Our annual Vintage Car Show on October 14th was a resounding success! We set a new record with 341 vintage cars (25+ years old) at the Village for the day. This month’s newsletter photographs capture some of the day’s highlights.

Photographs © Michael Sterling. Please do not reproduce without permission.

News & Notes from the Village November 2017

CANTERBURY SHAKER VILLAGE

THE VILLAGE VISIONThe Village’s archival and curatorial collections are among our most important assets. They are invaluable both in helping us to interpret the Shaker legacy in our programs and exhibits at the Village as well as serving as an invaluable resource for Shaker scholars and researchers from around the world. Although much of our work with the archives and collections happens behind the scenes, unobserved by general visitors, 2017 has been a very busy year, and we would like to share some of the highlights:

• The Archives are now re-opened to researchers. Scholars have visited the Village to consult diaries, correspondence, scrapbooks, deeds, and examine a variety of objects.

• Selected photographs from our collection are being processed for online hosting, both via the Village website and the New Hampshire Historical Society’s New Hampshire History Network. Intern Lili Hanft has spent the fall editing the first batch of photos; eventually, we hope to have much of our 8000+ digital photographs available online.

• New bequests and donations to the Archives continue to augment our collections. The scholarly papers of Roger Lee Hall, a Shaker music scholar, and papers of Bud Thompson, the Village’s founding director, are the largest archival gifts received this year. We have also received donations from the estate of Miriam Hill (via the Canterbury Historical Society), the estate of Angela Robinson, and Darryl Thompson.

• Newly-acquired artifacts ensure that we continue to protect and preserve the legacy of the Canterbury Shakers. The Village was fortunate to purchase a collection of Canterbury Shaker ephemera at auction this summer. We have also received many gifts this year, including a rocking chair from Marcia Anderson and Nancy Hanley, a sewing table from Margaret Hudson, a collection of Shaker smalls from Sarah (Betsie) Longley Kinney, and a small cupboard once used in the Canterbury printing industry from Corporator Stephen Miller.

All of these exciting new developments are overseen by the Village’s Collections Committee, chaired by Trustee Bryant Tolles, and Collections Manager Renee Fox. Together with the Village’s Buildings Committee, the Collections Committee is beginning to plan for the Village’s future by discussing what facilities may be needed to house our collections and host research visits in the years ahead. Priorities include improving climate control throughout the Village, upgrading storage facilities to modern standards, and making the Archives more accessible to researchers year-round. During the coming year, we hope to identify opportunities for upgrading our care of, and access to, the Village’s collections.

ON THE CALENDARRugs in the Shaker Spirit: Primitive Folk Art DollsNovember 5, 9am-4pmDating from the early 1800s, these dolls have a rough and simple look, made from cloth, wools, leftover buttons, lace, and very basic stitches to produce an heirloom piece for children of all ages. A small doll will be made in class, with ideas and patterns for several more. Lots of examples will be shown for inspiration, and by the end of the day, you’ll be ready to create several more dolls at home.

If you have buttons or lace you would like to include, please bring them along with a pair of scissors. A kit will be provided with wools, threads, buttons and everything else needed to complete your project.

Purchase tickets for Folk Art Dolls.

FRESH FROM THE FIELDSThe 2017 farm season has come to a close, and what a successful year we’ve had!

From our delicious June strawberries to our bumper crop of garlic this fall, the garden has been a bounty of fresh, organic produce. With the help of her summer intern and dedicated volunteers, Garden Manager Stacey Cooper has continued to improve the garden’s productivity with her careful utilization of the limited acreage.

One of the last projects accomplished this fall was the revitalization of the Village’s second hoop house - doubling Stacey’s ability to grow sheltered greens and nurture early starts.

The final round of garden work these last weeks also included cleaning the beds and removing the old crops, as well as covering everything in plastic for the winter. 78 pounds of our own seed garlic were also planted for next year.

Stay tuned for farm and garden workshops later this winter and next spring!

Hands to Work, Hearts to God: Living a Spiritual LifeNovember 5, 9:30am-2:30pmJoin the Village, the Canterbury United Community Church, and the Church of the Woods / Kairos Earth for a special day of worship and spiritual exploration. This event offers all the opportunity to step outside of their normal ways of doing things and to take a fresh look at the things that matter most in life.

Free registration.

Cordials & ChocolateNovember 11, 10am-12:30pmThis class combines our popular herb and fruit cordial class with new material on making chocolate treats including truffles! Festive cordials featuring seasonal produce like apples, pears, and cranberries are a delicious way to celebrate the holidays, both to serve at gatherings and give as gifts.

Maria Noel Groves will demonstrate the basics of cordial-making and infusing herbs in chocolate, including both simple and more complicated recipes. We’ll make a batch of herb-infused truffles together for you to taste and bring home, and you’ll also have the opportunity to craft your very own 4-ounce cordial. Whether you give these goodies as gifts or enjoy them for yourself is up to you!

Purchase tickets.

Do-It-Yourself Herbal Holiday and Body Care GiftsDecember 2, 10am-12:30pmSave money and your health with great, all-natural bodycare and herbal gifts. We’ll discuss and demonstrate the basic steps for making lip balm, body cream, bath salts & sugars, scrubs, aromatherapy spray, and message oil - then get to make five of your own products to bring home and give as gifts. Find out just how easy it is to make big batches all at once! The holiday season is just beginning; start making gifts now while you have the time and enthusiasm, and create gift baskets to give this year.

Purchase tickets.

