Man and Mission: E.B. Gaston and the Origins of the Fairhope Single Tax Colony

by Paul Gaston

Overview

In Man and Mission: E. B. Gaston and the Origins of the Fairhope Single Tax Colony, historian Paul Gaston relates his grandfather's 1864 founding of the utopian community of Fairhope, Alabama. The twenty-eight “Fairhopers” hoped to realize an “equality of opportunity, the full reward of individual efforts, and the benefits of co-operation in matters of general concern,” at a time when the economic system of the United States was ravaged by monopoly capitalism. Using family and public records, Man and Mission gives an intimate view of a vibrant moment in the history of Gilded Age America.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781603062565
Publisher:	NewSouth Books
Publication date:	10/10/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	158
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

PAUL M. GASTON (1928-2019) was born and reared in Fairhope, Alabama, about which he has written two books. He is also the author of The New South Creed, winner of the Lillian Smith Award for distinguished writing about the South. He is a past president of the Southern Regional Council and has been a frequent visitor in South Africa, both before and after the fall of apartheid. He has received numerous honors for both his professional work and civil rights leadership, including the outstanding professor award from the Commonwealth of Virginia; bridge builder recognition from the city of Charlottesville; legendary civil rights activist from the NAACP; and community leader, from his alma mater, Swarthmore College.

Editorial Reviews

Paul Gaston's powerful and concise story of Fairhope's origins enlightens us all about a fascinating moment in history, a time that continues to instruct us on human values like fairness and equality.

Robert J. Norrell

Historian Paul Gaston explains more clearly than any previous writer the context in which the Fairhope experiment began. Amid the conflicting claims of Socialist, Single-Taxer, communitarian, and Populist, a remarkable experiment was born. All interested in the history of that experiment, as well as the enduring artistic and intellectual iconoclasm that survives in Fairhope, will find this small volume invaluable.

Dr. Wayne Flynt

Grandson of the founder of Fairhope, and himself born on Colony land and a graduate of the Colony's 'Organic School' of education, Paul Gaston has nevertheless avoided the obvious pitfalls of nostalgia. The story of the origins of Fairhope, Alabama, deftly recaptured by a distinguished historian of the South, enriches the American heritage.

Larry Goodwyn