Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead (1854–1929) was the founder and chief benefactor of the "Byrdcliffe Arts and Crafts Colony" located in

Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, NY. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 in 20 ...

Early life and influences

He was born in 1854 in

Saddleworth Saddleworth is a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. It comprises several villages and hamlets as well as suburbs of Oldham on the west side of the Pennine hills. Areas include Austerlands, Del ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

, England. He was the son of a wealthy mill owner and industrialist from whom he received a large inheritance, which was later used to establish Byrdcliffe. In his earlier years, he attended school at Harrow. Later, he graduated from Balliol College, Oxford, where he obtained his Master of Arts degree in 1880. While studying at Oxford, he became a student of

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and pol ...

, who helped influence Whitehead's interest in a

utopian A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island society ...

society based upon art, craftsmanship, and unity. These views were further developed by his friendship with

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

, who was the principal exponent of the European Arts and Crafts Movement. Oxford was also the place where Whitehead met his future wife.

Move to America

In 1892, he left England for America. Shortly after arriving, he was married (for the second time, having divorced his first wife) to Jane Byrd McCall of

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. McCall had also been a student of John Ruskin, which is where they had first met. Her support and similar interests encouraged Whitehead's desire for a community centered on the arts and crafts movement. Together, the two attempted to create such a society in Italy, California, and

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

in turn, all of which were failures. Finally in 1903, with the aid of friends

Hervey White Hervey White (1866–1944) was an American novelist, poet, and community-builder. He was one of the original founders of the Byrdcliffe Colony in Woodstock, New York, then went on to create a more radical artists' colony, the Maverick. Both Byrdc ...

and Bolton Brown, the two succeeded in building their colony in the

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...

Byrdcliffe

Byrdcliffe (a name coined from a combination of his and his wife's middle names) occupied in Woodstock, New York and quickly became a haven for artists known and unknown, representing all of his stated beliefs. It stood as a "rural, utopian ideal based on the brotherhood of artistic collaboration" and focused on the "art of living through creative manual work." But, despite Byrdcliffe's immediate success and future influence in developing the Woodstock area, the colony ultimately failed. Many causes have been cited, including Whitehead's own lack of artistic ability (which tended to set him apart from the residents), and his failure to export or promote what the community created. By the mid-1920s, residents began to leave. In 1928, his oldest son died a tragic death. Shortly after, Whitehead died from the effect, it is said, of his losses.

External links

Albany Institute of History and Art, Byrdcliffe exhibitWinterthur Museum, Delaware
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070927213203/http://antiquesandthearts.com/CS0-06-10-2003-11-49-23 Antiques and the Arts, Byrdcliffe collection {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead, Ralph Radcliffe Founders of utopian communities 1854 births 1929 deaths People from Saddleworth

Early life and influences

Move to America

Byrdcliffe

See also

External links