Working Men’s Institute

New Harmony, IN

New Harmony was settled by the Harmonist

The Harmonist built the town and lived there 1814-24

Over a dozen Harmonist homes can been found in New Harmony today.

In 1824 the Harmonists sold the town to Robert Owen and a second communal society came to New Harmony.

The Owen community lasted roughly from 1824-1827

Owen’s business partner in the New Harmony experiment was fellow businessman and philanthropist William Maclure.

Scientist and educator, he was responsible for the Boatload of Knowledge that brought great minds to New Harmony.

The legacy of the Owen-Maclure venture was the intellectual climate that lingered in New Harmony.

Throughout the 19th century New Harmony was known as the Athens on the Wabash.

It is in this climate that the WMI was established in 1838 by William Maclure.

The WMI was housed in the old Harmonist church 1838-1894.

“For the dissemination of useful knowledge to those who work with their hands.”

At one time there were 144 WMI’s in Indiana and 16 in Illinois.

The New Harmony WMI was the first and only remaining.

The WMIs were part of a larger Mechanics’ Institute movement that began in England in 1825 and soon spread to the United States and Australia.

This is the Swindon Mechanics’ Institute founded in 1844. The building was built in 1855. Swindon is midway between Bristol and London. At present the town is struggling to save this historic landmark.

The Newstead Mechanics’ Institute, est. 1866 in Victoria, Australia.

Today it functions as a community center.

The Mechanics’ Hall built in 1857 in Worcester, MA is today a concert hall.

Today, world wide only a handful of these organizations still function as lending libraries. Even fewer still own the collections gathered by members that made up their museums or cabinets of curiosities. The WMI in New Harmony is one of the few worldwide that still functions as is was originally intended as a library and museum.

When the Harmonist church was torn down, Dr. Murphy donated land and money for a new building.

WMI – 1894 to present

New Harmony beauties on foundation

Romanesque Revival –note belts of stone and arched windows and doors …

And most importantly the tower in progress.

A new library with a museum on the second floor to house the collections of the members and Italian art purchased for the museum by Dr. Murphy.

The new art gallery during a chrysanthemum show.

1838-2010 Our Mission remains constant – the dissemination of useful knowledge through

• the public library

• the museum

• the archives

Visit us at www.workingmensinstitute.org