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The Founding Ideologies of Soul City, Stelle, and Twin Oaks

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Abstract

Soul City, Stelle, and Twin Oaks offer examples of three different utopian projects. Each was grounded in a unique vision of an ideal community and propelled by a few strong figures with a motivated base of members. The development of each community will vary greatly due to forms of funding, location, state intervention, the race of participants, and labor policies. Each community is a reaction to the trappings of capitalism and a proposed moral economy in response.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Three years later, The Lemuria Builder, a newsletter for the Lemuria Builder organization, was also published and disseminated. The names are taken from The Lemurian Fellowship, operating out of Ramona, California, “a religious, non-profit California corporation organized to teach a philosophy of life and action based upon Christian Principals and Universal Law.” The Stelle Group directly admits taking its name from Dr. Robert D. Stelle, the author of The Sun Rises, a work associated with The Lemurian Fellowship. Richard, Richard’s first wife, Dorothy, and the then wife, Gail, all took the roughly $120 course from the organization. However, when asked directly of the relationship, The Lemurian Fellowship responded, “the Lemuria Builders, the Stelle Group, THE ULTIMATE FRONTIER, or any of the Keininger [sic] sponsored endeavors are not in any way affiliated with the Lemurian Program as carried forward by the Lemurian Fellowship, nor are they in keeping with the Great Work of the LEMURIAN BROTHERHOOD.” Mrs. Stout, “The Builders of Lemuria: A Contemporary Sect” (Dissertation, Northwestern University, 1971), 15.

  2. 2.

    Kueshana, The Ultimate Frontier.

  3. 3.

    Stout, “The Builders of Lemuria,” 21.

  4. 4.

    Ragland, Josh. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 3/17/15. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-44-josh-ragland/; Parthe, Stu. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 1/13/15. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-39-stu-parthe/; (Livingston, David. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 3/3/15. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-43-david-livingston/; Arnold, Bruce. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 7/14/15. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-47-bruce-arnold/; Arnold, Bruce. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 7/14/15. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-47-bruce-arnold/.

  5. 5.

    Rogers Worthington, “Faulty foresight troubles town built on doomsday prophecy,” The Chicago Tribune, January 12, 1986, Section 3: 1, 4; Stout, “The Builders of Lemuria,” 6.

  6. 6.

    Greg Maloney, “Work Ethic vs. Leisure Ethic,” Stelle Letter, December 1972, 1. Similarly, the official community newsletter, The Stelle Letter, and unofficial internal newsletters frequently contained references to figures like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison when extolling the virtues of hard work; Eklal Kueshana, The Ultimate Frontier (Quinlan, Texas: The Stelle Group, 1984), 14–40; Also see Stout, The Builders of Lemuria,” 17–18.

  7. 7.

    Kieninger, Richard. “Overview of our Life Wave.” The Ultimate Frontier. http://the-ultimate-frontier.org/history/Overview%20of%20Our%20Life%20Wave.htm; Also see “The Founder of the Lemurian Fellowship—Dr. Robert D. Stelle.” http://the-ultimate-frontier.org/history/Dr.%20Stelle.htm.

  8. 8.

    Charles E. Betterton, “An Introduction to The Stelle Group,” Stelle Letter, March 1981, 10.

  9. 9.

    Carnahan, Malcolm. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 3/18/14. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-11-malcolm-carnahan-part-1/; Kieninger had plagiarized a great deal of writings throughout his life. It was well known among communal members. As Carnahan stated, “there’s no question that he was a plagiarist, the issue is just how much of it is plagiarism.” Carnahan, Malcolm. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 3/25/14. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-12-malcolm-carnahan-part-3/; Also see Cox, Walter. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 4/29/2014. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-16-walter-cox-part-2/.

    Kieninger knew of and referenced the Lemurian Fellowship, and according to The Ultimate Frontier, he was supposed to enroll in the Lemurian Fellowship program and work directly with Dr. Stelle. However, he did not do so, and then Dr. Stelle had died. Some members have illustrated Kieninger’s changes in various editions of The Ultimate Frontier to obscure this information (see Kathleen and Kelly Greenlee, A Closer Look at The Ultimate Frontier: Tasks Un-Fulfilled, pages 9–12, and see pages 58–67 for communication between Kieninger and The Lemurian Fellowship about his plagiarism (http://www.danieljglenn.com/the_podcasts/Stelle/Documentation/Tasks%20UnFullfilled%20by%20Kelly%20and%20Kathleen%20Greenlee.pdf). One person who read The Ultimate Frontier as a teen was told to learn from the Lemurian Fellowship in Ramona, California. This community told the person that Kieninger was misappropriating some of the teachings, and that he had tried to start a College of Christian Minds and other religiously based organizations in the past (Heinrich, Jerrold. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 3/22/16. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-51-dr-jerrold-heinrich/).

