Roy Finestone Photograph Collection
A wave of experimentation in communal living in New England reached a peak in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with dozens of communities spread across the landscape of western Massachusetts and Vermont. Nina Finestone joined the Johnson Pastures in Guilford , Vermont, in 1969, however after the main house there went up in flames on April 16, 1970, killing four people, she joined a number of its residents who moved to the nearby Montague Farm in Montague, Massachusetts. Nina married a fellow Montague farmer, Daniel Keller, and the couple moved to Wendell in 1980.
Providing exceptional visual documentation of life at Johnson Pasture, the Montague Farm, and Wendell Farm between 1969 and 1990, the Finestone collection is centered on the lives and family of Daniel and Nina Keller. All images were taken by Roy Finestone, Nina’s father, with a medium format camera using color transparency film.
Background on Roy Finestone
A wave of experimentation in communal living crested in New England in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with dozens of communities springing up across the landscape of western Massachusetts and Vermont. Cheap land, exhaustion with the fractious politics of the day, and a desire to rebuild society on new principles all fueled the communitarian impulse, but to say that no commune was typical is to underestimate how atypical they could be. At least 75 communes were established in Vermont alone, reflecting varying shades of political or spiritual commitments, varying degrees of communality, and a wide range of social theories. The radicals and revolutionaries of Red Clover and the back-to-the-landers of Earthworks were all part of the same general fabric as the hippies of Tree Frog Farm, which was once said to be dedicated to “nudity, psychedelic drugs and free love.” Nearly all shared a commitment to sparking change for a more egalitarian world.
Straddling the Vermont-Massachusetts border was a group of three particularly tightly knit communes that shared a common history that extends into the present. In the summer of 1968, Raymond Mungo, Verandah Porche and seven of their friends established Total Loss Farm on 90 acres in Packer Corners, Vermont. A small commune by most standards, the Farm emerged out of the vituperative split in the Liberation News Service, of which Mungo and Porche were founders. The personality of Total Loss Farm was distinctly bent toward the literary and artistic, reflected both in Porche’s poetry and Mungo’s memoir of his first year there, Total Loss Farm (1971).
During that same summer, Marshall Bloom, another LNS founder and refugee, established another commune just down the road in Montague, Massachusetts. Similarly anarchic in orientation, without leaders or plan, the Montague Farm had a somewhat more explicitly political flavor to it than Total Loss Farm, and several of its members were (or went on to become) prominent political and social activists. One member, Tom Fels, wrote that the Farm “was a place where you could become a new person and, we thought, create a real opening in the social fabric.”
A third commune, Johnson Pasture in Guilford, Vermont, was a different story. Rough hewn, muddy, and “medieval” in appearance, Johnson Pasture had an open door policy, accepting anyone who appeared on the doorstep, and although there was a small core of committed residents, the commune did not long survive. After a faulty stovepipe ignited a fire that destroyed the commune on April 16, 1970, killing four, several residents took shelter at Montague Farm.
Providing exceptional visual documentation of life at Johnson Pasture, Montague Farm, and Wendell Farm between 1969 and 1990, the Finestone collection is centered on the lives and family of Daniel and Nina (Finestone) Keller. A resident of Johnson Pasture, Nina moved to Montague after the 1970 fire. She later married her fellow Montague farmer, Daniel Keller, and the couple moved to Wendell in 1980. All images were taken by Nina’s father, Roy Finestone, with a medium format camera using color transparency film.
