1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:12,720 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hello, and welcome 3 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:15,840 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy Wilson. 4 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:19,000 Speaker 1: So if you listen to our recent episode on the 5 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:23,000 Speaker 1: New Harmony utopian societies, you may recall that we referenced 6 00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:25,960 Speaker 1: a group of scientists and educators that were recruited for 7 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:29,920 Speaker 1: the second of those communities that was nicknamed the Boatload 8 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:33,280 Speaker 1: of Knowledge. And I have not been able to stop 9 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:36,120 Speaker 1: thinking about the Boatload of Knowledge, so much so that 10 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,600 Speaker 1: even though I've actually been working on research and writing 11 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:42,239 Speaker 1: for a completely different topic that I was planning to 12 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 1: have us talk about this week, I moved over to 13 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:50,280 Speaker 1: reading about the Boatloaders, and then I was like, oh, so, um, 14 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:53,519 Speaker 1: now it's just an episode about the boatload Uh, we'll go. 15 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:55,720 Speaker 1: I'll get back to that other one and and I'll 16 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:57,760 Speaker 1: have a headstart on it. But I just, you know, 17 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:01,800 Speaker 1: sometimes the brain obsesses over a thing. So for basic framing, 18 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 1: just in case you did not listen to the live 19 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:07,720 Speaker 1: show that I just referenced, um, when Robert Owen founded 20 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:11,440 Speaker 1: his Owen Night community in New Harmony in and that 21 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 1: was in Indiana, he wanted to have the best minds 22 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:18,400 Speaker 1: that he could find running the education system there, and 23 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:22,000 Speaker 1: for that he recruited William McClure, who also gave a 24 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:26,120 Speaker 1: substantial financial contribution to the community and also in turn 25 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:29,640 Speaker 1: brought many great minds with him. And the boat that 26 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:32,920 Speaker 1: brought them to the community was nicknamed the Boatload of Knowledge. 27 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:35,319 Speaker 1: We'll talk about how it got that nickname, uh, and 28 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:38,600 Speaker 1: its journey to New Harmony was pretty fascinating. So today 29 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:40,840 Speaker 1: we're kind of talking about things and and maybe an 30 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:43,839 Speaker 1: odd order. We're going to talk about the boatload itself 31 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:47,039 Speaker 1: and its journey UM, and then we'll start talking about 32 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 1: individual people, including getting into a little bit of detail 33 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 1: on McClure, and we'll name a few of the other 34 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 1: intellectuals that were involved in this trip and in this project, 35 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:58,320 Speaker 1: although they won't get as much detail. And then finally 36 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 1: we're going to talk a little bit about how school 37 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:03,320 Speaker 1: that they designed worked and what the group's legacy was. 38 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: So the keel boat that carried all these lumin areas 39 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:09,519 Speaker 1: of intellect left from the harbor at Pittsburgh at two 40 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: pm on December eight. There were just over forty people aboard, 41 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:17,400 Speaker 1: and that included a crew of eleven and the conveyance, 42 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:20,679 Speaker 1: the Philanthropist that was with a T, not a th h, 43 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 1: was eighty five ft long that's about twenty six ms 44 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:27,840 Speaker 1: by fourteen feet wide that's four point two meters, and 45 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:30,440 Speaker 1: the group was supposed to travel by steamer, but the 46 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:32,760 Speaker 1: Ohio River was too low at the time for a 47 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: steamer to make the trip. The Philanthropist had four sections. 48 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: The front area was for the crew, the next was 49 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 1: to the men, the third was for the women, and 50 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: the fourth was for the children. And they were all 51 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 1: kind of set up like dormitory style with a group living. 52 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 1: This was definitely a downgrade from the original plan, and 53 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 1: a lot of the passengers were pretty dismayed by these arrangements. 54 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:56,840 Speaker 1: Robert Dale Owen, the son of the Robert Owen who 55 00:02:56,880 --> 00:02:59,480 Speaker 1: had catalyzed this whole project, wrote that quote, some of 56 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:03,959 Speaker 1: the ladies of our party appear already quite impatient and dissatisfied, 57 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: the more so since they almost cannot do anything for themselves. 58 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: He was worried that there would be an uprising and 59 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:13,520 Speaker 1: the passengers would force the boat to turn around and 60 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:16,920 Speaker 1: go back to Philadelphia. Some were driven to the breaking 61 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:20,080 Speaker 1: point and they just cried openly. And this might sound really, 62 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:22,120 Speaker 1: really silly, but I want you to keep in mind 63 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:26,400 Speaker 1: that these people were expecting to participate in a well 64 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 1: funded utopian experiment, and already at this point their first 65 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 1: interaction with the project was well below expectations based on 66 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:37,800 Speaker 1: what they had been told that they could anticipate. So 67 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 1: this probably shook their confidence in the whole thing. They 68 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:43,480 Speaker 1: were moving away from their homes to this new community 69 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:47,240 Speaker 1: and it was from the onset completely not what they 70 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 1: had been told to expect. But once everyone got used 71 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:54,040 Speaker 1: to these alternate, sort of last minute arrangements on the 72 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: keel boat which we're going to be their home for 73 00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:58,680 Speaker 1: a month and a half that it took to make 74 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:00,800 Speaker 1: the journeyal that they didn't know be quite that long, 75 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 1: they did settle in, and by most reports they even 76 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:06,560 Speaker 1: managed to have quite a bit of fun just a 77 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:09,960 Speaker 1: few days into the trip, though the philanthropist ran aground. 