New Harmony Makes Big Screen

NEW HARMONY WILL BE FILM SITE FOR MOVIE News Release: From: Historic New Harmony New Harmony’s rich culture and history to be portrayed in film by Ball State University NEW HARMONY, IN (April 25, 2008) – Ball State University (BSU) will be filming an educational movie about a 19th century Utopian community that was located in New Harmony, IN, May 5-9 and May 12-16. The funding for this movie is through the Ohio River Teaching American History Project given by the U.S. Department of Education. The grant will be administered by BSU. The movie’s target audience is elementary students and the movie will be incorporated into their study of Indiana history, which is part of the fourth grade curriculum. One thousand copies will be distributed this fall to schools and libraries across Indiana. The movie will be filmed in New Harmony and in other locations throughout the state. Exterior and interior shots of various historical buildings dating from the era will be filmed in New Harmony. In addition, BSU students and Posey County community members will be serving as re-enactors in both Harmonist and Owen scenes. Interviews will also be conducted with scholars and descendants of Owen community members. Robert Owen, an industrialist and social reformer of Welsh descent, purchased New Harmony in 1825 to establish a model community where education and social equality would flourish. Although Owen’s experiment dissolved in 1827, his Utopian dream brought significant contributions to American scientific and educational theory, study, and practice. For more information about the movie or to arrange an interview, please contact Dr. Ron Morris at RVMorris@BSU.edu or 765-285-8720. Dr. Morris is a history professor at Ball State University and will oversee the filming of the movie.