Communes
A wave of experimentation in communal living crested in New England in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with dozens of communities spread across the landscape of western Massachusetts and Vermont. Many of these communes are well documented in SCUA's collections:
- Brotherhood of the Spirt
- Montague Farm
- Packer Corner
- Wendell Farm
- Johnson Pasture
- Tree Frog Farm
Beginning in a treehouse in Leyden, Mass., during the summer of 1968, the Brotherhood of the Spirit (later the Renaissance Community) grew to become the largest commune in the eastern United States. Founded by Michael Metelica and six friends, and infused with the spiritual teachings of Elwood Babbitt, the commune relocated several times during its first half decade, setting down at different points in Heath, Charlemont, Warwick, Turners Falls, and Gill, Mass., as well as Guilford, Vt.
Brotherhood of the Spirit Commune Documentary (1973)
Free Spirit Press, the commune's publishing operation.
Spirit in the Flesh, the commune's rock band.
Additional photographs of the Brotherhood commune.
See also, in SCUA, the Beth Hapgood Papers.
- Investigate any number of collections under SCUA umbrella collection "Famous Long Ago," which unites various collections pertaining to western MA and VT counterculture and organic communes began in the 1960s, particularly Montague Farm. Many of the collections have digital, online accessible, components.
- Listen to oral histories with Montague Farm members.
- View photographs of Montague Farm Commune.
- See issues of MFC periodidals.
- Check out Ray Mungo’s Famous Long Ago (1970) and/or Steve Diamond’s What the Trees Said: Life on a New Age Farm (1971) to read classic books on the 1960s counterculture, the back to the land movement, what life was like in New England communes.
Visit SCUA on the 25th floor of the Du Bois Library to view any number of other collections tagged with the subject "intentional communities."