78 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:13,480 Speaker 1: That happened just sixteen miles down the Ohio. They could 79 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:17,640 Speaker 1: not get the boat free, and coincidentally, this happened just 80 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 1: seven miles away from Economy, Pennsylvania, and that was the 81 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:23,920 Speaker 1: new town that had been established by the Rabbite community 82 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 1: that had built new Harmony. Initially, McClure, Owen's son, and 83 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,279 Speaker 1: the two other men made the track on land to 84 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:34,800 Speaker 1: ask if their rat bites could help them. Six men 85 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:37,200 Speaker 1: were sent out from Economy. They managed to get the 86 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:41,119 Speaker 1: boat free. And what's even funnier is that in Robert 87 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:44,160 Speaker 1: Dale Owen's assessment of these rescuers, he didn't find them 88 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:48,840 Speaker 1: to be particularly smart or engaging, which is odd given 89 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 1: their great success at the very type of endeavor that 90 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:54,680 Speaker 1: he and his father were trying to do, although they 91 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:58,120 Speaker 1: were also achieving commercial success. Yeah, he was like, oh, 92 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:01,560 Speaker 1: they were kind of stupid and not very entertaining. But 93 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 1: I just I wanted this is another time where I 94 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:06,240 Speaker 1: want the time travel machines so I can go back 95 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 1: and shake him and go dude, they built a successful 96 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: communal living experiment, they just moved on to another place. Case, Um, 97 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:21,160 Speaker 1: you haven't proven yourself yet, champion. Maybe don't be so judgy. Um. So, 98 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:23,600 Speaker 1: the day after the keel boat was shifted into a 99 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:27,359 Speaker 1: better position, the passengers visited Economy. They had been invited 100 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:30,159 Speaker 1: to spend the day there at the invitation of Rappite 101 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:32,039 Speaker 1: leader George Rapp, and they seem to have had a 102 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:35,000 Speaker 1: really lovely time. UH. This was the last time that 103 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:38,360 Speaker 1: Robert Owen Senior, the one who started this whole new 104 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:41,680 Speaker 1: community UH, spent with the boat passengers. He left from 105 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:45,159 Speaker 1: Economy to travel to Pittsburgh on business. He had some 106 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:48,520 Speaker 1: some final arrangements to make in terms of like the 107 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,560 Speaker 1: legalities of taking over the land, and he left the 108 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:54,680 Speaker 1: science and educators, along with his son Robert Dale, on 109 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:57,119 Speaker 1: their own for the rest of the journey. They didn't 110 00:05:57,160 --> 00:05:59,880 Speaker 1: get very far though, as they reached the station called 111 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 1: Safe Harbor, which is just about eight miles from where 112 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:06,400 Speaker 1: they had run aground, they got iced in. The philanthropists 113 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:09,719 Speaker 1: stayed there, stuck on ice for four full weeks. The 114 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:12,880 Speaker 1: group didn't extricate the boat until January nine, which was 115 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:15,680 Speaker 1: twenty eight days after they had been first iced in, 116 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:18,000 Speaker 1: and during that time there had been just a number 117 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:20,919 Speaker 1: of misfortunes, including people who fell through the ice but 118 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 1: survived one passenger who fell and hit his head on 119 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:27,839 Speaker 1: a log while out hunting, which caused a delirium and fever. 120 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:30,839 Speaker 1: He eventually did recover, though. There were also a number 121 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 1: of people who opted to leave the boat and shelter 122 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 1: elsewhere or travel over land before ultimately regrouping with everyone else. Yeah. 123 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:41,159 Speaker 1: I when I was first researching this and they were saying, like, 124 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 1: some people just left the boat, I was like, oh, 125 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:45,919 Speaker 1: but they all managed to hook back up with everybody. 126 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:48,920 Speaker 1: They didn't just wander out into the snowy wilderness and 127 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:51,640 Speaker 1: parish or meets some bad end. This whole thing comes 128 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:54,039 Speaker 1: off as as kind of comical because this is a 129 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:56,960 Speaker 1: boat full of smart people that keeps running into problems, 130 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:01,280 Speaker 1: But it's more of an indication of how difficult travel was. 131 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:06,680 Speaker 1: I feel like it was like the the micro cosm 132 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:11,120 Speaker 1: version of how their entire commune played out, because it 133 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 1: just wasn't planned as well as it should have been, 134 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:17,960 Speaker 1: and they didn't know enough about traveling by boat down 135 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 1: a river to know. Like there are some of their 136 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:24,080 Speaker 1: writings where they're like, we don't know if the captain 137 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 1: is bad at his job or if it's just really 138 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:30,840 Speaker 1: bad situations, and it's like they just had no idea 139 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:32,480 Speaker 1: what they were doing well, and it's just the wrong 140 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:35,040 Speaker 1: time to be taking a steamer down a river that 141 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:37,960 Speaker 1: freezes over like well, and they didn't even have a steamer. 