Shakers, The: Hands to Work, Hearts to God (1998)

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Narrator: "the peculiar grace of a shaker chair

"is due to the fact that it was made by someone

capable of believing that an angel might come and sit on it."

Thomas merton.

Woman: "are you free as you are?

"Are you in any degree bound by your appetites, your passions

"your self-will?

"Are you at all in bondage to the opinion of your neighbors

"to the customs and notions of society

"however harmful or absurd?

These do not trammel the true shaker."

Eldress anna white.

[ c*ck crows]

man: ♪ I will bow and be simple

♪ I will bow and be free

♪ I will bow and be humble

♪ yea, bow like the willow tree. ♪

♪ I will bow and be simple

♪ I will bow and be free

♪ I will bow and be humble

♪ yea, bow like the willow tree. ♪

♪ I will bow, this is the token ♪

♪ I will wear the easy yoke

♪ I will bow and be broken

♪ yea, I'll fall upon the rock

♪ I will bow, this is the token ♪

♪ I will wear the easy yoke

♪ I will bow and be broken

♪ yea, I'll fall upon the rock. ♪

[ c*ck crows]

narrator: they called themselves

"the united society of believers in christ's second appearing"

but because of their ecstatic dancing

the world called them "shakers."

They were ordinary people who gave up everything--

homes, families and livelihoods--

to put into daily practice

what they called "authentic christianity."

Years before the emancipation of the sl*ves

and years before women began voting in america

the shakers were practicing

social, economic and spiritual equality for all members.

They believed in pacifism and feminism

freedom from prejudice, natural health and hygiene

and joyful personal worship.

The shakers were celibate.

They did not marry or bear children.

Yet they are one of the most enduring religious experiments

in american history.

Their radical views were so challenging

their way of life so appealing

that the "world's people," as they called outsiders

flocked to this new american religion.

They are, in many ways, the american dream.

They encompass all of the ideas of america--

its individualism as well as its collectivism-- in one area.

They experiment with it and they are very successful

and yet they are not successful.

In terms of lasting, they perhaps are not successful.

In terms of what they contribute

they will continually be successful, in my view.

Woman: "I saw a large tree

"every leaf of which shone with a brightness

"as made it appear like a burning torch.

"I knew that god had a chosen people in america--

"I saw them in a vision--

and when I met with them in america, I knew them."

Mother ann.

Narrator: shakerism was founded by a woman.

She was an illiterate english factory worker named ann lee.

Guided by divine visions and signs

she and eight followers came to america in

to spread her gospel in the freedom of the new world.

At their height in

more than , believers lived in communal villages

from new england to ohio and kentucky.

For a time, their experiment worked

serving as a model for the world's utopians

and producing some of the greatest architecture

in america.

Today, less than a dozen shakers

still live in two -year-old villages

in maine and new hampshire.

These are the last shakers.

My mother passed away when I was seven years old

and my father remarried

and my stepmother didn't like my little sister and I

because she had a boy and a girl of her own

so my father eventually heard of the shakers in maine

so he placed us there, and I was delighted.

You wouldn't believe that the sisters weren't relatives

because they loved you.

They'd make your life happy.

No matter where you went

you felt that love, you know

and you knew that whatever came up

you could go to any of them and get counsel and be loved.

Narrator: the shakers believed that ideas could take form

and that god dwelt in the details of their work

and the quality of their craftsmanship.

They aimed at nothing less

than the transformation of earth into heaven

so they strove for perfection in everything they did.

There was no ornament or wasted effort.

Craftsmen rarely signed their work.

It was simple

the way the gospel of christ was simple.

They were inventors.

They designed dozens of labor-saving machines

and designed and built all their own furniture.

They wove water-repellent cloth

made fabric that needed no ironing

and invented the common clothespin.

They turned the round broom into a flat one

and they were famous for their cloaks, oval boxes and chairs.

Woman: their work is wonderful.

It is an expression of them, really.

I think you have to see the shakers with their artifacts

to understand them

because the simplicity of the furniture

the craftsmanship, the beauty, the care with which it's done

all exemplify the way they live.

People look in upon us, and the first thing they say is

"they're the people that made nice furniture."

And I said, "I know, and I almost expect to be remembered

as a chair or a table."

