Wikipedia: Oneida stirpiculture
The experiment with stirpiculture in the Oneida Community lasted between the years 1869-1879. Fifty-eight children were produced as a result of the stirpiculture experiment. Most women and men only produced one child. Some produced two or three, and 13 of those were recorded as “accidental conceptions”. To prove his religious and social prowess, as well as that of his bloodline, John H. Noyes and his son Theodore produced 12 children between them, 11 of which survived (Carden 64).
The development and nourishment of these children were very diligently attended to, and values such as non-attachment were impressed on children, even at a very young age. Many of the children lived long and were very well-educated, however, it has been offered that perhaps the children’s environment lent them these abilities. [edit] Raising the Children Children at Oneida were raised communally. This means that they were not raised specifically by their biological parents. They were brought up under the supervision of community members who were assigned the job of child care. Many community members helped out with this, and therefore the children were surrounded with guidance and support from multiple sources. The stirpcults were brought up in a healthy country environment with plenty of fresh air, good food, and attention, and Oneida was isolated from chronic diseases that might have affected children in more crowded areas. As they grew up in the years following the breakup, their families and friends encouraged them to go to college and to achieve worldly success [The Practice of Perfection].
Once a child was born, it stayed with its mother for the first 15 months of life. During this period the mother was allowed and even encouraged to breast feed the child. Breast feeding is one of the only instances in which a strong attachment between mother and child is encouraged. This was due to its ability to encompass both scientific and natural views of life. Socially, this attachment is not important because it is a bond between child and mother, but rather that it an establishment of a relationship between child and caretaker.
Once weaned from breast feeding, the child is sent to live in the Children’s House. In the early days of the community, this “house” was actually a succession of rooms in the “Middle House” (Kinsley 14). For a certain period of time after being weaned, children still slept with their mothers at night. Once they reached a certain age, they were discouraged from sleeping in their mothers rooms. Still concerned with creating a bond between the child and the community, he/she would often sleep in the bed of a community member. This member changed periodically so no special attachments could be formed.
