Peg Board

ON
CAMPUS
Sharing the Shaker Experience
In summer 2016, three members of
the Darrow faculty —Lisa Leary P’10,
Administrative Assistant to the Dean
of Students; Eileen Ordu P’20, World
Languages Department Chair; and John
Villinski, History Department Chair—participated
in a weeklong professional development
workshop entitled “Religious
Revivals, Utopian Societies, and the
Shaker Experience in America.”
Part of a National Endowment for the
Humanities program called Landmarks
of American History and Culture (which
offers site-based professional development
experiences for teachers, centered
on sites of historical and cultural
significance) the workshop was based
at Siena College, in Loudonville, New
York. The 36 participating educators
hailed from around the U.S. and learned
about the evolution of religion in the
U.S. in the 18 th and 19 th centuries, with
particular emphasis on the Shakers.
Field trip sites included Hancock
Shaker Village, the Shaker Museum |
Mount Lebanon, the Watervliet Shaker
Historic District, and the New York State
Library and Archives for research in
primary source material. On the Darrow
campus, Craig Westcott, Assistant Head
of School for Advancement and External
Relations, led a tour of the Second
Meeting House and the Tannery.
Workshop faculty included visiting
scholars who presented on various
aspects of American religious history
and the Shaker experience in America,
including the sect’s music and material
culture, the Second Great Awakening,
the context of the communitarian/utopian
movement, and the status of the last
remaining active Shaker community,
located at Sabbathday Lake, Maine.
Presentations were also made by two
master teachers who have incorporated
the Shakers into their curricula.
Providing an overview to the full Darrow
faculty in September, the trio said
“It made me wonder what
our site would be like today
if there had been no Shaker
village here. For instance, had
this been a military fort, we
certainly wouldn’t be doing
Hands-to-Work.”
—John Villinski
the workshop was a stimulating and
illuminating experience that provided a
deeper understanding of the Shakers,
their connection to the Darrow campus
and community, and how they remain
relevant to our curriculum and to the
modern world at large.
“After taking the course, I look at
the Darrow campus through different
eyes,” said Ordu. “I can imagine it as it
was. It was a bustling, industrious, and
innovative community, and the headquarters
of all Shaker villages. This has
Left: Workshop
participants
toured the
Darrow campus
and the Mount
Lebanon site,
including the
Great Stone Barn.
(Photo by Lisa
Leary)
From left: Lisa
Leary P’10,
Administrative
Assistant to the
Dean of Students;
Eileen Ordu P’20,
World Languages
Department Chair;
and John Villinski,
History Department
Chair
always been a very spiritual place, and
its history remains a part of the place.”
“It made me wonder what our site
would be like today if there had been
no Shaker village here,” Villinski said.
“For instance, had this been a military
fort we certainly wouldn’t be doing
Hands-to-Work. The Shakers’ values
still resonate with our community today.
For me, as a history teacher, the workshop
served as a reminder that you can
teach history in so many ways, and from
so many different perspectives.”
“As the mother of a Darrow student,
I have seen how the history of this campus
can have a profound effect on its
students,” Leary said of her son, Shawn
Leary ’10. “He recently incorporated
Shaker elements into his rehab of an
old home, not just because he likes the
style but because it is a daily reminder
of that Shaker vision. I’m proud of
what we do here. As stewards of this
campus, we are obligated to pass on
their history.”
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PEG BOARD FALL/WINTER 2016–17