The Helicon Home Colony

2 months ago
14

Following the success of his novel, The Jungle, author Upton Sinclair purchased a boarding school in Englewood, NJ in 1907. And there founded the Helicon Home Colony, a progressive model of the future complete with modern kitchen facilities, communal living arrangements, and cooperative care for children. Sinclair believe that “no one should be happy in a backward way of life” and sought to demonstrate his vision for the future. However, just six months after it opened its doors, in a time marked with controversy, the Colony would be destroyed by a mysterious fire. It all goes to show just how far one man would go to make sure he didn’t have to raise his own kid.

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Sources:
https://www.peggyannbrown.net/helicon-home-colony
https://njmonthly.com/articles/jersey-living/a-utopia-goes-down-in-flames/
https://paleofuture.com/blog/2013/8/8/how-upton-sinclair-turned-the-jungle-into-a-failed-new-jersey-utopia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicon_Home_Colony

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