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The Shakers

The Shakers

Season 1 Episode 1 | 59m 48s

They called themselves the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, but because of their ecstatic dancing, the world called them Shakers. Ken Burns creates a moving portrait of this particularly American movement, and in the process, offers us a new and unusually moving way to understand the Shakers.

Aired: 08/06/85
Funding provided by: General Motors Corporation, CPB; PBS Independent Documentary Fund; the National Endowment for the Arts and Ford Foundation; New York Council for the Humanities; New Hampshire Council for the Humanities; Kentucky Humanities Council; and Massachusetts Foundation for Humanities and Public Policy.
Extras
Watch • 1:21
The Shakers
Sister Mildred Barker
Ritual movements that evolved after Ann Lee's death.
Clip: S1 E1 | 1:21
Watch • 0:31
The Shakers
Were the Shakers Successful?
Ed Nickles talks about the Shakers.
Clip: S1 E1 | 0:31