Dear History ListServe Members:

I am writing to ask for any suggestions or corrections on a work in progress.

My task at hand is to construct a table that lists all of the Communal and Utopian Societies that have existed in New York State. I realize that it may not be feasible to list them all, (one of my sources directly states that a complete and accurate list would be impossible to construct) but my goal is to gather as much information as possible and to include all of the larger, more well-known communities, along with as many of the smaller, less-significant ones as I can find.

I am recording the movement associated with the community, the location, years active, and a brief description, along with the name of the community.

I have been using these sources to compile my list:

Fogarty, Robert S. Dictionary of American Communal and Utopian History
Miller, Timothy. The Quest for Utopias in 20th Century America
Miller, Timothy. The 60s Communes: Hippies and Beyond.

Find the draft of the table at http://www.nyhistoy.net/~enys/tables/ (file name Utopia.htm). Obviously much of the information is incomplete, especially beginning in the mid 1960s. Comments and constructive criticisms are greatly appreciated. I am also looking for other reliable sources. Thank you for you help.

Rachel Rubin
Assistant Researcher
The Encyclopedia of New York State
(518) 474-7411