But people that come in feeling that way

they forget what's behind that work.

There's the religion

that produced the good chairs and tables

because everything they put their hand to was well done.

Man: "if their principles

"are maintained and sustained by a practical life

"it is destined eventually

to overthrow all other religions."

Thomas jefferson.

Narrator: during her lifetime

no image of any kind was made of ann lee.

She was born on leap year, february ,

in manchester, england.

Even as a child

she was tormented by a sense of her own impurity.

Forced by her parents to marry

she bore four children, all of whom died.

Woman: "soon after I set out to travel in the way of god

"I labored a-nights

"continually crying for my own redemption

"and in the daytime

"I put my hands to work and my heart to god.

"My sufferings were so great

"that my flesh consumed upon my bones

and I became as helpless as an infant."

Narrator: she struggled alone for nine years

until in she had a dazzling vision of jesus.

Woman: "at last my soul broke forth to god

"which I felt as sensibly as ever a woman did a child

when she was delivered of it."

Narrator: her revelation was accepted by a small group of english quakers

known for their violent exercises of body and soul

as shaking quakers, or "shakers."

To them, ann lee became "mother ann."

But they were not welcome in england.

Man: america is the land of zero.

Start from zero.

We start from nothing.

That's the ideal of america.

We start only from our own reason

our own longing, our own search.

This is the nation that cut its ties with tradition.

It comes out of many impulses, some of them not so honorable

but among the honorable ones is:

"nobody is going to tell me how to relate to god.

I'm going to find it from inside myself."

This is the genius of protestantism

and, in part, the genius of america.

Narrator: on the eve of the revolutionary w*r

ann lee and her small group came to america.

They settled near albany, new york

in a frontier wilderness called niskayuna by the indians

and later known as watervliet.

As the w*r dragged on

a religious revival also swept the countryside.

Word spread of a stern and godly woman who walked with jesus

who knew each one's past and future

and who could save any who confessed their sins.

Woman: "I never made any profession to religion

"although I had many serious thoughts about my soul

"and at times I was afraid I should go to hell.

"In the spring, I heard of a strange people above albany

"who said they served god day and night

"and did not commit sin.

"When I arrived, I was led to mother ann.

"As I sat by the side of her

"one of her hands frequently touched my arm

"and I instantly felt the power of god

run through my whole body."

Hannah chauncy.

Woman: ♪ I hunger and thirst, I hunger and thirst ♪

♪ after true righteousness.

Narrator: the fearful and the curious began to come

drawn by mother ann's simple testimony.

Woman: "god's nature is dual-- male and female equally.

"Carnal affections must die

"that spiritual affections may live

"and all who will be true followers of christ

must lead a celibate life."

♪ ...my soul cannot rest

♪ an ocean I see...

"Do all your work as though you had , years to live

and as you would if you knew you must die tomorrow."

Whoever's a christian

and takes christ's teachings into their heart

christ is in their body

in spirit.

We live by christ's teachings

and so we know that if we love christ

and we're going by his teachings and his example

then christ is with us.

He has come on earth.

It took quite a lot of time to get people used to the idea

that we were simply christian people

just expressing our religious views

in a little different way from they did.

Narrator: mother ann traveled on foot across new england.

At every stop there were more converts

but also angry crowds

which accused her of treason and witchcraft.

At elijah wild's house in shirley, massachusetts

she was attacked by a mob

for stealing a wife away from her husband.

Man: "there's no fear that this or any other religious sect

"that is founded altogether on fanaticism and folly

will ever arrive at the smallest importance."

James fenimore cooper.

Narrator: on september , at niskayuna

a shaker convert named john hocknell

wrote that he saw mother ann wafted away on a golden chariot.

Weakened by years of persecution, ann lee died.

Her work was done.

She was years old.

Man: "the time has come

"for you to give up your selves and your all to god;

"to possess as though you possessed not.

"We shall have one meeting together

which will never break up."

Narrator: ann lee left a handful of inspired leaders

and they gave the shaker religion its form.

Two elders and two eldresses would govern each community

and a central ministry at mount lebanon, new york

would oversee the societies.

In , as a new united states of america

struggled to find its form

the first communal shaker building-- a meetinghouse--

was constructed.

