The Sunrise Cooperative Farm Community: A Collectivist Utopian Experiment

IN 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression, when many roamed the streets in a fruitless search for work, a group of Jews, mostly of urban and immigrant background, packed their belongings and made their way by car, bus, or train, to the great Saginaw Valley of Michigan.There, on an immense farm of nearly 9,000 acres, they formed a collectivist community largely based on an ideology of libertarian anarchism.For many members, the next three and a half years of existence proved a rich and unforgettable experience. 1 Naturally, as with any communitarian society, there were problems.It is futile to speak of the "success" or "failure" of a communitarian society.Each one, however long or short its existence, makes its own contribution to our understanding of the cultural capabilities of humankind.The investigation of such a community requires an examination of its accomplishments, particularly those seemingly unique to that community.Also necessary is a description of those features that led to unsolvable problems.These can explain why the existence of the community could not continue.What follows is an account of accomplishments and problems, with an emphasis on the second. The Rise of SunriseAmidst the large and crowded mob Mr. Depression started his job.By the fire hearth's cold grey ashes, Sat a woman with tear-stained lashes, Christina M. Lemieux is associate professor of anthropology at Kutztown