  10. 10.

    Carroll English, “A Thumbnail Sketch of Stelle,” in “Stelle Group: Manuals, Papers,” Folder 554-7, Stelle Group Files, CCS, 2.

  11. 11.

    Charles Chamberlain, “Sect believes world’s end near, but meanwhile it builds a model town,” The Courier Journal, October 8, 1978, G4; Also see Rout, “Illinois Town Girds for Upheaval Soon, Catastrophe in 2000.”

  12. 12.

    Richard Kieninger, “Monthly Discussion,” Stelle Letter, March 1974, 4.

  13. 13.

    English, “A Thumbnail Sketch of Stelle,” 14.

  14. 14.

    Eklal Kueshana, The Ultimate Frontier (Chicago, The Stelle Group, 1963), 282.

  15. 15.

    Ibid., 138, 157, 163.

  16. 16.

    Ibid., 159.

  17. 17.

    Ibid., 303.

  18. 18.

    Rout, “Illinois Town Girds for Upheaval Soon, Catastrophe in 2000”; Stout, “The Builders of Lemuria,” 1, 25.

  19. 19.

    Arnold, Bruce. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 7/14/15. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-47-bruce-arnold/.

  20. 20.

    John Spano, “A Comfortable Wait for Doomsday,” The St. Louis Globe Democrat East, April 27, 1977, E1-2.

  21. 21.

    Cox, Walter. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 5/13/2014. www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-17-walter-cox-part-3/; Kathleen and Kelly Greenlee, A Closer Look at The Ultimate Frontier, 36.

  22. 22.

    Livingston, David. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 3/3/15. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-43-david-livingston/.

  23. 23.

    Kieninger. Ragland, Josh. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 3/17/15. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-44-josh-ragland/.

  24. 24.

    Waggoner, Kermit. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 8/3/15. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-49-kermit-waggoner-part-1/; Amick, Harry. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 4/1//15. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-45-harry-amick/.

  25. 25.

    Blackman, George. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 12/30/14. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-37-george-blackman/; Especially after Kieninger’s removal from The Stelle Group, members began to separate Kieninger from The Ultimate Frontier, focusing on the work versus Kieninger. (Ring, Walter. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 1/6/2015. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-38-walter-ring/); Alexander, Leslie. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 9/23/14. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-30-leslie-alexander/; English, Carroll. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 9/9/14. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-28-carroll-english-part-1/; Wachtel, Barry. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 7/21/15. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-48-barry-wachtel/.

  26. 26.

    Even before Stelle had physically established itself, the community had formed into several detailed organizations to improve the overall functionality of the community, ranging from a Board of Trustees, an Economic Planning Council, the Construction Coordinating Committee, the Stelle Woodworking Committee, the Book Sales Promotion Committee, Stelle Food Planning Committee (responsible for planning the meals workers ate while working on site on Stelle during the weekends), among sixteen others (Stout, “The Builders of Lemuria,” 30–34). Some friends and family of members were concerned that Stelle was a cult, and at least one member had friends that were going to “extract” him from Stelle, but the member said they were there willingly and that anyone could visit (Arnold, Bruce. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 7/14/15. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-47-bruce-arnold/; Haeme, Jon. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 3/15/14. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-04-jon-haeme/.

  27. 27.

    O’Daniell, “Stelle: A refuge for a dream of the future,” E1.

  28. 28.

    Robert K. O’Daniell, “Stelle: A refuge for a dream of the future,” The News-Gazette, November 22, 1987, E1.

  29. 29.

    Louise Kieman, “It’s not end of the world, just Stelle, Ill.,” Chicago Tribune, August 2, 1992, Chicagoland, 3; Wilhelm, Tim. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 3/15/14. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-02-tim-wilhelm/.

  30. 30.

    Kueshana, The Ultimate Frontier, 142.

  31. 31.

    Stout, “The Builders of Lemuria,” 48.

  32. 32.

    “Group Readying for Year 2000: Surviving doomsday their aim.” Stelle Group Files. CCS.

  33. 33.

    Kueshana, The Ultimate Frontier, 170.

  34. 34.

    Richard Kieninger, “Observations,” The Stelle Letter, November 1972, 5.

  35. 35.

    Cox, Walter. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 5/13/2014. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-17-walter-cox-part-3/.

  36. 36.

    Amick, Harry. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 4/1//15. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-45-harry-amick/.

  37. 37.

    Richard Kieninger, “Observations,” The Stelle Letter 13.4, 1978, 3–4.

  38. 38.

    Cynthia Foreman “Socio-Sexuality Perspectives” Stelle Letter 14.6, 1. CCS.