142 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:40,160 Speaker 1: They're in a keel boat like a steamer may have 143 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:46,720 Speaker 1: wiggled through, but the keel boat was like no, ma'am um. 144 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:50,080 Speaker 1: While they were ice bound, though, some passengers sketched and 145 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:53,240 Speaker 1: played games, and they explored the river banks. They had 146 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:56,680 Speaker 1: assessed their situation and agreed that to make everything work, 147 00:07:56,760 --> 00:07:58,680 Speaker 1: they were just going to eat two meals a day, 148 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:02,720 Speaker 1: both to stretch their supply and to prevent uh someone 149 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:05,360 Speaker 1: from having to take on the load of of making 150 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:08,960 Speaker 1: three meals a day while they were in this odd situation. Um. 151 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: They also organized themselves to be able to relieve eight 152 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:15,080 Speaker 1: of the crew members on a rotating schedule. They traveled 153 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:17,640 Speaker 1: by land eight miles south to the town of Beaver 154 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:20,400 Speaker 1: from time to time to get some supplies and socialized. 155 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:23,400 Speaker 1: On one of these occasions, Robert Dale Owen got into 156 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:27,480 Speaker 1: a discussion with a Methodist minister, who, he wrote quote 157 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 1: reasoned with quite good temper and some talent, but has 158 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:34,560 Speaker 1: the most incorrect ideas. Robert Dale Owen, like his father, 159 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:37,280 Speaker 1: believed that religion was more of a problem than a 160 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 1: source of good. Yeah. The own Night's whole thing was 161 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:44,160 Speaker 1: that religion was useless and that you just needed to 162 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:47,560 Speaker 1: raise people right to make a better world. Um with 163 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:50,599 Speaker 1: good education. But yeah, it's it's sort of one of 164 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:53,880 Speaker 1: those every time I'm reading anything that Robert Dale Owen writes, 165 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:56,720 Speaker 1: just like he talked about the rabbites being like not 166 00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:02,319 Speaker 1: very smart or interesting, and like you are not you 167 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 1: seem like a person whose intentions are good and makes 168 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:09,880 Speaker 1: a lot of foolish judge um. The group also incidentally 169 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:13,240 Speaker 1: took on several additional passengers just a few days before 170 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:15,400 Speaker 1: they were able to move on from the ice, and 171 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:17,520 Speaker 1: when the ice started to break the sound of it 172 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:19,840 Speaker 1: scared them all so much that they were convinced that 173 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:22,800 Speaker 1: the boat was sinking again, kind of evidence that they 174 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:25,800 Speaker 1: maybe weren't fully prepared for this trip. But after they 175 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:29,160 Speaker 1: evacuated and carted all of their trunks and luggage ashore, 176 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 1: they realized things that were okay and even good because 177 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: that meant the ice was breaking up, and then they 178 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:36,920 Speaker 1: had to haul everything back onto the boat and make 179 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:40,640 Speaker 1: preparations to get underway. To that end, they also cut 180 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:42,840 Speaker 1: a pathway in the remaining ice to get the keel 181 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:45,920 Speaker 1: boat moving, and they were soon once again headed to 182 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:49,000 Speaker 1: their new utopia. They made a stop that first evening 183 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:52,480 Speaker 1: in Stephenville, Ohio, and took on another passenger, which was 184 00:09:52,559 --> 00:09:55,960 Speaker 1: the son of Judge Benjamin Tappan, who wanted to have 185 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 1: his child educated in New Harmony. They stopped in other 186 00:09:59,559 --> 00:10:02,480 Speaker 1: towns a along the way, most notably Cincinnati, where several 187 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:05,760 Speaker 1: of the boatloaders toured the Museum of Natural History. When 188 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:08,480 Speaker 1: they got to Louisville, Kentucky, they once again grew in 189 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:12,040 Speaker 1: numbers as Joseph Nif, who was an educational reformer, joined 190 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:15,079 Speaker 1: up with them along with his wife. And after Louisville, 191 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:18,400 Speaker 1: the Philanthropists made its way to Mount Vernon, Indiana, and 192 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:20,439 Speaker 1: there they made land to start the final leg of 193 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:23,280 Speaker 1: the journey. So most of them at that point traveled 194 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:26,680 Speaker 1: the final fifteen miles to New Harmony by wagon, arriving 195 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:28,959 Speaker 1: on January twenty three, and at that point they had 196 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:32,679 Speaker 1: been in transit for forty seven days. A small handful 197 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:35,079 Speaker 1: of them, however, remained on the keel boat, and they 198 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:38,080 Speaker 1: traveled farther south on the Ohio River before linking up 199 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:40,920 Speaker 1: with the Wabash River and turning north into it to 200 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 1: make their way to New Harmony. So the origin for 201 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:46,240 Speaker 1: the nickname Boatload of Knowledge came from a speech by 202 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:49,520 Speaker 1: Robert Owen while the keel boat that the scientists and 203 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 1: educators were on made its way down the Ohio River. 204 00:10:52,760 --> 00:10:55,520 Speaker 1: Owen had traveled ahead by land. Then he started telling 205 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:57,800 Speaker 1: the New Harmony residents who were setting up their new 206 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:02,000 Speaker 1: utopia about McClure's really fantastic group. He gave a speech 207 00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:04,920 Speaker 1: to this new community in which he commented on the 208 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:08,080 Speaker 1: vast amount of knowledge that was contained in this one 209 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:12,280 Speaker 1: vote continuing quote, not Latin and Greek and other languages, 210 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:16,520 Speaker 1: but real substantial knowledge. From that point, people started calling 211 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:20,560 Speaker 1: the philanthropist the boatload of Knowledge. I love that nickname 212 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:24,439 Speaker 1: so much. O n had called the educators aboard quote 213 00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:26,960 Speaker 1: some of the ablest instructors of youth that could be 214 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:30,880 Speaker 1: found in the US or perhaps the world. And all 215 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:33,440 Speaker 1: of that knowledge and ability had been gathered by a 216 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:36,640 Speaker 1: man named William McClure, who is often called Owen's partner 217 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:40,280 Speaker 1: in his utopian enterprise. We'll get into McClure's life after 218 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:50,760 Speaker 1: we pause for a quick sponsor break. William McClure was 