BobBrown Research Collection on Communitarian Colonies, 1919-1942 | Illinois History and Lincoln Collections

Scope and Contents:

This collection contains the research papers Bob Brown created in the 1930s for his research on communitarian colonies of the United States, including questionnaires, correspondence, printed materials, and clippings relating to over 142 cooperative organizations. Additional materials in this collection include correspondence, notes, bibliographies, photographs, written histories and accounts, and manuscripts by Brown, George Pickett, general manager of Llano, and Ernest Wooster, author of Communities of the Past and Present (1924).

Biographical/Historical Context:

Bob Brown (1886-1959), born Robert Carlton Brown II, was a writer and publisher from Oak Park, Illinois.  He was known for his avant-garde and humorist writings, most notably his 1930 book The Readies. Beginning sometime in 1931, he spent ten months living at the Llano Co-operative Colony in Newllano (now New Llano), Louisiana, with his mother and wife. While there, he gathered information about communal living from the colonists. His research was complemented by questionnaires he sent out to people living in other living communities. This research culminated in his book Can We Cooperate? (1940). 

Acquisition Source: Bob Brown sold his research collection to the Library in 1951.