Albany, New York: Shaker Heritage Society

Upstate New York once was something of a hotbed for religious organizations that were something less than mainstream in their thinking. The Shaker Heritage Society certainly was one of them.

Back in 1774, nine people left Manchester, England, for the United States in an attempt to flee from religious persecution. The leader was Ann Lee, who is described as an illiterate textile worker. The group headed to Albany, acquired some land, and got to work. This was an enthusiastic bunch when it came to prayer, and they became known as "The Shaking Quakers" for that reason. That eventually was shortened to the Shakers, although you have to admit that "The Shaking Quakers" would be a heck of a name for a college football team. The group worked hard, farmed the land, and developed a good-sized community in the area.

The sect believed that anyone could achieve a pure life by following a combination of confession, celibacy, pacifism, and the avoidance of worldly influences. The celibacy part is probably the most interesting component of that mix. Lee apparently lost four children when they were very young, and decided that this was not a process to achieve anything but heartache. On the other hand, celibacy is not exactly the best way to increase the size of your religious flock. 

If you can't grow the population naturally, some marketing and recruiting were needed. Lee and some others toured New England in an attempt to gain some converts. The results were at best mixed, and sometimes violence broke out. Lee in particular suffered some injuries and eventually died in 1784. "Mother Ann" is buried in a cemetery on the edge of the Albany Shaker settlement.

The population of the community peaked around 4,000 in 1850. Then the Civil War came along, and interest in such religious groups seemed to drop off considerably. At last report, there were only a couple of people left who were practicing Shakers, and they lived in Maine. The Albany settlement closed in 1938.

In the meantime, the original settlement has been transformed somewhat. Some of the buildings have been converted to other uses, while others are part of a tourist attraction of sorts. Visitors are welcome. The biggest attraction is the Meeting House (shown in the photo), which is the size of a small gym and contains a gift shop and other rooms. The area is just down the road from the airport; there is no admission charge to visit. 

This all sounds right up C-SPAN's alley. Sure enough ...