The Shaker Legacy: A Short Film

Well done for keeping this history alive!

Unfortunately it’s difficult to keep a religion going without reproducing despite all the amazing creative ventures they pioneered.

My grandmother used to take me to Watervliet to visit her family. My fourth great grandfather was recovering from the Revolutionary War and went there for some quiet time. Our families never lived far away from each other until this generation.

Thank you so very much for a wonderful video about the Shakers!!! I am from Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia, and I went to a girls private school, where I need to write a history paper for my American history senior course. So I wrote a paper on the Amish, the Mennonites, and the Shakers! And I loved doing that paper!! But I have to say that I don’t think I found so much material on the Shakers, including quite a bit more on the Amish and perhaps the Mennonites also… anyway, that was quite a while ago… But I intend on watching this other video I just saw posted with this one on the Shakers, and hopefully I will learn a lot more!! Thank you to any and all again…

Came here after reading about the shakers in a design book, great material!

Thank you.

Whatever you think about the political theory I'm not sure why no one mentions communism/ socialism when speaking on the Shakers. Frederick Engels, the co writer of The Communist Manifesto also considered one of the "fathers of communism" had specifically used the success of the Shakers as an argument for said theory in several of his writings. I've had to do my own research to find this and cant find it on any official historical Shaker Website or documentary on the Shakers. Its a very important part of the story that for some odd reason, doesn't like to be talked about.

How can there be hope if there is no progeny? What do they do instead? Proselytize? I need to read more.... That WOULD avoid genetic problems caused by relatively tiny, exclusively communities. Fascinating!

❤

Solid concept but with no procreation you are always at the mercy of your ability to get new converts. Not surprised it fell apart.

It’s the past tense that bothers me the most. The Shakers are still alive - they didn’t believe, they do believe. I don’t believe Brother Arnold - a boy from Massachusetts wants to be remembered as a chair.

The shakers were compagnons. Companions of duty

I’m sorry, but the plans for the shaker museum look awful with the modern architecture. Do everyone a favor and make it traditional, instead of 21st century style.

Runyon

its not a shaker museum that nees building..its a shaker society... what has the world come to

the OG's of Twerking... wow! Shakers!

Celibate? A woman started this thing?? No wonder it didn’t last. Other than some fine craftsmanship, like the Amish, they were completely wrong. No wonder!

6:46 congrats on their women's rights. Now look at them. 6 feet in the ground with nothing to remember their ideology by with the exception of some fancy brooms and their skeletal remains.

Shakers in a nut shell “cult” . Period .

interesting. strange cult with some heretical beliefs.