Learn More -- Shaker Historic Trail -- National Register of Historic Places

By clicking on one of these links, you can go directly to a particular section:
Bibliography for the Shaker Historic Trail
Children's Literature
Links to Shaker and Other Utopia Websites
Travel and Preservation Web Sites for States featured in this itinerary

Bibliography for Shaker Historic Trail

Adams, James Truslow, ed. Dictionary of American History. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940.

Arndt, Karl J. George Rapp's Harmony Society: 1785-1847. New Jersey: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1975.

Andrews, Edward Deming and Faith Andrews. Masterpieces of Shaker Furniture: A Book of Shaker Furniture. New York: Dover Publications, 1999.

Barzun, Jacques. From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life, 1500 to the Present. New York: Harpercollins, 2000.

Becksvoort, Christian and John Sheldon (photographs). Perspectives on an Enduring Furniture Style. Newtown, Connecticut: The Taunton Press, 2000.

Burns, Amy Stechler, Ken Burns (Photographer), Langdon Clay (Photographer), Liebling, Amy Stechler, Bertha Lindsay. The Shakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God: The History and Visions of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing from 1774 to the Present. New York: Apeture, 1999.

Evans, Frederick William. Shakers: Compendium of the Origin, History, Principles, Rules and Regulations, Government, and Doctrines of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing : with Biographies of Ann Lee, William Lee, Jas. Whitaker, J. Hocknell, J. Meacham, and Lucy Wright. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1859.

Garner, Carl J. The Utopian Alternative: Fourierist in Nineteenth-Century America. Cornell: Cornell University Press, 1991.

Gestate, Edwin Scott. A Religious History of America, New Revised Edition. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1966, 1970.

Hide, Robert V. California's Utopian Colonies. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983.

Knoedler, Christiana F. The Harmony Society: a 19th Century American Utopia. New York: Vantage Press, 1954.

Land and Community Associates, in cooperation with the Amana Historic Landmark Committee and Iowa Division of Historic Preservation. Culture and Environment A Challenge for the Amana Colonies, an Inventory and Plan for the Amana Colonies, Iowa County, Iowa. Charlottesville, Virginia, 1977.

Meader, Robert F. W. Illustrated Guide to Shaker Furniture. New York: Dover Publications, 1972.

Meagher, Paul Kevin, Sister Consuelvo Maria Aherene, SSJ, Thomas C. Brien, ed. Encyclopedic Dictionary of Religion. Washington, DC: The Corpus Publications, 1979.

Morse, Flo. The Story of the Shakers. Vermont: Countryman Press, 1986.

Needleman, Jacob. The American Soul Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Founders. New York: Putnam, 2002.

Nicoletta, Julie, Bret Morgan (photographer), with a forward by Robert P. Emlen. The Architecture of the Shakers. Woodstock, Vermont: The Countryman Press, 1995.

Procter-Smith, Marjorie. Women in Shaker Community and Worship: a Feminist Analysis of the Uses of Religious Symbolism. Lewiston, New York: E. Mellen Press, 1985.

Robinson, Charles Edson. A Concise History of the United Society of Believers called Shakers. 1893; reprint ed., Westport, Connecticut: Hyperion Press, 1975.

Whitson, Robley E. (Editor) and Peter Lamborn Wilson (Photographer), Fakhr Al-Din Ibrahim 'Iraqi. The Shakers: Two Centuries of Spiritual Reflection (Classics of Western Spirituality). Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1988.

Whitworth, John Mckelvine. God's Blueprints: A Sociological Study of Three Utopian Sects. London and Boston: Rutledge & Kegan Paul, 1975.

Children's Literature

Bial, Raymond. Shaker Home. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co, 1994.

Bolick, Nancy O'Keefe and Sallie G. Randolph. Shaker Villages. New York: Walker, 1993.

Capek, Michael. Personal Tour of a Shaker Village (How It Was). Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 2001.

Coleman, Wim, and Pat Perrin. Sister Anna: A Story of Shaker Life. Carlisle, MA: Discovery Enterprises, 2000.

Morse, Flo and Vincent Newton, (eds). A Young Shaker's Guide to Good Manners: A Facsimile of a Juvenile Guide, or, Manual of Good Manners, Consisting of Counsels, Instructions & Rules of Deportment for the Young. Woodstock, Vt.: Countryman Press, 1998.

Williams, Jean Kinney. The Shakers (American Religious Experience). Franklin Watts, Incorporated, 1997.

Links to Shaker and Utopia Websites

Sabbathday Lake Shaker Community, New Gloucester, ME
Enfield Shaker Museum, Enfield, NH
Canterbury Shaker Village, Canterbury, NH
Hancock Shaker Village, Pittsfield, MA
Shaker Heritage Society, (Watervliet Shaker Historic District) Albany, NY
Shaker Historical Museum, (North Union Shaker Site) Shaker Heights, OH
Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Harrodsburg, KY
Shaker Museum at South Union, South Union, KY
Whitewater Shaker Settlement, New Haven, OH

Shaker Museum and Library, Old Chatham, New York
The first public museum of Shaker culture, housing the premier collection amassed by John S. Williams in the 1930s and 1940s.

Amana Colonies Convention and Visitors Bureau
The official website of the Amana Colonies, this site contains further information on Amana's historic sites, visitor services, special exhibits and events. Also visit our Amana Colonies Travel Itinerary

New Harmony, Indiana
Find information about this utopian community of Rappites, as well as visitor information

Oneida Mansion House, New York
Discover more about the small Oneida Community, a communal group that believed perfection was attainable in this lifetime.

Harmony Historic District in Butler County, Pennsylvania
Mennonites settled in several areas of the county, including Harmony, PA, where a local museum has been established.

The Shakers, an online documentary
This 30 minute film traces the growth, decline, and continuing survival of the Shakers through the memories and rich song traditions of Shakers themselves, including performances by Eldress Marguerite Frost of Canterbury, New Hampshire, and the Sister R. Mildred Barker, a leading singer and spiritual leader of the Shaker community at Sabbathday Lake, Maine.

Preservation and Tourism websites for states featured in this itinerary

State Historic Preservation Offices

Northeast Regional Office of the National Park Service
The Northeast Region proudly carries out the National Park Service's mission in 13 northeastern states. Home to a third of all National Park Service museum collections, a quarter of all historic structures, and more than 50% of the country's National Historic Landmarks, the region clearly reflects an extraordinarily rich American heritage.

Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER)
The HABS/HAER program documents important architectural, engineering and industrial sites throughout the United States and its territories. Their collections, including an extensive number of Shaker sites, are archived at the Library of Congress and available online. You can view these by clicking on the link above and entering the search terms "Shakers."

National Trust for Historic Preservation
Learn about the programs of and membership in the oldest national non-profit preservation organization.

Historic Hotels of America
A feature of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Heritage Traveler program that provides information on historic hotels and package tours in the vicinity of this itinerary.

Tourism Websites

National Park Service Office of Tourism
National parks have been interwoven with tourism from their earliest days. This website highlights the ways in which the NPS promotes and supports sustainable, responsible, informed, and managed visitor use through cooperation and coordination with the tourism industry.