 From 1924 Toomer had been deeply involved in the Gurdjieff movement in the United States.To test Gurdjieffian ideas of harmonious living, in 1931 Latimer and Toomer, with six other unmarried people, moved to the Witte farm near Briggsville, Wisconsin.The goal was, in Toomer's words, 
"to eradicate the false veneer of civilization, with its unnatural inhibition, its selfishness, petty meanness and unnatural behavior...