Ralph Albertson was born in Jamestown, New York, in 1866. He studied at Oberlin College and Theological Seminary and in 1891 he was ordained as a Congregationalist minister. Four years later he left the ministry to found the Christian Commonwealth of Georgia, a utopian society based on the principles of Christian Socialism. After the dissolution of this community in 1900, he founded a new utopian venture in rural Massachusetts, known as The Farm. Albertson was also the editor of various publications, including The American Cooperator, The Boston Common, and The Twentieth Century Magazine. He was the secretary of the Cooperative Association of America, and worked to reorganize department stores according to democratic cooperative principles. In 1917, Albertson was a Young Men's Christian Association representative to American troops along the Siberian front in Russia. He was awarded the Cross of St. George by the Russians, and later wrote a book based on his experiences abroad, Fighting Without a War. After his return to the states, he became president of the New York mercantile concern, Albertson, Becknard and Allen, Inc. Ralph Albertson died in 1951 in New York City.
From the guide to the Ralph Albertson papers, 1880-1974, 1880-1951, (Manuscripts and Archives)
