Shaker Village Work Group
Encyclopedia
The Shaker Village Work Group was a recreational summer camp
and teen educational program that occupied historic Shaker
land and buildings in New Lebanon, New York. The property was purchased by founders Jerome (Jerry) and Sybil A. Count from the Mount Lebanon Shaker Village
community in 1946, and was opened to its first group of young "villagers" as the Shaker Village Work Camp in 1947. Around 1960, the Work Camp's name was changed to the Shaker Village Work Group. Operating until 1973, the Shaker Village Work Group was noteworthy as a program that gave urban youths the opportunity to learn skilled hands-on work through folk crafts, for its efforts to preserve Shaker
architecture and culture, for its role in the American folk music revival
of the 1950s and 60s, and for its influence on the 1960s counterculture movement
.
During its twenty-six year span the Shaker Village Work Group presented a microcosm of American work and political ideals, weaving together the Protestant work ethic
and communitarianism
of the Shakers, the labor movement's
celebration of ordinary working class manual labor, and Libertarian
ideals of self-sufficiency
and self-ownership
.
, the Shaker
community that built and occupied the Mount Lebanon Shaker Village
from 1787 until its population became too small to make use of it. Under the Shakers, the Village was organized into "Families" that occupied clusters of buildings sited around the property. The Church Family site was sold to and is currently occupied by the Darrow School
. The North Family site is currently being occupied and renovated by the Shaker Museum and Library
. Jerry and Sybil Count purchased the South Family and West Family land for their planned youth work camp in 1946.
The "work camp" part of the Shaker Village Work Camp name is rooted in the 1930s. As part of government efforts to help the United States
escape the Great Depression of the 1930s
, the Civilian Conservation Corps
(CCC) was established and operated between 1933 and 1942 to train unemployed young men in useful manual labor job skills and also to provide employment for them in public works
projects. Large scale CCC projects were sometimes accompanied by what were called "work camps," in which up to 200 workers were housed together and which operated under a quasi-military organization. During World War II
, some of the work camps were re-purposed by the Civilian Public Service
to provide conscientious objectors an alternative to military service
. After World War II
, informed by these earlier public service work camps, many new "progressive
work camps" were created for teenagers and young adults to let them "visit and labor in fields and factories," to provide "work experience for youth under expert counselors," "to help children understand the democratic roots of their country," or to "teach neighborliness, public service, respect for manual labor, [and] self-government." For at least some of these new work camps, the "word work in 'work camp' signified a solidarity with labor on the part of the affluent, progressive
middle class."
The Counts opened the Shaker Village Work Camp as one of these new progressive work camps. There, urban teenage boys and girls would learn manual skills for the purposes of building character and to preserve and celebrate the crafts and work ethic of the Shaker culture. Some alumni of the work camp's early years have noted what Villager and artist Henry Halem called the "very socialist" character of the Village. Describing his time at the newly opened Shaker Village Work Camp, philosopher Robert Paul Wolff wrote, "Many of the counselors had roots in the various progressive movements that had emerged during the depression, though whether any were actually members of the Communist Party
I never knew." Some later attending Villagers have stated that this character was not apparent by the 1960s, and that Jerry Count was more concerned with "work education" than "socialism
for the sake of socialism."
An unusual feature of the Shaker Valley Work Group compared to typical summer camps was the extent to which the Villagers were autonomous, without direct counselor supervision. For example, the Villagers were entitled to set their bedtime hour by voting as a community.
, known as the Shakers or Shaking Quakers, were a small Protestant
Christian
sect that is known today primarily for their cultural contributions, particularly in music, furniture and folk crafts
(particularly baskets and boxes). They tied religious devotion to hard work, as exemplified by one of their founder Mother Ann Lee's mottoes, "Put your hands to work, and your heart to God."
The Shakers' cultural traditions made them an excellent model for the kind of youth work camp that Jerry and Sybil Count were seeking to establish. "The Counts learned about the Shakers' high standards of conduct and workmanship, their forsaking of material ownership and pride, their fabled tolerance, gender equality, and non-violence. The Shakers learned of the Counts' plans and ideals for a youth camp and heartily approved sale [of the land] for that use. The Shaker Village Work Camp opened in 1947 not only with Shaker approval but also with frequent appearances of those Shakers who could still get around."
