Professor Sharon

What a long, interesting and educational day!

After a continental breakfast in the dorms (I always wish there was protein at American continental breakfasts), we headed off to the library at Hamilton College (a short walk up the hill). There we enjoyed a presentation of the Shaker holdings by Randy Ericson. We saw some really incredible books: one we were told is still used today by those living in community at Sabbathday Lake.

A fairly short bus ride to the Oneida Community Mansion House was next where we had a brief overview of the place by the Director there before enjoying a bit over an hour to self-tour the facility. I had heard of this community but knew nothing about it. The hour to explore on our own was not at all enough, so I expect we’ll plan a trip back one day.

This is a photo of the Mansion from a flower garden .

After a nice lunch at the restaurant that leases space there, we had two lectures;

Twin Visions: Shkers and the Oneida Community by Giles Wayland Smith

What’s Love Got to Do with It?: The Oneida Community 1838-1881 by Peter Hoehnle

After a bus ride back, and about 45 minutes to recuperate, have a snack, we were off to another great dinner and a sort of second half of the library presentation. The Hamilton Library has put a lot of its rare collections in digital format.

There is always time between lectures and at meals plenty of time to talk and enjoy other participants’ company. The Seminar has been held every year since since 1975, and there are some participants who have attended all of them! There are also folks who are new or semi-new, and come from all over the United States. I think sometimes there are people from other countries, but I don’t think there are this year. The participants have a wide variety of interests in the Shakers: there are academic folks doing research on various aspects of the communities and/or the Shakers themselves, collectors of various types of objects, history buffs, planned community enthusiasts, and this trip we met a writer working on a novel. There are about 50 participants it seems this year.

Our interest is varied. We don’t have a special area that fascinates us (of course, loving old books, we would love to own a few, but the prices are way beyond our interests – and actually we would never be able to keep objects that we feel belong in museums anyways). I think it mostly harkens back to 1973 when we took our honeymoon trip across the US (either 7000 miles in 8 weeks, or 8 thousand in 7 – we can never remember which) when we visited many planned communities – called communes then! — hopeing that we would find one to live in and raise our children in. I was also raised in Watervliet, NY the place the Shakers settled in the New World, and was aware of it at some point in my childhood. It is really an interesting way to spend time together as a couple and indulge our fascination with history as well.