American Utopia (1994)

Details
Collection:LPB
Genre: Documentary
Place Covered: Llano, California, New Llano, Vernon Parish, Louisiana
Copyright Holder: Louisiana Educational Television Authority, Firefly Productions
Date Issued: 1994-05-20
Duration: 00:56:27
Subjects: Llano Colony (Secular community) | Socialism | History
Contributors:
- Robertson, Deidre Narrator
- Blackwood, Ricky Producer
- Lewis, Beverly Producer
- Orr, Kim Associate Producer
- Owens, Adria J. Associate Producer
- Richard, C.E. Associate Producer
- Davis, Mike Interviewee
- Rolfe, Lionel Interviewee
- Mellon, Knox Interviewee
- Goldberg, Robert Interviewee
- Vacik, Tony Interviewee
- Lennon, Nigey Interviewee
- Greenstein, Paul Interviewee
- Mathewson, Harold Interviewee
- Hine, Robert Interviewee
- Palmer, Martha Interviewee
- Pickett, Blair Interviewee
- Tarver, John Reed Interviewee
- Ashy, Marguerite Interviewee
- Nesnow, Ruby Interviewee
- Swenson, Earl Interviewee
- Koury, Henry Interviewee
- Brough, Bill Interviewee
- Boudreaux, Eula Interviewee
- Shuldiner, Sarah Interviewee
- Peecher, Chester Interviewee
Description
This documentary from May 20, 1994, focuses on the Llano Del Rio Cooperative Colony, the longest-lived socialist utopian colony in the United States. It started in California in 1914 and moved to Vernon Parish, Louisiana, in 1917. This documentary covers: the history of utopian colonies in the United States; the life and career of Job Harriman, the colony’s founder; the formation of the Llano Del Rio Cooperative Colony in the Antelope Valley of California in 1914; life in the colony; being forced to move due to a lack of water; the colony’s move to Vernon Parish, Louisiana, in 1917; the role of George T. Pickett in revitalizing the colony following Harriman’s departure; the culture of the colony; the 1935 revolution that ousted Pickett from the leadership of the colony; the bankruptcy and dissolution of the colony in the late 1930s; and the social reforms that were practiced at the colony and later adopted in President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. It includes interviews with: Mike Davis, historian; Lionel Rolfe, Nigey Lennon, and Paul Greenstein, authors of “Bread and Hyacinths”; Dr. Knox Mellon, adjunct professor at the University of California-Riverside; Robert Goldberg, professor at the University of Utah; Tony Vacik, colonist; Harold Mathewson, colonist; Dr. Robert Hine, professor emeritus at the University of California-Riverside; Martha Palmer, Vernon Parish historian; Blair Pickett, the son of George T. Pickett; Dr. John Reed Tarver, historian at the LSU AgCenter; Marguerite Ashy, colonist; Ruby Nesnow, colonist; Earl Swenson, colonist; Henry Koury, Leesville resident; Bill Brough, colonist; Eula Boudreaux, Leesville resident; Sarah Shuldiner, colonist; and Chester Peecher, colonist. Narrator: Deidre Robertson