On the road to Utopia: The social history and spirituality of Altruria, an intentional religious community in Sonoma County, California, 1894--1896

This dissertation in interdisciplinary studies has as its thesis that the Altrurians of the Sonoma County, California colony (1894--1896) lived a conscious and fruitful Christian spirituality. Its method is, first, to explore aspects of the social, political, ideological and practical situation of some Californians in the difficult and changing circumstances of nineteenth century fin de siecle America. It then describes the social setting in which William Dean Howells' utopian serial A Traveller From Altruria originated. It presents the circumstances of America in the 1890s, the search for patterns for social change, and the maps to Utopia proposed by socialists and others. It paints a picture of the spiritual development of the group's charismatic leader and prophet, Edward Byron Payne. Finally, using both an anthropological and theological approach, this dissertation uncovers elements of the Altrurian spirituality that underlay the formation of the colony in rural Sonoma County and which sustained its brief life.;The dissertation demonstrates that the men and women of the various Altrurian clubs and colony were motivated to organize their lives according to the ultimate values of Truth, Righteousness and Love, and put everything that they valued on the line in an attempt to live by these values.;This dissertation is the first extended study of the Altrurian colony and the first effort to demonstrate the clearly religious roots of the Altrurian movement. The Altrurians present a fascinating view of the social and religious tensions of the late 1890s in California. Altruria represents one attempt to re-fashion the broad values of Christian socialism and the Social Gospel movement for a particular place and situation. It poses for us important questions both about the building of human society and the place of spirituality in that endeavor.