Religion 332 - The Shakers

Overview & Background: Reference Sources	Primary Sources: Shaker Manuscript Collections
Secondary Sources: Books & Journal Articles	Shaker Communities

Reference Resources

1. Encyclopedias, Dictionaries...
   (some suggestions for brief overviews):
   • Encyclopedia of Religion (16 volumes) -- BL 31 E46 2005 Ref.
   • Encyclopedia of American Women and Religion -- BL 2525 B45 1998 Ref.
   • Oxford Dictionary of World Religions -- or in print, BL 31 O93 1987 Ref.
   • Religious Movements: Shakers
   • 300 Women Who Changed the World (Ann Lee)
   • PBS: I Hear America Singing -- The Shakers
      
2. Bibliographies, Guides...
   (to help identify specific materials/documents of interest):
   
   • Shaker Literature (2 volumes) 
     <Richmond>  -- BX 9771 R52 1977 Ref.
     • Also known as  "Richmond" for its author, Mary Richmond.  This annotated bibliography is the most complete listing of Shaker materials currently available.  It does not correspond directly to any one of our microfilm sets (see below for description of microfilm sets), but rather serves as a basic bibliography for identifying existing Shaker materials which you will then have to track down in various ways.  If you find something of interest in this bibliography, take note of both the item number (which can be used with the MCA guide described below, in the case of published materials) and especially the list of locations at the end of each entry.  These provide clues that may help you locate the document. 
   • A Guide to Shaker Manuscripts
     <Pike -Western Reserve> -- BX 9771 W48 1974 Ref.
     (another copy in microfilm room labeled 'Misc. 380-502 Microfilm Guide pt 3')
     • This is the primary guide for the Western Reserve Historical Society's microfilm collection.  It is also known as  "Pike" for its compiler, Kermit J. Pike.  This guide is a descriptive listing of the manuscript (i.e. unpublished) materials available on microfilm.  Start with this guide to identify manuscript materials of interest.  Take note of the "series number" (Roman numeral I through XIV), whether the item falls in subsection "A" or "B", and then the individual volume number.  With that information -- e.g. "IV.B.14" -- you can then use the following guide to locate the item in the microfilm reels.
   • The Shaker Collection of the Western Reserve Historical Society
     <MCA Reel List> -- BX 9771 W47 1977 Ref.
     (another copy in microfilm room labeled 'Misc. 380-502 Microfilm Guide pt 2')
     • This is the locator tool for the Western Reserve collection as microfilmed by the Microfilm Corporation of America [MCA] and so also known as the "MCA Reel List" or "MCA Guide".  In the front of this guide is a listing, based on Pike's numbering system, of what materials are on each microfilm reel.  Following that is a section giving a brief listing (author/title) of the materials on the microfiche (i.e. published Shaker materials).  At the back of the guide is a chart by which you can find items for which you have the Richmond entry number.  Note, though, that not all Richmond's items are in the Western Reserve set of materials.
   • Shaker Manuscript Collection, 1780-1952
     <N.Y. Public Library> -- BX 9771 S45 Ref.
     (another copy in microfilm room labeled 'Microfilm 4145-4153 Guide')
     • This is a descriptive reel list for the collection of Shaker materials from the New York Public Library.  It is not well-detailed and possibly the most effective way of using it is simply to skim through and see what sounds interesting.  Although many of the materials in this collection will have been listed in Richmond's bibliography, with the note that they were owned by "NN", meaning NY Public Library, it takes a lot of careful scanning to decipher whether the Richmond item is actually on the microfilm because the descriptions do not match up well. 
   • Shaker Manuscripts Microfilmed by the Hancock Shaker Village Library [Manuscript Volumes 1791-1913] -- BX 9771 S453 2002 Ref
     (another copy in microfilm room labeled 'Microfilm 4269-4274 Guide')
     • This is a brief guide to a small set of microfilms produced by Hancock Shaker Village. Not all the materials on the microfilm relate to people or happenings at Hancock, but rather are things that the HSV Library has acquired.
     • Guide to Bound Shaker Manuscripts-- BX 9768 H2 A33 2001 Ref (v. I)
     • Guide to Unbound Shaker Manuscripts-- BX 9768 H2 A34 2001 Ref (v. II)
     • Guide to Printed Shaker Works -- BX 9768 H2 A35 2001 Ref. (v.III)
     • Shaker Community Industries-- BX 9768 H2 A36 2003 Ref (v.IV)
       • These four guides comprise volumes I - IV of a descriptive listing of the Shaker materials at the Hancock Shaker Village Library. A small number of the Bound Manuscripts (v.1) have been microfilmed and are available here at Mount Holyoke as part of our microfilm collection (described in #4 below).
   • Shaker Collection. A Register...[1792-1937]
     <Library of Congress> -- BX 9771 W65 1997 Ref.
     (another copy in microfilm room labeled "Misc. 744-775 Microfilm Guide"
     and also online at
      lcweb2.loc.gov/service/mss/eadxmlmss/eadpdfmss/2000/ms000004.pdf )
     • This is a a brief guide and descriptive reel list for the collection of Shaker materials from the Library of Congress.  As with the NY Public Library collection, most of these materials are listed in Richmond with the notation "DLC", for Library of Congress, but they do not match up cleanly.  This guide does have a simple index of authors and places, however, so it is slightly easier to either track down items found in Richmond or simply hunt for interesting materials with this guide alone.
   • Edward Deming Andrews Memorial Shaker Collection
     (at the Winterthur Museum) -- BX 9771 H46 1987 Ref
     • A guide to the collection of Shaker materials at the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum in Delaware (sometimes called 'McKinstry'). The descriptions may be useful and we may have copies of the same or similar materials in our collections. But there is no direct correlation to the materials we have here at MHC.