  39. 39.

    Kueshana, The Ultimate Frontier, 173.

  40. 40.

    Stout, “The Builders of Lemuria,” 11.

  41. 41.

    English, “A Thumbnail Sketch of Stelle,” 2, 4, 5.

  42. 42.

    Chamberlain, “Sect believes world’s end near,” G4; Also see Popenoe & Popenoe, “Stelle,” 20–23.

  43. 43.

    Alexander, Leslie. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 9/23/14. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-30-leslie-alexander/.

  44. 44.

    Diane Howery, “Monthly Discussion,” Stelle Letter, December 1972, 2.

  45. 45.

    Rout, “Illinois Town Girds for Upheaval Soon, Catastrophe in 2000”; Amick, Harry. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 4/1//15. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-45-harry-amick/; Greenhouses Stelle Letter 12.6, 1977, 3. Also see Richard Kieninger, “A Statement on Predictions,” The Stelle Group Files, CCS; Chamberlain, “Sect believes world’s end near,” G4.

  46. 46.

    One of the victims “had a bit of a falling out (intentionally under stated) when he [Kieninger ] started sleeping with [his] wife.” (Correspondence of Marilyn Thielman, Folder, Stelle Archival items, November 15, 2008, CCS; English, “A Thumbnail Sketch of Stelle,” 15; Kueshana, The Ultimate Frontier, 166.

  47. 47.

    Arnold, Bruce. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 7/14/15. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-47-bruce-arnold/.

  48. 48.

    Carnahan, Malcolm. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 3/18/14. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-11-malcolm-carnahan-part-1/; Grondine, E. P. He Walked Among Us: An Entirely True Account of the Amazing Life of Richard Kieninger. 2014, 62–63. http://www.danieljglenn.com/the_podcasts/Stelle/Documentation/He%20Walked%20Among%20Us%20Part%201.pdf.

  49. 49.

    English, “A Thumbnail Sketch of Stelle,” 16; Kueshana, The Ultimate Frontier, 271–276; Kathleen and Kelly Greenlee, A Closer Look at The Ultimate Frontier, 68–70.

  50. 50.

    Wilson, Bill. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 3/15/14. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-06-bill-wilson/. Also see Cox, Walter. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 4/29/2014. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-16-walter-cox-part-2/.

  51. 51.

    Popenoe, “Stelle,” 10. One was his wife, Gail, and the other was a member named James. The report from the November 1975 Stelle Letter offered some restrained detail about his leaving and highlighted that the changes were “necessary to the development of self-reliance on the part of citizens of the Stelle community.” The report noted that Kieninger stepped down as the president of both Stelle Industries and The Stelle Group, leaving James E. Howery in charge, and Gail in charge of admissions to the community, after his departure on April 1, 1974, at the Founding Day Ball. Kieninger tried to return later that month, noting that the Brotherhoods said he was still responsible for Stelle, but he was barred from having any contact with members from Stelle, except for two members, and his family. He left, but then a few months later, on September 28, 1974, he appeared, unannounced at a monthly meeting “because of disturbing trends in the direction the group was taking.” Kieninger tried to advocate for a “‘grass roots’ participation in the decision-making process.” Eventually Kieninger would be expelled from membership in The Stelle Group, and a second panel, hearing his appeal, also recommended that he remained expelled from the group on April 19, 1975. The community further split when half of the members wanted to see the original trustees appointed by Kieninger via proxy of the Brotherhood, remain in power, while the other half, eighty-one members, wanted to see an election of new trustees. This was resolved by the five original trustees who all resigned on August 12, 1975, allowing for the election of five new trustees. For the most part, the resigned trustees remained in The Stelle Group (The Board of Trustees of The Stelle Group, “Trustees’ Report: A Brief History,” Stelle Letter, November 1975, 2–5); Haeme, Jon. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 3/15/14. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-04-jon-haeme/; Grondine, He Walked Among Us, 63; Rout, “Illinois Town Girds for Upheaval Soon, Catastrophe in 2000.”

  52. 52.

    Alexander, Leslie. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 9/23/14. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-30-leslie-alexander/; Arnold, Bruce. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 7/14/15. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-47-bruce-arnold/; Grondine, He Walked Among Us, 88; Wachtel, Barry. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 7/21/15. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-48-barry-wachtel/.

  53. 53.

    “Group Readying for Year 2000: Surviving doomsday their aim”; Rout, “Illinois Town Girds for Upheaval Soon, Catastrophe in 2000.”

  54. 54.

    Rout, “Illinois Town Girds for Upheaval Soon, Catastrophe in 2000.”

  55. 55.

    Betterton, Charles. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 12/9/14. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-35-charles-betterton-part-1/.