Robert Paul Wolff, who attended for the first three years of the Village's existence, says that it "celebrated labor, along with folklore and the arts." He recounted his work restoring one of the old Shaker buildings: "The building was in very bad shape, so one of our major work projects was to renovate it. This involved not only pulling old plaster and lathe from the attic walls, but also making new pegs for the peg boards. ... I learned how to use a wood turning lathe and spent many happy hours turning new pegs." He concludes, "Shaker Village was unabashedly idealistic in its celebration of manual labor, community democracy, and folk culture."
A 1962 Sports Illustrated
article described the Shaker Village Work Group activities as "restoring the original village, repairing and rebuilding the historic buildings and reviving some of the Early American industries and crafts such as weaving, herb raising and woodcraft. The 'villagers' raise livestock, do farming and forestry work, landscaping and beekeeping." As a teen, author and Harvard professor Marjorie Garber refused to attend the Shaker Village as her parents wished because, "Teenagers who attended work camps wore denim and flannel shirts and learned about folk songs, barn construction, leftist politics, and sex—so far as I know."
In their 2004 book A Shaker Musical Legacy, Robert C. Opdahl and Viola E. Woodruff Opdahl provide some detailed descriptions of the Work Group's activities under Shaker tutelage, with an emphasis on Shaker music, but also including crafts, dance, and even the performance of a Shaker prayer service.
The Shaker Village Work Camp (and later Work Group) produced two Shaker songbooks with scores (Songs of the Shakers, 1956; Songs of the Shakers, 1962), two phonograph albums of Shaker songs sung by the teenage Villagers (14 Shaker Folk Songs, 1959 which featured an introduction by Shaker Brother Ricardo Belden; and Shaker Folk Songs, 1952), and a book of Shaker recipes (Shaker Desserts and Sweets, 195-?). A book of Shaker songs, with some history of the Shaker Village Work Group, was released in 2004 by two alumni of the Village. The Shaker Village Work Group was also featured in a 1966 episode of the television series Tony Saletan's What's New on National Educational Television
(NET), the precursor to the Public Broadcasting Service
(PBS). An article was written by Roger Hall in 1996 about singing at the Shaker Village Work Camp.
ians "looked to summer camps and resorts as as areas ripe for the introduction of folk music," and spent their summers touring among the rural camps, resorts and festivals. For example, folksinger and social activist "Pete Seeger
used to come and play" at the Village.
In 1954, Tony Saletan had been working as folksong leader at the Shaker Village Work Camp, and was searching the Widener Library
of Harvard University for material to teach the Villagers that summer. He adapted the song Michael Row the Boat Ashore
from the 1867 songbook Slave Songs of the United States
to create the version that's well-known today. "I judged that the tune was very singable, added some harmony (a guitar accompaniment) and thought the one-word chorus would be an easy hit with the teens (it was). But a typical original verse consisted of one line repeated once, and I thought a rhyme would be more interesting to the teenagers at Shaker Village Work Camp, where I introduced it. So I adapted traditional African-American couplets in place of the original verses."
That summer, Saletan taught Michael Row the Boat Ashore
to Pete Seeger
, who later sang it with the Weavers
, one of the most important singing groups leading the American folk music revival
of the 1950s to mid-1960s. Saletan's adaptation was included in the Village's 1956 songbook, Songs of Work. A #1 hit-single based on Saletan's version was released in 1961 by the American folk quintet the Highwaymen
under the abbreviated title, Michael. Joe Hickerson
, co-founder of the Folksmiths, credits Saletan for introducing him to the song Kumbaya
in 1957 (Saletan had learned it from Lynn Rohrbough, co-proprietor with his wife Katherine of the camp songbook publisher Cooperative Recreation Service). The first LP recording of Kumbaya was released in 1958 by the Folksmiths. Folksinger Peggy Seeger
was also taught several songs by Saletan, which she later recorded.
Saletan went on to host a public television series for children, Let's All Sing with Tony Saletan, with an associated album mostly drawn from American folksongs
, including those discovered and developed for teaching young Villagers. In 1970, he released an album, Tony and Irene Saletan: Folk Songs and Ballads with his then-wife, Irene (formerly and subsequently of the Kossoy Sisters
), on Folk-Legacy Records
. Saletan also released the album Song Bag with Tony Saletan and an associated teacher's guide and songbook.
