O Sisters Ain't You Happy?: Gender, Family, and Community Among the Harvard and Shirley Shakers, 1781-1918

Compelling, in-depth analysis of Shaker villages that sheds light on how communal attitudes helped to liberate Shaker women.

Drawing on archival material from Shaker members, observers, and apostates, noted historian Suzanne R. Thurman offers a scholarly yet eminently readable study of life in two of the oldest, most prominent American Shaker villages: the Harvard and Shirley communities of Massachusetts.

Even as she delves into the complex fabric of Shaker social life, Thurman challenges t...