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EDITED BY GLENDYNE R. WERGLAND AND CHRISTIAN GOODWILLIE Shaker Brother Isaac Newton Youngs served his community at New Lebanon, New York, as a tailor, clockmaker, mapmaker, mechanic, inventor, musician and hymn writer, lens-grinder, stonecutter, button maker, bookkeeper, journalist, tinsmith, printer, pipe fitter, joiner, and blacksmith. He built a sundial, made tools including a weaver’s reed, turned clothespins, made knitting needles, and laid floors. He was also an architect and roofer. Few aspects of life at New Lebanon were outside of Youngs’s sphere of activity. Therefore, it is fitting that he undertook to write a comprehensive history of his community, systematically treating all facets of Shaker life and culture. Youngs’s A Concise View Of the Church of God and of Christ, On Earth is printed here for the first time in unabridged form. The editors have carefully transcribed and annotated the text, and have selected illustrations to complement Youngs’s descriptive text. Additionally, appendices supplying vital statistics, and information on the occupations of New Lebanon Shakers (many of which were compiled by Youngs) are included. Finally, a selection of Youngs’s poetry rounds out a rich portrait of the lives and talents of Brother Isaac Newton Youngs, and his beloved Shaker brethren and sisters, as they labored humbly in the creation of a unique world where work was worship, and heaven was all around them. Shaker Studies, no. 12. 277 pages, 2017. ISBN: 978-1-937370-22-0 Couper Press Paperback
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Honoring the 250th anniversary of the Shakers' arrival in America and their enduring influence, and the United States Postal Service releasing the Shaker Design commemorative stamp sheet. This spiral-bound 9" x 6" book is printed full-color and is a limited-edition printing designed and published by The United Society of Shakers. Includes never-before published historic photographs to illustrate the following chapters: -Official Stamp Brief, illustrated by Michael Graham with items from our collection -A Photoessay of Shaker Village, Sabbathday Lake, Maine by Michael Freeman (for 1987's Shaker Life, Work, and Art) -The Shakers and Their Post Office by Michael S. Graham, presenting research by Nancy L. George -A Brief History of the Post Office, Sabbathday Lake, Maine by Sister Eleanor M. Philbrook (for the Shaker Quarterly Spring 1964) 84 pages. Published July 2024, United Society of Shakers.
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Shaker Fancy Goods: Shaker Survival Through Sisterhood and Craft by Catherine Goldring Shaker Fancy Goods tells the story of the Shaker Sisters of the nineteenth and early twentieth century who responded to the economic perils of the Industrial Revolution by inventing a lucrative industry of their own—Fancy Goods, a Victorian term for small adorned household objects made by women for women. Thanks to their work ethic, business savvy, and creativity, the tireless Shaker Sisters turned a seemingly modest trade into the economic engine that sustained their communal way of life, just as the men were abandoning the sect for worldly employment. Relying on journals and church family records that give voice to the plainspoken accounts of the sisters themselves, the book traces the work they did to establish their principal revenue streams, from designing the products, to producing them by hand (and later by machine, when they could do so without compromising quality) to bringing their handcrafts to market. Photographs, painstakingly gathered over years of research from museums and private collections, present the best examples of these fancy goods. Fancy goods include the most modest and domestic of items, like the pen wipes that the Sisters shaped into objects such as dolls, mittens, and flowers; or the emeries, pincushions, and needle books lovingly made back in an era when more than a minimal competency in sewing was expected in women; to more substantial purchases like the Dorothy cloaks that were in demand among fashionable women of the world; or the heavy rib-knitted sweaters, cardigans, and pullovers that became popular items among college boys and adventurous women. Hardcover, 192 pages, color Downeast Books 2022 978-1684750238
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by Jane F. Crosthwaite In the mid-nineteenth century, both Shaker sacred texts and gift drawings were rich with theological arguments for the millennial vision of a heaven celebrating the Heavenly Father and Holy Mother Wisdom and of a communal society embodying its teachings in celibacy and peace. This richly-illustrated, full color volume, explores these Shaker visions of the divine. Jane Freeman Crosthwaite first encountered the Shakers when preparing a course on women in American religious history for a class at Mount Holyoke College. Mother Ann Lee, her teachings, her followers, and their musical, scriptural, and artistic ventures in theological expression became the focus of numerous seminars, lectures, and articles in the years to follow. Most notably, she and Christian Goodwillie edited Millennial Praises: A Shaker Hymnal which brought together the early, theologically-rich hymn texts with the scattered musical records. Now retired from teaching courses in religion and ethics (and delivering a number of baccalaureate addresses), Professor Crosthwaite has tucked away a teaching award from Mount Holyoke, inclusion in The Princeton Review’s 300 Outstanding Teachers, a Distinguished Alumni Award from Wake Forest University, and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, from Queens University of Charlotte. Shaker Studies, no. 18. 242 pages, 2022. Couper Press Paperback ISBN: 978-1-937370-30-5
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by Thomas Sakmyster This study—the first of of its kind— is a comprehensive examination of one of the most fascinating and colorful periods of American religious history: the Shakers’ Era of Manifestations. Based on a comprehensive reading of primary sources from Shaker communities in Ohio and Kentucky, this volume documents the spiritual highs and lows promulgated by Shaker visionists (spirit mediums) as their gifts impacted their communities in a variety of ways —both positive and negative. Visits from Mother Ann Lee, Holy Mother Wisdom, the Eternal Father, and the Holy Savior (Jesus) are detailed herein, as well as the establishment of outdoor worship sites—Feast Grounds—the reception of gift songs, new dances, and most intriguing of all, interactions with the departed of many races and nations, including an exceptional series of encounters with Indigenous American (Indian) spirits, historical figures like George Washington, and many Shaker founders. Thomas Sakmyster is an emeritus professor at the University of Cincinnati, where he was the Walter Langsam Professor of Modern European History. He has published widely on his areas of specialization, including modern East European history, the American Communist Party, world communism, and Shaker history. He is co-editor of The Shakers of White Water, 1823-1916 and author of The Last Shaker Apostate: Augustus Wager and Union Village, Ohio and articles on various themes in the history of the Shakers. Shaker Studies, no 19, 339 pages, 2024. ISBN: 978-1-937370-40-4 Couper Press Paperback
