Photo by: Alon Koppel Photography
Even as far as American religious sects are concerned, the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, better known as the Shakers, are an intriguing lot. The movement was founded by a woman, Ann Lee, who immigrated to New York City two years shy of American independence. Back in her motherland of Manchester, England, she was a factory worker and later a cook; but in the New World, she would become regarded as a female incarnate of the divine by her fellow Believers (talk about a promotion).
Collections Manager
Sharon Duane Koomler is a Shaker scholar and traditional letterpress printer living in upstate New York. She has academic degrees in American Folklore from Indiana University and Western Kentucky University. Sharon has worked at Shaker Museums from Kentucky to New Hampshire as an educator, curator, consultant, and director. She has written and published on Shaker material culture and spirituality, and lectured widely on Shaker art, life, and belief. Sharon has a particular interest in the under-researched social aspects of Shaker life and ways in which Shakers practiced inclusion and intentionality.