Who Came and Who Could Demographics of the Colony By Beverly Lewis

[published in Louisiana Cultural Vistas, the quarterly magazine for The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. Winter 94-95 (vol. 5, #4)]

People who joined the New Llano came from all walks of life, from most states in the union, and from many foreign countries. Because the cost to join in California was so high, members tended to be from the middle-class or upper middle-classes. A number of members paid on installment plans or traded their way into the colony allowing many from lesser incomes to be able to join.

A cross-section of the male population reveals seventy percent hailed from farming and business sectors. The rest considered themselves professionals, factory and construction workers, clerks, and miners. No statistics list women's professions before they entered the colony, but surviving records indicate that several among them were architects and professors.

A fair number of these people considered themselves intellectuals and were philosophically attracted to Harriman's socialist experiment. Principally, the colony advertised in socialist newspapers, so most of the members were of a socialist bent. However, membership in any party was not a requirement nor was a union card.

Race and ethnicity were certainly factors in the colony's demographics, particularly when the colony moved to the South. The colony's bylaws had no official word on any racial restrictions, but an official letter penned during the California period specifically indicated that "Mongoloids and Negroids" were not admitted. However, the colony did accept Jews, which was considered a very progressive step at the time.

Colonists making the move to Louisiana were philosophically torn about the race issue in the South. A number felt that no one who wanted to join should be turned away, especially Blacks, with whom the colonists intellectually sympathized. It is unclear if the migrating colonists themselves knew the extent of labor union activity in west Louisiana but they expressed concern that coming in as a group of Yankees and socialists might already be rocking the boat. Many feared that playing the race card in the South might scuttle the whole venture.

Individual stories from the Louisiana colonists indicate that positive relations did exist with nearby Black communities. Colonist Stephen Baldwin had just stepped off the train in New Llano with his family when he encountered a Black family distraught over the impending breach birth of a family cow. Baldwin assisted in delivering a healthy calf, and from that time he was referred to as Doctor Baldwin by the Black community. Baldwin's daughter, Rhea Cunningham, remembers walking into Leesville with Black friends and having them say goodbye before they approached the town and moved to the other side of the street. Llano's General George Pickett would occasionally lecture in the nearby Black community.