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The Shakers: From Mount Lebanon to the World Edited by Michael K. Komanecky, Contribution by Stephen J. Stein, Jerry V. Grant, Michael S. Graham and Brother Arnold Hadd An important book on Shaker art and life, offering a fresh look at a style that has endured through centuries and continues to inspire designers and homeowners. This book presents the elegantly austere and simply styled objects of the Shakers in the context of their faith and community at Mount Lebanon, N.Y., the spiritual and administrative center of the Shaker world. Outstanding examples of furniture, textiles, tools, and other objects-drawn primarily from the collection of Shaker Museum | Mount Lebanon-bring the fascinating world of the Shakers to life. The book also explores the equally compelling material culture of Sabbathday Lake in New Gloucester, Maine, the last active Shaker community, and how this group of Shakers continued to thrive while other Shaker communities elsewhere gradually disappeared. Accompanying a major exhibition organized by the Farnsworth Art Museum, this book presents a new and authentic perspective on the Shaker community. Specially commissioned photography, archival imagery, essays by prominent scholars, and a firsthand interview with a member of the Sabbathday Lake Shaker community deepen our understanding of this influential movement and style. About the Authors: Michael K. Komanecky is chief curator at the Farnsworth Art Museum, in Rockland, Maine. Stephen J. Stein is a historian of American religion at the University of Indiana. Jerry V. Grant is the director of research and library services at the Shaker Museum. Michael S. Graham is the director of the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village. Brother Arnold Hadd is a member of the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Community. Reviews "The fascinating story of the Shakers, and of their extraordinary furniture, is now told in The Shakers: From Mount Lebanon to the World. This book expands our knowledge by documenting other types of practical furniture, tools and even Shaker clothing...this beautiful and enthralling book opens a window onto the world of the Shakers..." -Wall Street Journal "...this enlightening, visually arresting...uplifting exhibition highlights American ingenuity, resilience and fearlessness; its can-do spirit and individualism. The show is a rich overview of the Shaker community; but it celebrates individual artists, expressing themselves through a plain-spoken poetry that is uniquely American." -Review of Exhibition by the Wall Street Journal "With simple objects, simple words, Farnsworth tells complex Shaker story...it is a great exhibition. It is beautifully installed and fascinating. The objects are important and compelling. The language behind the installation is the level-headed and eminently commonsensical voice of the Believers." -Review of Exhibition by the Portland Press Herald "...the show will present a comprehensive look at the religious, social and economic foundations of Shaker life, seen through Shaker-made objects…accompanied by a richly illustrated book…” –The Republican Journal Hardcover, 256 pages, full color, 9.5" x 11". Skira Rizzoli; First Edition edition (July 1, 2014)
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By Carol Medlicott and Christian Goodwillie The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, commonly called “Shakers,” created a thriving community in the Kentucky Bluegrass beginning soon after 1805. Located near the high palisades over the Kentucky River in Mercer County, Pleasant Hill prospered for over a century, an example of religious devotion made manifest in a setting of architectural and agricultural beauty. Shaker life at Pleasant Hill had many facets, both spiritual and temporal. This meticulously researched and richly illustrated volume presents a fresh exploration of many aspects of life at Pleasant Hill, ranging from the site’s natural setting and its historical and spiritual underpinnings, to the community’s complex ethnic, racial, and gender dynamics, and its plentiful domestic economy. Carol Medlicott is a historical geographer in the Department of History at Northern Kentucky University. Her work considers various aspects of the western Shaker experience and of early Shaker expansion, including settlement patterns, leadership, cultural interaction, cartography, and music. Her major books addressing the Shaker west are Issachar A Shaker's Journey (University Press of New England, 2013) and Richard McNemar and the Music of the Shaker West (co-authored with Christian Goodwillie, Kent State University Press, 2013). Christian Goodwillie is director and curator of special collections and archives in the Burke Library at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. He has served as the president of the Communal Studies Association and was honored with their Distinguished Scholar Award in 2021. Goodwillie has authored, co-authored, or edited, twelve books on the Shakers and Freemasonry, as well as publishing numerous articles. Both are good friends of Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village and have presented lectures with us. Publisher: Straggling Trembler Press (January 1, 2022) Perfect Paperback: 291 pages ISBN-13: 979-8987033401
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The A to Z of the Shakers by Stephen J. Paterwic The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, commonly known as the Shakers, followed Mother Ann Lee to the United States in 1774 when life in England became difficult. In the United States, they established several colonies whose governing principals included celibacy and agrarian communal living. Even at its peak, however, Shakerism claimed only about 4,500 members. Today, except for one active community in Sabbathday, Maine (that's us!), the great Shaker villages are diminished, but the Shakers left an enduring impact on the religion and culture of the United States. The A to Z of the Shakers relates the history of this fascinating group through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and over 200 cross-referenced dictionary entries on Shaker communities, industries, individual families, and important people. Every definition, biography, and point of history was submitted to the Shakers at Sabbathday Lake for their review before it was included for publication. As such, the voice of the contemporary Shakers is found in the dictionary, and they have given it their unequivocal endorsement. Paperback, 370 pages. Scarecrow Press