, which established on it a spiritual intentional community
, the Abode of the Message
. Sybil Count died in 1996. After the New Lebanon facility was closed, the T.E.E.N.S. Global Democracy Project of the Shaker Village Educational Work Foundation, Inc. has continued some aspects of the Count family's work. Shaker Village Work Group alumni continue to maintain contact through various means, including a Facebook group.
Summer camp
Summer camp is a supervised program for children or teenagers conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as campers....
and teen educational program that occupied historic Shaker
Shakers
The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, known as the Shakers, is a religious sect originally thought to be a development of the Religious Society of Friends...
land and buildings in New Lebanon, New York. The property was purchased by founders Jerome (Jerry) and Sybil A. Count from the Mount Lebanon Shaker Village
Mount Lebanon Shaker Village
The Mount Lebanon Shaker Village is a historic site associated with the Shakers, a Protestant religious denomination. Founded as a communal group in the 1780s, the Shakers located their central Ministry in New Lebanon, New York, USA, and built a village that eventually covered several thousand...
community in 1946, and was opened to its first group of young "villagers" as the Shaker Village Work Camp in 1947. Around 1960, the Work Camp's name was changed to the Shaker Village Work Group. Operating until 1973, the Shaker Village Work Group was noteworthy as a program that gave urban youths the opportunity to learn skilled hands-on work through folk crafts, for its efforts to preserve Shaker
Shakers
The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, known as the Shakers, is a religious sect originally thought to be a development of the Religious Society of Friends...
architecture and culture, for its role in the American folk music revival
American folk music revival
The American folk music revival was a phenomenon in the United States that began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Richard Dyer-Bennett, Oscar Brand, Jean Ritchie, John Jacob...
of the 1950s and 60s, and for its influence on the 1960s counterculture movement
Counterculture of the 1960s
The counterculture of the 1960s refers to a cultural movement that mainly developed in the United States and spread throughout much of the western world between 1960 and 1973. The movement gained momentum during the U.S. government's extensive military intervention in Vietnam...
.
During its twenty-six year span the Shaker Village Work Group presented a microcosm of American work and political ideals, weaving together the Protestant work ethic
Protestant work ethic
The Protestant work ethic is a concept in sociology, economics and history, attributable to the work of Max Weber...
and communitarianism
Communitarianism
Communitarianism is an ideology that emphasizes the connection between the individual and the community. That community may be the family unit, but it can also be understood in a far wider sense of personal interaction, of geographical location, or of shared history.-Terminology:Though the term...
of the Shakers, the labor movement's
Labour movement
The term labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labour...
celebration of ordinary working class manual labor, and Libertarian
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
ideals of self-sufficiency
Self-sufficiency
Self-sufficiency refers to the state of not requiring any outside aid, support, or interaction, for survival; it is therefore a type of personal or collective autonomy...
and self-ownership
Self-ownership
Self-ownership is the concept of property in one's own person, expressed as the moral or natural right of a person to be the exclusive controller of his own body and life. According to G...
.
Beginnings
The Shaker Village Work Group operated on land formerly owned by the Mount Lebanon Shaker SocietyMount Lebanon Shaker Society
Mount Lebanon Shaker Society, also known as New Lebanon Shaker Society, was a communal settlement of Shakers in New Lebanon, New York. The early Shaker Ministry, including Joseph Meacham and Lucy Wright, the architects of Shakers' gender-balanced government, lived there.Isaac N. Youngs, the...
, the Shaker
Shakers
The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, known as the Shakers, is a religious sect originally thought to be a development of the Religious Society of Friends...
community that built and occupied the Mount Lebanon Shaker Village
Mount Lebanon Shaker Village
The Mount Lebanon Shaker Village is a historic site associated with the Shakers, a Protestant religious denomination. Founded as a communal group in the 1780s, the Shakers located their central Ministry in New Lebanon, New York, USA, and built a village that eventually covered several thousand...
from 1787 until its population became too small to make use of it. Under the Shakers, the Village was organized into "Families" that occupied clusters of buildings sited around the property. The Church Family site was sold to and is currently occupied by the Darrow School
Darrow School
Darrow School is an Independent co-educational high school. Its New Lebanon campus is a property in the Berkshire Hills, which are a southern extension of the Green Mountains of Vermont.-History:...
. The North Family site is currently being occupied and renovated by the Shaker Museum and Library
Shaker Museum and Library
The Shaker Museum and Library is a museum/library concerned with the Shakers, a Protestant religious denomination. It covers Shaker life and culture. The museum is based in Old Chatham, New York, USA, but is moving to the Mount Lebanon Shaker Village in New Lebanon, New York during 2009.In 1972,...