It stood as an architectural expression of spiritual aims

and a model for ten identical buildings across new england.

Man: "ye shall come in and go out of this house

"with reverence and godly fear.

"All men shall come in and go out at the west doors

"and all women at the east doors.

"There shall be no whispering, talking or laughing

"for it was built to worship god in

and to repent in."

Woman: "the raising of the meetinghouse at harvard, massachusetts

"was accomplished in one night, that time being chosen

"so that the eyes of the world might not see the process

which was looked upon as a sacred rite."

Woman: "after I've done my work in this world

"there will be a great increase in the gospel.

"Souls will embrace it by hundreds and by thousands.

"You will see peaceable times, and you may worship god

under your own vine and fig trees."

Mother ann.

Narrator: they did come, by hundreds and by thousands

from alstead, new hampshire, and guilford, vermont

and leyden, massachusetts

from alfred, maine, and portland, connecticut

and pawtucket, rhode island.

They signed the covenant

entering into the shaker church.

Husbands and wives became brothers and sisters

in holy families.

Children went into their own order

and property went to the common good.

Many were attracted

by the power and sincerity of the new religion.

For others it was a difficult decision.

"We are the people," claimed the shakers

"who turned the world upside down."

Woman: "I was afraid it was the way of god

"and that I would have to embrace it

"or never find salvation.

"Many embraced the testimony during that summer

"and the more I saw, the more I became convicted

"that it was the work of god

and I felt a sting of conscience that I cannot well describe."

Sister hannah chauncy.

Well, I came to the shakers as a child, seven years old

and it took some little time for me to come to the place

where I grew this deep love for them.

But I almost did immediately, I loved them.

And there never came a place in my life

that it didn't mean a great deal more to me than anything else

because it wasn't the religion at that time--

it was the love for the people that I was with.

And I think that's where a great deal of shakerism starts

is a love for people

because you're drawn to the life they're living.

Woman: "one afternoon I was at a neighbor's house

"when two young women attired in shaker costumes

"entered the rear door.

"They said the shakers

"always lived according to their profession

"were honest and upright

"but they did not wish to live a celibate life any longer.

"A strange sensation seemed to creep over me

"and something like a voice said, 'why listen to them?

"'Go to the shakers.

See for yourself who and what they are.'"

Man: "the first people in america, and actually the world

"to create a society on the basis of common property

"are the so-called shakers.

"Although their religious views

"and especially the prohibition of marriage

"frightened many away

"they have nevertheless found a following

"and now have large communities

each to strong."

Friedrich engels.

Man: "no dutch town has a neater aspect

"no moravian hamlet a softer hush.

"Every building, whatever may be its use

"has something of the air of a chapel.

"The paint is all fresh, the planks are all bright

"the windows are all clean

"and everything in the hamlet looks and smells

"like household things

that have long been laid up in lavender and rose leaves."

Hepworth dixon.

Man: "they inform you that they wish to represent heaven on earth.

"Their vow is celibacy

"and they have everything in common.

"How they manage with their combs and toothbrushes

I did not presume to ask."

Archibald maxwell.

Man: "I arrived at their town on sunday, about :.

"When I got in view of their church, I heard a doleful noise.

"As I approached nearer,

"the sound broke with increasing strength on my ears.

"The air was filled with piercing shrieks, shouts

"and confused acclamations

"resembling the wild and maddened tenants of bedlam.

I was told that the shakers were at worship."

The richmond inquirer.

Woman: "they filed off in a double circle

"one circle going one way

"the other, two or three abreast laboring around this large hall

"knees bent, hands paddling like fins

"and voices chanting wild airs

like so many witches working over the cauldron."

Fanny appleton longfellow.

Woman: ♪ I never did believe

♪ that I ever could be saved

♪ without giving up all to god ♪

♪ I never did believe

♪ that I ever could be saved

♪ without giving up all to god ♪

♪ so I freely give the whole

♪ my body and my soul

♪ to the lord god, amen.

Narrator: the shakers believed

that dancing brought them closer to god.

But they only practiced

the impulsive, frenzied worship they were known for

during their first ten years.

After mother ann's death, it later evolved

into a rehearsed, orderly and patterned ritual.

