IN NAVOO, THERE IS AN UNUSUAL HOME SURROUNDED BY A VINEYARD.
THEY ARE BOTH REMINDERS OF ONE
GROUP'S SEARCH FOR A UTOPIA.
THIS HOUSE WAS THE MISSION MIX.
MR. MIX WAS THE MAYOR OF NAVOO.
HE WAS A FRIEND OF OUR
ANCESTORS, FRENCH.
THIS HOUSE REPRESENTS SOMETHING
TANGIBLE FOR PEOPLE TO SEE AND
TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WE ARE TRYING
TO PRESERVE.
WE HAVE A SOMEWHAT DIFFICULT
TASK.
WE ARE TRYING TO PRESERVE A
CONCEPT, AN IDEAL, A SOCIETY
WHOSE STORY BEGINS WITH THE END
OF ANOTHER'S.
IN 1844 MORMAN LEADER AND
FOUNDER JOSEPH SMITH WAS
MURDERED AT THE CARTHAGE JAIL.
EVENTUALLY THE CHURCH AND
MEMBERS LEFT NAVOO LEAVING
BEHIND LANDS AND HOME THAT COULD
BE CHEAPLY PURCHASED.
THE ICARIAN HEARD OF THE EXODUS
AND MOVED TO ILLINOIS.
THE ICARIANS WERE A GROUP OF
PEOPLE UNIFIED BY A MAN NAMED
CABET.
CABET WAS A PROMINENT FRENCH
LAWYER, POLITICIAN, DIPLOMAT,
AND HE WROTE A BOOK, VOYAGE TO A
CARRY, AN IDEA YOU WOULD GO TO A
WONDERFUL LAND AND YOU WOULD
LIVE THE WONDERFUL LIFE.
THIS BOOK WAS PUBLISHED MAYBE
200,000 COPIES THROUGH FRANCE,
ENGLAND, WESTERN EUROPE, AND IT
WAS VERY WELL RECEIVED, AND MANY
OF THE PEOPLE THOUGHT THAT THIS
SHOULD BE ACTUALLY PUT INTO
ACTION.
SO THEY PERSUADE CABET TO SET UP
A JOURNEY TO THE NEW WORLD, AND
THAT THEY WOULD FOLLOW AND THEY
WOULD ESTABLISH A U UTOPIAN
SOCIETY IN THE UNITED STATES.
ON THE SAME GROUNDS WHERE SMITH
AS HIS FOLLOWERS BUILT THEIR
TEMPLE, THE ICARIANS ESTABLISHED
THEIR COMMUNE WHICH EVENTUALLY
GREW TO ABOUT 1500 MEMBERS.
>> THEY VERY MUCH LIVED IN A
COMMUNAL SORT OF SITUATION.
THE FAMILIES PUT THEIR CHILDREN
IN A NURSERY DURING THE DAY, AND
THE MOTHER AND FATHER BOTH
WORKED, AND THEY HAD A WHOLE
SERIES OF BUILDINGS, WORKSHOPS,
APARTMENT HOUSES.
SO THEY LIVED, AS A GROUP.
CABET HAD HIS OWN HOEM HOME WITH
HIS FAMILY.
>> ETCH FAMILY RECEIVED THE SAME
FURNISHING FOR THEIR APARTMENTS,
A TABLE AND FOUR UNIQUELY
DESIGNED CHAIRS, TWO OF WHICH
ARE ON DISPLAY AT THE MUSEUM
TODAY.
THERE IS THIS PORTABLE DESK
TAKEN INTO THE FIELDS TO RECORD
THE PRODUCTIVITY OF INDIVIDUAL
MEMBERS.
THEY STAYED TOGETHER ABOUT 50 OR
60 YEARS IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.
PROBLEMS OCCURRED IN NAVOO AS
THE YEARS WENT BY BECAUSE OF
DIFFERENT VALUES, CABET HAD VERY
STRONG FEELINGS AGAINST TOBACCO,
AGAINST ALCOHOL.
AND AS TIME WENT ON, SOME OF THE
MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNE CAME
RATHER LIBERALIZED AND SO HIS
VALUES WERE BEING SHUNNED AND
ULTIMATELY THE GROUP SPLIT IN
TWO.
HE AND HIS FOLLOWERS WENT TO ST.
LOUIS.
AFTER SOME OF THOSE WHO STAYED BEHIND BEGAN GROWING GRAPES TO MAKE WINE.
TODAY THOSE VINES ARE PART OF
THE OLDEST WINERY IN THE STATE
OF ILLINOIS.
AND ACROSS THE STREET IS A HOUSE
THAT HAS BECOME THE REPOSITORY
FOR ICARIAN HISTORY.
THERE WERE AROUND 400 UTOPIAN
SOCIETIES THAT CAME OVER, MOSTLY
FROM EUROPE IN THE LAST CENTURY.
AMONG THOSE WOULD BE THE FRENCH
ICARIANS.
ALMOST ALL OF THOSE SOCIETIES
HAVE FAILED TO CONTINUE ON.
BUT THEIR VALUE HAS SOME
PURPOSE.
WE THOUGHT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO
GET IT WRITTEN DOWN WHILE WE
STILL COULD BECAUSE SOME OF US
HAVE LONG LIFE ANCESTORS THAT
TOLD US STORIES.
SO IN ABOUT THREE GENERATIONS OF
MEMORY, WE ARE BACK THERE.