May We Ever Be United: Music of the North Union Shakers with Roger Lee Hall

Take a journey back in time to when the original Shakers settled in this area which later became Shaker Heights. They had their first public meeting in September of 1822 and established their community which they called North Union. Two hundred years later, you are invited to learn about these early Shakers and their music with messages of unity and hope and to enjoy some singing of Shaker tunes. One of their members, Philander Curtis Cramer, expressed it with these opening words: “May we ever be united, with this little happy band, Who are trav’ling unto Zion, all united heart and hand.”

Join us at the Shaker Heights Public Library on Thursday, September 8 at 7pm to learn about the music of these North Union Shakers “all united heart and hand.” Registration is available at events.shakerlibrary.org/event/9327552. This program is presented in partnership with the Shaker Heights Public Library with support from Friends of the Shaker Library.

About the Speaker: Roger Lee Hall is a music preservationist now living in Massachusetts and currently Director of the Center for American Music Preservation (CAMP).  He has researched and written about Shaker music for 50 years.  He has compiled 20 collections and also produced these CDs with Shaker music: “Celestial Praises,” “Gentle Words” and “My Shaker Home.” His Ph.D dissertation at Case Western Reserve University in the 1970s was on North Union Shaker music and was later published by PineTree Press.  For his work in preserving American music he has been listed in Who’s Who in America.