Robert Owen letter

Collection — Box: BW-30, Folder: 2

Identifier: MS-HUT-016

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Collection consists of one letter of the Welsh industrialist, Robert Owen. The letter, dated June 29, 1845, is addressed to his son, Robert Dale Owen (1801-1877) who was then a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. The letter was meant to be an example of the senior Owen's signature. Also in the collection is an autograph of Robert Dale Owen.

Dates

Creation: 1845 June 29

Creator

Owen, Robert, 1771-1858 (Person)

Use Restrictions

All access to this colletion is unrestricted

Biographical Note

Robert Owen was an industrialist and author. He was born in Newtown, Wales in 1771. At the age of 19, he became the manager of a cotton mill in Manchester, England and later bought the New Lanark mills where he began a program of reform to improve the standards of housing, sanitation, recreation, and education of the workers and their families. His ideas were praised, but his secular philosophy eventually drew hostility from the establishment. In 1825, Owen established the community of New Harmony, Indiana, in America, but this was not successful. After 1834, Owen devoted himself to lecturing on his educational, moral and secularist ideas. Among his writings are "A New View of Society" (1913) and "Book of the New Moral World" (1836). Robert Owen died in Newtown Wales, Nov. 17, 1858