Owen, Robert Dale (1801-1877), was a social theorist and an American legislator. He worked with his father, social reformer Robert Owen, in model communities in Scotland (at New Lanark) and in the United States (at New Harmony, Indiana). He edited the New Harmony Gazette with Frances Wright. When the New Harmony community failed in 1827, Owen moved to New York City. He and Frances Wright edited the Free Enquirer and tried to organize the Workingmen’s Party in 1829 in New York.
Owen returned to Indiana in 1833. He served in the state legislature from 1836 to 1838 and in 1851 and 1852. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1843 to 1847. He served as a minister to Naples from 1853 to 1858. Owen championed emancipation for black slaves and influenced President Abraham Lincoln’s views. He was a freethinker in religion and a pioneer in advocating birth control and universal education. Owen was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on Nov. 9, 1801. He died on June 24, 1877.
