Author Talk with Tom Guiller: The Hand Crafted Utopia, Arts and Crafts Communities in America’s Progressive Era

In the late 1800s, the world was changing quickly as industry grew.

Fed up with the exhausting work in factories and the unattractive products of mass production, the Arts and Crafts Movement spread across America. It promoted a bold idea: beauty and hard work should be for everyone. Three leaders of this movement set out to create their own small communities to address the economic and social problems of industrial capitalism by living together, focusing on art and craft, and selling well-made furniture, buildings, metalwork, and more. Tom Guiller, Oneida Community Mansion House director of museum affairs, shares the story.