219 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:55,320 Speaker 1: born on October seventeen sixty three in Air, Scotland. His 220 00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:57,959 Speaker 1: father was a merchant and was successful enough that William 221 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:01,520 Speaker 1: got a private education. William first traveled to the US 222 00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:04,160 Speaker 1: at the age of nineteen, and after a brief stay, 223 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 1: he went to London, where he started a job with 224 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:09,720 Speaker 1: Miller Hart and Company, an American commerce firm, and while 225 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:13,760 Speaker 1: working there he was constantly traveling, mostly to France and Ireland, 226 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:17,720 Speaker 1: but also on occasion to the US. In seventeen McClure 227 00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:21,200 Speaker 1: moved to the United States, permanently settling in Philadelphia. He 228 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:24,760 Speaker 1: also became a US citizen. He was already wealthy, but 229 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:28,240 Speaker 1: he quickly started adding to his fortune with business interests 230 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:31,960 Speaker 1: in Pennsylvania and Virginia. By eighteen hundred, he was able 231 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:34,240 Speaker 1: to leave work behind and focus on his other interests, 232 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:37,640 Speaker 1: which were science and education reform full time, and he 233 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:40,400 Speaker 1: felt that the way that education had been managed up 234 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:43,760 Speaker 1: to that point was catastrophic, writing quote, I had been 235 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:46,400 Speaker 1: long in the habit of considering education one of the 236 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:49,720 Speaker 1: greatest abuses are species were guilty of, and of course, 237 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:53,640 Speaker 1: one of the reforms most beneficial to humanity. He saw 238 00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: that society was generally separated in categories of non productive 239 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:01,520 Speaker 1: and productive classes, governor and the governed, and that the 240 00:13:01,559 --> 00:13:03,760 Speaker 1: only real thing that kept the system in place was 241 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:06,720 Speaker 1: the education that the upper classes were receiving. So he 242 00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:09,960 Speaker 1: wanted to buck against that ages old arrangement and offer 243 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:13,400 Speaker 1: equal knowledge to rich and poor. He believed that when 244 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:16,520 Speaker 1: someone was armed with knowledge, they could rise up, so 245 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:19,680 Speaker 1: the lower classes, if they had education, could meet the 246 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:22,559 Speaker 1: upper class and equality. He also saw that the young 247 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 1: Republic of the United States needed an educated populace if 248 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:29,000 Speaker 1: it was going to survive. He wrote, quote power being 249 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:31,120 Speaker 1: in the hands of the people through the medium of 250 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:34,840 Speaker 1: popular governments renders a diffusion of knowledge necessary to the 251 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:37,840 Speaker 1: support of freedom. He looked to the work of Swiss 252 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:42,800 Speaker 1: education reformer Johann Heinrich Pestelazzi, who had built a curriculum 253 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:45,920 Speaker 1: plan based on the ideas and Jean jacqu Crussoe's emial 254 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:49,720 Speaker 1: which examined the individual in society and the relationship between 255 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:54,760 Speaker 1: the two. McClure visited Pestelazzi's a school several times to 256 00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:58,079 Speaker 1: observe and it was that model that he sought to 257 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:02,120 Speaker 1: emulate when he planned out new Harmonies education system. McClure 258 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:05,400 Speaker 1: had tried to convince Pestelazzi to move to the US, 259 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:08,280 Speaker 1: and even offered to bankroll a new school for him, 260 00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:12,160 Speaker 1: but Pestelazzi turned that offered down and Even as McClure 261 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:16,040 Speaker 1: was studying and promoting the latest ideas in education reform, 262 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:19,400 Speaker 1: he was also engaged in his own scientific work, specifically 263 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:22,560 Speaker 1: in geology. In eighteen o nine, he offered up a 264 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:26,000 Speaker 1: geological map of the United States to the American Philosophical 265 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:29,120 Speaker 1: Society during a lecture, and this is considered to be 266 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:32,720 Speaker 1: a breakthrough moment in geology. He was had put together 267 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:35,920 Speaker 1: data that no one else had ever assembled, and as 268 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:39,320 Speaker 1: his fame for his scientific work grew, McClure started to 269 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:42,840 Speaker 1: spend his time bouncing from geological tours and surveys to 270 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:46,360 Speaker 1: meeting with education experts and setting up schools. Because he 271 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:49,160 Speaker 1: made a name for himself in the geological sciences, when 272 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:52,160 Speaker 1: the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia was formed in 273 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:55,600 Speaker 1: eighteen twelve, McClure was invited to become a member. In 274 00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:58,720 Speaker 1: eighteen seventeen, he became the organization's president, which was the 275 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:01,000 Speaker 1: post he would hold for more than two decades right 276 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:03,000 Speaker 1: up till the end of his life. And it was 277 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:05,880 Speaker 1: the connections that he made through that organization that really 278 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:09,800 Speaker 1: enabled him to assemble an academic dream team for New Harmony. 279 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:13,480 Speaker 1: There was an OA Nite Society in Philadelphia by eighteen 280 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:16,680 Speaker 1: twenty three, a year before Robert Owen bought New Harmony. 