Nina Keller as young girl. Glass slide 2×2′
Johnson Pasture Commune: ‘Rules: No illegal drugs, no more pets, no soap in stream, no picknicers, visitors welcome, no minors overnight without parents okay, use trench’
Johnson Pasture Commune: Building construction
Johnson Pasture Commune: Building construction
Johnson Pasture Commune: Field
Johnson Pasture Commune: Field, with squash harvest in foreground
Johnson Pasture Commune: Front of the house, Volkswagen beetle
Johnson Pasture Commune: Group, infant, outside house
Johnson Pasture Commune: Kitchen at Johnson Pasture
Johnson Pasture Commune: Kitchen at Johnson Pasture
Johnson Pasture Commune: Lounging at dusk
Johnson Pasture Commune: Lumber stacked in front of house, Volkswagen beetle
Johnson Pasture Commune: Preparing food in front of house
Johnson Pasture Commune: Rear view of house, laundry, and make shift table
Johnson Pasture Commune: Red pickup truck in front of house
Johnson Pasture Commune: Teepee and signboard
Johnson Pasture Commune: Tent by stream
Johnson Pasture Commune: three women
Johnson Pasture Commune: Road to Johnson Pasture
Breakfast at Brattleboro (Chuck Light and Nina)
Janis Light and Sequoia
Nina, Chuck Light, Smoky, Janis, baby
Nina, Smoky, Chuck, Janis (Smoky and Nina on bikes)
Montague Farm: ’17 room house and Nina’s wagon,’ Montague
Montague Farm: ‘Cows in barn,’ Montague
Montague Farm: ‘Cows in barn,’ Montague
!['Field in back of house,' [Montague]](http://credo.library.umass.edu/images/resize/200/muph005-b001-i023-001.jpg "'Field in back of house,' [Montague]")
Montague Farm: ‘Field in back of house,’ [Montague]
Montague Farm: ‘Ill fated load of apples,’ Montague
Montague Farm: ‘John Wilton, Janis, Tony Matthew,’ Montague
Montague Farm: Nina Keller (8 months pregnant) and mother
Montague Farm: ‘Paper mache in barn’
Montague Farm: ‘Tony, Alex Kelly, Rick, and ‘Burn” (the dog)
Montague Farm: ‘View down from road,’ Montague
Montague Farm: Montague barn
Montague Farm: Dogs and baby (Eben) in snow in front of house, Montague
Montague Farm: ‘View from the window’ (over snow covered field, looking east, Montague)
Montague Farm: Attic bedroom, Montague
Montague Farm: Baby (Eben) in basket
Montague Farm: Baby (Eben) in basket
Montague Farm: Chuck Light and baby (Eben), Montague
Montague Farm: Chuck, Nina, and baby (Eben)
Montague Farm: Chuck, Nina, baby (Eben)
Montague Farm: Nina and baby
Montague Farm: Nina asleep by the baby (Eb
en) basket
Montague Farm: Nina feeding baby (Eben)
Montague Farm: Nina feeding baby (Eben), Chuck
Montague Farm: Nina lying down, holding baby (Eben)
Montague Farm: Nina standing, holding baby (Eben)
Montague Farm: Nina, baby (Eben), Nina’s parents
![Nina, baby, [John Wilton?], and cat, Montague](http://credo.library.umass.edu/images/resize/200/muph005-b001-i098-001.jpg "Nina, baby, [John Wilton?], and cat, Montague")
Montague Farm: Nina, baby, [John Wilton?], and cat, Montague
Montague Farm: Chuck, Nina, et al.
Montague Farm: Baking bread in kitchen (Nina’s mother?), Montague
Montague Farm: Nina’s mother cooking in kitchen, Montague
Montague Farm: Nina’s mother in kitchen, Montague
Montague Farm: Group gathered in kitchen, Montague
Montague Farm: Living room and stove, Montague
Montague Farm: Living room, Montague
Montague Farm: Chickens in coop, barn at Montague
Montague Farm: Cows in stalls, barn at Montague
Montague Farm: Cows in their stalls, barn at Montague
Montague Farm: Milking in the barn, Montague
Montague Farm: Outhouse in the snow, Montague
Montague Farm: Splitting wood in the snow, Montague
Montague Farm: ‘Five months old’ (Chuck Light and Eben?, Nina, unidentified in front of house, Montague)
Montague Farm: Baby (Eben) in baby seat
Montague Farm: Baby (Eben) in baby seat, laughing
Montague Farm: Bathing baby (Eben) in sink
Montague Farm: Grandmother(?) holding baby (Eben) at table.
Montague Farm: Nina spoon feeding baby (Eben)
Montague Farm: Nina(?) spoon feeding baby (Eben)
Montague Farm: Nina’s mother with baby (Eben)
Montague Farm: Unidentified woman holding baby (Eben)
Montague Farm: ‘Janis and Sequoia, Eben 5 months’ (also Chuck, Nina, Nina’s mother in front of house, Montague)
Montague Farm: Nina feeding chickens, mother and Eben, dog
Montague Farm: Whit Garberson (?) et al., seated at table, Montague
Montague Farm: Kids looking at pig sty, Montague
Montague Farm: Kids playing in field
Montague Farm: Nina, mother, and unidentified woman sitting in field, Montague
Montague Farm: Chuck and baby in front of car (Scout)
Montague Farm: Chuck and baby in front of car (Scout)
Montague Farm: Chuck and Nina and baby
Montague Farm: Chuck, Nina, four men, Janis, two babies, Nina’s mother, standing by car
Montague Farm: Janis and Sequoia in front of greenhouse, Montague
Montague Farm: Living room at Montague
Montague Farm: Nina, Chuck, and baby (Eben?) in living room, Montague
Montague Farm: Nina’s father(?), Nina, and two young girls at water pump
Montague Farm: Nina’s mother and baby (Eben?) in field above Montague farm, looking south over house and barn.