  56. 56.

    Stelle Trustees, “Trustees’ Report,” Stelle Letter 12.3, 1977, 2; Worthington, “Faulty foresight troubles town built on doomsday prophecy,” 1, 4; “Results of the Trustee Election,” The Stelle Letter 13.5, 1978, 5; Grondine, He Walked Among Us, 65–66; Spano, “A Comfortable Wait for Doomsday,”, E1-2.

  57. 57.

    Spano, “A Comfortable Wait for Doomsday.”

  58. 58.

    Board of Trustees of Stelle Group, “Trustees’ Report: A Brief History,” Stelle Letter, The Stelle Group files, CCS.

  59. 59.

    Timothy J. Wilhelm, “Technology and Stelle,” Stelle Letter 13.1, 1978, 3.

  60. 60.

    “The Great Plan of the Brotherhoods: A Closer Look,” Stelle Letter 13.1, April 1978, 5; “The Stelle Group: 1979,” Stelle Letter 14.1, 1979, 2. Also see, The Board of Trustees of Stelle, “The Board of Trustees’ Report for 1979,” Stelle Letter 14.9 (1979), 1.

  61. 61.

    Amick, Harry. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 4/1//15. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-45-harry-amick/; “Stelle, Dawn of a New Age City,” pages 6–7, undated manuscript, Folder 554-Stelle Group Folder, CCS; Phillip Zonkel, “Green Fields,” Chicago Tribune, Saturday, April 11, 1998, New Homes, 4; Trenda, Renee. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 11/4/14. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-33-renee-trenda-part-1/; Parthe, Stu. Interview by Daniel J. Glenn. The Stelle Experience. 1/13/15. http://www.thestelleexperience.com/ep-39-stu-parthe/.

  62. 62.

    BF Skinner, The Shaping of a Behaviorist: Part Two of an Autobiography (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979), 292; BF Skinner, Walden Two (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1976), v–xi, 7. Interestingly, Skinner never imagined himself being allowed to live in a community like Walden Two because his wife expressly abhorred the idea. Hilke Kuhlmann, Living Walden Two: B.F. Skinner’s Behaviorist Utopia and Experimental Communities (Champaign: University of Illinois, 2005), 5.

  63. 63.

    Pomeranz, “From Fiction to Reality,” 45; Hilke Kuhlmann, Living Walden Two: B. F. Skinner’s Behaviorist Utopia and Experimental Communities (Champaign, IL; University of Illinois Press, 2005), ix.

  64. 64.

    Colleen Cordes, “Easing toward perfection at Twin Oaks.” APA Monitor 15, No. 11, November 1984, 1, 30–31, CCS.

  65. 65.

    Ibid., 289.

  66. 66.

    Pomeranz, “From Fiction to Reality,” 50; Kuhlmann, Living Walden Two, x.

  67. 67.

    “Recorded Greetings to Participants of the National Convention from B.F. Skinner.” Walden Pool Newsletter. Vol. 1, No. 6, Atlanta, Georgia, September–October 1966, 2. Additional Archives of the Twin Oaks Community, Box 6, 9840-h, 1966–67 Newsletters: Walden House and Walden Pool. Special Collections, UV; Skinner, Walden Two, ix.

  68. 68.

    “Social Reform Through Experimental Communities.” By Walden Pool in Atlanta, 1–3. Additional Archives of the Twin Oaks Community, Box 6, 9840-B, 1966–67 Newsletters: Walden House and Walden Pool. Special Collections, UV.

  69. 69.

    “A Significant Step Has Been Taken” Walden Pool Newsletter. Vol. 1, No. 6, Atlanta, Georgia, September–October 1966, 1. Additional Archives of the Twin Oaks Community, Box 6, 9840-H, 1966–67 Newsletters: Walden House and Walden Pool. Special Collections, UV; Skinner, Walden Two, 209.

  70. 70.

    Letter from Kathleen Griebe to Mrs. R. K. Morrison. 1967? Additional Archives of the Twin Oaks Community, Box 4, 9840-H. Folder, undated, Correspondence re: Walden House and Walden Pool. Special Collections, UV; Kuhlmann, Living Walden Two, 48, citing Rudy Nesmith.

  71. 71.

    Kuhlmann, Living Walden Two, xii, 87.

  72. 72.

    Letter from BF Skinner to “Messieurs Destephano and Nesmith” December 2, 1966. Box 3, 9840-h, 1966. November to December 10. Correspondence re: Walden House and Walden Pool. Special Collections, UV; Peter Swirski, American Utopia and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought and Political History (New York: Routledge, 2011), 25–27; Kuhlmann, Living Walden Two, 196.

  73. 73.