281 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:19,840 Speaker 1: He made that purchase at the end of eighteen twenty four, 282 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:23,000 Speaker 1: and members of the Academy of Natural Sciences had read 283 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:26,560 Speaker 1: Owen's essays on communal living as early as the eighteen teens, 284 00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:29,080 Speaker 1: and they were pretty enthralled by his ideas because it 285 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:33,040 Speaker 1: was exciting and new, and some, including McClure, had even 286 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:36,200 Speaker 1: visited Owen's community in New Lanark, Scotland, where Owen had 287 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:39,320 Speaker 1: focused on improving the conditions for the poor working class 288 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:42,320 Speaker 1: that kept his textile mills running. And eventually it was 289 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:45,840 Speaker 1: McClure that Robert Owen entrusted to design and established the 290 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:49,320 Speaker 1: education system and for New Harmony Indiana. One of the 291 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:52,440 Speaker 1: people that McClure worked with closely to get New Harmony's 292 00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:56,600 Speaker 1: children educated was Maria Duclos Fleteaux and She was born 293 00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 1: in France in seventeen eighty three and had married Joseph 294 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:01,840 Speaker 1: Fletegeaux as a young woman, although the exact date of 295 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:05,560 Speaker 1: their marriage is unknown. The couple had a child named Achilles, 296 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:09,120 Speaker 1: a son, but they lived separately, so her husband Joseph 297 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:12,280 Speaker 1: does not seem to have factored very prominently in her 298 00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:16,680 Speaker 1: life at all. Marie's first contact with William McClure took 299 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:20,000 Speaker 1: place in eighteen nineteen when he was visiting Paris. Fred 300 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:23,080 Speaker 1: To Joe moved from Paris to Philadelphia in eighteen twenty 301 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:26,680 Speaker 1: one to set up a Pesto Luzian school. She helped 302 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:29,720 Speaker 1: spread Owen's ideas when she came to North America. She 303 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:32,120 Speaker 1: brought some essays that had been published in Europe and 304 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:35,320 Speaker 1: started circulating that and discussing it with other members of 305 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:38,920 Speaker 1: the Philadelphia science and education communities. In a lot of ways, 306 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:43,120 Speaker 1: she really ceded some of these ideas that Owens had 307 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:46,440 Speaker 1: had by just she was very charming and people really 308 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:48,760 Speaker 1: took a shine to her generally, and so when she 309 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:50,520 Speaker 1: was like, I have this exciting essay that I want 310 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:53,080 Speaker 1: you to read, people read it. Uh. It appears that 311 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:55,880 Speaker 1: it was actually Freda Joe that convinced McClure that he 312 00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:59,520 Speaker 1: should partner with Owen. Although McClure had written to her 313 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:01,960 Speaker 1: after he first visited New Lanark, and he spoke of 314 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:04,720 Speaker 1: his time there as the most pleasant of his life, 315 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:08,040 Speaker 1: it was her urging that really amplified his interest in 316 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:11,120 Speaker 1: his desire to invest in the New Harmony project and 317 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:14,720 Speaker 1: to recruit like minded intellectuals to their cause. She met 318 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:17,960 Speaker 1: Robert Owen in November of eighteen four when he visited 319 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:22,359 Speaker 1: Philadelphia and specifically her school. She later wrote McClure that 320 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:24,840 Speaker 1: she and Owen had immediately hit it off. They were 321 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:27,880 Speaker 1: like old friends from the moment they met. Owens told 322 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:30,080 Speaker 1: her that if they worked on their education ideas in 323 00:17:30,119 --> 00:17:33,080 Speaker 1: a place where the various obstacles to those ideas could 324 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:36,000 Speaker 1: be removed, like a community like the one he was planning, 325 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:39,440 Speaker 1: they could truly see what a proper education could do 326 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:41,879 Speaker 1: for a child's development. She went on to make the 327 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:44,399 Speaker 1: case for the show that she could keep working at 328 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:47,280 Speaker 1: her school in Philadelphia for decades, but she would never 329 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:50,240 Speaker 1: really get to see just how impactful her work could 330 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:52,840 Speaker 1: be there. But if she came to New Harmony, things 331 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:55,560 Speaker 1: would be different because she could work without societal ills 332 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:59,480 Speaker 1: of a large city ruining and countering her efforts. Coming up, 333 00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:01,760 Speaker 1: we'll do a Wick rundown a few of the other 334 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:04,280 Speaker 1: people who put so much work into setting up the 335 00:18:04,359 --> 00:18:07,080 Speaker 1: education system in New Harmony. But first we'll have a 336 00:18:07,119 --> 00:18:18,080 Speaker 1: quick sponsor break. While Marie Fret Joe was a cornerstone 337 00:18:18,119 --> 00:18:20,280 Speaker 1: of the education system in New Harmony and one of 338 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:23,560 Speaker 1: the most important members after Robert Owen and William McClure. 339 00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:26,639 Speaker 1: There were, of course, plenty of others that came on 340 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:28,680 Speaker 1: that boatload of Knowledge, and here are but a few 341 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:34,199 Speaker 1: of them. Thomas Say was born on June seven. He 342 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:37,760 Speaker 1: was an entomologist and a concologist, and someone who McClure 343 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:40,440 Speaker 1: had befriended early on in his time at the Academy 344 00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:45,000 Speaker 1: of Natural Sciences. Say was the librarian there. McClure had 345 00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:48,359 Speaker 1: funded some of Say's scientific research trips and then asked 346 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:51,680 Speaker 1: Say to accompany him on several of his geological surveys. 347 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:56,200 Speaker 1: Say is often called the father of American descriptive entomology. 