Shaker Studies: Guide to Museums and Libraries for Shaker Research

NEW ENGLAND

Connecticut

Connecticut State Library, Hartford, CT

• Search the Catalog at the Connecticut State Library Enfield Special Collection

Wadworth Athenaeum, Hartford, CT

• View the Shaker Collection at the Wadsworth Athenaeum
  (Search “Shakers” for best results.)

Maine

Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, Sabbathday Lake, ME

• Guide to the Collection at the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Library
  (Both the archive for the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Community and a nationally known center of primary and secondary materials by and about the Shakers.)

Massachusetts

American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA

• Search the General Catalog at the American Antiquarian Society
  (includes both materials in the stacks and Early American Imprints on microform.)

Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield, MA

• Search the Catalog at the Berkshire Athenaeum

Boston Public Library, Boston, MA

• Search the Catalog at the Boston Public Library
  (The BPL holds the hard-to-find Western Reserve Historical Society Shaker Collection on microfilm (121 rolls). Click the “Microform” button on the left to see a complete listing. Appears to be available on interlibrary loan.)

Fruitlands Museum, Harvard, MA

• Finding Aid to the Shaker Manuscript Collection of Fruitlands Museum
  (original material primarily from the Shaker villages at Harvard, MA and Shirley, MA.)
• Finding Aid to the Clara Endicott Sears Collection, 1726-1977 at Fruitlands Museum
  (contains Shaker items of interest, including correspondence and photographs.)

Hancock Shaker Village, Pittsfield, MA

• Guide to Bound Shaker Manuscripts in the Library at Hancock Shaker Village
• Guide to Unbound Shaker Manuscripts in the Library at Hancock Shaker Village
• Guide to Printed Shaker Works in the Library at Hancock Shaker Village
• Guide to Printed Shaker Ephemera in the Library at Hancock Shaker Village
• Guide to Shaker-owned Books in the Library at Hancock Shaker Village
• Search the Online Collection at Hancock Shaker Village
• Search the Online Database of Hancock Shakers
  (includes names of Shakers who lived at Hancock between the early 1780s and 1960.)

Williams College Library, Williamstown, MA

• Guide to the Shaker Collection at Williams College Library
  (includes account books, journals and photographs, and is especially strong in spirit communications and hymnals. Search using the “Container Inventory” button.)
• Digital Highlights from the Shaker Collection
  (includes stereoviews and ephemera.)
• View Manuscript Hymnals in the Shaker Collection
  (an important digital collection of twenty 19th-century Shaker manuscript hymnals.)

New Hampshire

Canterbury Shaker Village, Canterbury, NH

• Finding Aid to the Roger Lee Hall Collection of Shaker Music
• Search the Online Collection at Canterbury Shaker Village

Dartmouth College Library, Hanover, NH

• Finding Aid to the Nellie Pierce Collection, 1761-1975 at Dartmouth College Library
  (69 boxes of manuscripts, ephemera, and records concerning the Enfield Shakers and the Town of Enfield, NH collected by Nellie Pierce (1895-1975), former Enfield town librarian.)
• Search the Shaker Catalog at the Rauner Special Collections Library

Enfield Shaker Museum, Enfield, NH

• Guide to Online Resources for Shaker Research
  Read books and articles, browse historic photographs, and watch contemporary videos, all of which will enable you to do your Shaker research remotely.
• Enfield Shaker Genealogy
  If you believe that you have relative who lived at Enfield Shaker Village, submit specific family history questions online.
• Search the Online Collection at Enfield Shaker Museum

Hood Museum, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH

• Search Shaker Objects in the Collection at the Hood Museum
  (the collection is substantial, but not all items are photographed.)

