Excerpt: The Next America? A New Town's Social Experiment

With ethnic and economic strife causing some of today’s greatest social and political conflicts, is it possible to live and teach the principles of tolerance? At least one man believed in that prospect.

James Rouse gained national prominence in the 1940s as a developer with a conscience. His vision of utilizing urban planning to create social and economic harmony began with his attempts to create affordable housing after World War II and reached its pinnacle with the realization of a community designed around those ideals in the 1960s. Rouse conceived Columbia, Maryland as a new society as well as an innovative experiment in community-based land use. His “model city” aimed to create an environment that embraced rather than avoided diversity. Differences of race, class, and gender did not excuse inequality. Rouse aimed to build “an inspired, concerned and loving society” that would “achieve brotherhood; eliminate bigotry and intolerance; …seek the truth and communicate it; [and] respect differences among man." In other words, Columbia served as a social experiment in eliminating racial, economic, and religious barriers and prejudices among its residents.

This collection of oral histories, extracted from interviews with current and former residents of Columbia, allows the first generation of Columbians to speak for themselves and reveal what it was like to live in the midst of an unprecedented social experiment and how it affected their lives. Following in the style of legendary writer and historian Studs Terkel, this project aims to not only recreate a distinct time and place from the memories of those who lived there, but it determines to answer previously unexamined questions. Did the experiment work? Did people who came from around the nation to actively participate in a new way of living find social harmony? Were those living in Columbia aware of the social taboos they were challenging? Did the children who grew up in the town’s heyday take the values and lessons they learned from their upbringing with them into other communities? And most importantly, did Columbia make a difference? Did the experiment change lives? Did it change society for the better?

This book and its companion documentary will be completed in 2009. Cindy’s co-author is her sister, Lisa Regnante. Lisa and Cindy are members of that first generation of Columbians.

© 2006