348 00:18:56,480 --> 00:18:59,080 Speaker 1: If you google him you can find lots of stuff 349 00:18:59,119 --> 00:19:02,040 Speaker 1: from his entomology work. Yeah, and just in case you 350 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:05,679 Speaker 1: don't know what a conchologist is, it's someone who studies 351 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:10,160 Speaker 1: mollusk shells. And he had expertise in this field. Uh. 352 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:12,600 Speaker 1: He was one of the leaders in that area. So 353 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:14,760 Speaker 1: when the boatload of Knowledge was trapped in the ice 354 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:17,520 Speaker 1: and the passengers started covering shifts to relieve the crew, 355 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:20,439 Speaker 1: it was said that everyone elected as captain, and he 356 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:23,760 Speaker 1: was apparently really pretty good at managing the crew. In 357 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:26,800 Speaker 1: seven Say married one of the students that Marie fret 358 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:29,480 Speaker 1: Jeau had brought with her on the trip. Once the 359 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:32,560 Speaker 1: school system of New Harmony was established, it was say 360 00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:35,239 Speaker 1: that McClure entrusted with it whenever he was away from 361 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:38,879 Speaker 1: the village. Later on, when the Utopian experiment had ended, 362 00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:41,760 Speaker 1: Say stayed at New Harmony, used that as his primary 363 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:44,760 Speaker 1: location from which he conducted his research, and he wrote 364 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:47,399 Speaker 1: for the rest of his life that life, unfortunately was 365 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:50,800 Speaker 1: pretty short. He died in eighteen thirty four. French naturalist 366 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:54,639 Speaker 1: Charles Alexandra Lesieur born in seventeen seventy eight was another 367 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:58,000 Speaker 1: friend from the Academy of Natural Sciences, and in his 368 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:03,120 Speaker 1: work in paleontology, archaeology, g exiology and general zoology, Lessiere 369 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:06,760 Speaker 1: made numerous discoveries of new species while he traveled the world, 370 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:10,920 Speaker 1: particularly Australia, and he served as curator at the Academy. 371 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:14,080 Speaker 1: Like Marie fret To, Joel Sur had been into Owen's 372 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:17,919 Speaker 1: idea of a utopian society even before McClure and was 373 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:20,639 Speaker 1: eager when the chance came along to be part of 374 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:23,920 Speaker 1: New Harmony. During the boat ride down the Ohio River, 375 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:26,320 Speaker 1: he drew a hundred and twenty seven sketches of the 376 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:29,840 Speaker 1: landscapes that they traveled through. Yeah, those are, you know, 377 00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:32,399 Speaker 1: kind of the visual record of that entire trip, and 378 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:35,080 Speaker 1: they're really interesting. He was a really, really talented artist. 379 00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:40,400 Speaker 1: And while Robert Owen, who founded this second utopia New Harmony, 380 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:43,439 Speaker 1: left feeling as though McClure's curriculum had been part of 381 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:47,919 Speaker 1: its demise, he recognized Lesier's art skills so much that 382 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:50,240 Speaker 1: he still sent one of his sons, Richard, back to 383 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:54,840 Speaker 1: New Harmony to study with Lucier. After Thomas Say died, 384 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:57,720 Speaker 1: Lassour returned to France and he went on to become 385 00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:00,719 Speaker 1: the curator at the Music Destoir Too Ill to Have, 386 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:04,280 Speaker 1: although he served in that prestigious position for less than 387 00:21:04,320 --> 00:21:07,119 Speaker 1: a year before he also died in December of eighteen 388 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:11,919 Speaker 1: forty six. WILLIAMS pick Wibal de Crusement was like Freda Gaux, 389 00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:14,560 Speaker 1: an educator, and when he traveled to New Harmony, he 390 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:17,520 Speaker 1: actually brought ten students with him. They were boys from 391 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:20,399 Speaker 1: a school that he taught at in Philadelphia. That school 392 00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:23,960 Speaker 1: had been established by William McClure, and before working there, 393 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:27,040 Speaker 1: Phiquiball had worked in schools in France which had also 394 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:31,399 Speaker 1: been funded and established by McClure. Pick Wipel was the person, incidentally, 395 00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:33,679 Speaker 1: who had hit his head on a log during that 396 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:35,520 Speaker 1: ice in on the river and seemed to be in 397 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:38,560 Speaker 1: pretty bad shape for a while. Two of his students 398 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:40,720 Speaker 1: were the first to fall through the ice as well, 399 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:42,959 Speaker 1: so that month they were stuck there was just not 400 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:46,040 Speaker 1: particularly kind to him. Yeah. He also kind of had 401 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:48,160 Speaker 1: a reputation for being a little bit of a grouch 402 00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:51,359 Speaker 1: el epithecus, So there were some people that claimed that 403 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:53,280 Speaker 1: he never fully recovered and that was why he was 404 00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:56,879 Speaker 1: so grumpy. Um. Once the system and New Harmony was 405 00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:00,679 Speaker 1: in place, pick Wiple taught, among other things, printing. He 406 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:03,280 Speaker 1: left the school in eighteen thirty and in eighteen thirty 407 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:07,040 Speaker 1: one he married social reformer Frances Right. That marriage ended 408 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:09,920 Speaker 1: in divorce in eighteen fifty. So that's just a sampling 409 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:12,439 Speaker 1: of these educators and to kind of move on to 410 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:16,439 Speaker 1: the curriculum and the legacy of these schools. Though, Owen's 411 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:19,720 Speaker 1: New Harmony experiment ended just two years after it began. 412 00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:22,320 Speaker 1: As we mentioned in our previous episode on the subject. 413 00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:25,480 Speaker 1: The educators stayed around. They kept the school system going. 414 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:29,240 Speaker 1: They also started publishing a regular journal called The Disseminator 415 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:33,360 Speaker 1: of Useful Knowledge, which continued publication until the eighteen forties. Yeah, 416 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:35,440 Speaker 1: they really felt like they had built something worthwhile and 417 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:38,280 Speaker 1: they weren't willing to just abandon it just because the 418 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:41,119 Speaker 1: the Utopian society wasn't going to work out um, and 419 00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:43,160 Speaker 1: they had people that wanted to send their children there. 420 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:46,560 Speaker 1: The curriculum for New Harmony children started when they were 421 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:49,520 Speaker 1: still toddlers. So children enrolled in the first school, called 422 00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:51,920 Speaker 1: the Infant School at the age of two, and at 423 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:55,200 Speaker 1: that point it's obviously just about play, and the educators 424 00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:57,720 Speaker 1: were kind of noting the development of the children, and 425 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:00,600 Speaker 1: children stayed in Infant School until they were fine years old. 426 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:03,959 Speaker 1: At age five, children moved into the Higher School. They 427 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:07,359 Speaker 1: also boarded away from their families in a large dormitory. 