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Oneida Community Secondary Literature Collection

An inventory of the collection at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: MRC
Date: 21 Mar 2024

Biographical History

The Oneida Community was a utopian commune founded by John Humphrey Noyes in 1848 in the town of Oneida in Madison County, New York. The Oneida community practiced communal property and possessions and believed in a form of Perfectionism -- Christ's Second Coming had occurred in the year 70 CE thus making it possible for them to bring about Christ's millennial kingdom and be free of sin and perfect in this world.. The community rejected monogamy and practiced complex marriage; members were expected to improve themselves via sexual relations with those who were their spiritual superiors, and beginning in 1869 members who wished to have children could do so only with the partner selected for them by a committee based on personal, spiritual, and moral qualities (such controlled reproduction is known as "stirpiculture"). At its height in 1878 the community had 306 members, but by 1880 some members had left, many had embarked upon traditional marriages, and the community itself had been reorganized as a joint-stock company named Oneida Community Ltd. The animal trap, silk thread, and canned vegetable enterprises were all abandoned or sold off by 1916, but Oneida Community Ltd. became well-known for its silver and cutlery, production of which continued until 2005.

The community was from its inception, and remains today, of ongoing interest to students, genealogists, historians, and professional and amateur scholars in a wide range of fields.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Oneida Community Secondary Literature Collection contains articles, papers, clippings, conference presentations, and other assorted material on the topic of, or containing references to, the Oneida Community. These materials were created by high school students, graduate students, amateur genealogists and historians, journalists, academic scholars, and descendants of the community itself. Thus, the materals reflect a wide range of areas of study, including sociology, human sexuality, education, religion, gender roles, family dynamics, utopian communities, local history, and more.

The vast majority of the materials are photocopies.

Arrangement of the Collection

Alphabetical by author.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advance notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

See also the Oneida Community Collection.

Subject Headings

Persons

Guiteau, Charles Julius, 1841-1882.
Macdonald, A. J., -1854.
Noyes, John Humphrey, 1811-1886.
Robertson, Constance Noyes.

Corporate Bodies

Oneida Community.
Oneida, ltd.
Wallingford Community.

Subjects

Christian communities -- United States.
Collective settlements -- United States.
Eugenics -- United States.
Perfection -- Religious aspects -- Christianity.
Utopias.

Places

Oneida (N.Y.) -- History.

Genres and Forms

Articles.
Calendars (documents)
Chronologies.
Clippings (information artifacts)
Drafts (documents)
Essays.
Journals (periodicals)
Legal documents.
Magazines (periodicals)
Photocopies.
Reprints.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Oneida Community Secondary Literature Collection,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Some of this material was in the possession of the Oneida Community at the Mansion House, and was donated by them; these items usually have "Mansion House" written on the front cover. Other material was acquired by curators over the years, or arrived unsolicited. For most items, the original source of acquisition is unknown.

Table of Contents

Articles, papers, etc.

Miscellaneous material

Inventory