We have a Shaker Village that I pass by every time I head down to the state capitol.  I’ve seen Shaker furniture in various stores.  Other than that, there was little that I knew about Shakers.  I figured they were something like the Amish and that was that.

I was pleased to get my hands on the documentary The Shakers – Hands to Work, Hearts to God.  In this hour-long documentary, Ken Burns pulls aside the curtain on Shaker life.  It’s the caliber of other documentaries by Burns, although this is one of the shorter ones that are in his Ken Burns’ America series.

“They call themselves the united society of believers in Christ’s second appearing”.  The term “The Shakers” comes from outside observers of the way they dance.  This disappeared about ten years after their founder’s death and their worship became much more ordered.

The sect was founded by an illiterate English factory worker name Ann Lee, who immigrated to America in 1774 with a handful of followers, believing they were guided by visions.  By 1840, there were 6,000 believers in 19 communal villages primarily across the northeast, but also as far south as Kentucky.  Now there are only two villages left with about a dozen followers.  One of those villages is in New Hampshire and the other is in Maine.

One of the first things I noticed with this documentary is its beautiful soundtrack.  Burns has always managed to use music to evoke emotion or steer the viewer’s feelings in a certain direction.  Here, using a guitar, the tone of the documentary is set.  This music plays while photographs of people who have been part of the Shaker communities as well as paintings depicting Shaker life are shown.  Burns pans across them and focuses on the still pictures in such a way that between the camera action and the music, they seem to come to life.

The photographs Burns uses are of a simple people who do resemble the Amish.  However, The Shakers were ahead of their time on many issues such as slavery and feminism.  They are also celibate.  You might ask how there continue to be Shakers?  People come and join them, rather than propagating the religion by procducing children.  It’s not that they were against marriage; they just felt that it was not a part of their calling.  One woman states that they bless marriage for without it and the children produced, there would be no “little Shakers”.

The narrative is read largely from letters and diaries from those who lived in the communities through the years.  There are interviews with the few surviving members of the Shaker communities who actually do seem to be eager to be known for something other than their furniture.

In addition to the beautiful furniture, Shakers were responsible for a wide variety of inventions from the flat broom and the clothespin to water-repellant cloth and many labor-saving machines.  They took pride in their work to the point of desiring perfection in what they created.  At the same time, they did not sign their work.  They marketed the items they made and produced, including canned goods and medicines.  At one point, Shakers were responsible for producing the majority of the opium used in this country.

The narrative tells how the buildings were designed with the utmost practicality, and at times I would wonder why some of these ways haven’t been continued as they seem to be an incredibly intelligent way of doing things.  The way they worship is also looked at as they practice their religion mostly in private, not wearing their religion on their sleeves to the world.  In response to poor neighbors stealing from their fields, the Shakers simply planted more crops.  When people would flock to join them in winter and disappear come spring, they were never denied.  They were open to everyone, even if they knew they were being used at the moment just as a place to find shelter.

That’s not to say the communities were perfect, and it’s made clear here in the documentary.  Even those devoted to the life left the sect sometimes.  The pressure of celibacy was not for everyone.  Others didn’t find what they needed spiritually.  There were suicides in the communities as well.

Watching The Shakers – Hands to Work, Hearts to God, I thought about the life depicted here and how that would translate into our modern world.  Likely these people would have been dismissed as a “cult” and possibly even persecuted for trying to practice their religion.  The only saving grace for them would be the celibacy angle, which would prevent social agencies from targeting leaders who abuse those in these communities, especially the children.  In a country that was founded by those wishing only to practice their religion freely, it saddens me to think that we’ve changed so much as a society that we are right back to the intolerance our founders were fleeing from.

The DVD is pretty straightforward.  The only extras are a couple of featurettes on Burns that can be found on most of his productions.  If you haven’t seen them before now, they are worth watching at least once.

I learned a lot more from The Shakers – Hands to Work, Hearts to God than I was expecting to, and I really want to try to visit the Shaker Village in Canterbury, NH.  I was impressed by just how much they contributed to our society in terms of innovation, and I liked their way of treating others in the world.  The information is well-researched and I was very glad that Burns managed to capture the words of some of the few remaining Shakers.  All in all, something definitely worth picking up.


Special Features:

– Ken Burns: Making History
– A Conversation with Ken Burns