428 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:10,200 Speaker 1: This was intended to keep the educational plan free from 429 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:13,119 Speaker 1: parental influence and also to introduce the children to the 430 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:16,439 Speaker 1: idea of communal living from a very early age. The 431 00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:19,800 Speaker 1: Higher school educated children until they were twelve and included 432 00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:22,719 Speaker 1: trades training and workshops and textile mills, so that they 433 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:25,320 Speaker 1: were contributing to the good of society. From early on. 434 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:30,840 Speaker 1: Their academic work included courses in mathematics, mechanics, art, music, language, science, 435 00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:35,440 Speaker 1: and writing, with gymnastics for physical exercise. Throughout the lessons 436 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:37,840 Speaker 1: of the Higher School, all the scientists that had been 437 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:43,679 Speaker 1: recruited gave lectures. Yeah, it was basically like having teachers 438 00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:45,919 Speaker 1: who were the krem de la creme in all of 439 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:50,080 Speaker 1: their fields come and and give talks periodically. That aspect 440 00:23:50,119 --> 00:23:54,000 Speaker 1: of it is really unique and quite special. After completing 441 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:56,320 Speaker 1: the Higher School, students would move on to the School 442 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:59,560 Speaker 1: of Industry, and that's where real trade instruction took place, 443 00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:02,399 Speaker 1: and their students learned a great deal more than that 444 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:05,680 Speaker 1: early training that they had gotten in the Higher School. 445 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:10,440 Speaker 1: So this training did separate pretty solidly though along gender line. 446 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:13,680 Speaker 1: So the boys learned everything from taxidermy to blacksmith ng 447 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:16,800 Speaker 1: and the girls were taught dress making, millinery, cooking, and 448 00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:20,119 Speaker 1: other domestic skills. The School of Industry also ran its 449 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:23,639 Speaker 1: own printing press. That was part of why Fuqua was 450 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:27,320 Speaker 1: teaching how to run the press, and students were taught 451 00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:29,240 Speaker 1: to run it so that the scholars of the town 452 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:32,360 Speaker 1: could have their own publishing mechanism for their research, which 453 00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:34,239 Speaker 1: I have to say is a pretty ingenious set up. 454 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:39,160 Speaker 1: Although McClure's educational system shuttered after his death, the programs 455 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:41,920 Speaker 1: that he and his colleagues instituted were precursors to the 456 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:44,480 Speaker 1: public school system and paved the way for it, even 457 00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:46,679 Speaker 1: though it would be decades before such a system was 458 00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:50,080 Speaker 1: actually in place in Indiana. That effort was helped along 459 00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:53,000 Speaker 1: in eighteen fifty one by Robert Dale Owen, who became 460 00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:56,520 Speaker 1: very active in government and public affairs. That year he 461 00:24:56,520 --> 00:24:59,600 Speaker 1: helped get language providing for a tax supported, free public 462 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:03,840 Speaker 1: educa Haitian system written into Indiana's second Constitution. And the 463 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:07,240 Speaker 1: scholars and scientists of New Harmony had assembled a library 464 00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:10,480 Speaker 1: that was worthy of any university's and the they had brought, 465 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:13,159 Speaker 1: you know, their book collections with them as they traveled 466 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:16,000 Speaker 1: um and all kind of merge those together into one 467 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:19,600 Speaker 1: library and their collections of specimens in their museum that 468 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:22,280 Speaker 1: they set up. Drew researchers from around the world who 469 00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:24,639 Speaker 1: wanted to observe them as well as meet with the 470 00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:28,000 Speaker 1: scientists there to discuss their ideas and kind of use 471 00:25:28,080 --> 00:25:29,959 Speaker 1: them as like a sounding board for things that they 472 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:32,680 Speaker 1: were working on. In eighteen twenty eight, the year after 473 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:36,800 Speaker 1: Owen's New Harmony experiment was dissolved, William McClure left as well. 474 00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:40,600 Speaker 1: He headed to Mexico. Over the next five years, he 475 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:44,439 Speaker 1: and Marie Fretta Joe exchanged almost five hundred letters in 476 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:47,000 Speaker 1: which it became clear that the French teacher had fallen 477 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:50,439 Speaker 1: really in love with the geologist. It didn't appear that 478 00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:53,439 Speaker 1: McClure returned her romantic interests, though, but the two of 479 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:56,840 Speaker 1: them did remain close. Fretta Joe traveled to Mexico to 480 00:25:56,920 --> 00:25:59,560 Speaker 1: visit McClure in eighteen thirty three and died not long 481 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:02,879 Speaker 1: after driving. McClure stayed in Mexico until the end of 482 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:05,399 Speaker 1: his life in eighteen forty. Throughout all this time in 483 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:08,199 Speaker 1: New Harmony in Mexico, he had remained president of the 484 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:11,399 Speaker 1: Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. Yeah, this is one 485 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:14,000 Speaker 1: of those things. McClure constantly on the road from the 486 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:15,880 Speaker 1: time he was young, So he might have just been 487 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:19,200 Speaker 1: good at managing affairs he was not physically involved in, 488 00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:21,359 Speaker 1: but he had, you know, kept things going at the 489 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:24,280 Speaker 1: school even though he was in another country. He was 490 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:27,400 Speaker 1: you know, giving his input on curriculum, he was kind 491 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:29,000 Speaker 1: of keeping it running in a lot of ways, and 492 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:31,320 Speaker 1: financially he was still willing to put a lot of 493 00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:35,120 Speaker 1: backing into it. When he died, McClure left behind two 494 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:38,359 Speaker 1: different educational funds. One was part of the Academy of 495 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:41,720 Speaker 1: Sciences and that was clearly