{"id":27176,"date":"2021-07-21T21:02:22","date_gmt":"2021-07-21T20:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rogerdarlington.me.uk\/nighthawk\/?p=27176"},"modified":"2021-07-21T21:05:15","modified_gmt":"2021-07-21T20:05:15","slug":"have-you-ever-heard-of-arthurdale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rogerdarlington.me.uk\/nighthawk\/?p=27176","title":{"rendered":"Have you ever heard of a place called Arthurdale?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I hadn’t – but I’ve been watching the excellent 2014 PBS America television series “The Roosevelts”<\/a> and I was fascinated by the reference to the experiment in community living called Arthurdale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Wikipedia page<\/a> on the subject states:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arthurdale<\/strong> is an unincorporated community<\/a> in Preston County<\/a>, West Virginia<\/a>, United States. It was built in 1933, at the height of the Depression<\/a> as a social experiment to provide opportunities for unemployed local miners and farmers. Arthurdale was undertaken by the short-lived Subsistence Homesteads Division<\/a>and with the personal involvement of First Lady<\/a> Eleanor Roosevelt<\/a>, who used her influence to win government approval for the scheme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aim was to encourage self-sufficiency, and reduce dependence on both market forces and welfare provision. The experiment failed through a clash of ideologies. There was a strong emphasis on accommodating those most in need. Yet there also had to be qualifications to ensure that the community would be self-governed in a professional manner. The entrepreneurial community spirit never took hold, and the project is remembered by some as a classic failure, though some of its original residents have contradicted this narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arthurdale is now classed as a historic district<\/a>, with over 100 of the original buildings still standing, and a New Deal Museum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"