Operating until 1973,[3] the Shaker Village Work Group was noteworthy as a program that gave urban youths the opportunity to learn skilled hands-on work through folk crafts,[4] for its efforts to preserve Shaker architecture and culture,[5][6][7] for its role in the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 60s,[8] and for its influence on the 1960s counterculture movement.
As part of government efforts to help the United States escape the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was established and operated between 1933 and 1942 to train unemployed young men in useful manual labor job skills and also to provide employment for them in public works projects.
Large scale CCC projects were sometimes accompanied by what were called "work camps," in which up to 200 workers were housed together and which operated under a quasi-military organization.
[20][21] There, urban teenage boys and girls would learn manual skills for the purposes of building character and to preserve and celebrate the crafts and work ethic of the Shaker culture.
Describing his time at the newly opened Shaker Village Work Camp, philosopher Robert Paul Wolff wrote, "Many of the counselors had roots in the various progressive movements that had emerged during the depression, though whether any were actually members of the Communist Party I never knew.
At least during those years, tasks were distributed on a weekly basis, with functional chores for maintenance of the camp done in the morning, and more cultural or artistic work occupying the afternoons.
The shifts changed regularly, through an extremely simple system, with sheets of paper posted inside the barn (the main indoor meeting place) designating the tasks and the number of people needed, on which all participants were to sign up for the various tasks and activities, with freedom of choice and incitement to change regularly.
There were also general meetings, under a large, central tree, at which a mayor was chosen (probably weekly), and all problems or decisions affecting the group were debated.
[23] The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, known as the Shakers, were a small Protestant Christian sect that is known today primarily for their cultural contributions, particularly in music, furniture and folk crafts (particularly baskets and boxes).
"[9][10] The Shakers' cultural traditions made them an excellent model for the kind of youth work camp that Jerry and Sybil Count were seeking to establish.
"The Counts learned about the Shakers' high standards of conduct and workmanship, their forsaking of material ownership and pride, their fabled tolerance, gender equality, and non-violence.
"I judged that the tune was very singable, added some harmony (a guitar accompaniment) and thought the one-word chorus would be an easy hit with the teens (it was).
But a typical original verse consisted of one line repeated once, and I thought a rhyme would be more interesting to the teenagers at Shaker Village Work Camp, where I introduced it.
[35] That summer, Saletan taught Michael Row the Boat Ashore to Pete Seeger, who later sang it with the Weavers,[8][36][37] one of the most important singing groups leading the American folk music revival of the 1950s to mid-1960s.