Sunrise Cooperative Farm Community

The Sunrise Cooperative Farm Community was founded by Joseph J. Cohen in 1933. It included fourteen square miles in Alicia, Albee Township in Saginaw County Michigan.

From the description of Sunrise Cooperative Farm Community papers, 1934-1936. (Public Libraries of Saginaw). WorldCat record id: 317404207

The Sunrise Cooperative Farm Community was founded in 1933 by New York anarchist Joseph Cohen. Located on an established, economically depressed farm near Alicia in Saginaw County, the commune was intended as a Jewish self-help agrarian colony in which everyone would work for the good of all and disparities of wealth would not exist. The membership requirements were strict and meant to insure the success of this experiment in cooperative farming. No one over age 45 were permitted to join. There would be no large families with many children, nor would conservatives, religious people, or professed communists be allowed to join. Although most members were Jewish, this was not a requirement.

The Community drew members from fourteen states. Each was required to pay a membership fee, some of which went to pay hired men needed to restore the neglected farm to commercial viability. Financial stability would always be a problem for the commune as would organizational struggles within the commune.

By 1936, many of the original members hoped to return to the cities for steadier employment opportunities. Others looked to the government's Resettlement Administration to purchase the farm and then resell it in smaller parcels with assistance given to the building of homes, barns, and fences. The sale was finalized on December 7, 1936. With the sale, a large portion of the settlers moved away. Others, who hoped to continue the communal existence, took their share of the sale and purchased a farm in Samos, Middlesex County, Virginia.

From the guide to the Sunrise Cooperative Farm Community records, 1933-1937, (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)