Stelton Colony and Ferrer Modern School

In present-day Piscataway, in 1915, a group of anarchists set up a colony at Stelton. Many had previously organized in New York but were pushed out by intense discrimination and raids in the city that targetted political dissidents

Their vision centered on running a Modern School - a center of education inspired by the methods of Francisco Ferrer. Ferrer, a Spanish anarchist educator, had advocated for coeducational, self-directed learning for children - as well as for poor adults who hadn't had the chance to get an education in their youth.

Ferrer was executed in 1909. The outrage was international, and proponents of his ideas set up schools around the world. The Modern School Movement flourished in the 1910s and 20s, with many such schools established in America - they were often strongly international, teaching in numerous languages, and emphasized theater and lecture to teach adults. Paul Avrich wrote a wonderful book about their accomplishments. But, most closed their doors and disbanded in the 30s.

The Stelton Colony, however, lasted until the late 1950s. Weird N.J. wrote an article about it. Friends Of The Modern School, a group founded by family and friends of Stelton's Modern Schoolers, maintains its own archives and has put together a book and other publications on the community's story.

Rutgers University's libraries keeps a collection of art, documents and other materials from the colony - many of them are accesable online, and you can see more if you go to the University Archives, located in the lower level of Alexander Library.

Reunion of Friends of the Modern School
by Lily Naha, June 2013

Last fall, the Friends of the Modern School had their 40th annual reunion. People filled the hall upstairs from Rutgers University's Brower Commons.

One panel speaker, John Scott, recounted his own experiences at the school - it was coeducational, a unique and somewhat off-putting thing at the time of the school's founding. It taught people to be free of religious dogma - its curriculum was scientific and rational, but also free of competition. Speakers discussed background - the Tragic Week and the history of anarchism in Spain, the Jewish radicals in America, the theories of education that sought to break down the barriers between intellectual and physical activity - or "the alienation of mind and body."

People discussed, also, their involvement with current social movements - immigration reform in California and tenant organizing in Sunset Park, to name a couple. And they traded perspective on global events - the Chinese uprising in Wukan, the Chicago Teachers Strike, and the rise of popular assemblies in Spain that were fighting austerity.

One man present, a historian, was setting up interviews with people who had lived or participated in the colony. I'll update this page if I find out where/if these interviews have been published. Talking with people towards the end, they reccomended a number of books to me - "Utopia, New Jersey," a study of utopian communities in the area, and "Light and Shadows in the Life of the Avant-Garde."

Afterwards, I went with a few of the attendees to tour the site where the colony had been. Many of the buildings were still standing, being used as one or two family homes. One of the most notable, with white bas-relief walls, was built in the shape of hexagons and bore figures of working people and uncertain mythical creatures. A small house, now lived in by a single family, was easy enough to almost pass by - but a plaque outside, set in the middle of a flower garden, marked it as having once housed the Peter Kropotkin Library.

The Friends of the Modern School will be having their next reunion this upcoming September. People can email jscott34@nycap.rr.com to learn more.