Tensions within the cooperative community led to a split, and Zeuch and Kate Richards and Frank P. O'Hare moved to Mena, Arkansas in December 1924,[citation needed] where the institution re-opened the next year.
[1] Commonwealth College aimed to recruit and train people to take the lead in social and economic reform and prepare them for unconventional roles in a new and different society.
[citation needed] Each student was required to donate 20 hours of labor per week either in the carpentry shop or in the fields, sometimes even driving a team of giant white Arkansas mules.
As an example, Roger Nash Baldwin, long-time director of the American Civil Liberties Union, was an active member of its advisory board.
[1] These allegations, although later proven untrue, were later amplified by local newspapers, who also accused the school of promoting countercultural practices such as free love, as well as Bolshevism.
[citation needed] The strike lasted for a short time until the communist students and a few others left the school en masse for Chicago.
[1] In one such event, Koch and a student travelled to Gilmore, Arkansas to collaborate with black organizers, but were interrupted, beat, and kidnapped by a white mob.
[citation needed] Education for racial tolerance was a key element of this campaign and Commonwealth developed theater and puppet programs for this purpose.
[citation needed] In response to Commonwealth's higher profile, right-wing pastors and legislators in Arkansas began targeting the school.
[1] In response, the STFU and the American Fund for Public Service launched a reluctant defense of Commonwealth College, although simultaneously attempting to persuade the school to become less radical.
[1] In 1938, the House Un-American Activities Committee was re-formed, and began targeting the American Civil Liberties Union, deeply impacting their ability to support Commonwealth.
[1] Weakened ties with traditional supporters and shaky finances led to proposals for merger with the Highlander Folk School or the operation of a drama center affiliated with the New Theatre League of New York City.
[1] On Sunday evenings, the college's faculty and visiting socialists gave lectures to Commonwealth students, which were also open to the local public.
Goodhue (mathematics and statistics), Covington Hall (labor history), Wilbur Clarke Benton (history and law), Kate Richards O'Hare, Bill Cunningham (journalism), John E. Kirkpatrick (author of the American College and Its Rulers, taught labor economics one term), Charlotte Koch (typing, executive secretary), Clay Fulks (law and agricultural problems), E.C.