1. Shaker Collection of the Western Reserve Historical Society
   (Microfilm reel #'s 380 - 502 and Microfiche set #48 --
    Use Pike and the MCA Reel List)
   This is the largest, most comprehensive set containing both manuscripts (the microfilm part) and published materials like periodicals, broadsides, books, catalogs, etc. (the microfiche part).  Using this collection requires the use of two guide books.  You need both Pike and the MCA guide for manuscripts - which are on microfilm - or else you need both the library catalog (or Richmond) and the MCA guide for published materials - which are on microfiche.  
2. The Library of Congress's Shaker Collection, 1792-1937 
   (Microfilm reel #'s 744 - 775)
   A collection of records from various Shaker communities, consisting of correspondence, covenants, diaries, financial and legal papers, hymns, church orders, poetry, inspirational writings, drawings, essays, biographical and historical sketches, memoirs, registers, clippings,etc. This set of 32 microfilms has a simple guide that lists what's on each reel.  We only have one copy of this guide and it is in the microfilm area on top of the cabinets, labeled"Misc. 744-775 microfilm guide"
3. The New York Public Library's Shaker Manuscript Collection, 1780-1952
   (Microfilm reel #'s 4145 - 4153)
   This smaller set of microfilms includes constitutions, diaries, journals, letters, records, registers, and hymns. It also has a simple guide describing each reel of film. There's a copy in the Reference Room at BX 9771 S45 Ref. and a copy in the microfilm area on top of the cabinets, labeled"Misc. 4145-4153 microfilm guide"
4. Hancock Shaker Village Library Shaker Manuscript Volumes
   (Microfilm reel #'s 4269 - 4274)
   Another small set of films which consists of diaries, hymnal, daybooks and other account books, legal documents, farm journals, and a school journal relating to the Shaker communities at Mount Lebanon (N.Y.), Hancock and Harvard (Mass.). The diaries are those of Elder Grove Babbitt Blanchard (1864-1867). It is accompanied by a printed guide entitled: Shaker manuscripts microfilmed by the Hancock Shaker Village Library: annotated index of the collections. The guide can be found in the microfilm area on top of the cabinets, labeled"Microfilm 4269-74 guide".

Finding Books -- Searching the Library Catalog

• Books specifically about the Shakers have call numbers in the  BX 9700's.  You can browse this area in both the Reference collection (mostly the manuscript guides) or the main stacks, level 1.  Additionally, often good information will be found in books that are not just about the Shakers and so may have been categorized differently. 
  • For example: a book that had a great chapter about women in Shaker societies might have been classified in the general area of "Women's Studies" (HQ's) and books on Shaker Art might turn out to be with other "Art" books (N's).  To move beyond browsing, try the following:
• The main Library of Congress [LC] subject heading used for this group is "Shakers".   If you do a subject heading search on Shakers  you will see that you have not only "Shakers" but also many narrower subject headings,  e.g.  'Shakers -- Doctrines',  to choose from.  Just skimming through this list of subject categories at first will give you a good idea of  the possibilities.   Also, there are several LC subject headings beginning with the word "Shaker" (singular, as an adjective) that you might also benefit from skimming.
  • Later, when your searching becomes more focused, you can go directly to the sub-categories by typing the whole subject heading, e.g.  'Shakers -- Doctrines'  or  'Shaker Furniture'  in a subject heading search.
  • Note that there are certainly other searches that may prove fruitful in certain circumstances:  e.g. searching specifically for a biography of Ann Lee  (search by subject as 'Lee, Ann'); or, searching for all of Elder Evans' writings (search by author for 'Evans, F. W.') 

• ATLA Religion Index
  • This will find articles published in religion and theology journals from 1949 to the present.
• America: History and Life
  • For articles in published in history journals between 1964 and the present - focusing on United States and Canadian history. 
• Arts & Humanities Citation Index or Social Science Citation Index
  • These indexes are part of the "Web of Science" group.  They can be searched together or separately, depending on your particular interest.  A & H covers articles published from 1975 - present, SSCI covers articles published 1956 - present.

• Sabbathday Lake Shaker Community - near Poland Springs, ME
• Canterbury Shaker Village - Canterbury, NH
• Hancock Shaker Village  - near Pittsfield, MA
• Shaker Museum at Fruitlands - Harvard, MA
• Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill   - near Lexington, KY
• The Enfield Shaker Museum - Enfield, NH.
• Shaker Museum and Library - Old Chatham, NY 
• Shaker Heritage Society - Colonie, NY 
• Shaker Historical Museum - Shaker Heights, OH 
• Shaker Museum at South Union, KY