Experimental Americans, by George L. Hicks

In the 19th century, Alexis de Tocqueville praised the American ability to balance individual and community identities. This book by the late George Hicks, who taught anthropology at Brown University, presents an engaging analysis of this cultural paradox by examining 20th-century utopian communities.

Hicks challenges the argument that the 19th century was the heyday of American utopianism, asserting that communities like Celo emerged out of the desire of many 20th-century Americans to experiment with communal living, especially during the 1930s. Hicks connects Celo's utopian orientation to Arthur Morgan, an influential American educator and social theorist.  

Influenced by the 19th-century utopian novelist Edward Bellamy and the 20th-century social philosopher John Dewey, Morgan believed that the best way to preserve American democracy was to build economically self-sufficient communities. He envisioned communities led by well-educated idealists who believed that the best way to build a better world was "on a small scale." These communities would produce individuals "who had learned how to make a living without compromising their convictions, who had learned to love nature, and who had an appetite for mental and spiritual growth." As head of the Tennessee Valley Authority, Morgan was an influential man. His influence led to the establishment of many experimental communities in the rural South, Celo among them.