Talk:Harmony Society

Did you know...
The "Did you know..." section on the main page says the following:
 * Did you know...
 * ...that the American Bridge Company, builders of four of the world's tallest buildings, was founded on land in Ambridge, Pennsylvania that was bought from the Harmony Society whose celibacy practice led to their decline? 

Although neither the American Bridge Company article nor the Harmony Society articles mention these facts. Where did they come from then? Dismas|(talk) 06:48, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

I edited some vandalism. As for the comments by Dismas, I know the American Bridge Company founded Ambridge. But the stuff about the four tallest buildings I've never heard of. I'm not sure if that's accurate. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.103.143.6 (talk) 19:06, 28 November 2007 (UTC)


 * The matter seems to be covered in the Ambridge, Pennsylvania article: "By the end of the nineteenth century only a few Harmonists remained. The Society was dissolved and its vast real estate holdings sold, much of it to the American Bridge Company, who subsequently enlarged the town and incorporated it as Ambridge in 1905." Geneisner (talk) 21:07, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

Persecution of Harmony Society by the Lutheran Church and government in Germany
Since it was claimed by Jerzy that the statement regarding the "religious persecution [of the Harmony Society] by the Lutheran Church", was "inflammatory & probably PoV claim", I thought I would clarify this issue and cite a source for this information in the article.

On page 38 of Robert Paul Sutton's book, Communal Utopias and the American Experience: Religious Communities (2003), it says the following: "By 1791, in the words of Karl J.R. Arndt, 'this mere peasant [ George Rapp ] from Iptingen had become the outspoken leader of several thousand Separatists in the southern German duchy of Württemberg.' At that point, the civil authorities, prodded by Lutheran pastors, cracked down.  Local constables compiled a list of Rapp's followers, and the police arrested them.  They were fined... for holding private religious services...  By 1802, the Separatists had grown in number to about 12,000 and the Württemberg government decided that they were a dangerous threat to social order...  Rapp was summoned to Maulbronn for an interrogation and the government confiscated Separatist books...  When released in 1803, Rapp told the Separatists to pool their assets and follow him on a journey for safety to the 'land of Israel' in the United States...  Soon, over 800 Harmonists were living in the United States." Geneisner (talk) 21:19, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

Bibliography format
Bibliography needs to be in alphabetical order by last name of author. I'd be willing to tackle this. If the bibliography is in a more logical order, it may help editors identify related sources to add inline citations using this extensive list. Rosalina523 (talk) 14:29, 16 March 2012 (UTC)