Montague Farm: Unidentified child and man inside house at Montague
Montague Farm: (?) by the road, sugaring
Montague Farm: Checking sap buckets, sugaring
Montague Farm: Kids standing in stream, Montague
Montague Farm: Nina and young child (Eben?), inside house at Montague(?)
Montague Farm: Nina driving tractor, three others, sugaring
Montague Farm: Nina, her mother, two children, Janis (end), three others and two dogs in front of house at Montague
Montague Farm: Riding the tractor while sugaring
Montague Farm: Sap buckets on tree, sugaring (badly overexposed)
Montague Farm: Skin curing
and stretching (unidentified participants), Montague
Montague Farm: Sugar house
Montague Farm: Tractor and farmers, sugaring
Montague Farm: Barn at Montague
Montague Farm: Barn at Montague with van and tractor, view from house looking south
Montague Farm: Barn at Montague, roof under repair, duck in foreground
Montague Farm: Chickens
Montague Farm: House at Montague
Montague Farm: Man in wheelchair in Montague barn
Montague Farm: Puppet
Montague Farm: Roofing work on barn , Montague
Montague Farm: Roofing work on barn, Montague
Montague Farm: Roofing work on barn, Montague
Montague Farm: Roofing work on barn, view from inside, Montague
Montague Farm: Roofing work on barn, view from inside, Montague
Montague Farm: Silo on barn, Montague
Montague Farm: Three girls
Montague Farm: Three little girls, Montague
Montague Farm: View of field, Montague
Montague Farm: View of hills, Montague
Montague Farm: Young child on stone wall, Montague
Montague Farm: Dan, Nina, and Eben inside at Montague
Montague Farm: Kids playing in front of the greenhouse, Montague
Montague Farm: Montague barn and silo under snow
Montague Farm: Nina, mother, unidentified, child, and milk cow in front of house, Montague
Montague Farm: People gathered in the kitchen at Montague (underexposed)
Montague Farm: People in the kitchen, Montague (Seabrook No Nukes poster on wall)
Montague Farm: Sugaring: collecting sap.
Montague Farm: ‘Peter fixing roof on garage’
Montague Farm: House and arbor in fall color
Montague Farm: Nina and mother leading a calf in pasture, Montague
Montague Farm: Nina, mother, et al. splitting wood, Montague
Montague Farm: Two kids climbing high in a tree
Montague Farm: Two unidentified farmers picking vegetables, Motangue
Montague Farm: Dan and others around the Christmas tree
Montague Farm: ‘Baking school’
Montague Farm: Baking school
Montague Farm: Dan, baby, et al., in kitchen at Montague
Montague Farm: Dan, Nina, Eben, and baby
Montague Farm: Eben and baby
Montague Farm: Harvesting (with kids)
Montague Farm: Montague farmers
Montague Farm: Nina and baby (baby in No Nukes t-shirt)
Montague Farm: Nina and Eben
Montague Farm: Nina and famil
y at picnic
Montague Farm: Nina feeding baby
Montague Farm: Nina, baby et al under tree (underexposed image)
Montague Farm: Ploughing with tractor (Nina at wheel)
Montague Farm: Steve Diamond with Volvo station wagon in front of Montague Farm
Wendell Farm: House at Wendell(?)
Wendell Farm: Keller family at barn
Wendell Farm: Keller family at barn
Wendell Farm: Milk cow and newborn calf
Wendell Farm: Milk cow and newborn calf
Wendell Farm: Baby with pans
Wendell Farm: Kellers and other farmers at ??
979 Nov.
Wendell Farm: Logs
Wendell Farm: Unidentified at ?? (see 193)
Wendell Farm: Unidentified couple at ?? (see 193)
Wendell Farm: Sleeping on a mattress on the floor
Wendell Farm: Farm in snow
Wendell Farm: In the kitchen
Wendell Farm: Keller kids on stoop
Wendell Farm: Nina(?) and kids in kitchen
Wendell Farm: Underexposed
Wendell Farm: Dan and Nina Keller, kids
Wendell Farm: House at Wendell
Wendell Farm: Keller(?) boys, inside
Wendell Farm: Kids inside, Wendell?
Wendell Farm: View of house, Wendell?
