this is Ann Lee Pond at the first Shaker settlement in America, Niskayuna (now Colonie, NY)
Welcome to another issue of The Jiffy, a newsletter about upstate New York (and other nearby places).
This issue is all about Shaker Mother Ann Lee, who introduced the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing to this country by sailing the Atlantic on a condemned ship and trekking back and forth, hundreds of miles to visit 36 towns and villages across the Berkshire Mountains and the Hudson River during the Revolutionary War.
Colonists thought she was a witch, a spy for the British, both, or a heretic determined to destroy families everywhere. But if you asked her, she was the second coming of Christ in the female form, here to help guide souls into Heaven in the afterlife.
It’s a story worthy of an award-winning biopic, and I’ve been working on an audio biography of Lee for months in a race to get it out in time for the wider release of “The Testament of Ann Lee,” the new film about Lee directed by Mona Fastvold and starring Amanda Seyfried as Lee.
I’m sharing it here as part of The Jiffty 250, a series that only comes around once every semiquincentennial. I’m looking at some of the histories of New York/New England during the 1770s, and I hope you’ll follow along! If you have any tips on events, reenactments, odd stories, or anything else, please reply to this email and let me know.
I met Kathleen Lynch in 2024 during my series about regional architecture (“This Old Vibe”). Kathleen is the curator and director of collections at Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, overseeing the museum’s collection of more than 30,000 objects: baskets, tables, chairs, brooms, signs, textiles, gift drawings, and so much more.
And she’s a joy to talk with, so of course I called her up to see if she’d be interested in a conversation about the life and legends surrounding Mother Ann.
The Shakers are known mostly these days for their design aesthetic, their woodworking craftsmanship, and their peg rails. And it’s true, Shaker design influenced movements such as Bauhaus, Danish Modern, and Japanese design; you could draw a line between Shaker design and Ikea.
But to Shakers, such as Sister R. Mildred Barker, who lived from 1898 to 1990, faith was about much more than furniture. Labor wasn’t a chore to endure but an opportunity for worship and devotion. “I would like to be remembered as one who had pledged myself to the service of God and had fulfilled that pledge as perfectly as I can,” Mildred said. “Not as a piece of furniture.”
“You can't really talk about the Shakers at all without going to the origin story,” Kathleen told me in our interview. “And the origin story is Mother Ann Lee.”
In this episode, we learn about the hardships that helped form Ann’s beliefs, how she and a small group traveled across the ocean from England, then up the Hudson River, and then across mountains, through a countryside at war, surviving attack after attack from malevolent mobs and militias.
I hope you’ll give it a listen:
If you like this episode, please share it with a friend – word of mouth really helps this show grow. Thank you!
in arts and designs
Pinkwater Gallery presents ”Objects of the Everyday” at Kingston Social, a group show reimagining ordinary items that shape daily life. Featuring work by 22 artists from around the region, the exhibition draws from more than 200 submissions to explore the poetry (and surprise) of tools, utensils, furniture, and other often overlooked forms. On view daily (closed Wednesdays) through March 10, 8 a.m.–5 p.m., Kingston Social, 237 Fair St., Kingston. (Info here)
International Museum of Dinnerware Design presents “Dining Grails,” one of its inaugural exhibitions in the museum’s Kingston home, exploring the idea of the “holy grail” of dinnerware. Drawing from a permanent collection that has grown to more than 9,000 objects, the show brings together functional design, fine art, and kitsch from iconic works by designers such as Russel Wright and Roy Lichtenstein to contemporary pieces. Where’s the line between everyday use and museum-worthy form? On view at IMoDD, 524 Broadway, Kingston, NY. General admission $10. (Info here)
Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Community Center presents “Parts and Pieces: A Conversation in Collage, Pottery, and Memory,” a group exhibition by three Hudson Valley artists exploring how fragments (physical and ephemeral) are assembled into meaning. Working across collage and ceramics, pieces in the show consider assembly as both artistic practice and a metaphor for LGBTQ+ community. On view Jan. 24–Mar. 14 at Apuzzo Hall Gallery, 300 Wall St., Kingston, NY. Opening reception Sat., Jan. 24, 4–6 p.m. Free admission. (Info here)
Wassaic Project presents “This Must Be The Place,” its 2025–2026 winter exhibition, up and down the seven floors of Maxon Mills. Featuring work by eleven artists, the show traces shared concerns around personal and cultural histories, material transformation, the sacred and speculative, and immersive modes of looking. On view Dec. 6–Mar. 14, Thu.–Sun., 12–5 p.m. Maxon Mills, 37 Furnace Bank Rd., Wassaic, NY. Free admission with a suggested $10 donation. (Info here)
Woodstock Artists Association and Museum presents “Rethink Everything: A Survey of 20th Century Art Movements” in the Stairwell Gallery, showcasing work by Woodstock Day School middle school students responding to modern and contemporary art history. Guided by art teacher Corey Adams, the exhibition features student reinterpretations of major 20th-century movements, highlighting how experimentation, abstraction, and conceptual thinking continue to resonate with new generations of artists. On view Jan. 23–Mar. 8; opening reception Sat., Jan. 24, 4–6 p.m., Stairwell Gallery at WAAM, 28 Tinker St., Woodstock, NY. (Info here)
By the way, here’s a previous video Kathleen and I made about the Shakers’ use of “borrowed light” throughout their 1830 Brick Dwelling (the same dwelling where we recorded the podcast interview)!
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