♪ Let me have mother's gospel

♪ mother's soul-saving gospel

♪ that same life that she lived, that she taught in her day ♪

♪ free from all that is carnal

♪ breathing life, life eternal

♪ from the world, from the flesh ♪

♪ 'tis away, far away.

Woman: "sabbath.

"Public meeting as usual.

"The meetinghouse was very much crowded with believers

"and the world's people.

"It is judged there were of the world

"attended one meeting today.

We sang, we danced, we shouted."

Man: "the music was unlike anything I had ever heard--

"beautiful, impressive and deeply solemn.

"Their songs and hymns breathe a pure and christian spirit

"and their music captivates the ear

because of its severe simplicity and perfect melody."

Sister mildred: those songs have so many messages in them

and very often, if you can't express it yourself

the words of the songs bring it out.

To me, the songs have always been a great part of my faith.

I've found so many answers in the songs--

especially the old ones.

The little song I'm about to sing

was written by one of the shaker sisters

here in canterbury

and taught to me by sister annie baker

when I was eight years old.

♪ I want to be clean and holy all over ♪

♪ that mother's rich blessing my spirit may cover ♪

♪ I'll brush up my garments as clean as I can ♪

♪ so mother can own me, her white little lamb. ♪

Narrator: in their huge family dwellings, the sexes were kept apart.

Men lived on one side, women on the other

using separate doors and stairways at all times.

They were taught that to discipline the body

was to feed the spirit

so their daily life was governed by ritual.

They dressed the right side first

stepped right foot first on stairs

knelt with the right knee first

and harnessed the right-hand horse first.

They cut their bread and meat square.

Diagonal shortcuts were discouraged.

At day's end believers were told

to rest in the fear of god and lie straight.

Celibacy exists in every religious tradition

in one or another form, for short or long periods.

It certainly is one honorable way

of understanding commitment to god:

to sacrifice that sort of personal joy in a relationship

for the other.

But you have to bring in this question of energy--

where they get their energy from.

The energy of the shakers as I see it

is what's extraordinary; the creative energy.

And this must have come, to some extent

from the authentic sublimation of the sexual energy.

Narrator: the idea of celibacy

intrigued and threatened the world's people

but for the shakers

this sacrifice was the core of their struggle

to be closer to god.

Eldress soule: your mission may be to marry

and bring a new life into the world.

Our mission is to live the life of christ as near as we can

and do for all.

But we bless marriage

because if somebody didn't have little ones

we wouldn't have any shakers.

Woman: "the next opening of the gospel will be in the southwest.

"It will be at a great distance

and there will be a great work of god."

Mother ann.

Narrator: in , kentucky was the frontier--

"a state full of unbounded optimism," one observer wrote

which relegated religion to a place of minor importance.

Yet within a year

a handful of preachers ignited a religious revival

that turned kentucky into a mass camp meeting.

Settlers congregated under trees, in fields and tents

in primitive churches made of timber and mud.

Following the pattern back east

the shakers brought their mission to the frontier

in the heat of a religious revival.

In

while lewis and clark were exploring the great northwest

the mount lebanon ministry sent three believers to kentucky

to gather in the restless.

The men traveled , miles on foot

in two months and days.

Man: "like god's hunters

"we went through this wild, wooden world

"hunting up every soul that god had been preparing

"for eternal life.

"The people sucked in our light

"as greedily as ever an ox drank water

"and all wondered where they had been

and not seen these things before."

Brother issachar bates.

Narrator: on a bluegrass hill near the kentucky river

converts signed the covenant

and established a village called pleasant hill.

The river connected the shakers to markets

down the ohio and mississippi.

From the river's palisades

came the limestone for their buildings.

The material was unfamiliar to them

and the first limestone building, built in

didn't satisfy them.

But in , after studying with local craftsmen

the shakers built a second, identical limestone building.

This time it was flawless.

By the time the erie canal opened in

there were two shaker societies in kentucky

four in ohio, another in indiana.

The western shakers had

a particularly progressive shaker spirit.

They were the first shakers to bind books.

They enjoyed photography.

They raised silkworms, wove and wore silk.

Pleasant hill was the first kentucky settlement

with running water.

They distilled whiskey for sale.

For a time, one society ran a hotel.

And they were especially renowned

for their wild-eyed strain of shorthorn cattle.