Wendell Farm: House at Wendell
Wendell Farm: Nina and kids, Wendell
Wendell Farm: Dan seated by ditch, pickup truck in background, Wendell
Wendell Farm: Mother, Nina, unidentified at Wendell
Wendell Farm: Nina and unidentified planting (perennials), mother looking on, Wendell
Wendell Farm: Three children on front steps, Wendell
Wendell Farm: Two kids on tractor, Wendell
Wendell Farm: Nina’s mother and children, Wendell
Wendell Farm: Dan, Nina, children, Wendell
Wendell Farm: Dan, Nina, tractor at Wendell
Wendell Farm: Nina in woods, Wendell
Wendell Farm: Walking through meadow, Wendell
Wendell Farm: Children walking in from woods, Wendell
Wendell Farm: Keller family at doorway, Wendell
Wendell Farm: Keller family, Wendell
Wendell Farm: Side, house at Wendell
Wendell Farm: Wendell
Wendell Farm: Keller family, Wendell
Wendell Farm: Nina and black lab
Wendell Farm: Keller son and ?
Wendell Farm: Three children in living room
Wendell Farm: Keller children?, dog
Wendell Farm: Nina Keller and Roy Finestone (father)?, two dogs, Wendell
Wendell Farm: Nina Keller, mother?, Wendell
Wendell Farm: Dan Keller and parents (in-laws?)
Wendell Farm: Dan Keller(?) and children opening Christmas presents
Wendell Farm: Boy on snowy road
Wendell Farm: Dan Keller(?) with snowball and two others on snowy road, NH?
Wendell Farm: Keller daughter with snowball
Wendell Farm: Keller son with sled
Wendell Farm: Two kids by road
in snow
Wendell Farm: Two kids in snow
Wendell Farm: Nina Keller on snowy road
Wendell Farm: Dan Keller, Family at Christmas
Wendell Farm: Dan Keller, family, at table
House in snow
Wendell Farm: Nina and Dan Keller at al., living room, N.H.
Wendell Farm: Nina Keller and kids, N.,H.
Wendell Farm: Nina Keller, father (in law?)
Swimming in pool (at hotel?)
Wendell Farm: Dan and Nina Keller, kids, Roy Finestone(?), Wendell visit
Wendell Farm: Cabin on hill (cow and chickens in foreground), Wendell
Wendell Farm: Chicken and chicks, Wendell
Wendell Farm: Dan and Nina Keller, dogs, mother(?) resting on walk in woods, Wendell
Wendell Farm: Dan Keller and child, dog, dragging wood through woods, Wendell
Wendell Farm: Eben Keller and grandmother(?), Brandeis campus
Wendell Farm: Eben Keller in parking lot, Brandeis
Wendell Farm: Nina and Dan Keller and children on walk in woods, Wendell
Wendell Farm: Nina Keller and red dog, Wendell
Wendell Farm: Nina Keller, Wendell
Wendell Farm: Nina, Dan Keller and family on walk, Wendell
Wendell Farm: Stream in the woods, Wendell
Wendell Farm: Stream in woods, Wendell
Swaddled baby, Florida
Wendell Farm: Dan driving John Deere tractor, baling hay, Wendell(?)
Wendell Farm: Dan driving tractor, Wendell(?)
Wendell Farm: Dan on John Deere tractor, Wendell(?)
Wendell Farm: Dan on tractor, baling hay, Wendell(?)
Wendell Farm: Dan on tractor, Wendell(?)
Wendell Farm: Haying, Wendell(?)
Wendell Farm: Haying, Wendell(?)
Wendell Farm: Haying, Wendell(?)
Wendell Farm: Haying, Wendell(?)and once again and once again
Wendell Farm: Nina and unidentified woman, haying, Wendell(?)
Wendell Farm: Nina on hay truck, Wendell(?)
Wendell Farm: Truck loaded with hay bales, Wendell(?)
Wendell Farm: Two children on hay truck, Wendell(?)
Wendell Farm: Calf and German shepherd, Wendell(?)
Wendell Farm: Nina and Holstein calf, Wendell(?)
Wendell Farm: Nina and Holstein calf, Wendell(?)
Wendell Farm: Nina with Holstein calf, Wendell(?)
Wendell Farm: Rooster and hen
Wendell Farm: Rooster, Wendell(?)
Acquired from Dan and Nina Keller, 1999.
All images in the collection have been scanned and are available online through our digital repository, Credo.
Processed by Dex Haven, August 2010.
A part of the Famous Long Ago Archive, the Finestone Collection is one of several in the Department of Special Collections and University Archives that document the alternative communities and counterculture of New England.
)Cite as: Roy Finestone Photograph Collection (PH 005). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.