Shaker Museum And Library Presentation In Stephentown

David Stock, President of The Shaker Museum and Library, will tell of that organization’s first 60 years and its future, at the Stephentown Historical Society meeting on Monday, October 4, at 7:30 pm. The meeting will be at the Stephentown Fire Hall on Grange Hall Road, Stephentown. It is free and open to the public. The building is air-conditioned and handicapped accessible. For directions or information, phone 518-733-5675.
The Shaker Museum and Library was established in 1950 in Old Chatham, NY, by John S. Williams, who had, over the years, formed good relationships with Shaker communities and had amassed a comprehensive collection of Shaker artifacts and documents, mostly from Mount Lebanon, NY. In 2004 the Museum merged with the Mount Lebanon Shaker Village North Family, New Lebanon. The organization is currently preparing the Mount Lebanon site’s ten early nineteenth century buildings for the collection’s relocation there. This is being done with great care since the site is a National Historic Landmark, the highest standard in the country.
Mount Lebanon was the home to the central ministry and the governing community for America’s Shakers from 1787 until 1947.  Shaker founder Ann Lee visited there on her trips to various Shaker communities in New England.
Stock, as president, is the chief executive officer for the Shaker Museum and Library. He will explain the activities at the Mount Lebanon location involved in reuniting this premier collection of historic objects with America’s most important Shaker site.