My internship has included a lot more reading and digging on Mr. Owen's life and legacy. I've been reading Owen's A New View of Society to get more insight on the change he wanted to see in the world. I've been taking turns reading between Owen's writing, and a more modern interpretation on his work by other researchers. It helps to not read 19th century writing consecutively, lest my head might implode from the repetitiveness of formal writing. Yes, I know I should enjoy reading, but I'm also a 21st century girl who has to read a paragraph twice to understand it sometimes... I guarantee you I'm not the only one.
Marlene has been very helpful in pointing me in the right direction of what to read to gain a better understanding of Owen and his expectations for his vision. She suggested for me to read Robert Owen's address to the residents of New Harmony, "Oration Containing A Declaration of Mental Independence" delivered in New Harmony 4 July 1826. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading about what Owen accomplished here in New Lanark, but I have to admit that it is refreshing to read resources that show what he hoped for in Indiana. To learn what the dream was for a place that is not far from where I live makes me feel a little closer to home despite being an ocean away.
Before college, I had been to New Harmony once. I went there with my grandma and remember getting lunch and telling her how quiet it is there. Little did I know how much history it holds and how that screams out to someone like me. There is more appreciation for that community that builds the longer I'm away from it. Reading about New Harmony here is strange, as if it's almost a different world, even though its a town less than an hour away from where I have lived my entire life.
This exhibition gets to be a bridge between these two communities, as well as others wanting to recognize Owen's accomplishments and vision for a new world. It's an honor to help with it, even if it means I have to read a paragraph multiple times to comprehend it;)
Stay tuned for my adventure to Inverness this coming weekend!
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