Christmas at CanterburyDecember 9 and 16, 3-8pmChristmas at Canterbury is a chance to experience the delights of Christmas in a simpler era. Join us inside the historic Shaker buildings to watch a 19th-century magic show, meet Father Christmas, make Christmas crackers, decorate cookies, admire a toy train display, or listen to fiddlers. Enjoy hot cider and singing Christmas carols as we light the Village Christmas tree. This classic holiday event is a family favorite that will become a yearly tradition!

Purchase tickets for December 9 or December 16.

IT TAKES A VILLAGEThe Village is pleased to announce that former Trustee John Swope has generously provided the funding for the installation of the new Horse Barn patio. Mr. Swope’s gift was made through his donor-advised fund at the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and is just one example of his philanthropic support for cultural organizations throughout the Concord area.

It’s not too late to add your support to creating this welcoming entrance to the Village! Bricks will continue to be sold until April 1, 2018. An engraved brick in the patio is the perfect way to honor a family member, friend, teacher, or Village volunteer. Bricks can be purchased with two or three lines of text of your choice. All profit from the sale of the bricks will be used to support the Village, particularly to expand the Village’s capacity as a year-round space for functions and events.

Bricks can be purchased by filling out this form. Questions? Contact Caroline Golja or call 603-783-9077 x220.

ON THE CALENDAR (CONT.)Candlelit ToursDecember 11-15, 6:30pm and 7pmVisit Canterbury Shaker Village for a guided candlelit tour highlighting the Shakers’ Christmas traditions and showcasing the Village’s extensive Christmas decorations. Tours last approximately 1 hour and explore some of the ways in which the Shakers celebrated the holidays - from simple Christmas gatherings in the nineteenth century to elaborate theatricals in the twentieth century.

Advance tour registration required. Tour size limited to 15 people to ensure an intimate experience.

Purchase tickets.

AROUND THE VILLAGEIf you visited the Village this fall, you may have encountered Lili Hanft, who has been interning here for ten weeks this autumn. As her time at the Village draws to a close, we invited Lili to write her own reflection on her time here:

During the nearly ten weeks that I have spent as an intern at Canterbury Shaker Village, I have developed a deep appreciation for the dedication and spirit of the Shakers. Even though there are no longer any Shakers living here, their signature is on every carefully crafted building and in every rolling field. While living here I have had the opportunity to go on many walks around different parts of what was once the Shakers’ bustling 3000 acres of farm and woodland. The stone walls crisscrossing the now wooded landscape; the massive dams channeling water from one pond into the next, now largely overgrown and obscured from sight; and the stately maples now gnarled with age all bear testament to the Shakers who once worked and lived on this land.

I have also gained an appreciation for the Shakers through my work with the village’s photograph collection. Seeing Shaker sisters and brethren sitting together on the porch of the Trustees’ Office, which I transverse daily, brings the past into my everyday consciousness in a way that simply reading or hearing about the Shakers cannot do. Although some might find it strange to be living in a 180+ year old building all alone, I have--after the first few nights of freaking out at every creak of the old wood floors!--come to truly enjoy living in a building and a village that has seen so much history and could tell such wonderful tales, if only walls could speak. I fancy that whatever ghosts there may be here are friendly ones, and certainly there is plenty of room for all of us!

Reflecting back on my best memories here, I think of quiet mornings spent learning the art of the printing press with Jim in the Village Print Shop; squinting at the sun through the branches as I pick apples to be pressed into cider for the Artisan Festival; bending over my frame as I learn to rug hook in the sunny, cheerful Sisters’ Shop; and handing out Halloween candy to eager young ghosts, pirates, birds, and princesses. I would like to offer my sincere thanks to everyone at the village for welcoming me into this community and teaching me so much about the Shakers. Especial thanks to Becky, my supervisor, Renee, with whom I have worked in archives, Jim, in the Print Shop, Carol, for rug-hooking, and all of the tour guides and volunteers who have imparted their knowledge and enthusiasm to me and made my stay at Canterbury Shaker Village so pleasant. Thank you! -Lili Hanft

Our mission is to preserve the 200-year legacy of the Canterbury Shakersand provide a place for learning, reflection and renewal of the human spirit.

288 Shaker Road • Canterbury, NH 03224 • 603-783-9511 • www.shakers.org

WHAT THEY LEFT BEHINDOne unique aspect of the Village is our remarkable collection of miscellaneous objects related to the everyday life of individual Shakers. Because of the mid-20th-century Shaker sisters’ foresight in preserving their home as a museum, over 90% of our collections never left the community and were preserved in situ in buildings throughout the Village. In 1991,

this pantograph was found by museum staff during an inventory of items in the Trustees’ Office. Notes included with the device indicate that it originally belonged to Sister Cora Helena Sarle (1867-1956), one of the Village’s most prolific and well-known artists.

Arriving at the Village as a young woman of fifteen, Sister Helena’s artistic talent was nurtured by the Shaker leadership. In 1883, she collaborated with Elder Henry Blinn to create a journal of native weeds and wildflowers to use as an educational resource. Sister Helena continued to do decorative painting for the rest of her life, working on traditional mediums like paper and canvas, as well as creatively decorating items like recycled typewriter ribbon containers and band-aid boxes, lampshades, umbrella stands, and buttons.

Sister Helena made many items for fellow Shakers or close friends, but she also sold items in the Shakers’ gift shop. A pantograph, used for duplicating or enlarging/shrinking a drawing, would have been extremely useful for production work. First invented in the early 1600s, pantographs were widely used by professional artists and sculptors. A system of hinged and jointed rods, based on parallelograms, it traces the movement of one pen to a second, creating a duplicate image. This inexpensive model designed for home used was manufactured in the 1940s and 1950s, suggesting that Sister Helena might have acquired it near the end of her life, when age and infirmity would have made drawing aids especially beneficial.