described as funding that should 496 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:44,840 Speaker 1: go to making sure educational materials went into the hands 497 00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:47,800 Speaker 1: of laborers. The other had the same goal, but it 498 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:50,320 Speaker 1: was a general provision in his will that offered five 499 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:54,080 Speaker 1: hundred dollars to any laborers group that established a lecture 500 00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:56,439 Speaker 1: and reading room with at least one hundred books in it. 501 00:26:57,080 --> 00:26:59,880 Speaker 1: There were a hundred and sixty libraries that were funded 502 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,320 Speaker 1: as a result of this provision. That practice of making 503 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:06,439 Speaker 1: knowledge accessible for everyone was something that McClure had put 504 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:08,960 Speaker 1: into practice himself throughout his life, but one of the 505 00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:12,119 Speaker 1: most enduring examples of it is the New Harmony working 506 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:14,880 Speaker 1: Men's Institute, which he founded in eighteen thirty eight, which 507 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:18,120 Speaker 1: was two years before he died. The institute moved from 508 00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:20,560 Speaker 1: its original location in the church at New Harmony to 509 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:23,600 Speaker 1: a new building in eighteen four and it remains an 510 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:27,040 Speaker 1: operation to this day now it's the oldest continuously operating 511 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:30,200 Speaker 1: public library in Indiana. Yeah, it's also a museum. And 512 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:32,480 Speaker 1: even though it is called the Working Men's Institute, it 513 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:35,240 Speaker 1: was always intended to be something that not just men 514 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:38,600 Speaker 1: can access, but their entire families would have access to 515 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:42,400 Speaker 1: any of the resources there, which is a pretty cool Uh. 516 00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:45,240 Speaker 1: He he definitely, I mean he had tons of money 517 00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:47,280 Speaker 1: to work with, but he definitely put his money where 518 00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:49,480 Speaker 1: his mouth was in terms of saying like, yes, I 519 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:52,879 Speaker 1: want people of all levels of society to have educational materials, 520 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:55,879 Speaker 1: and then he made it happen. It was not just 521 00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:58,480 Speaker 1: lip service, which I have to respect. So that is 522 00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:00,320 Speaker 1: a little bit more on the Boatload of an knowledge 523 00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:03,680 Speaker 1: which just charmed me based just on that nickname. But 524 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:06,840 Speaker 1: also there are a lot of really important and interesting people. Uh, 525 00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:08,800 Speaker 1: there's even more and more and more. You can get 526 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:11,040 Speaker 1: very in the weeds on the Boatload of Knowledge. All 527 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:13,240 Speaker 1: of the work that those people did. You could do 528 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:15,920 Speaker 1: an entire podcast series called Boatload of Knowledge and talk 529 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:18,920 Speaker 1: about each person and all of their research projects. And 530 00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:23,800 Speaker 1: if somebody does it, I will listen. Uh, do you 531 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:27,120 Speaker 1: have listener mail for us? I do I have a 532 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:30,960 Speaker 1: really lovely postcard that came to us from our listener, Heath, 533 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:33,720 Speaker 1: who writes, Hello, Tracy V. Wilson and Holly Fry. I 534 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:36,720 Speaker 1: have listened to your podcast since I've wanted to write 535 00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:38,920 Speaker 1: you for a while when you did your podcast in 536 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:42,840 Speaker 1: seventeen on the calicax and the Eugenicists. I so very 537 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:45,240 Speaker 1: much appreciate the care and consideration you made with a 538 00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:48,520 Speaker 1: very sensitive subject. The province I live in began a 539 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:52,720 Speaker 1: eugenics movement in that lasted until nineteen seventy two, and 540 00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:54,960 Speaker 1: we have so many people still living from that time 541 00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:58,680 Speaker 1: and being part of the disability community, vigilant of how 542 00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:01,760 Speaker 1: without constant advocate shin and knowledge of what this history did, 543 00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:04,440 Speaker 1: we can easily be doomed to repeat it. I chose 544 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:06,520 Speaker 1: this postcard as we always need to keep that love. 545 00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:09,200 Speaker 1: Thank you for your care. Just so sweet um, and 546 00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:12,600 Speaker 1: it is a cute postcard of the pop Love Factory. 547 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:15,520 Speaker 1: I love the idea of sharing love via postcards, so 548 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:17,560 Speaker 1: thank you so much, Heath. That's a really beautiful thing. 549 00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:22,080 Speaker 1: He also drew an adorable kitty, which I appreciate. If 550 00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:23,560 Speaker 1: you would like to write to us, you can do 551 00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:26,280 Speaker 1: so at History Podcast at how stubworks dot com. You 552 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:28,760 Speaker 1: can also find us pretty much everywhere on social media 553 00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:31,720 Speaker 1: as Missed in History. Missed in History dot Com is 554 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:33,600 Speaker 1: also the place to go if you would like to 555 00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:37,160 Speaker 1: visit us on the web and look at our archive 556 00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:39,360 Speaker 1: of every episode that's ever existed, as well as show 557 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:41,400 Speaker 1: notes for any of the episodes Tracy and I have 558 00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:44,480 Speaker 1: worked on together in our years on the show. Uh. 559 00:29:44,600 --> 00:29:47,400 Speaker 1: You should also subscribe. Maybe you already have, but if 560 00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:49,440 Speaker 1: you haven't, you can do that on the I heart 561 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:52,200 Speaker 1: Radio app, at Apple Podcasts, or wherever it is that 562 00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:59,760 Speaker 1: you listen Stuffy. Missed in History Class is a production 563 00:29:59,840 --> 00:30:02,960 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more podcasts 564 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:05,160 Speaker 1: for my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, 565 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:08,360 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. 566 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:11,440 Speaker 1: H