But indiana was the farthest west the shakers got.

The frontier moved on.

[ Bell ringing]

woman: "we believed we were debtors to god

"in relation to each other and to all men

"to improve our time and talents in this life

in that manner in which we might be most useful."

Narrator: the day of work began at the sound of a bell--

: a.m. In summer, : in winter.

Minutes after rising

and kneeling for a moment of silent prayer

the brethren were off to their morning chores

as the sisters moved through the dwelling

putting the rooms in order.

By breakfast, fires were going, cows milked and fed

and preparations for the day's work were complete.

Eldress soule: we little girls would get up and dress

and get ready to go to breakfast.

And of course, the brethren

they'd get a whole day's work done before breakfast

so they were ready for a nice, good breakfast--

apple pie in the morning, always.

So they were really hungry.

You know, our work was rotated by the month

and so we did not work at one task all the time.

It gave us opportunity to learn every trade

and to be able to change with somebody

if they were not able to continue doing that.

Narrator: work was worship with the shakers-- an act of piety.

It was the practical side of religion.

It provided a specific daily opportunity to serve god

by caring for what they did.

Daily labors aimed not for products or profit

but for perfection.

All labor was consecrated, and even the most menial tasks

were dignified in the service of god.

Man: "a man can show his religion as much in measuring onions

as he can in singing 'glory hallelujah.'"

Narrator: the shakers were farmers and carpenters

and printers and beekeepers.

They were bakers, merchants, chemists and architects.

Everybody worked, and everybody worked hard.

They carded and spun wool and cotton, and hatcheled flax.

On their shaker looms they wove handkerchiefs

towels, carpets and spreads

plus fabric for their own needs.

They made pipes, pins, nails, brooms and mops

buttons and buckles and garden hoes.

They sold wines, sauces, jellies

pickles and ketchup and sausage

medicines and herbal remedies

and, for a time, most of the opium used in america.

When the shakers began selling garden seed

packaged in paper bags that were cut, folded, pasted and printed

in their own shops

farmers across the nation ordered them by the millions.

And the invention of the circular saw

is credited to a shaker sister.

You see, the shakers, being inventors in their own right

they wanted to introduce into the family

anything that would make the work lighter

or to add pleasure

because the experience of being a shaker

is not only a home to live in

it gives them a wonderful sense of having

everything to make life joyous

and religion should be anyway a joyous experience for people.

Man: "the beautiful, as you call it, is absurd and abnormal.

"It has no business with us.

"Order is heaven's first law.

There is not in the whole village one line of ornament."

Anything really new in thought and in material life

has to have its source in something

that you have to call spiritual.

Nobody can be really creative

unless there's something spiritual behind it

whether you... Whether it goes by that name or not.

I mean, who invented the house

or who invented any of the things we have?

Probably someone engaged in some kind of search.

Narrator: they had an instinct for what worked, what was right.

Shaker buildings were designed with deliberate simplicity.

In the round stone barn at hancock, massachusetts

one brother could walk around its center

and feed an entire herd in a few short steps.

It was built into a slope

and had ground-level doors on all three stories.

The hay was hauled in at the top

and pitched down to the stalls below.

The shakers never saw any sense in fighting against gravity.

With evening chores done

believers returned to their rooms

for half an hour of meditation.

Evening assembly began at the sound of another bell.

They met sometimes for worship, sometimes for singing

and sometimes to socialize.

Woman: "march .

"This month a gift was announced

"for everyone to make a review of his life.

"For three weeks it was almost a perpetual sabbath.

"Temporal duties, except those that were absolutely necessary

"were mostly laid aside.

Meetings were held at all hours."

Sister marcia hastings.

Woman: "december .

"We k*lled chickens for the market this a.m.

"Some of the indian spirits make themselves known

and speak in meeting this evening."

Man: "sabbath, december , .

"We had a very good meeting.

In meeting about hours."

Woman: "august .

"It is a general time of health and prosperity

in the different societies."

Narrator: years after mother ann's arrival in america

shaker communities were flourishing

and nearly , believers lived in peaceful isolation

unimpeded by the world.

Man: "a tree has its wants and wishes

"and a man should study them as a teacher watches a child

"to see what he can do.

