11-07J'VEENHOETAE R4
I D"ABDOATUET IT . . .
NOW IT'S YOUR CHANCE TO SEE ...
Sunrise Colony, an agricul-
tural cooperative near Bay
City, Michigan. Cohen had
acquired some 10,000 acres
of land from the Buhl
Hardware Co. and spurred
by ideological dreams and
by unemployment, he gain-
ed a following that includ-
ed many Detroit Jews. The
settlers tended to be anti-
religious; only a few
observed even Yom Kippur.
They raised some cattle
on this experimental
cooperative farm, but the
main crop was pepper-
mint, widely used by the
pharmaceutical industry.
Although the Sunrise Col-
ony obtained some $10
million in loans from the
U.S. government, phar-
macy companies, fearing
anarchism and com-
munism, hesitated to deal
with the farmers. One
Workmen's Circle member
recalled a common feeling
among his comrades that
anti-Semitism played no
small part in those refusal
to buy the Sunrise crop.
But when a sympathetic
University of Michigan
professor persuaded
Parke-Davis to buy the en-
tire peppermint crop, suc-
cess seemed imminent.
A longer historical record
of this occurrence was
published under my byline
in the B'nai B'rith Magazine
of March 1935 under the
title "Sunrise In Michigan."
I was guided in this study by
Robert Aronson, a U of D
engineering graduate who
was in charge of the colony's
power plant.
The colony, in Alicia,
south of Saginaw, was
located on a 10,000 acre plot
of ground known as Prairie
Farm and numbered 97
families. My report in-
dicated the following:
In 1933 there were about
60 buldings in the colony.
The old shanties have been
remodeled and a new
dairy has been built which
is the pride of the colonists.
In addition to the improv-
ed blacksmith shop, there
are woodwork, tinsmith
and harness shops, a
creamery and buildings
for the storage of food.
To make the colony a ge-
nuine collective settlement,
it was natural that the
group whould create a
shoe-repair shop, com-
munity barber shop,
machine shop for the
general repair work, com-
munity kitchen, steam
laundry similarly con-
ducted on a collective plan,
and a bakery; and it is
planned to establish a
poultry plant.
Fifteen tractors and
trucks serve the needs of
the Jewish farmers, whose
main crops are peppermint
and sugar beets. For both
these products they have
managed to find an ex-
cellent market. . . .
The school system and
the dormitory plan for the
youngsters are the par-
ticular pride of the colony.
The primary and high
school classes are located
in a building next to the
dormitory. When a child
reaches the age of three or
four, he is removed from
the family and placed in
the children's community
house. The children spend
their Sundays with their
parents.
It is especially important
to indicate that Sunrise col-
ony also had a well function-
ing hospital. Many in our
community will be intrigued
toi learn that one of our
prominent physicians, Dr.
Robert Shifrin, commenced
his medical practice in the
colony before coming to
Detroit. Dr. Boris Zola of
Saginaw was the colony's
dentist.
In my report of 1933 the in-
vestment aspects and the
organizing leaders must be
accounted for. As I stated:
The guiding genius of the
Sunrise Community is
Joseph J. Cohen, former
editor of the Freie-Arbeiter
Shtimme, Yiddish anar-
chist weekly of New York,
with Eli Greenblatt of De-
troit .. .
The initial investment
was $33,000, and the
balance due on the farm
land is $125,000. It is con-
sidered an unusual
bargain, and the granting
of loans to the colonists by
the United States Govern-
ment in the past few
months is considered an
indication that the
methods employed by the
Sunrise management are
meeting with official
approval.
The many aspects of collec-
tive living outlined in this
report are so numerous that
they represent an unusual
social and economic study.
Every element of communal
living is represented here.
Because of the extremity of
differences that continually
arose, the very altruism
became divisiveness that led
to abandonment.
It was the JARC trek to
South Haven the evolved
into a nudge to delve into
memories of farming ex-
periments, providing an-
other chapter in fascinating
Michigan Jewish history. ❑
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