Encyclopaedia of American Communes 1663‐1963

Since the seventeenth century North America has provided a home for religious and political movements whose teachings have found expression in communities where their members lived and, most important, worked together in structures where there was a degree of common ownership. These “communes” form an important aspect of American history and this encyclopaedia both documents and celebrates them.

The year 1663, when the first commune was set up, is the natural starting date; 1963 has been chosen as the cut‐off date for new foundations to avoid confusion with the large number of very different experiments in communal living which grew...