. Jerry and Sybil Count purchased the South Family and West Family land for their planned youth work camp in 1946.
The "work camp" part of the Shaker Village Work Camp name is rooted in the 1930s. As part of government efforts to help the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
escape the Great Depression of the 1930s
Great Depression in the United States
The Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October, 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. The market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging farm incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement...
, the Civilian Conservation Corps
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...
(CCC) was established and operated between 1933 and 1942 to train unemployed young men in useful manual labor job skills and also to provide employment for them in public works
Public works
Public works are a broad category of projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community...
projects. Large scale CCC projects were sometimes accompanied by what were called "work camps," in which up to 200 workers were housed together and which operated under a quasi-military organization. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, some of the work camps were re-purposed by the Civilian Public Service
Civilian Public Service
The Civilian Public Service provided conscientious objectors in the United States an alternative to military service during World War II...
to provide conscientious objectors an alternative to military service
Alternative service
Alternative service is a form of national service performed in lieu of conscription for various reasons, such as conscientious objection, inadequate health, or political reasons. See "labour battalion" for examples of the latter case...
. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, informed by these earlier public service work camps, many new "progressive
Progressivism in the United States
Progressivism in the United States is a broadly based reform movement that reached its height early in the 20th century and is generally considered to be middle class and reformist in nature. It arose as a response to the vast changes brought by modernization, such as the growth of large...
work camps" were created for teenagers and young adults to let them "visit and labor in fields and factories," to provide "work experience for youth under expert counselors," "to help children understand the democratic roots of their country," or to "teach neighborliness, public service, respect for manual labor, [and] self-government." For at least some of these new work camps, the "word work in 'work camp' signified a solidarity with labor on the part of the affluent, progressive
Progressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
middle class."
The Counts opened the Shaker Village Work Camp as one of these new progressive work camps. There, urban teenage boys and girls would learn manual skills for the purposes of building character and to preserve and celebrate the crafts and work ethic of the Shaker culture. Some alumni of the work camp's early years have noted what Villager and artist Henry Halem called the "very socialist" character of the Village. Describing his time at the newly opened Shaker Village Work Camp, philosopher Robert Paul Wolff wrote, "Many of the counselors had roots in the various progressive movements that had emerged during the depression, though whether any were actually members of the Communist Party
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....
I never knew." Some later attending Villagers have stated that this character was not apparent by the 1960s, and that Jerry Count was more concerned with "work education" than "socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
for the sake of socialism."
An unusual feature of the Shaker Valley Work Group compared to typical summer camps was the extent to which the Villagers were autonomous, without direct counselor supervision. For example, the Villagers were entitled to set their bedtime hour by voting as a community.
Preservation of Shaker architecture and culture
The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second AppearingShakers
The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, known as the Shakers, is a religious sect originally thought to be a development of the Religious Society of Friends...
, known as the Shakers or Shaking Quakers, were a small Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
sect that is known today primarily for their cultural contributions, particularly in music, furniture and folk crafts
Handicraft
Handicraft, more precisely expressed as artisanic handicraft, sometimes also called artisanry, is a type of work where useful and decorative devices are made completely by hand or by using only simple tools. It is a traditional main sector of craft. Usually the term is applied to traditional means...
(particularly baskets and boxes). They tied religious devotion to hard work, as exemplified by one of their founder Mother Ann Lee's mottoes, "Put your hands to work, and your heart to God."
The Shakers' cultural traditions made them an excellent model for the kind of youth work camp that Jerry and Sybil Count were seeking to establish. "The Counts learned about the Shakers' high standards of conduct and workmanship, their forsaking of material ownership and pride, their fabled tolerance, gender equality, and non-violence. The Shakers learned of the Counts' plans and ideals for a youth camp and heartily approved sale [of the land] for that use. The Shaker Village Work Camp opened in 1947 not only with Shaker approval but also with frequent appearances of those Shakers who could still get around."
Robert Paul Wolff, who attended for the first three years of the Village's existence, says that it "celebrated labor, along with folklore and the arts." He recounted his work restoring one of the old Shaker buildings: "The building was in very bad shape, so one of our major work projects was to renovate it. This involved not only pulling old plaster and lathe from the attic walls, but also making new pegs for the peg boards. ... I learned how to use a wood turning lathe and spent many happy hours turning new pegs." He concludes, "Shaker Village was unabashedly idealistic in its celebration of manual labor, community democracy, and folk culture."
