Brook Farm was an experimental socialist community established in 1841 near West Roxbury, Mass., 9 miles (14 kilometers) from Boston. Members of a philosophical movement called transcendentalism founded the farm to develop a union between intellectual growth and manual labor. To achieve this goal, they operated a school on the farm. See Transcendentalism .
George Ripley, a literary critic and social reformer, headed Brook Farm. It functioned as a joint-stock company and was governed by about 20 resident shareholders, each of whom had one vote. All farm residents, including women, received the same wages, worked the same number of hours, and paid the same room and board. The school encouraged a free and equal relationship between students and teachers and began some other features of modern progressive education. Brook Farm was discontinued in 1847 because of rising debts.
