Simple Gifts Websites

The Shakers’ Historic Trail

This National Park Service site provides an overview of the Shakers and their history. More importantly, it allows visitors to follow the Shakers’ “historic trail” as they expanded. Individual community pages provide images of Shaker architecture and design.

Ken Burns Companion Site

PBS has posted a companion site for Ken Burns’s documentary on the Shakers. It offers a brief history, a useful timeline, links to other sources, and lesson plans for teachers.

Shaker Music

This handy site offers lots of information on Shaker music and its history. Songs, lyrics, images of original manuscripts, and sheet music are available. In addition, multiple links provide access to CDs and more sheet music.