The following reprint will be of interest to students of American anarchist history:
Joseph J. Cohen and Alexis C. Ferm, The Modern School of SteltonSouthpaw Culture, Factory School, 2006. 134 pages, paperback. ISBN 1-60001-994-3. $15.00 / $12 direct order
This Southpaw Culture edition of The Modern School of Stelton reproduces the original text, including essays by Joseph Cohen, Alexis Ferm, Harry Kelly and Leonard Abbott. These writings, plus twenty photographs by Oscar Steckbardt, provide a compelling portrait of the special community and its flagship school.
"The Modern School, of Stelton, N.J., founded in 1910, is the pioneer libertarian school of America. We deem the true school a place where individuals of diverse attainments learn from and with one another. It is not so much concerned with "subjects" and "courses" as with fruitful living. Its pupils learn through constructive occupation, not by cramming, but by doing. Their knowledge and skill are no result of formal discipline, but of inspiring workmanship, and come best with fellowship in achievement. Pedagogic mechanisms are mere aids to spanning the mass of man's experiences and making them graspable by the growing mind" - Promotional Flyer, 1927
"The average life of Utopian colonies and experiments in America is reckoned at less than ten years. In the mere fact that the Modern School, in New York City and in Stelton, has already so far outlived this period may be found a portent worthy of any one's consideration. When we deal with Stelton we are dealing not so much with theoretical principles as with an established institution that begins to take on the aspect of something exceptional and even marvelous." - Leonard Dalton Abbott
"There's a light in the sky and a glint on the hills that augurs well for the future." - Harry Kelly