A 1962 Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
article described the Shaker Village Work Group activities as "restoring the original village, repairing and rebuilding the historic buildings and reviving some of the Early American industries and crafts such as weaving, herb raising and woodcraft. The 'villagers' raise livestock, do farming and forestry work, landscaping and beekeeping." As a teen, author and Harvard professor Marjorie Garber refused to attend the Shaker Village as her parents wished because, "Teenagers who attended work camps wore denim and flannel shirts and learned about folk songs, barn construction, leftist politics, and sex—so far as I know."
In their 2004 book A Shaker Musical Legacy, Robert C. Opdahl and Viola E. Woodruff Opdahl provide some detailed descriptions of the Work Group's activities under Shaker tutelage, with an emphasis on Shaker music, but also including crafts, dance, and even the performance of a Shaker prayer service.
The Shaker Village Work Camp (and later Work Group) produced two Shaker songbooks with scores (Songs of the Shakers, 1956; Songs of the Shakers, 1962), two phonograph albums of Shaker songs sung by the teenage Villagers (14 Shaker Folk Songs, 1959 which featured an introduction by Shaker Brother Ricardo Belden; and Shaker Folk Songs, 1952), and a book of Shaker recipes (Shaker Desserts and Sweets, 195-?). A book of Shaker songs, with some history of the Shaker Village Work Group, was released in 2004 by two alumni of the Village. The Shaker Village Work Group was also featured in a 1966 episode of the television series Tony Saletan's What's New on National Educational Television
National Educational Television
National Educational Television was an American non-commercial educational public television network in the United States from May 16, 1954 to October 4, 1970...
(NET), the precursor to the Public Broadcasting Service
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
(PBS). An article was written by Roger Hall in 1996 about singing at the Shaker Village Work Camp.
Role in the American folk music revival
During the 1950s, some folk musicFolk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
ians "looked to summer camps and resorts as as areas ripe for the introduction of folk music," and spent their summers touring among the rural camps, resorts and festivals. For example, folksinger and social activist "Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
used to come and play" at the Village.
In 1954, Tony Saletan had been working as folksong leader at the Shaker Village Work Camp, and was searching the Widener Library
Widener Library
The Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library, commonly known as Widener Library, is the primary building of the library system of Harvard University. Located on the south side of Harvard Yard directly across from Memorial Church, Widener serves as the centerpiece of the 15.6 million-volume Harvard...
of Harvard University for material to teach the Villagers that summer. He adapted the song Michael Row the Boat Ashore
Michael Row the Boat Ashore
Michael, Row the Boat Ashore is an African-American spiritual. It was first noted during the American Civil War at St. Helena Island, one of the Sea Islands of South Carolina....
from the 1867 songbook Slave Songs of the United States
Slave Songs of the United States
Slave Songs of the United States was a collection of African American music published in 1867. It was the first, and most influential, collection of spirituals to be published; the collectors were Northern abolitionists, William Francis Allen, Lucy McKim Garrison and Charles Pickard Ware. It is a...
to create the version that's well-known today. "I judged that the tune was very singable, added some harmony (a guitar accompaniment) and thought the one-word chorus would be an easy hit with the teens (it was). But a typical original verse consisted of one line repeated once, and I thought a rhyme would be more interesting to the teenagers at Shaker Village Work Camp, where I introduced it. So I adapted traditional African-American couplets in place of the original verses."
That summer, Saletan taught Michael Row the Boat Ashore
Michael Row the Boat Ashore
Michael, Row the Boat Ashore is an African-American spiritual. It was first noted during the American Civil War at St. Helena Island, one of the Sea Islands of South Carolina....
to Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
, who later sang it with the Weavers
The Weavers
The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City. They sang traditional folk songs from around the world, as well as blues, gospel music, children's songs, labor songs, and American ballads, and selling millions of records at the height of their...
