The Oneida Community was a religious commune that believed Jesus' Second Coming had already happened, so they were free to live without sin and delve into the pleasures of the world. They practiced things like 'Free Love' and 'Communalism' [what's mine is yours].
While researching the connection to Whitman, the only physical documents I can find that simultaneously mention both the community or the founder and Whitman are accounts of Whitman and friends of the community, or a reference to the Oneida Circular, their newspaper, that one of Whitman's poems must have been in. So in drawing my own connections, I would have to say that the Oneida Community must have been at the very least a contemplation of Whitman for he was a poet of the modern times, and one cannot ignore something such as the Oneida Community in that it was a popular ideology and practice of Whitman's times. I believe that they had similar beliefs, equality for all, everything 'belonging' or being presentable for everyone. Certainly, Whitman practiced free sex.
I also think of Whitman's religious affiliations. He did not commit to any certain practice, but he had family ties in the Quaker community. Although they weren't as free spirited as what the Oneida Community sounds like, they did practice equality for women and revolve around a sort of utopian environment as well.
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