Collection ID: VAA9110
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Collection context

Summary

Creator:
Owen family
Extent:
12 Folders
Language:
Materials are in English , Italian , and French .

Background

Biographical / Historical:

Robert Owen, 1771-1858. Born in Wales. "Philanthropist" by his own designation, mill owner, idealist and social dreamer, educational and labor reformer. Bought the town of Harmonie from George Rapp and the Harmony Society in 1824; set up the Preliminary Society which lasted from May to November of 1825, and then the Community of Equality which was dissolved in May, 1827. He abandoned his attempts at social reform in this country after the failure at New Harmony; but he continued promulgating his ideas until his death.

Robert Dale Owen, 1801-1877. Oldest son of Robert Owen, one of the leaders of the Owen Community, co-editor with Frances Wright of the New Harmony Gazette and the Free Enquirer, philosopher, social reformer, member of the Indiana Legislature and of Congress, U. S. Minister to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies at Naples (1853-1858), spiritualist.

Mary Jane Robinson Owen (Mrs. Robert Dale), 1813-1871. Married Robert Dale Owen April 12, 1832. A lady of breeding and education, who spent most of her married life as a devoted mother and wife. Accompanied her husband to Europe during his ministry to Naples and spent some time at Stuttgart, Germany, in company of her sister-in-law, Jane Owen Fauntleroy, where they both looked after the welfare and education of the various Robert Owen grandchildren.

Scope and Content:

The Roger D. Branigin-Kenneth Dale Owen Manuscripts consist of correspondence, personal papers, and a journal of Robert Dale Owen; business and legal papers of the Owen family; correspondence and a journal of Mary Jane Robinson Owen; and papers relating to the sale of Harmonie to Robert Owen.

Custodial history:

Purchased from the Baroness Eleanor Stone Perenyi, great great granddaughter of Robert Owen (the Robert Dale Owen branch) of Stonington, Connecticut. Bill of Sale dated October 24, 1967. This collection is a gift from Governor Roger D. Branigin and Kenneth Dale Owen, who jointly bought and presented these manuscripts to the New Harmony Workingmen's Institute.

Negotiations for purchase of the Branigin-Owen Collection were conducted from August, 1965 to October, 1967. Acquisition, processing, and cataloguing were performed by Josephine M. Elliott whose services were contributed as her part of this gift to the Workingmen's Institute.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized into four series. Series I. Robert Dale Owen Correspondence and Personal Papers, consists of six folders and includes correspondence, two journals, and other personal papers of Robert Dale Owen. Series II. Owen Family Business and Legal Papers, consists of one folder and includes various business and legal papers of the Owen family. Series III. Mary Jane Robinson Owen Correspondence and Journal, consists of four folders and includes correspondence and a journal of Mary Jane Robinson Owen. Series IV. Papers Concerned with Sale of Harmonie to Robert Owen, consists of one folder and includes papers related to the sale of Harmonie to Robert Owen by the Harmony Society.

General note:
  1. 1. Use of materials in our special collections is reserved for serious scholars, and access to these items is determined by the director of the Working Men's Institute (WMI) and its board of trustees.
  2. 2. After reviewing finding aids and determining that secondary sources are inadequate or unavailable, may request items from the archives.
  3. 3. Requested items will be brought to the researcher in the public reading room where all work must take place. Notes may be taken. However, all photographing, scanning, transcribing, or in anyway copying an item must be cleared by the director.
  4. 4. Any materials reproduced or quoted in papers or publications must give credit to the WMI as their source. Requests to use materials in papers or publications must be submitted in writing for approval by the board of trustees of the WMI.

Online content

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

This collection is open to researchers.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

1. Use of materials in our special collections is reserved for serious scholars, and access to these items is determined by the director of the Working Men's Institute (WMI) and its board of trustees.

2. After reviewing finding aids and determining that secondary sources are inadequate or unavailable, researchers may request items from the archives

3. Requested items will be brought to the researcher in the public reading room where all work must take place. Notes may be taken. However, all photographing, scanning, transcribing or in any way copying of an item must be cleared by the director.

4. Any materials reproduced or quoted in papers or publications must give credit to the WMI as their source. Requests to use materials in papers or publications must be submitted in writing for approval by the board of trustees of the WMI.

CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
407 Tavern Street
New Harmony, Indiana 47631, United States
CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
CONTACT:
812-682-4806
archivist@workingmensinstitute.org