The Shakers (officially, United Believers in Christ's Second Appearing) originated in England in 1747. Under the leadership of "Mother" Ann Lee, they came to America in 1774 and settled in New York.

Shakers have no written creed but at various times throughout their history they have embraced certain belief and practices:
1. Duality of the Deity, composed of a male and a female element
2. Ann Lee as the Second Appearance of Christ
3. Equality of men and women
4. Celibacy
5. Community of Property
6. Withdrawal from the World
7. Pacifism
8. Spiritualism
9. Open confession of sin
10. Worship expressed in dance and in march

At their height in about 1840, the Shakers had 6000 members in communities in New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. The sole remaining Shaker community, Sabbathday Lake, is located in Poland Spring, Maine.

Harvard was considerd the spiritual center of the Shaker world.

The Shaker Museum at Fruitlands (left) was originally constructed in the Harvard Shaker Village in 1794 as an office. Miss Sears moved it to the Fruitlands Museums in 1920 after the Harvard Shaker village closed.

The Shakers expressed their deep spiritual beliefs in all their arts and crafts. The chief Harvard Shaker industries were agriculture and horticulture.

The Sisters were renowned for the quality of their needlecraft, spinning, and weaving.

The Shaker doctrines of simplicity and utility resulted in a design with clean lines that please the eye and reinforce the Shaker sense of order and neatness.