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Meeting Friday October 2nd at 7:30pm |
Western Shaker |
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The
first Shaker communities in America were established in New England at the time
of the Revolutionary War. In 1805, three missionaries were sent from the
Eastern lead community, New Lebanon, N.Y., to establish Shaker communities in
the West. At that time, Ohio and Indiana were part of the Northwest Territory
while Kentucky was known as the Southwest. Great religious revivals had spread
through these areas in the West and the Shakers hoped to make inroads with
those who attended the revivals.
Seven Western Shaker communities
were established. There were four in Ohio: Union Village, west of Lebanon;
Watervliet, southeast of Dayton; White Water in western Hamilton County; North
Union near Cleveland, now Shaker Heights. In Kentucky, Pleasant Hill is located
south of Lexington while South Union is near Bowling Green. In Indiana, West
Union was north of Vincennes along the Wabash River.
In 1985/86 the Western Shaker
Study Group was founded, an area-wide group, with the stated purpose of
learning about and sharing the history and heritage of all the Shaker
communities west of the Alleghenies.
WESTERN SHAKER STUDY GROUP
Programs are held the first Friday of every other month at 7:30 at Otterbein
Lebanon Campus Center (Phillippi Hall) or other announced locations.
The Western Shaker Study Group Presents Its October Program!
Western and Eastern Shaker Furniture
Kerry Pierce
Master craftsman Kerry Pierce will present a program on differences among Western and Eastern Shaker furniture. A retired English teacher and author of 18 books, Pierce is noted for blending historical scholarship with practical woodworking techniques in his books and programs.
Pierce, of Lancaster, Ohio, is well known for his study of furniture and life at Pleasant Hill, Kentucky. His book Pleasant Hill Shaker Furniture has been called “the first in-depth look into the furniture and lives of one of the most prolific Western communities and an area of study that Shaker enthusiasts should welcome with open arms,” by a senior editor at Popular Woodworking magazine.
Pierce’s work has been widely praised and his books featured at many Shaker sites across the country. His other books include Authentic Shaker Furniture and Storage and Shelving the Shaker Way. His new CD-ROM is The Ultimate Shaker Project Collection. He will have some of his CDs and books available for purchase at the meeting.
Friday, October 2, 7:30 pm, Otterbein Retirement Community,
Phillippi Meeting Room, 580 North St. Rt. 741, Lebanon, OH
Free and Open to the Public!
Refreshments Served!
Otterbein is located on Rt. 741, one mile north of the junction of Rt. 741 and US 63, between Lebanon, OH, and I-75. From I-75, take Exit 29 (US 63), head east on US 63 to Rt. 741. Call Cheryl Bauer at (513) 868-9910 for details.
AUTHORS, BRING YOUR BOOKS!
Our speaker, Kerry Pierce, will be bringing his books and CD to sell at our October meeting, so we are offering the same opportunity to other authors in our group. Please bring your books so that we may purchase them. You are not limited to Shaker titles. Members are asked to kindly remember your checkbooks that evening.
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Free and open to the public! Refreshments served! |
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Directions: Otterbein-Lebanon is located on Rt. 741, one mile north of the junction of Rt. 741 and US 63, between Lebanon, OH, and I-75. From I-75, take Exit 29 (US 63), head east on US 63 to Rt. 741. Turn left at the traffic light. |
Mark your calendar for these upcoming programs.
December 4
Holiday Concert with the Western Shaker Singers
Our beloved Western Shaker Singers
return for an annual concert of Western (and a few Eastern) holiday songs.
Share in the holiday spirit as the Singers perform some old favorites as well
as newly uncovered Shaker pieces. Bring a sweet treat to share for our
traditional dessert buffet.
7:30 p.m., Chapel, Otterbein
Retirement Community
WSSG OFFICERS
- Chair, Lois Madden
- Program Co-Chair for Programs - Cheryl Bauer and Mary Lue Warner
- Treasurer, Amy Luncan
- Secretary, Elizabeth Pursley and Martha Boice
For information, contact: jbshaker@gmail.com
BETHANY HALL AT
OTTERBEIN
The April 11, 2009 Dayton
Daily News
reported that three sites are on the short list for the site of a Warren County
Arts and Culture Center. Kingswood
Park, a former golf course located in Deerfield Township, Historic Bethany Hall
at Otterbein Homes, and the Countryside YMCA in Lebanon are under
consideration.
It
would help the cause of Bethany Hall if Otterbein Homes, Inc. would pursue
getting a National Register of Historic Places application organized for the
Shaker buildings and archaeology resources. Any volunteers? Please call me at (937) 433-2592.
Thanks! Martha Boice
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MOVING DAY
On July 12, four historic buildings were moved from the Kettering-Moraine Museum to Carillon Park near downtown Dayton. One of the buildings is called “The Miller’s House.” It represents the Shaker presence in the Dayton area. Bill Mooney and I are convinced after studying many references in the Official Church Record for Watervliet that the building is really the one used by Richard McNemar as his print shop. Melba Hunt, who organized the move of the building in 1986 from the Watervliet site, now the Miami Valley Research Park, probably never realized what a significant building she saved!
