It was heartening to read about the local growth of the “solidarity economy” in which workers enjoy collective ownership and make decisions about their work lives (“Pushing for a new path,” April 2). Cooperatives have a long history in many parts of the world, and we should be proud to know that one of those cooperative efforts took place right here in Florence in the 1840s. A group of “radical” abolitionists created the Northampton Association for Education and Industry where, on Nonotuck Street, they ran a cooperative silk mill, among other economic ventures. The association attracted David Ruggles and Sojourner Truth, who became members, and visitors such as Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison. If you’d like to learn more about this bold experiment, as well as current cooperative efforts, please join us for the David Ruggles Center Founders Day on April 26, at 3:30 p.m., at the Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity.
Kim Gerould
Northampton