Ferrer Colony and Modern School

The Ferrer Colony and Modern School was an anarchist intentional community founded on June 12, 1910 near New Brunswick, New Jersey. The Ferrer Modern School was opened 19 months later. It lasted for more than 40 years before finally closing in the early 1950s. The project was named after Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia, an educator, activist and anarchist who founded the Modern School movement in Spain.

Political and social structure

The colony was run by consensus decision-making, and continued only so long as the residents supported it. Anyone was free to leave or join, with no questions asked. The colony's most respected traditions were lecture groups and social gatherings. No rule was introduced or changed without lengthy discussions leading to consensus.

Family/Marriage

Although the Colony was very close-knit, it didn't interfere with people's family relationships. This gave Ferrer Colony and Modern School the reputation of being a center for free love, and like most intentional communities of the time, this brought new inhabitants. The colony did not, however, permit homosexual relationships. Although there were many lecture groups and social parties dedicated to women's rights within the colony, there is evidence to suggest that women were not always given equal treatment to men, particularly with regards to divorce proceedings. [ [http://www.trivia-library.com/a/attempted-utopias-society-ferrer-colony-and-modern-school-part-2.htm Attempted Utopian Society Ferrer Colony and Modern School Part 2 ] ]

Property and goods

Every yard owned by the intentional community was bought for $100, and then resold to its inhabitants for $150 [Wallenchinsky, D Irving, W: The People's Almanac, page 1432. Doubleday and Company, Inc.,1975] . Many original inhabitants were poor, and had trouble making a life for themselves in their new home. By 1922, 90 homes, the peak number ever set up by the colony, were established. A sense of camaraderie grew with the temporarily poor community. Some of the homes were only lived in at the weekend; in the early 1920s, many people lived at the Ferrer Colony, but commuted to work in New York City.

Downfall

Ferrer Colony and Modern School finally ended during the early 1950s for a number of reasons. During the Second World War the US Government bought the surrounding land, and the colony was subject to theft, vandalism and even rape [Laurence Veysey, The Communal Experience: Anarchist and Mystical Communities in Twentieth-Century America (Chicago, 1978)p. 77-78] , and most importantly, the parents stopped sending their children to the school which founded the entire colony. Between 1955 and 1958, the assets of the school were sold off. [ [http://www.talkinghistory.org/stelton/steltonhistory.html The Stelton Modern School] , TalkingHistory.com. Accessed October 22, 2007.]

References

Bibliography

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* http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/libs/scua/modern_school/modern.shtml
* http://recollectionbooks.com/bleed/Encyclopedia/ModernSchool.htm

External links

* [http://www.trivia-library.com/a/attempted-utopias-society-ferrer-colony-and-modern-school-part-1.htm Partly dedicated to the School]
* [http://recollectionbooks.com/bleed/Encyclopedia/ModernSchool.htm Places and people involved]
* [http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/libs/scua/modern_school/modern.shtml Details of the Modern School]