Her Legacy in Their Hands: Shaker Women and the Making of the Museum’s Collection

Join Ashley Hopkins-Benton, Senior Historian and Curator of Social History, for a special Lunchtime Lecture exploring the remarkable Shaker women who helped shape the New York State Museum’s renowned Shaker Collection.

Beginning in 1926, as Shaker communities at Watervliet and Mount Lebanon faced closure and decline, devoted members worked closely with Museum curators to preserve their material culture and document their communal way of life. Without their conviction and careful stewardship, much of what we know about the Shakers today would have been lost.

This talk highlights the women whose foresight ensured the survival of thousands of objects, including:
- oval boxes
- furniture
- textiles
- tools
- seed packaging
- bonnet molds
- the only surviving Shaker fountain stone

Through their collaboration, everyday objects of work, worship, and domestic life became an enduring record of a community rooted in faith, industry, and shared purpose.