The other Shaker building at the Kettering-Moraine Museum is a barn from the Watervliet site. It was rebuilt by Amish workmen in 1996, but shortcuts were taken with the framing timbers of the barn. Some mortises are filled with wooden blocks. Many of the diagonal braces are kept in place with similar wooden blocks. On July 14, Brady Kress, President and CEO of Dayton History, met a group of us from the WSSG—Mary Allen, Joe Grittani, Bill Mooney, Nick and Joanne Apple and me—at the barn and gave us a tour. We could see the problems the buildings presented. Dayton History, the manager of Carillon Park, plans to rebuild the barn at the Park but will have to rework the mortise and tenon system. The building may need to be somewhat smaller. We are grateful for the tour of the building before it was dismantled.
With the addition of these buildings to the Carillon Park landscape, Alex Heckman, the Director of Education and Museum Operations, is eager to develop programming to educate the community about the Shakers. He writes, “Perhaps it won’t be long before visitors to Carillon Historical Park are welcomed by a costumed interpreter into the Watervliet Miller House. Once inside, our guests might try their hand at making a broom or weaving a basket, all while learning about the lasting impact of a religious movement unlike any other. . . . We are interested in your thoughts and ideas for bringing the Shaker story to life. Please contact me with your suggestions at (937) 293-2841, Ext. 101 or through email at aheckman@daytonhistory.org .”
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A SHAKER EXHIBIT
“The
Shakers: Abiding Inspiration in Faith and Design” will be presented at the Ohio
Decorative Arts Center in Lancaster from October 3, 2009, through January 3,
2010. The exhibition will have three focal points: articles produced by the
Shakers in Ohio, selections from Ohio collections, and Shaker innovations that
touch us today. If you know of items that might be included in such an
exhibition, please contact Charles Muller, 7891 Pontius Road, Groveport, OH
45125; also muller@soaphollow.net.
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SHAKER ACTIVITIES AT THE DECORATIVE ARTS CENTER, LANCASTER, OHIO
A recent program flyer told you about a Shaker exhibit at the Reese-Peters House, 145 East Main Street in Lancaster running from October 3, 2009, to January 3, 2010.
Chuck Muller has organized the exhibit. Kerry Pierce will be offering woodworking sessions at this location as follows:
Sunday, October 18, 2 to 4 p.m., Shaker Boxes and Woodenware Lecture/Demonstration.
Saturday, October 24, Noon to 4 p.m. Making an Oval Box.
Saturday, November 21, Noon to 4 p.m. Making a Shaker Carrier.
Saturday, December 5, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., making a dovetailed Shaker Candle Box.
Learn more about these classes through the webpage, www.decartsohio.org or call (740) 681-1423.
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NEW BOOK AVAILABLE
Speaking of Shaker furniture, a new book has come out called Mr. Lincoln’s Chair—The Shakers and Their Quest for Peace by Anita Sanchez. It tells about the Shakers’ appeal to President Lincoln to give conscientious objector status to the Shakers during the Civil War. Published by McDonald & Woodward Publishing, Grandville, Ohio.
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OUR DUES
Our dues cover the calendar year and are due now for 2009. Individual dues
are $15 or family dues, $25. Please send your dues to Amy Luncan, 133 Clark
Ave., Waynesville, OH 45068. Thanks.
PROGRESS AT WHITE WATER SHAKER VILLAGE
Dave Coleman and Joe Grittani are rated as “super heroes” by the Friends of White Water Shaker Village. Their volunteer woodworking skills have recreated the wainscoting in the White Water Meeting House. A section of the original wainscoting remains in the back left side of the Meeting House and the pattern was reproduced in the new wainscoting. The original color of the wainscoting is a scarlet red. A man visited the Sunday Shaker worship service in the Meeting House and got some dark red stain from the wainscoting on his clothes. Tests of the paint confirmed this color.
To see more pictures of the White Water Shaker Village Restoration - including Dave & Joe's handywork - view them online in the recent article featured in Popular Woodworking Magazine. Click Here.
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/white_water_shakers
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Map and legend reproduced from page
viii of "Maps of the Shaker West" by Martha Boice,
Dale Covington, and Richard Spence, |
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WESTERN SHAKER WEBSITES
Western Shaker Study Group - http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohwarren/Shaker/wssg.htm
Western Shaker Singers - http://www.westernshakersingers.org/index.htm
Friends of White Water - http://whitewatershakervillage.org/
Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill - http://www.shakervillageky.org/
Shaker Museum at South Union - http://www.shakermuseum.com/
Historical Society of Shaker Heights - http://www.shakerhistory.com/
Union Village and Shakers of Warren County,OH- http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohwarren/Shaker/
Otterbein Lebanon Retirement Community - http://www.otterbein.org/leb/Leb_home.htm
Western
Shaker titles: Maps of the Shaker
West, Shaker Paper Dolls, a reprint of an 1850 Wholesale Herb Catalogue from
Union Village and the list of Watervliet, Ohio, names. http://www.knotgardenpress.com
Contact Jennifer
Bornemann (jbshaker@gmail.com)
if you would like to contribute any material to this page
NOTICE: All
documents and electronic images placed on the Warren County OHGenWeb site
remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in
accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. These documents may be used
by anyone for their personal research. Persons or organizations desiring to use
this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or their
legal representative, and contact the listed Warren County OHGenWeb coordinator
with proof of this consent.
This page created 17 January 2005 and last updated
20 September, 2009
_ 2005-2009Jennifer Bornemann & Arne H Trelvik All rights reserved