In 1995 I helped found a community that became in dialogue with the FEC. So the FEC history of the nineties is more personal for me because I was involved and remember details, not only about our community's involvement (we were Common Threads), but also what was going on for other communities at the time.
It was a busy decade, with lots of communities popping in and out. Our community lasted five years. Just after it fell apart, I saw an article in Communities Magazine that suggested five years was the average lifespan of a community. (I plan to publish a piece next week about longer lasting communities.) So here is my detailed history of the Federation of Egalitarian Communities, Part Three, focusing on the 1990s and starting with the year 1990.
1992 This was an important year. There were two Assemblies (April and November). The April Assembly was sparsely attended (only four communities were listed), but the delegates listed the reasons communities fail and talked about Twin Oaks considering splitting. Twin Oaks, indeed, split, in the sense that it gave birth to a new community. A core group was formed at the Twin Oaks Communities Conference and with the help of a large loan from Twin Oaks and a lot of assistance from the FEC, Acorn came into being, just seven miles down the road from Twin Oaks. The November Assembly was very well attended, including Twin Oaks, East Wind, Sandhill, Acorn, Veiled Cliffs, north woods community, Community Evolving, Kerista, Krutsio, and Tekiah.
There didn't seem to be an Assembly in 1993.
1994 There was one Assembly that year, in November. Attending were Twin Oaks (population 76), East Wind (50), Sandhill (5), Acorn (16), Ganas, and Tekiah (2). It was noted that the nutbutter warehouse was completed at East Wind.
1995 There was an April Assembly that year, with Twin Oaks, East Wind, Sandhill, Acorn, and Tekiah attending. There were no notes left.
1999 Again, only one Assembly, this one in May. There was no other information listed for that year, not even who attended.
And with that, the nineties end. Next month, the 'Oh-oh' decade.
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These tanks were near the dining hall. I had never seen them before. I was told that they were for the waste produced in the tofu manufacturing. No one seemed to know what the 'OOS' on the sides stood for. I had lots of silly guesses. Someone thought that it might be '500' upside down, but the tanks did not look upside down to me.
These signs were in the midst of a bamboo thicket near one of the Twin Oaks parking lots and all but invisible and inaccessible unless you were pretty determined. I couldn't read what most of them said but one of them clearly gives the distance from the moon.
A statue near Bozo Beach.
I saw this sitting right outside ZK, the dining hall. I don't know what it's for or if they even still use it but it certainly looks intriguing.
This is the Sewage Treatment Plant at Twin Oaks, sometimes called STP. Yes, Twin Oaks has their own sewage treatment plant.
The Poop Deck is a humanure toilet with two seats. The sign adjusts that way in case you want company while you do your business.
Many people come to the Twin Oaks Communities Conference (or the Women's Gathering or the Queer Gathering) in the summer. This is what the site looks like on a warm winter day, barely recognizable to anyone who remembers it from the summer.
An outhouse at the Conference site, visible through the bare trees.
This is not my blog. The reason that I write so much here is because most communards have so little time (and perhaps incentive) to write.
I have my own blog (that I seldom write on, because I am so busy writing here) and the most popular post I ever wrote (by far!) on my own blog was on Social Movements in the 80s. The 1980s were a powerful time.
So, for Commune geeks everywhere, I present Part Two of my detailed history of the Federation of Egalitarian Communities, focusing on the 1980s and starting with the year 1980.
1980 There were two FEC Assemblies that year. Membership started off with Twin Oaks, East Wind, Sandhill, Aloe, Dandelion, Los Horcones, and North Mountain. Unfortunately, that was the year that Aloe community disbanded and North Mountain community dropped out of the FEC. It was also the year that the Community in Dialogue status was created, an important step for the FEC. By the second Assembly, East Wind had a population of 40, Sandhill 9, Dandelion 12, and Los Horcones 28. Twin Oaks didn't list a population that year.
1981 There were two Assemblies in '81 as well. Los Horcones dropped out of the FEC. They were a 'Walden Two', behaviorist community, similar to the way Twin Oaks started, and they wanted to focus on that. Two new communities, Chrysalis and Apple Tree, joined the FEC, presumably as Communities in Dialogue. Twin Oaks listed its population that year as 71, East Wind as 55, Sandhill as 7, and Dandelion listed 10. Finally, East Wind started their nut butter business that year.
1982 This year, the FEC had only one Assembly, which was held in August. This was the year that they made contact with Alpha Farm which showed up at the Assembly, and also showed up at occasional future Assemblies, but never seemed to stay with the FEC. There were debates about consensus that year and conversations about PEACH, which would become the FEC's homegrown health insurance alternative. Twin Oaks was dealing with the suicide of a member that rocked the community. Twin Oaks now listed their population as 62, East Wind as 50, Sandhill as 7, and Dandelion as 15.
1983 Back to two Assemblies, one in April and one in November. Twin Oaks questioned the utility of the FEC and wanted to emphasize the recruitment of minorities. In November, there was a sorghum harvest at Sandhill and Chrysalis was admitted as a full FEC member. East Wind listed their population as 57 in April and 45 in November. Twin Oaks listed 72 members, Sandhill 7, Apple Tree 6, Dandelion 18, and Chrysalis 4.
