Shaker Pedia Difference between revisions of "Main Page"
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Revision as of 14:49, 21 May 2013
Contents
Who are the Shakers ?
The Shakers, a Protestant religious denomination officially called The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, originated in Manchester, England in 1747, and grew through the 1800's to 26 communities, with a peak of between 4,000 and 5,000 members in the 1860's, fading to only a final few by 2000.
Why are the Shakers interesting ?
Imagine a group of 100-300 people doing nothing but working and praying. Their motto is "Hand to Work, Hearts to God". Now, image that group being mainly farmers or doing small crafts, amidst the family farms in (mostly) New England in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Their relative wealth and productivity was incredible. Add to this, their contemplative nature, as such they wrote extensive journals about their activities and interactions with the "world's people". Multiply that by 16 communities they settled from Maine to Kentucky, even as far south as Georgia and Florida (for a short time).
As a result of this, they left an amazing trail of words and inventions, arts and crafts of various sorts, had interesting impacts on the law where they lived, build large farms and dwelling places. For those whose interest they catch, there are many facets to explore. We will try to share some of our explorations into the Shaker's history, past and present, with this web site.
What is this ?
Shakerpedia is a place where those interested in the Shakers can find and share information about the various aspects of Shaker life, we will be adding information from our collections and pointing to other Shaker resources. We will also be inviting various Shaker scholars and enthusiasts to expand the content.
So check back as Shakerpedia grows.
Our and others Shaker Sites
| shakertown.net | shakerstudies.info |
| Shaker's on Wikipedia | Yearly Seminar and Lectures Bibliography |