Sophia Willard Dana Ripley (1803–1861), wife of George Ripley, was a 19th-century feminist associated with

Transcendentalism Transcendentalism is a philosophical, spiritual, and literary movement that developed in the late 1820s and 1830s in the New England region of the United States. "Transcendentalism is an American literary, political, and philosophical movement of ...

and the

Brook Farm Brook Farm, also called the Brook Farm Institute of Agriculture and EducationFelton, 124 or the Brook Farm Association for Industry and Education,Rose, 140 was a utopian experiment in communal living in the United States in the 1840s. It was ...

community.

Biography

Sophia Ripley School - 403002141 - City of Boston Archives

She was born Sophia Willard Dana in 1803. Her father traveled abroad often and left his daughters to fend for themselves. In 1823, during one of his trips, the Dana sisters decided to earn their own living by teaching. In

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, they established a girls' school; Sophia Dana served as the principal teacher. She first met George Ripley during his final year as a student at the

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the religious studies, academic study of religion or for leadership role ...

in 1825. In 1826, they became engaged, though Ripley did not tell his parents right away. He asked his sister Marianne to inform them, assuring them that their relationship was not based on "any romantic or sudden passion" but on "intellectual power, moral worth, deep and true Christian piety, and refinement and dignity of character". They were officially married on 22 August 1827, in a ceremony presided over by

Abiel Holmes Abiel Holmes (December 24, 1763 – June 4, 1837) was an American Congregational clergyman and historian. He was the father of Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. and grandfather of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Biography Holmes was born in Woodstock, Conne ...

. Mrs. Ripley became a friend of

Margaret Fuller Sarah Margaret Fuller (May 23, 1810 – July 19, 1850), sometimes referred to as Margaret Fuller Ossoli, was an American journalist, editor, critic, translator, and women's rights advocate associated with the American transcendentalism movemen ...

and was one of the women to attend Fuller's first series of "conversations". Fuller explained to Ripley her goals: "It is to pass in review the departments of thought and knowledge, and endeavor to place them in due relation to one another in our mind. To systemize thought and give precision and clearness in which our sex are so deficient, chiefly, I think, because they have so few inducements to test and classify what they receive. To ascertain what pursuits are best suited to us". Ripley was also among the few regular women guests of the male-dominated Transcendental Club in the 1830s, and she published an essay on women in ''

The Dial ''The Dial'' was an American magazine published intermittently from 1840 to 1929. In its first form, from 1840 to 1844, it served as the chief publication of the Transcendentalists. From the 1880s to 1919 it was revived as a political review an ...

''. In July 1841,''The Dial'' published a letter from Ripley called "Letter from Zoar", an account of her experience visiting a communistic society of "Separatists" in

Zoar, Ohio Zoar is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States. The population was 172 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The community was founded in 1817 by Radical Pietism, Radical Pietists as a utopia ...

in 1837. In the 1840s, she co-founded an experimental Utopian community called

along with her husband and was one of the experiment's major supporters in its early years. The Brook Farm was based on a ranch in the countryside of present-day

West Roxbury West Roxbury is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, bordered by Roslindale and Jamaica Plain to the northeast, the village of Chestnut Hill and the town of Brookline to the north, the city of Newton to the northwest, t ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. Along with her sister-in-law Marianne Ripley, she oversaw Brook Farm's primary school using a progressive child-centered

pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

that has been compared to the later reforms of

John Dewey John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and Education reform, educational reformer. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the first half of the twentieth century. The overridi ...

. When Brook Farm adapted itself into a

Charles Fourier François Marie Charles Fourier (; ; 7 April 1772 – 10 October 1837) was a French philosopher, an influential early socialist thinker, and one of the founders of utopian socialism. Some of his views, held to be radical in his lifetime, have be ...

-inspired ''

phalanstère A ''phalanstère'' (or phalanstery) was a type of building designed for a self-contained utopian community, ideally consisting of 500–2,000 people working together for mutual benefit, and developed in the early 19th century by Charles Fourie ...

'', she did not share her husband's enthusiasm.Packer, Barbara L. ''The Transcendentalists''. Athens, Georgia: The University of Georgia Press, 2007: 172. Influenced in part by

Orestes Brownson Orestes Augustus Brownson (September 16, 1803 – April 17, 1876) was an American intellectual, activist, preacher, labor organizer, and writer. Brownson was also a noted Catholic convert. Brownson was a publicist, a career which spanned his affi ...

, she converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in 1846 and became a dedicated member of the church, leading her to eventually become a well-known nun; her husband never converted. Their relationship became strained by the 1850s. She died in 1861. Her home on Baker Street is a site on the

Boston Women's Heritage Trail The Boston Women's Heritage Trail is a series of walking tours in Boston, Massachusetts, leading past sites important to Boston women's history. The tours wind through several neighborhoods, including the Back Bay and Beacon Hill, commemorating w ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ripley, Sophia Founders of utopian communities Members of the Transcendental Club Converts to Roman Catholicism Utopian socialists 1803 births 1861 deaths American women founders American founders