A Visit to the Oneida Community Mansion House in Oneida, New York is a Must

If you live in Central New York State, or are traveling anywhere near either the Syracuse or Utica areas, take a drive to the City of Oneida to the Oneida Community Mansion House. We recently visited and took a nearly two hour guided tour of the house. I highly recommend it to all who have an interest in 19th century American history and culture.

The Oneida Community was the longest running Utopian community to emerge during the 19th century. It thrived from 1848 through 1880. The Mansion house, built in 1861 was the main home, meeting place and hub of activities of the community members until the enterprise broke up in 1880. (http://www.oneidacommunity.org/). The Mansion house still stands and has been restored. Aside from its historical importance and its collections, it houses a wonderful restaurant, contemporary apartments, and banquet facilities that can be rented.

As a prelude to visiting the Oneida Mansion House, I read the book Without Sin: The Life and Death of the Oneida Community by Spencer Klaw (Penguin, 1994). This detailed and compelling account gave me a good base of information to be able to ask informed questions on the tour. It, along with the tour and the Oneida Community website, has provided an overview for writing this article.

As stated in the Oneida Community Web site :

For 33 years under the leadership of John Humphrey Noyes, the religiously-based Perfectionist Community challenged contemporary social views on property ownership, gender roles, child-rearing practices, monogamous marriage, and work. From their insistence on life-long learning and vigorous health, the abandonment of the self for the good of the whole, they developed a work ethic and well of industriousness so deep it flowed into one of the most impressive manufacturing companies of the 20th century.

Their industriousness and innovative spirit is well apparent while touring the Mansion House with contains inventions, publications and artwork done by community members. One of the most fascinating exhibits are the The Braidings of Jessie Catherine Kinsley, who invented an artform that combined many principles of fine art with the craft of braiding silk rags and sewing the pieces much like a braided rug is made. The result were sophisticated tapestries made with an age-old craft technique.

The company mentioned above was Oneida Ltd., which was famous for its silverware and for its flatware known as Community Plate. Oneida Ltd. still exists, though its factory, long the largest employer in the city of Oneida, has been sold to other proprietors.

The long complex history of the community began at a time when many religious experiments and movements were taking place in the Northeast and particularly in Upstate New York. The large number of religious revivals that passed through this area of New York State resulted in the region being nicknamed The Burnt-Over District, a name that has been attributed to by writer, teacher and reformer Charles Grandison Finney .

In a short number of decades, Upstate New York produced such new religious movements as The Shakers, The Millerites, The Mormons and The Oneida Community, among others.

While Shaker some settlements have been preserved and can be visited, no other movements in Upstate New York have left such a tangible legacy, a set of buildings that still stand and a long-running industry as that of the Oneida Community. The Oneida Community Mansion House it is well worth a visit.