Robert Dale Owen (1801–77)

Scottish-born American reformer and congressman. Son of the industrialist and social reformer Robert Owen. Grew up at New Lanark, his father’s model village set up to improve conditions for mill-workers. Left Scotland in 1825 to participate in the utopian community at New Harmony, Indiana, set up by his father. When this collapsed in 1827, he edited free-thought periodicals, and became an advocate for public education. Opened a Hall of Science in New York to provide free-thought lectures, a library, and medical advice for workers. Published the first birth-control tract in the US in 1830. Fought for women’s rights for the rest of his career. Elected to the US House of Representatives, 1843. Practised spiritualism.