New Hampshire Historical Society, Concord, NH

• Search the Online Shaker Collection at New Hampshire Historical Society

University of New Hampshire Library, Durham, NH

• Finding Aid to Shaker Manuscripts and Collections at the UNH Library
  (of particular interest is the music book written by Enfield, NH Elder James Russell, 1874-1888 that includes his 12-section lesson on the principles of music.)
• Guide to the Eleanor Parmenter Churchill Papers, 1924-1992
  (materials and photographs relating to Churchill’s childhood with the Canterbury Shakers (1926-1939) and her correspondence with Shaker sisters in the community throughout her life.)
• Guide to the David R. Proper Shaker Manuscript Collection, 1784-1993

OTHER STATES

Delaware

Winterthur Library, Winterthur, DE

• Annotated Guide to the Edward Deming Andrews Shaker Collection
• Guide to Artifacts and Printed Ephemera in the Andrews Shaker Collection
• Guide to Media Materials in the Andrews Shaker Collection
• Guide to Photographs and Postcards in the Andrews Shaker Collection
• Search the Shaker Catalog in the Winterthur Library
• Search the Online Collection of Shaker Photographs and Postcards

District of Columbia

Library of Congress, Washington, DC

• Finding Aid to Shaker Manuscripts and Papers at the Library of Congress
  (Note contents list on right side of screen.)
• Search Shaker Historic American Building Survey (HABS) Drawings and Photographs

Kentucky

Filson Club Historical Society, Louisville, KY

• Guide to the Collections at the Filson Club Historical Society
  (preserving the history of the Kentucky Shaker communities)

Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Harrodsburg, KY

• Visit the Library at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill
• Search the Online Collection at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill

South Union Shaker Village, Auburn, KY

• Visit the Library at South Union Shaker Village

University of Kentucky Library, Lexington, KY

• Finding Aid to Shaker Papers, 1769-1893 in the University of Kentucky Library
  (records pertaining to the Shaker communities at Pleasant Hill and South Union, KY)

• Search the Shaker Catalog at the Special Collections Research Center

Western Kentucky University Library, Bowling Green, KY

• Finding Aid to the Shaker Manuscript Collection at Western Kentucky University Library
  (primary focus is on the Shaker community at South Union, KY)

Michigan

The Henry Ford, Dearborn, MI

• View the Shaker Collection at The Henry Ford
  (of special note are the three very rare Shaker clocks.)

New York

Hamilton College Library, Clinton, NY

• Description of the Shaker Collection at Hamilton College Library
  An important collection of published and manuscript materials relating to American communal societies from the 18th through the late-20th century. Their collection of Shaker source material is very fine.
• Finding Aid to Shaker Manuscripts in the Shaker Collection at Hamilton College Library
• Search The Shaker Manifesto (1871-1899)
  (features the entire run of this periodical: 16 volumes, 349 issues, and 8,136 pages.)

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

• Search Shaker Objects in the Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

New York Public Library, New York, NY

• Shakers and Shakerism: A Guide to the Collections at the New York Public Library
• Overview of the Shaker Manuscript Collection, 1780-1952 at the New York Public Library
  (includes all Shaker communities in the United States, but chiefly those in New Lebanon and Watervliet, NY. Search using the “Detailed Decription” tab.)

New York State Library, Albany, NY

• Finding Aid to the Shaker Collection, 1784-1992 at the New York State Libary
  (57 boxes of manuscripts and printed material, primarily from Watervliet, New Lebanon, and Groveland, NY; also Harvard, MA. A substantial number of manuscripts and publications were donated about 1913 by Eldress M. Catherine Allen of Mt. Lebanon Church Family in her capacity as Eldress of the Lead Ministry of the United Society of Believers (Shakers). Another substantial donation was made in 1931 by Eldress Anna Case of the Mt. Lebanon South Family of Shakers.)
• The J. E. West Collection of New Lebanon Shaker Photographs, 1870-1910
  (consists of 68 images officially commissioned by the Shaker community in 1875)