    Letter from BF Skinner to Writer’s Digest, November 11, 1966. Box 3, 9840-h, 1966 November to December 10 Correspondence re: Walden House and Walden Pool. Special Collections, UV; Letter from Dick Fairfield to Jerry. November 17, 1966. Box 3, 9840-H, 1966 November to December 10. Correspondence re: Walden House and Walden Pool. Special Collections, UV.

  74. 74.

    This caused some issues between Bud and his wife, particularly when it came to purchasing the land and having both husband and wife sign the purchase agreement (Kinkade, A Walden Two Experiment, 4).

  75. 75.

    Leaves No. 1 July 1967, 5; Also see Leaves No. 1 July 1967, 1.

  76. 76.

    The Collected Leaves of Twin Oaks Vol. 2, 16–30, 1972–74, 19. CCS; Kinkade, A Walden Two Experiment, 185; The Collected Leaves of Twin Oaks Vol. 2, 16–30, 1972–74, 19. CCS; Leaves No. 6 April 1968, 2.

  77. 77.

    Kathleen Griebe, RIGHTS TO USE: Report for the Internal Economics Committee, Additional Archives of the Twin Oaks Community, Box 4, Folder: Correspondence December 1967. Special Collections, UV.

  78. 78.

    “Government” Twin Oaks pamphlet. 1973. Twin Oaks pamphlets folder. CCS; Kinkade, “Labour Credit—Twin Oaks Community,” 190.

  79. 79.

    Kinkade, A Walden Two Experiment, 5; “Priority Project Planning.” Box 4, 9840-Q, Folders: Twin Oaks Planners. Aug 1974–Dec 1975. 282–352, Papers of Twin Oaks. Special Collections, UV.

  80. 80.

    “Bylaws of Twin Oaks Community, Inc” page 1. Papers of Twin Oaks Community, Box 6, 9840-Q. Folder 1969–81 Planning Council: Legal. Special Collections, UV.

  81. 81.

    Skinner later stated: “Young people today sum it up in their slogan, “Make love, not war!” but they are easily misunderstood…the slogan tends to conceal the basic issue: our present culture is in trouble because of its prodigious use of punitive control. Our international stance sets the pattern: when a nation displeases us, we bomb it, and we refuse to relinquish the power to do so in order to move toward an effective world government” (Skinner, A Walden Two Experiment, vii; Cordes, Colleen. “Easing toward perfection at Twin Oaks” APA Monitor November 1984 Vol. 15 No. 11 pages 1; 30, 31.

  82. 82.

    Kinkade, A Walden Two Experiment, 174, 231.

  83. 83.

    Krystuna Neuman and Henry Wilhelm, “Radical Commune: An Approach to Revolution” The Modern Utopian, Page 4. Papers of Twin Oaks Community Box 4, No 9840-l. Special Collections, UV.

  84. 84.

    The Leaves of Twin Oaks. Vol. 14, April 1971, 6.

  85. 85.

    Letter to Sherriff Kennan from Twin Oaks Community. June 26, 1971. Special Collections, UV. Papers of Twin Oaks Community Box 1, No 9840-I.

  86. 86.

    The Collected Leaves of Twin Oaks Vol. 2, 16–30, 1972–74, page 3. CCS; Kinkade, A Walden Two Experiment, 184; “The Weekly” The Weekly #10, Sunday April 7, 1974. Additional Papers of Twin Oaks, Box 1, 9340-g, 1974 February–April, Twin Oaks Newspaper, Special Collections, UV).

  87. 87.

    Leaves No. 13, October 1970, 2.

  88. 88.

    Leaves No. 12, May 1970, 8.

  89. 89.

    “What is Twin Oaks Community?” Papers of Twin Oaks Community, Box 4, No 9840-l; 1975–76, Publicity Folder 2. Special Collections, UV.

  90. 90.

    Robert Houriet, Getting Back Together (New York: Putnam Publishing Group, 1971), 300.

  91. 91.

    Leaves of Twin Oaks. Vol. 2. No. 22, March 1973, 13; Virginia Historical Society, HQ 971. 5. T97, 1997. “30 Years of Twin Oaks Community: Former and Current Members Tell About Memorable Times,” 9–10.

  92. 92.

    “re: Food Processing.” No date. Box 6 9840-A thru F.1967–70 Papers of Rudy Nesmuth. Special Collections, UV.

  93. 93.

    Krystuna Neuman and Henry Wilhelm, “Radical Commune: An Approach to Revolution” The Modern Utopian, 4. Papers of Twin Oaks Community Box 4, No 9840-l. Special Collections, UV.

  94. 94.

    Rhee, “Visions, Illusions and Perceptions,” 18–19, 42–43.

  95. 95.