"If you love the plant and take heed of what it likes

you will be repaid by it."

Elder frederick evans.

Narrator: at one time, the shakers at canterbury discovered

that some of their poorer neighbors

were stealing vegetables from the gardens at night.

In response, they planted extra crops.

Woman: "we plant some for the shakers

"some for the thieves and some for the crows.

Thieves and crows have to eat, too."

It was common practice for people to appear in the fall

when the winter season was about to come

and ask to be taken in

and they would profess

that they were thinking of joining the shakers.

When spring came, off they'd be.

And the shakers knew this perfectly well

and they labeled them "winter shakers"

but they never refused to take them in.

Man: "on the whole, they lead a good and comfortable life

"and if it were not for their ridiculous ceremonies

"a man could not do a wiser thing than to join them.

"I spoke to them

"about becoming a member of their society

but have come to no decision on that point."

Nathaniel hawthorne.

Woman: "today we purchased jonas crutcher

"a colored man who had been a believer about years.

"We have bought him to prevent his being sold south.

He was accepted on equal terms."

Man: "in the shakers, I find one peace of belief

"in the doctrine that encourages them to open their door

"to every wayfaring man who proposes to come among them.

"They do not receive him, and they do not reject him

"for they say the spirit will presently manifest

"to the man himself and to the society

"whether he belongs among them.

"And not in vain have they drudged in their fields

"and shuffled in their bruin dance

if they have truly learned this much wisdom."

Ralph waldo emerson.

Man: "it is well to have one's name such a synonym for honesty

"that anything called by it may be bought and sold

with perfect confidence."

William dean howells, atlantic monthly.

Man: "it is no more than mere justice

"to say that we are indebted to the shakers

"more than to any or all other social architects

"of modern times.

"Their success has been the solid capital

"that has upheld all the paper theories

and counteracted the failures."

John humphrey noyes.

Narrator: in the decade of the s

no less than , americans

joined scores of different utopian experiments.

It was the age of the mormons and the oneidans

the transcendentalists at brook farm

the intellectual communities like new harmony

religious sects like aurora, amana, skaneateles

the harmony society, bishop hill and the icarians.

Out of this multitude of experiments

the shakers were the oldest and still seemed the soundest.

Man: "I do not see how it is possible in the nature of things

"for any true religion to continue long

"for religion must necessarily produce industry and frugality

"and this cannot but produce riches.

"But as riches increase, so will love of the world

in all its branches."

John wesley.

Narrator: the world which had finally accepted the shakers

began to draw them away.

Some found celibacy too great a sacrifice.

Others simply could not sustain their faith.

Hervey elkins left after years

at enfield, new hampshire

because he wished for an "inexpressible something

which was not there to be found."

A few who left took the sacred rituals to the marketplace.

A popular act at the baltimore museum

was the performance of original dances by former members.

Woman: "to a man or a woman

"not thoroughly and earnestly in love with an ascetic life

"and deeply disgusted with the world

"shakerism would be unendurable.

It is not a comfortable place for hypocrites or pretenders."

Man: "pleasant hill, kentucky, september , .

"This evening polly hooser committed suicide

"by hanging herself.

"She committed the act in the sisters' shop

"above the kitchen at the west family.

"Polly was years of age

"a large, likely woman, and naturally agreeable and good

but she spoiled it all."

Man: "divine inspiration is a voice

"that speaks from the spirit world to the soul of man.

"If he has any interest beyond this world

"he should keep himself in a position to hear that voice

understand its language and bow to its requirements."

Narrator: by the s, a whole generation of shakers

had grown up never knowing mother ann.

Material success had introduced a certain worldliness

breeding some impatience with traditional discipline

especially among the young.

But then at watervliet

the spirit of mother ann visited four young girls

inaugurating a remarkable period of spiritualism

known as "mother ann's work."

Woman: "I saw the whole tree as the angel held it before me

"as distinctly as I ever saw a natural tree.

"I felt very cautious when I took hold of it

"lest the blaze should touch my hand.

"Seen and received by hannah cohoon

"in the city of peace

"sabbath, october , tenth hour a.m., .

Painted by the same hand."

Narrator: it had all begun with mother ann's first vision of jesus.

But never before had the inspiration been so direct

or so varied.

