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Shaker

Encyclopaedia Britannica · 2026

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Accessed: 2026-09-01

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EstablishedThe Shakers organised celibate communal villages in which men and women lived in dormitory-style houses and held all things in common, with leadership shared by elders and eldresses.DisputedShaker membership peaked in the 1840s at roughly 6,000 and fell to about 1,000 by 1905; estimates of the peak vary between sources.EstablishedSabbathday Lake Shaker Village in New Gloucester, Maine, is the only active Shaker community; Britannica reports it had three members in 2025.