    Christopher Strain, “Soul City, North Carolina: Black Power, Utopia, and the African American Dream.” The Journal of African American History, Vol. 89, No. 1 (Winter, 2004), 57–74, page 59. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4134046; Karen Ferguson. “Organizing the Ghetto: The Ford Foundation, CORE, and White Power in the Black,” Journal of Urban History 2007 34: 67. http://juh.sagepub.com/content/34/1/67.

  96. 96.

    Janet Harris and Julius W. Hobson. Black Pride: A People’s Struggle (New York: Bantam Books, 1970), 116–118.

  97. 97.

    “CBS Morning News with H. Rudd 3/21/75 transcript.” Box 17, 1.1.1, Folder “CBS News: New York 1974–75, #271. NCCU Archives, Southern Historical Collection, UNC; Floyd McKissick, Three-Fifths of a Man (Toronto, Ontario: 1969), 164; Robert E. Weems, Jr., and Lewis A. Randolph, The Ideological Origins of Richard M. Nixon’s ‘Black Capitalism’ Initiative,” The Review of Black Political Economy, Summer 2001: 49–63, page 54.

  98. 98.

    Rhee, “Visions, Illusions and Perceptions,” 21.

  99. 99.

    “Introductory Message from Mr. Floyd B. McKissick, President,” 1–2. #1146 Miscellaneous Internal Promotional Material #57. SCC.

  100. 100.

    Ibid., 3, 4. McKissick imagined that capital would come “from two major sources”: “The Black community will provide much of the capital and “Further capital will be generated by insurance companies, banks and private industry” (ibid., 5).

  101. 101.

    Floyd B. McKissick Enterprises, Inc. promotional pamphlet, page 1. #5469, Box 10, #146, Miscellaneous Internal Promotional Materials. SCC.

  102. 102.

    Ibid., 3.

  103. 103.

    Tulsa Historical Society & Museum. “1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.” https://www.tulsahistory.org/exhibit/1921-tulsa-race-massacre/.

  104. 104.

    Hutchinson, Earl Ofari. “The Continuing Myth of Black Capitalism.” The Black Scholar 23, no. 1 (1993): 16–21, page 17. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41069658.

  105. 105.

    Soul City, North Carolina: The Bold New Alternative, promotional materials for press conference, March 30, 1975” “The Status of the New Communities Program” by League of New Communities Developers, 7–8. Box 10, 5.6.7.4.1.2, Folder #143. SCC.

  106. 106.

    “New Towns Need Industry Savvy to Grow and Survive,” Modern Manufacturing, May 1970, page 120. Box 10 3.5.6.7.4.1.2, folder 133. SCC.

  107. 107.

    League of New Communities Developers. “The Status of the New Communities Program,” pages 1–2, 4–6. Box 10, 5.6.7.4.1.2, Folder #143, Soul City, North Carolina: The Bold New Alternative, promotional materials for press conference, March 30, 1975.” SCC; Letter to Floyd McKissick from James F. Dausch of HUD. October 5, 1976. 4930, McKissick Papers, 1.1.3.1 Box 80, “Business Plan Adopted by New Community Development Corporation, 1976” folder. NCCU Archives, Southern Historical Collection, UNC; Biles, “The Rise and Fall of Soul City,” page 57; Roland Alston, “Portrait of a New Town.” Black Enterprise 8.1 (August 1977): 43–44; 46–49, 53, page 44.

  108. 108.

    Soul City News August–September 1973, Volume 1, Number 1, page 2. Miscellaneous Pamphlets, FC971.93 S72N. SCC.

  109. 109.

    Floyd McKissick. The Bold Alternative booklet. Box 10, Folder #143, SCC.

  110. 110.

    Although Richard Nixon is credited with providing the funding to push Soul City Black Capitalism initiatives forward, it was Lyndon Johnson and various Great Society programs that provided the means (Biles, “The Rise and Fall of Soul City,” page 52); Devin Fergus, “Black Power, Soft Power: Floyd McKissick, Soul City, and the Death of Moderate Black Republicanism,” Journal of Policy History 22.2 (Apr 2010): 148–192, page 148; Weems and Randolph, “The Ideological Origins,” 52.

  111. 111.

    Devin Fergus, Liberalism, Black Power, and the Making of American Politics, 1965–1980 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2009), 204. African American politics are incredibly diverse, and exploring the variety of Black Republican experiences remains understudied. For example, Cora T. Walker, an African American female who “prominently display[ed] a picture of herself with Malcolm X in her home” ran in the 1964 State Senate race as a Republican from Harlem. She opposed busing and wanted to maintain separate schools, and in 1967 she led the opening of the Harlem River Cooperative Supermarket (Joshua D. Farrington, “Build, Baby, Build”: Conservative Black Nationalists, Free Enterprise, and the Nixon Administration” in The Right Side of the Sixties: Reexamining Conservatism’s Decade of Transformation. Ed. Laura Jane Gifford and Daniel K. Williams (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), 64).