The spirits of departed shakers and others--

george washington, christopher columbus

and the indian chief tecumseh--

spoke through mediums.

Spirit drawings filled with messages were painted

contrary to the long-standing order against ornament.

The message was plain:

believers had grown forgetful of the call to simplicity.

Through symbols

they were encouraged to return to a life of righteousness.

Children: ♪ 'tis a gift to be simple

♪ 'tis a gift to be free

♪ 'tis a gift to come round where we ought to be... ♪

Narrator: from the beginning

the shakers took in orphans, the children of adult converts

giving them a superb education

the finest health care

the devoted attention of spiritual parents

and an opportunity, at

to sign the covenant and become a true shaker.

Many left, but a good number stayed.

To me, a child is brought in as a little girl

and she has no idea what the outside world is like

and she gets curious.

I never blamed them

because I know I'm curious myself.

Woman: "february , sabbath, .

"At this time our minds are so much carried off

"with wars and rumors of w*r

that our spiritual travel is greatly impeded."

Narrator: the civil w*r tested the shakers' dedication

to the ideal of pacifism.

When the draft law of required all young men to enlist

elder frederic evans of mount lebanon

pleaded the case of shaker pacifism with president lincoln.

"You ought to be made to fight," lincoln told him.

"We need such men as you."

But he granted the shakers an exemption from military service

making them among the first conscientious objectors.

Frederic evans was perhaps

the most visible and outspoken shaker who ever lived.

He was part of a new breed of more worldly leadership.

Unlike most of his predecessors

he had read, traveled and lectured on social reform.

No vision of ann lee or jesus

or angels in heaven had convinced him to join.

It was a mental phenomenon, he said, which illuminated him.

Man: "I could see a chain of problems

"as in a book all spread out before me

"starting from a fact which I did believe

"and leading me step by step mathematically

"to a given conclusion which I had not hitherto believed.

"I then discovered

"I had powers within me that I knew not of.

I was reasoning as I never before reasoned."

Elder frederic evans.

Narrator: eldress anna white was also a leader

not only among shakers, but among american progressives.

Under her guidance, shakers held a peace conference

with delegates from around the world.

They called for reduced arms and taxes

an international police force and a world court.

Anna white took the resolutions to washington

where she was received by president theodore roosevelt.

It was said that roosevelt's eyes never wavered

from anna's piercing look.

It was, as one observer noted, "turk meets turk."

Eldress anna white, many years ago

asked this question:

"as the ancients of the city pass away

who will keep the testimony burning bright?"

Which was, indeed, a very serious question.

Who will keep the shaker light burning bright and clear

as the years go on?

Narrator: all of the societies survived the civil w*r

but the changes in america which followed--

industrialization and the growth of cities

and particularly the loss of the frontier--

intensified the steady decline in industries and membership

from which they never recovered.

Man: "we americans love liberty too much

"to join such societies as these.

"What are they but pure despotism

"where all are subject to the will of one man

"a few leaders, or even a woman?

"Are not these places opposed to science and all improvements?

"We americans are a go-ahead people

not to be confined anywhere or stopped by anything."

John finch.

Woman: "it is the understanding here

"that the society is going down gradually

"on the male side of the house.

"The older brethren are dying off rapidly

"and the younger ones are running off more rapidly.

"We cannot prevent a spirit of discouragement

from getting in among the people."

Man: "our family is growing less fast.

"More laborers are needed.

"Send them, lord, we pray.

Thou alone canst help us."

Olive hayden austin: one evening, I had fallen asleep

and I wakened

with almost seeming like a voice speaking to me

and the words came to me from the book of proverbs:

"trust in the lord with all thine heart

"and lean unto thine own understanding.

"In all thy ways acknowledge him

and he shall direct thy paths."

And this seemed to me like a call

that as I was feeling then that it was right for me to leave.

My work had been finished there

as long as all my companions had left.

And seemingly, it was the thing for me to do

because without the young people there's absolutely no hopes.

Man: "we used to have more looms than now

"but cloth is sold so cheaply that we gradually began to buy.

"It is a mistake.

"We buy more cheaply than we can make

but our homemade cloth is much better than we can buy."

When mass production came along

when the industrial revolution really got going

the shakers couldn't compete, even in the simple ways

in selling their goods to the world.

