Publications

American Communal Societies Series, no. 2. 456 pages with 45 b/w illustrations, 2010.
ISBN: 978-0-9796448-5-6 ($35)

This is a companion volume to her earlier work published by the Couper Press in 2007, which covered 1788-1849. This volume is a compilation of eighty-five accounts written by visitors to four Shaker villages. These two volumes will have enduring value for historians of the Shakers and American culture in general.

Shaker Studies, no. 1. 79 pages with 32 black and white illustrations, 2009.
ISBN: 978-0-9796448-4-9 ($9)

In this work Sandra Soule provides a detailed examination of the role Robert White Jr. played in spreading and defending the Shaker message. His activities ranged from persuading the Shaker leadership to publish certain important works, to funding their publication, and actively taking part in their distribution. Although White toiled tirelessly to advance the cause of Shakerism in the mid-nineteenth century, little has been written about him and his endeavors in the area of Shaker publication. Soule fills that void with her meticulous research based on Shaker manuscript records.

193 pages with 32 black and white illustrations, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-9796448-1-8 ($25)

Chester Gillette was accused of the murder of Grace Brown in 1906. After a sensational trial, covered by newspapers across the country, Gillette was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to die in the electric chair. This case was the basis for Theodore Dreiser’s classic novel An American Tragedy, the 1951 Academy-award-winning movie A Place in the Sun, and a 2006 opera. Revealed here for the first time are Chester’s private thoughts in his final months as he recorded them in his diary from September 1907 through March 1908. The diary was believed lost for nearly a century and only came to light in 2007 when Marlynn McWade-Murray, the grandniece of Chester Gillette, donated it to Hamilton College. In addition to the diary, the publication contains twelve letters Chester wrote from prison: eleven to Bernice Ferrin, a friend of the family; and one to his sister Hazel, written the day before his execution.

American Communal Societies Series, no. 1. 382 pages with 15 b/w illustrations, 2007.
ISBN: 978-0-9796448-0-1 ($35)

Visiting the Shakers is a compilation of ninety-eight accounts written by visitors to four Shaker villages. According to the preface by Elizabeth De Wolfe, “This volume gathers together these period observations, ranging from short diary entries to lengthy periodical articles. The majority of these sources have not been seen in print for more than 150 years. An award-winning independent scholar, Wergland guides the contemporary reader through the phenomenon of ‘visiting the Shakers,’ providing the social and historical context for the praise and criticism offered by these numerous and diverse visitors.”

About the author:
Glendyne Wergland grew up in the Southwest and spent her twenties as the trailing spouse of an engineer who moved nine times in eight years. After they settled in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, she “met” the Shakers through volunteer work at Hancock Shaker Village. Returning to school at age forty, she pursued her interest in the Shakers at Mount Holyoke College, where she graduated with honors before going to University of Massachusetts Amherst for her PhD. Her book, One Shaker Life: Isaac Newton Youngs, 1793-1865, won the Communal Studies Association's Outstanding Publication Award in 2006. Wergland’s current work on Shaker sisters examines the difficulties and rewards of nineteenth century communal life.

299 pages with 123 illustrations (mostly color),  2005 ($10)

This lavishly illustrated catalog highlights the Hamilton College Library’s holdings of Ezra Pound material. Pound, a Hamilton alumnus (class of 1905), was one of the most important and influential poets of the twentieth century. The first third of the book focuses on materials unique to the Hamilton collection, while the rest of the book identifies works by and about Pound held by the Hamilton College library. This catalog reveals the importance of this collection for Pound scholars and places it among the best in the country.