  112. 112.

    Nixon also carefully crafted the leadership of the movement, slighting the “dashiki-clad” Roy Innis for McKissick (Weems and Randolph, “The Ideological Origins,” 57).

  113. 113.

    Soul City: The Bold Alternative, pamphlet, page A16, Box 10, Folder 5469, SCC.

  114. 114.

    “Present at the Creation: Soul City, North Carolina promotional booklet, 3. Box 10, #5469 6971.93 s72p. SCC; Samuel C. Jackson to Board of Directors of New Community Development Corporation, 12/13/71, James E. Holshouser Papers, Box 21, Folder 305. Southern Historical Collection, UNC.

  115. 115.

    Soul City: The Bold Alternative folder/pamphlet, page 2, originally a newspaper article, in New York Times, called “A Not Impossible Dream” appearing on Saturday July 8, 1972. Box 10, #5469. 71.93 2s SCC.

  116. 116.

    Floyd B. McKissick, “Social Dreams and Realities of Soul City” in Psychology of the Planned Community: The New Town Experience, Donald F. Klein, eds (New York: Human Sciences Press, 1978), 26–27.

  117. 117.

    Yvonne Baskin, “Skepticism, Fear of Soul City Abound in Warren County,” Durham Morning Herald, March 9, 1969. NC Collection Clipping File. North Carolina Collection, UNC; Burchard, Hank. “’Soul City’ Stirs Its Future Neighbors.” The Washington Post, Times Herald; Jan 26, 1969, page 35.

  118. 118.

    Jim Smith, “Warren Officials Surprised by Soul City,” The News and Observer, January 15, 1969; Jim Smith, “McKissick Says Plans Due in 2 Weeks for New City”, The News and Observer, January 19, 1969, NC Collection Clipping File. North Carolina Collection, UNC.

  119. 119.

    “Final Environmental Statement. Proposed New Community of Soul City Warren County, North Carolina,” US Dept of HUD, February 14, 1972, page iv, 1. CP 971.93 s72u; Soul City: The Bold Alternative, pamphlet, page 2, Box 10, Folder 5469, SCC.

  120. 120.

    Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, Robert T. Hartmann Papers, February 18, 1969, Office of the White House Press Secretary, 10:25 AM EST pages 1–2; Letter from Floyd McKissick to Ms. Maryanne McElroy, February 24, 1975. 4930. McKissick, Floyd B, Sr. 1.1.1. (folders 286–308). Folder, “Contacts for Soul City: Letters of Inquiry, 1974–1975.” NCCU Archives, Southern Historical Collection, UNC.

  121. 121.

    “Documents pertaining to Soul City Foundation…10/69 to 12/70”, “Memo from Soul City Foundation to IRS, RE: T:MS: EO:R: 2-MR, Soul City application for exemption under Section 501 C-3, 10/9/1969” page 1. Box 9, 3.1.2.3, Folder #120. SCC.

  122. 122.

    Soul City: North Carolina: The Bold New Alternative, Folder of Promotional Materials for Press Conference, March 30, 1975, page 2. Box 10, #5469, Folder #143. SCC; McKissick Enterprises “was the oldest of many organizations help to build Soul City” and had success in developing a variety of ventures including the Mount Vernon Shopping Center, Thunder and Lightning Publishing Company and “the development of community Black theater” (Present at the Creation: Soul City, North Carolina promotional booklet, page 35. Box 10, #5469. 6971.93 s72p. SCC).

  123. 123.

    Soul City: North Carolina: The Bold New Alternative, Folder of Promotional Materials for Press Conference, March 30, 1975, page 1. Box 10, #5469, Folder #143. SCC.

  124. 124.

    Katie Mingle, “Episode 207: Soul City.” 4.5.16. 99 Percent Invisible. http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/soul-city/.

  125. 125.

    Rhee, “Visions, Illusions and Perceptions,” 53.

  126. 126.

    Interview with Floyd B. McKissick Sr., 15. December 6, 1973. Interview A-0134. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007). http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/A-0134/A-0134.html.

  127. 127.

    Roberts, The New Communes, 4.

  128. 128.

    Roland Alston, “Portrait of a New City (Soul City)” by Black Enterprise, August 1977, page 44; Michael O. West, “Conclusion: Whose Black Power?” in The Business of Black Power: Community Development, Capitalism, and Corporate Responsibility in Postwar America, eds. Laura Warren Hill, and Julia Rabig (Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2012), 288.

  129. 129.