And after the civil w*r

there were many opportunities in the business world

so the young men who were shakers

were tempted to leave, and did leave.

They didn't need to leave because they wasn't loved

because they were loved.

It's just a young idea of "I'd like to know more."

But no matter how many young people have left

they've made better men and women

and they all will always admit that:

"I couldn't put up with this neighbor

if I hadn't had my shaker bringing-up."

Woman: "december .

"I'm sorry to hear of the loss of groveland

"and to hear that north union must be broken up.

"The question very naturally arises:

which society next?"

Man: "august .

"The apple crop at harvard failed.

"We have leased our rural home to dr. Watkins

"for a sanitarium

and he is now putting in the necessary appliances."

Narrator: the th-century shakers grew flowers, hung pictures

read newspapers and books on travel, history and science.

Organs and even saxophones were introduced into their music.

Door sheds became porches.

Roof lines sprouted victorian carvings

and linoleum and oriental carpets

covered polished floors.

Man: "saints are as deserving

of the good things of this world as sinners."

Elder frederic evans.

Woman: ".

The society at shirley, massachusetts-- closed."

Woman: ".

"Watervliet, ohio

and pleasant hill, kentucky-- closed."

Man: ", union village, ohio-- closed."

Woman: ", enfield, connecticut-- closed."

Man: ", harvard, massachusetts-- closed."

Woman: ", south union, kentucky-- closed."

Man: ", enfield, new hampshire-- closed."

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I would like to have the societies all living

and I would go around visiting them.

You go in one society

and if you go to another, you feel right at home.

The mannerisms are the same and the love is the same.

Eldress lindsay: mother ann prophesied that they would get down

to as many as a child could count on one hand

and there would be a revival.

So, it started in with nonbelievers in the beginning

so it could again.

Sister barker: I don't think it will ever die.

Like everything, it has its periods of strength and weakness

but I have not the least doubt the shakers will ever die.

This is god's work.

What could bring it to an end?

Nothing that a human being, that mortals do.

Man: and it has a nice tape seat

and a beautiful color.

How much for it, please?

Start me off at .

$ To start it, I've got , .

, , Someone.

, Where?

, ?

, Eight?

Eight I have, to nine?

Nine, and ten.

Ten and , I've got $, even, to .

, Once, , twice

and third and final call.

It's over here, it's yours.

Helen upton: everything they did was imbued with religion

because everything must be perfectly done

and you didn't have to get so many pieces done per hour

but it all had to be perfectly done.

And it does extend to you as you look at it

the sense of serenity

and almost makes you feel

that, well, you couldn't do what they do

but whatever you do should be as well done as possible.

Everything authentically christian

is rooted in the fact

that I wish to be connected to god, and I see that I'm not

and therefore, this produces a kind of fire

a kind of yearning

and that is the core of everything real

that would happen in a spiritual life.

How they managed to hold that together for so long

must have a lot to do with the communal relationships;

with the crafts;

it all came together

and produced a terrific energy that kept going for a long time.

So many people have asked me

if I was glad I made this life choice.

I couldn't have wanted anything more

because I have always tried to do it thoroughly.

I made up my mind long ago what I wanted to do

and I never have changed my mind from it.

It doesn't mean that things have always been easy.

They haven't.

But I did have my mind made clear to me

that that was the work I wanted to be in

and nothing would deter me from it.

I would like to be remembered by the world

that I really accepted the principles of the shaker church

and lived by them.

It's one thing to talk about them

one thing to read your bible, but another thing to live it.

And I would like to be remembered as a true shaker.

The impression people give to us

that we know that we're giving them a feeling

that they've never experienced.

They feel love and the influence

when they step here into this village.

This particular lady came into the front hall and she said:

"when I came up the road and saw the white buildings

it was just like a blanket of blessing that went around me."

Very proud of my heritage

and I'm so glad to share

what we've had and what we've experienced

with all that come in our presence.

It makes it nice.

Do you want another one?

Man: sure.

♪ Oh, my sweet shaker home

♪ oh, my sweet shaker home

♪ 'tis my joy, 'tis my eternal song ♪

♪ here in straight paths I'm led ♪

♪ and with purity fed

♪ oh, there's no place like my shaker home. ♪