"A Peculiar People": The Enfield New Hampshire Shakers (In-Person)

"A Peculiar People": The Enfield New Hampshire Shakers (In-Person)

Fall (9 - 13 hours) | Registration opens 7/29/2025 12:00 AM EDT

One Court Street Lebanon, NH 03766 United States
Room 2C - 2nd Flr - Suite 210
9/8/2025-10/13/2025
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$70.00

"A Peculiar People": The Enfield New Hampshire Shakers (In-Person)

Fall (9 - 13 hours) | Registration opens 7/29/2025 12:00 AM EDT

For 125 years the Enfield, N.H. Shakers lived and worshiped here in the Upper Valley. This course will explore their theology, social history, and material culture. The class will be taught by Shaker scholar Mary Ann Haagen and Enfield Shaker Museum curator, Michael O’Connor. The six-week course will meet alternately in Lebanon and at the Shaker Museum in Enfield.

In the classroom meetings we will use primary source documents to explore Shaker theology and social history, including the Enfield Shakers’ interactions with “The World.” Shaker architecture, furniture design, and land use will be investigated onsite, using museum buildings, exhibits, and artifacts as teaching tools.

The Shakers championed community of property, gender and racial equality, pacifism, and ongoing revelation. Throughout the course we will discuss whether Shaker communal principles and practices offer relevant insights or lessons in the 21st century.

This course will involve both classroom lectures and discussions as well as on-site explorations of the Enfield Shaker Museum campus.

Image: Shaker Historic District, Neil M. Young

 

  • Syllabus will include a list of books available to borrow from the Enfield Shaker Museum library.

    Optional Book:

    The Collected Writings of Henry Cummings - Mary Ann Haagen, ed. (ISBN-13: 978-1937370022)


Haagen, Mary Ann
Mary Ann Haagen

Mary Ann Haagen is a retired public school music teacher, currently serving as a resident scholar in the music department at Dartmouth. She is a longtime student of Shaker history, with a scholarly focus on the New Hampshire Shaker societies at Enfield and Canterbury. She has written extensively on the Enfield Shakers, and regularly lectures on their history and music. She is a volunteer at the Enfield Shaker Museum, supporting all aspects of its educational mission.