    Memo from Gordon R. Carey to Floyd McKissick, February 14, 1978. 4930. McKissick, 1.1.1, Box 28, Folder, Soul City Name Change. NCCU Archives, Southern Historical Collection, UNC; Rhee, “Visions, Illusions and Perceptions,” 54; Memo from Hammer, Greene, Siler Associates to McKissick, May 22, 1970. 4930. McKissick, 1.1.1, Box 28, Folder, Soul City Name Change. NCCU Archives, Southern Historical Collection, UNC.

  130. 130.

    Memo from John P. Stewart, Jr. to McKissick, January 23, 1978, pages 1–2. 4930. McKissick, 1.1.1, Box 28, Folder, Soul City Name Change. NCCU Archives, Southern Historical Collection, UNC.

  131. 131.

    Ibid., 164, 177.

  132. 132.

    Letter to McKissick from Harvey Gantt, March 7, 1978. 4930. McKissick, 1.1.1, Box 28, Folder, Soul City Name Change. NCCU Archives, Southern Historical Collection, UNC.

  133. 133.

    Memo from Irving L. McCaine, Sr to McKissick, March 2, 1978. 4930. McKissick, 1.1.1, Box 28, Folder, Soul City Name Change. NCCU Archives, Southern Historical Collection, UNC.

  134. 134.

    Emily Webster Madison, “Objections Sustained: The Conception and Demise of Soul City, North Carolina” (Honors Thesis, University of North Carolina, 1995), 45.

  135. 135.

    Recommendations on Changing the Name of Soul City” Prepared by Carmichael & Company, Durham, North Carolina, January 24, 1978. 4930. McKissick, 1.1.1, Box 28, Folder, Soul City Name Change. NCCU Archives, Southern Historical Collection, UNC.

  136. 136.

    Timothy J. Minchin, “‘A Brand New Shining City”: Floyd B. McKissick Sr. and the Struggle to Build Soul City, North Carolina.” The North Carolina Historical Review 82, no. 2 (2005): 125–155, pages 143–144; Memo from Julian C. Madison to McKissick, February 23, 1979. NCCU Archives, Southern Historical Collection, UNC; 4930. McKissick, 1.1.1, Box 28, Folder, Soul City Name Change.

  137. 137.

    “‘Soul City’ Makes Changes; Is Receiving Federal Help” JET, Mar 9, 1972, page 12.

  138. 138.

    Rhee, “Visions, Illusions and Perceptions,” 54; UNC, NCCU, 4930. McKissick, 1.1.1, Box 28, Folder, “Soul City Name Change”, Memo from Hammer, Greene, Siler Associates to McKissick, May 22, 1970.

  139. 139.

    Analysis of Conclusions Found in the AVCO Report on Soul City.” July 6, 1979, page 2. 4930, Floyd McKissick Papers, 1.1.3.1, folder, Soul City Promotional Information Packet, 1979. NCCU Archives, Southern Historical Collection, UNC; Madison, “Objections Sustained,” 44.

  140. 140.

    Fergus, “Black Power, Soft Power,” 177.

  141. 141.

    This is disputed, with Timothy Minchin arguing the relationship was mostly positive initially, whereas Foon Rhee argues it was always stormy.

  142. 142.

    Letter from L. H. Fountain to Thomas F. Bridgers, March 8, 1976. 4304. Fountain Files, Series 1, Folders, 2903–2966, Subject files 1976, O-W, Soul City Folder. Southern Historical Collection, UNC; Minchin, “A Brand New Shining City,” 137–138; Rhee, “Visions, Illusions and Perceptions,” 96–97.

  143. 143.

    Soul City development proposals draft, October 16, 1969, page 62. Box 6, 2.3. Folder #62: Hammer, Green and Siler; Report of the Soul City Task Force, June 1979, CP971.93 S72UR, Department of HUD, June 1979, page 37. SCC.

  144. 144.

    Letter from Alberto F. Trevino, Jr. to A. P. Devito, December 6, 1971. C971.93, S72u, “Feasibility Study for the Development of Soul City, North Carolina, by Urban Interface Group, prepared for HUD, Office of New Community Development. North Carolina Collection, UNC; “Feasibility Study for the Development of Soul City, North Carolina.” C971.93, S72u, Urban Interface Group, prepared for HUD, Office of New Community Development, December 6, 1971, page 53. North Carolina Collection, UNC.

  145. 145.

    Biles, “The Rise and Fall of Soul City,” 69.

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Schwenkbeck, R. (2021). The Founding Ideologies of Soul City, Stelle, and Twin Oaks. In: The Business of Marketing, Entrepreneurship, and Architecture of Communal Societies in the 1960s and 1970s . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88354-6_2

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