Women in the Oneida Community

The Oneida Community, founded near Syracuse, New York in 1848, was a utopian community that advocated such social and religious practices as the exclusion of private property, communal responsibility, complex marriage, mutual criticism, and communal child rearing. Although many outsiders perceived these practices as immoral and unacceptable for women, those within the community found them personally liberating. This activity asks students to read letters, diary entries, and excerpts from a community publication to consider whether or not the Oneida community’s redefinition of gender roles afforded women a degree of autonomy. After reading and analyzing the primary documents, students write a short essay about Oneida and its critique of conventional society. This activity comes from the Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1775–2000 Web site.

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