Communal Living in the Magnolia State: Intentional Communities in Mississippi

There are only a few examples of intentional communities (more popularly known as communes) in the history of Mississippi. Many people know that Jefferson Davis’ older brother experimented with the utopian ideas of Robert Own at Davis Bend — later known as Mound Bayou. In the late 19th century, there was a socialist colony in Gulfport called the Grander Age Colony. In the 20th century, there was Delta and Providence Farms, Wall Hill (a Single-Tax colony) and Freedom City in Greenville. In the late 1960s, a number of cooperatives in towns such as Aberdeen, Canton and Hattiesburg made crafts and other items that were shipped to Liberty House in Jackson. Part of the money from selling the goods went back to the cooperatives. Liberty House also had a store in Greenwich Village that Abbie Hoffman clerked at for a time. There was an intentional community in Jackson in the mid-1970s called Celebration of Life, as well as a Christian communalistic intentional community that lasted for about 10 years in West Jackson called Antioch in the 1980s. Finally, more recent communities such as Camp Sister Spirit and Govinda Gardens/New Talavana in Carriere, a Khrishna community, will be discussed.

Speakers Expertise:

Dr. Thomas Michael Kersen is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Jackson State University. His research interests include sociology of religion and spirituality, population studies, military sociology, civic roles, and the need for liberal arts and humanities in the public arena, community, and communal living. He is the author of the book, Land Where Misfits Fit: Counterculture and Influence in the Ozarks published by University Press of Mississippi in 2021.