In early 1825, after spending time at former President Jefferson's home in Virginia and Robert Owen's utopian settlement at New Harmony, Wright began developing her plans for an experimental farming community. By the summer of 1825 she was seeking advice from Lafayette and Jefferson, among others, to begin implementing her ideas. Owen and Lafayette later became members of her project's board of trustees; however, Jefferson declined to participate. Wright also published "A Plan for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery in the United States Without Danger of Loss to the Citizens of the South" (1825), a tract that she hoped would persuade the U.S. Congress to set aside federal land for the purpose of promoting emancipation. To demonstrate how slaves could be emancipated without their owners losing money, Wright established a model farming community in Tennessee where slaves could work to earn money to purchase their own freedom and received an education.