- Altruria
Altruria was a short-lived
Utopia n commune inSonoma County, California based on Christian socialist principles and inspired byWilliam Dean Howells 's 1894 novel, "A Traveler from Altruria ".History
Founded by Unitarian minister
Edward Biron Payne and thirty of his followers near Santa Rosa in October 1894, Altruria prospered only for a few months. The Altrurians keptorchard s and gardens and sold their produce in a shop inSan Francisco , whose manager wasJob Harriman .The group published the magazine the "Altrurian", which informed its supporters of the colony and sought to promote its ideals and the formation of Altrurian clubs. Several such clubs were created in the San Francisco and
Los Angeles areas. It also started a project of ahotel on the community's property. Poor management, coupled with lack of funds because of the hotel project, caused the group to implement a reorganization plan to avoid bankruptcy only one year after the group was founded. At the same time, the group founded two new locations. The financial problems proved insurmountable, however, and all the locations were abandoned in 1896.ee also
*
Llano del Rio , founded in 1914 by Job Harriman
*Altruism References
*Lewis, James R. "The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions". Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1998. ISBN 1-57392-222-6.
Further reading
*
Walter Rauschenbusch : "Christianity and the Social Crisis" (1907).External links
* [http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/public/read/farm/15 Steve Bjerklie: "Sowing the Seeds of Eden: Utopias, Communes, and the Search for a Better Way in Sonoma County"] .
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