Shaker Museum | Mount Lebanon, Mount Lebanon, NY

• Visit the Emma B. King Library
  (manuscript collection contains 40 linear feet of manuscripts including over 150 diaries and journals, 45 covenants from 12 communities, 50 volumes of music, 150 volumes of inspired visions in addition to financial records, deeds, maps, and legal records, theological essays and correspondence. Library collection includes 300 Shaker publications, 500 tracts and catalogues, 23,000 labels, maps, broadsides and serials. Photograph collection includes over 3,000 cabinet photos, carte d’visite, stereoviews, postcards and snapshots from c. 1869 to the present, and including material from all Shaker sites.)
• Search the Online Collection at the Shaker Museum | Mount Lebanon
• Read the Blog from the Shaker Museum | Mount Lebanon
  (written primarily by Shaker scholar Jerry Grant every few weeks since April 2016, the blog both highlights items in the Shaker Museum’s vast collection and discusses many facets of Shaker life and belief.)

North Carolina

University of North Carolina Library, Chapel Hill, NC

• Guide to Shaker Collection, 1769-1893 at the University of North Carolina Library
  (original records, mostly 1809-1843, from the Shaker community at South Union, KY.)

Ohio

Dayton Metro Library, Dayton, OH

• Guide to the Shaker Manuscript and Book Collection at the Dayton Metro Library
  (primary focus on Whitewater Shaker community at New Haven [Hamilton County])

Ohio History Connection, Columbus, OH

• Index to Ohio History, the journal of the Ohio Historical Society, 1887-2004
  (Search “Shaker” for best results.)

Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, OH

• Finding Aid to Shaker Manuscripts at the Western Reserve Historical Society
  (392 boxes, consisting of covenants, laws, legal records, land records, financial records, membership records, correspondence, diaries, journals, testimonies, biographies, addresses, sermons, essays, inspired writings and drawings (also known as spirit drawings), other writings, music, poetry, recipes, prescriptions, school books, instructional texts, scrapbooks, photographs, and miscellaneous material relating to 20 Shaker communities located in 10 eastern States. Available on 121 rolls of microfilm on site and at the Boston Public Library, New York Public Library, and other major libraries throughout the U.S.)
• Finding Aid to Shaker Photographs at the Western Reserve Historical Society
• Search the Catalog of Shaker Books at the Western Reserve Historical Society
• Search the Catalog of Shaker Periodicals at the Western Reserve Historical Society
• Search Shaker Photographs in the Collection at Western Reserve Historical Society

Pennsylvania

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA

• Search Shaker Objects in the Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
  (primarily the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Julius Zieget, donated in 1963)

WEB ONLY

• Read and download digital copies of 19th century Shaker books at the Internet Archive
  (many important early Shaker books are available in an easy-to-read format.)

• Search the HaithiTrust Digital Library
  (Founded in 2008, HathiTrust is a not-for-profit collaborative of academic and research libraries preserving 17+ million digitized items. For best results, search both “Shaker” and “Shakers” together with at least one additional search term (for example “Enfield” or “meeting house”, etc.))

• Music of the American Shakers
  (resources and recordings on Shaker music, created and curated by Roger L. Hall)

• Shaker Music Library
  (free pdf download of the sheet music for over 500 Shaker hymns and marches)

• Shakerpedia 
  (Assorted Shaker resources including the Cathcard Index)

• Shaker Stoves in the Historic American Buildings Survey Archive
• Shaker Stoves on US Auction Sites
  (two sections on “A Stove Less Ordinary” an extensive blog about cast-iron wood stoves, created by Professor Howell J. Harris, Durham University, Durham, UK.

FAIR USE STATEMENT
This page may contain copyrighted material, the use of which may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We sourced these materials from various internet sites in an effort to bring together important resources that pertain to the United Society of Believers (Shakers) for research by students of Shaker Studies at all levels–in primary and secondary schools, as well as in colleges and universities. We believe that our use of the materials on this site constitutes a “fair use” of any such copyrighted material, as reference and provided for in Title 17 U.S.C., Section 107. Enfield Shaker Museum is itself a tax-exempt educational institution organized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and receives no income from the use of these materials.

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