 1: So this training did separate pretty solidly though along gender line. 447 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:41,720 Speaker 1: So the boys learned everything from taxidermy to blacksmithing, and 448 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:45,960 Speaker 1: the girls were taught dressmaking, millinery, cooking, and other domestic skills. 449 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:49,000 Speaker 1: The School of Industry also ran its own printing press. 450 00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:52,560 Speaker 1: That was part of why Fukuopaul was teaching how to 451 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,719 Speaker 1: run the press and students were taught to run it 452 00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:57,760 Speaker 1: so that the scholars of the town could have their 453 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:00,639 Speaker 1: own publishing mechanism for their research, which I have to 454 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:04,399 Speaker 1: say is a pretty ingenious setup. Although McClure's educational system 455 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:07,560 Speaker 1: shuddered after his death, the programs that he and his 456 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:11,040 Speaker 1: colleagues instituted were precursors to the public school system and 457 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:13,000 Speaker 1: paved the way for it, even though it would be 458 00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:16,040 Speaker 1: decades before such a system was actually in place in Indiana. 459 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:19,320 Speaker 1: That effort was helped along in eighteen fifty one by 460 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:22,280 Speaker 1: Robert Dale Owen, who became very active in government and 461 00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:25,919 Speaker 1: public affairs. That year he helped get language providing for 462 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:29,920 Speaker 1: a tax supported, free public education system written into Indiana's 463 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:33,960 Speaker 1: Second Constitution. And the scholars and scientists of New Harmony 464 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:37,359 Speaker 1: had assembled a library that was worthy of any university's envy. 465 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:40,520 Speaker 1: They had brought their book collections with them as they 466 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:43,840 Speaker 1: traveled and all kind of merged those together into one 467 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:47,520 Speaker 1: library and their collections of specimens in their museum that 468 00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:50,200 Speaker 1: they set up drew researchers from around the world who 469 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:52,560 Speaker 1: wanted to observe them, as well as meet with the 470 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:55,920 Speaker 1: scientists there to discuss their ideas and kind of use 471 00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:57,879 Speaker 1: them as like a sounding board for things that they 472 00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:01,080 Speaker 1: were working on. In eighteen twenty eight, year after Owen's 473 00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:04,680 Speaker 1: New Harmony experiment was dissolved, William McClure left as well. 474 00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:08,640 Speaker 1: He headed to Mexico. Over the next five years, he 475 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:12,600 Speaker 1: and Marie Fretajeaux exchanged almost five hundred letters in which 476 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:15,399 Speaker 1: it became clear that the French teacher had fallen really 477 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:18,840 Speaker 1: in love with the geologist. That didn't appear that McClure 478 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:21,560 Speaker 1: returned her romantic interests, though, but the two of them 479 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:25,479 Speaker 1: did remain close. Fretejoue traveled to Mexico to visit McLure 480 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:28,360 Speaker 1: in eighteen thirty three and died not long after arriving. 481 00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:31,160 Speaker 1: McClure stayed in Mexico until the end of his life 482 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:34,000 Speaker 1: in eighteen forty. Throughout all this time in New Harmony 483 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:36,680 Speaker 1: in Mexico, he had remained president of the Academy of 484 00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:39,760 Speaker 1: Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. Yeah, this is one of those things. 485 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:42,840 Speaker 1: McClure constantly on the road from the time he was young, 486 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:45,040 Speaker 1: so he might have just been good at managing affairs 487 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:48,159 Speaker 1: he was not physically involved in, but he had, you know, 488 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:50,439 Speaker 1: kept things going at the school even though he was 489 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:53,959 Speaker 1: in another country. He was, you know, giving his input 490 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:56,119 Speaker 1: on curriculum. He was kind of keeping it running in 491 00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:58,560 Speaker 1: a lot of ways, and financially he was still willing 492 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:01,720 Speaker 1: to put a lot of backing into it. When he died, 493 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:05,560 Speaker 1: McLure left behind two different educational funds. One was part 494 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:08,399 Speaker 1: of the Academy of Sciences and that was clearly described 495 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:11,920 Speaker 1: as funding that should go to making sure educational materials 496 00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:14,879 Speaker 1: went into the hands of laborers. The other had the 497 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:17,080 Speaker 1: same goal, but it was a general provision in his 498 00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:20,399 Speaker 1: will that offered five hundred dollars to any laborer's group 499 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:23,320 Speaker 1: that established a lecture and reading room with at least 500 00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:26,120 Speaker 1: one hundred books in it. There were one hundred and 501 00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:29,400 Speaker 1: sixty libraries that were funded as a result of this provision. 502 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:33,520 Speaker 1: That practice of making knowledge accessible for everyone was something 503 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:36,240 Speaker 1: that McClure had put into practice himself. Throughout his life, 504 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:38,800 Speaker 1: but one of the most enduring examples of it is 505 00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:42,080 Speaker 1: the New Harmony Workingmen's Institute, which he founded in eighteen 506 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:44,800 Speaker 1: thirty eight, which was two years before he died. The 507 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:47,840 Speaker 1: institute moved from its original location in the church at 508 00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:50,240 Speaker 1: New Harmony to a new building in eighteen ninety four 509 00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:53,120 Speaker 1: and it remains in operation to this day. Now it's 510 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:57,000 Speaker 1: the oldest continuously operating public library in Indiana. Yeah, it's 511 00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:59,159 Speaker 1: also a museum. And even though it is called the 512 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:02,240 Speaker 1: Workingmen's instat it was always intended to be something that 513 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:05,920 Speaker 1: not just men could access, but their entire families would 514 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:07,919 Speaker 1: have access to any of the resources there, which is 515 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:12,480 Speaker 1: a pretty cool h He definitely, I mean, he had 516 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:14,680 Speaker 1: tons of money to work with, but he definitely put 517 00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:17,280 Speaker 1: his money where his mouth was in terms of saying like, yes, 518 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:19,600 Speaker 1: I want people of all levels of society to have 519 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:22,879 Speaker 1: educational materials, and then he made it happen. Yeah, it 520 00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:25,440 Speaker 1: was not just lip service, which I have to respect. 521 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:27,760 Speaker 1: So that is a little bit more on the boatload 522 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:31,400 Speaker 1: of knowledge, which just charmed me based just on that nickname. 523 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:33,280 Speaker 1: But also there are a lot of really important and 524 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:36,320 Speaker 1: interesting people. There's even more and more and more. You 525 00:28:36,359 --> 00:28:38,560 Speaker 1: can get very in the weeds on the boatload of Knowledge. 526 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:40,360 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, all of the work that those people did. 527 00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:43,160 Speaker 1: You could do an entire podcast series called Boatload of 528 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:45,160 Speaker 1: Knowledge and talk about each person and all of their 529 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:48,400 Speaker 1: research projects. And if somebody does it, I will listen. 530 00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:58,400 Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us on this Saturday. If 531 00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:00,560 Speaker 1: you'd like to send us a note, our email addresses 532 00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:05,280 Speaker 1: History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com, and you can subscribe 533 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:08,440 Speaker 1: to the show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 534 00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:10,520 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.