New Harmony, Indiana, was the site of two Utopian communities, the second and more noteworthy one founded by educational pioneer Robert Owen, who gathered a group of scholars to work on educational reform. New Harmony was the site of the first kindergarten, the first infants' school, the first distinctive trade school, the first school system offering the same educational advantages to both sexes, and the first self-governing or “free” school. This entry recounts its history and achievements.

The town of Harmonie (1814–1825) was founded by a group of religious Separatists led by Father Johann Georg Rapp. After the Harmonists returned to Pennsylvania, Welsh-born industrialist and social reformer Robert Owen purchased the town and surrounding land that would become New Harmony for his communitarian experiment. In ...

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