1984 Again, two Assemblies, which seems the norm at this point. This seemed to be a busy year at the communes: Sandhill was accepted for 501d status, East Wind adopted a new labor system, book indexing was going well at Twin Oaks, and Apple Tree loaned money to East Wind and star flower. (Presumably, star flower is another community.) At the November Assembly, Short Mountain, a queer community in Tennessee, joined the FEC, probably as a Community in Dialogue. Populations: Twin Oaks 67, East Wind 45, Sandhill 5, Apple Tree 6, Dandelion 8, and Chrysalis 5.
1985 The middle of the decade and another busy year at the communes. There were two FEC Assemblies, Twin Oaks held its first women's conference, had indexing taking off and a record hammock production, and Sandhill had their best sorghum harvest ever. A bunch of new communities came, including Metanokit, the Foundation for Feedback Learning, and, for just one meeting, windstar. Bad news was that Apple Tree was denied their 501d status. A big discussion on art in community. The question was, is art primary or secondary? Does no art lead to more turnover? Community populations stayed the same except Apple Tree went down to 4, Dandelion down to 6, and Short Mountain listed 5.
1986 The tenth anniversary of the FEC! Once more, two Assemblies, and this was the year that PEACH, the health insurance plan for the FEC, actually started. By the November Assembly, communal populations were: Twin Oaks 67, East Wind 45, Sandhill 9, Apple Tree 4, Dandelion 7, Chrysalis 3, and Short Mountain 5.
1987 As usual, two Assemblies. Chrysalis dropped membership this year, as did Short Mountain, when their policy of being a sanctuary for queer folks only was seen as being in conflict with the FEC's policy against discrimination. Apple Tree apparently abandoned their use of consensus. There was a suggestion that the FEC have some sort of general disclaimer stating that though they fall short of their principles sometimes, they do seek to be more in line with them. At the November Assembly, populations were: Twin Oaks 65, East Wind 45, Sandhill 6, Apple Tree 4, Dandelion 4, and Metanokit had 14.
1988 The usual two Assemblies. Krutsio begins coming to the Assemblies, and grass valley came to the one in May and Alpha Farm apparently showed up at the Assembly in November. At East Wind, their sandal business was booming and they actually thought of cutting the nut butter business. At Twin Oaks, Pier One threatened to cut their hammocks contract with them. And there was a discussion at the November Assembly about using consensus for the FEC. Populations didn't change much except East Wind went down to 40 and Sandhill went up to 7.
1989 Two Assemblies, Krutsio officially became a Community in Dialogue, as did spring tree (but not for long), and a community called Purple Rose showed up at one Assembly. Populations at the communes remained stable.
And that ends the FEC history for the Eighties. Next month, I will document the Nineties, the decade that I became involved with the Federation of Egalitarian Communities, so I will have a lot more personal information to share in that post.
If anyone has more information about the FEC or any of the communities in the Eighties, please pass it on in a comment.
This is for commune geeks.
Maximus put out a video of The Phylogenetic History of the FEC. It was surprisingly popular. My one complaint was that it left out so many details.
Maximus shared with me the spreadsheet that his video was based on. Using that, Kat Kinkade's books, Laird's blog, the Communities Directory, and my own memory of events in the 1960s, 1990s, and recently, I intend to put out a detailed description of the history of the communes and the Federation of Egalitarian Communities.
I will break it up by decades and publish one a month to keep it from getting too long and boring. This part covers the 1960s and 1970s.
1967 Twin Oaks is founded. That was fifty-two years ago and Twin Oaks is still going strong with nearly a hundred members. To put it in context, there were hundreds of 'communes' formed in the late sixties. Very, very few of them are still around. Kat Kinkade attributed Twin Oaks survival to a combination of hard work, structure, and freedom, and getting big fast enough. She thought thirty people was "the minimum for security" and said that TO reached that in their third year.
1970 East Wind was started. Kat Kinkade claimed that she "left Twin Oaks, taking two members and some visitors with me, and we set out to form a community that would be just like Twin Oaks in every way except one: We would never close our doors!" East Wind is also still around with about sixty members.
"By the following spring, we had founded Sandhill Farm: four people willing to try to make that happen.
1976 The Federation of Egalitarian Communities was formed. Laird's description: "…five North American communities shared a dream of cooperation. As a result, representatives of these communities got together and founded the Federation of Egalitarian Communities." The first Assembly was in November of that year. Attending communities were Twin Oaks, East Wind, Aliya, Aloe, Dandelion, Genesis, North Mountain, and Springtree.
1977 There seemed to have been three Assemblies that year, one in February, one in October, and one in November. (At least, that's what was listed.) Aliya and Springtree seemed to have already dropped out. The February Assembly lists the population of the other communities at the time, Twin Oaks (72), East Wind (55), Aloe (6), Dandelion (13), and North Mountain (12).
1978 On the other hand, there only appeared to be one Assembly in 1978, in July, with the same five communities.
1979 There were two Assemblies in 1979, one in January and one in August, and a new community, Los Horcones, came to the January Assembly, and the August Assembly saw Sandhill attending for the first time. The August Assembly also listed community populations at Twin Oaks (75), East Wind (55?) [yes, that's how it's listed], Aloe (10), Dandelion (10), Los Horcones (12), and North Mountain (12). There was no population listed for Sandhill.
That was the beginning. Only Twin Oaks, East Wind, and Sandhill are still around today and right now, Sandhill is struggling. But the FEC continues to this day, with new communities and new energy.
Next month, I will detail the FEC through the eighties with communities coming in while others leave or disband. It will probably have too much detail for most folks, but I find it fascinating to watch the communities and the organization as it grows and struggles. This is how we change the world folks, one small step at a time.
Maximus diagrams the evolution of the FEC .