, one of the most important singing groups leading the American folk music revival
American folk music revival
The American folk music revival was a phenomenon in the United States that began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Richard Dyer-Bennett, Oscar Brand, Jean Ritchie, John Jacob...
of the 1950s to mid-1960s. Saletan's adaptation was included in the Village's 1956 songbook, Songs of Work. A #1 hit-single based on Saletan's version was released in 1961 by the American folk quintet the Highwaymen
The Highwaymen (folk band)
The Highwaymen were a circa 1960 "collegiate folk" group, which originated at Wesleyan University and had a Billboard number-one hit in 1961 with "Michael" and another Top 20 hit in 1962 with "Cottonfields"...
under the abbreviated title, Michael. Joe Hickerson
Joe Hickerson
Joe Hickerson is a noted folk singer and songleader. For 35 years he was Librarian and Director of the Archive of Folk Song at the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress...
, co-founder of the Folksmiths, credits Saletan for introducing him to the song Kumbaya
Kumbaya
"Kumbaya" or "Kumbayah" — is an African-American spiritual song from the 1930s. It enjoyed newfound popularity during the folk revival of the 1960s and became a standard campfire song in Scouting and nature-oriented organizations...
in 1957 (Saletan had learned it from Lynn Rohrbough, co-proprietor with his wife Katherine of the camp songbook publisher Cooperative Recreation Service). The first LP recording of Kumbaya was released in 1958 by the Folksmiths. Folksinger Peggy Seeger
Peggy Seeger
Margaret "Peggy" Seeger is an American folksinger. She is also well known in Britain, where she lived for more than 30 years with her husband, singer and songwriter Ewan MacColl.- The first American period :...
was also taught several songs by Saletan, which she later recorded.
Saletan went on to host a public television series for children, Let's All Sing with Tony Saletan, with an associated album mostly drawn from American folksongs
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, including those discovered and developed for teaching young Villagers. In 1970, he released an album, Tony and Irene Saletan: Folk Songs and Ballads with his then-wife, Irene (formerly and subsequently of the Kossoy Sisters
Kossoy Sisters
The Kossoy Sisters, Irene Saletan and Ellen Christenson, are an American folk and old time music act based around the identical twin sisters Irene Saletan and Ellen Christenson. In their music, Irene sings mezzo soprano vocal, and Ellen supplies soprano harmony, with Irene on guitar and Ellen...
), on Folk-Legacy Records
Folk-Legacy Records
Folk-Legacy Records is an independent recording company specializing in traditional and contemporary folk music of the English-speaking world. It was founded in 1961 by Sandy and Caroline Paton along with the late Lee Baker Haggerty...
. Saletan also released the album Song Bag with Tony Saletan and an associated teacher's guide and songbook.
Endings
After Jerry Count died in 1968, his wife Sybil kept the Shaker Village Work Group running for four more years, through the 1972 season. Bill and Cornelia Cotton were the operational directors the last few years. In 1975, the South Family and most of the West Family land was sold to the Sufi Order InternationalSufi Order International
The Sufi Order International is an organization dedicated to "Universal Sufism" as elaborated by Hazrat Inayat Khan.The order is currently led by Pir Zia Inayat Khan, the grandson of Hazrat Inayat Khan and son of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan....
, which established on it a spiritual intentional community
Intentional community
An intentional community is a planned residential community designed to have a much higher degree of teamwork than other communities. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, or spiritual vision and often follow an alternative lifestyle. They...
, the Abode of the Message
The Abode of the Message
The Abode of the Message is a Universal Sufi community founded in 1975 by Vilayat Inayat Khan. The Abode is the central residential community of the Sufi Order International, a conference and retreat center, and a center of esoteric study. It is also home to the current spiritual leader of the Sufi...
. Sybil Count died in 1996. After the New Lebanon facility was closed, the T.E.E.N.S. Global Democracy Project of the Shaker Village Educational Work Foundation, Inc. has continued some aspects of the Count family's work. Shaker Village Work Group alumni continue to maintain contact through various means, including a Facebook group.
See also
- American folk music revivalAmerican folk music revivalThe American folk music revival was a phenomenon in the United States that began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Richard Dyer-Bennett, Oscar Brand, Jean Ritchie, John Jacob...
- Mount Lebanon Shaker SocietyMount Lebanon Shaker SocietyMount Lebanon Shaker Society, also known as New Lebanon Shaker Society, was a communal settlement of Shakers in New Lebanon, New York. The early Shaker Ministry, including Joseph Meacham and Lucy Wright, the architects of Shakers' gender-balanced government, lived there.Isaac N. Youngs, the...
External links
- Shaker Village Sleep Away Camp Alumni. Facebook group.
- The Shakers On Television