Bethel and Aurora Communal Colonies, 1844–1883

Wilhelm Keil organised the Bethel community in Missouri in the 1840s around Christian communal ownership and a disciplined German-American religious culture. Members farmed, worked at trades and accepted substantial authority from Keil.

In the 1850s scouting parties sought a western home, first at Willapa Bay and then in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Aurora became a prosperous communal settlement before dissolving after Keil’s death.

The Change and Cherish novels use Emma Wagner Giesy’s life to examine women’s autonomy, charismatic authority and the tension between individual conscience and communal belonging.