Arthurdale was undertaken by the short-lived Subsistence Homesteads Division and with the personal involvement of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who used her influence to win government approval for the scheme.

The experiment failed through a clash of ideologies, between a strong emphasis on accommodating those most in need yet also having qualifications to ensure that the community would be self-governed in a professional manner.

The entrepreneurial community spirit never took hold, and the project is generally remembered as a classic failure, though some of its original residents continued to defend its principles.

[3] She intervened with Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes and with others to ensure that the Arthurdale homes were built with modern necessities such as insulation and indoor plumbing.

[4] For some time she acted in the capacity of a manager for Arthurdale, contacting people who could help bring jobs to the community, raising money and awareness, even monitoring the budgets with a close eye.

[6] While Eleanor Roosevelt saw Arthurdale as an exciting new chance for the government to provide destitute citizens with the foundation for successful, self-sufficient lives, the project soon faltered on budgetary and political grounds.

Conservatives condemned it as socialist and a "communist plot," while Democratic members of Congress opposed government competition with private enterprise.

[7] Thomas Schall, a US Senator from Minnesota, accused Roosevelt of having her name autographed on furniture produced by the Arthurdale collective, which was then sold for five times the normal price.

Arthurdale was not to be a "community of saints, but neither did the University committee feel justified in offering the opportunity to persons whose lack of moral character was likely to jeopardize their ability to contribute to the venture."

In addition to knowing how to farm, homesteaders had to be physically fit, have a certain education and intelligence level, and demonstrate the potential to succeed at Arthurdale.

By the late 1930s, Arthurdale had lost support in much of Washington, and even though Roosevelt had championed the project, she could not dissuade Congress and the president's cabinet from abandoning it.

[19] However, Roosevelt personally considered the project a success, later speaking of the many improvements she saw in people's lives there and stating, "I don't know whether you think that is worth half a million dollars.

One original resident, Glenna Williams, recalled in 1984 during a fiftieth-anniversary celebration "I can't see how some people call Arthurdale a failure.