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Shaker Village Pioneer Home Interior – Pleasant Hill, Kentucky

Shaker Village Pioneer Home Interior – Pleasant Hill, Kentucky

Shaker Village Pioneer Home Interior - Kentucky

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Pleasant Hill, Kentucky also known as Shakertown, was a Shaker (the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing) religious community from 1805 to 1910. With many well-preserved buildings, the village was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1971.

The Kentucky Shaker village was founded by three New England Shaker missionaries, John Meacham, Benjamin Seth Youngs, and Issachar Bates. They founded the community around the teachings of Mother Ann Lee who believed in celibacy. Kentucky’s Shaker community ultimately died out, in part because of their beliefs in celibacy, problems encountered during and after the Civil War, and a declining interest in their way of life by potential converts . But their legacy of hard work, and fine craftsmanship lives on at Pleasant Hill.

Shakertown is located near the present day cities of Danville and Harrodsburg in central Kentucky.

Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill – Website
National Park Service – History of the Shakers

Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta Mural – Utah

Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta Mural - Utah

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This was a short-lived mural in the city of West Jordan, Utah. It commemorates the work of Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, founders of the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA). Following the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, both labor leaders fought to improve the lives of farm workers in California, through non-violent protests. Eventually they would merge the NFWA, with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) formed by the Filipino-American labor organizer Larry Dulay Itliong, to create the United Farm Workers (UFW) labor union known today. One of Chavez’s most noted accomplishments was the Delano Grape Strike of 1965-70, which highlighted the treatment of farmworkers by major table grape growers. Through a combination of consumer boycotts, marches, community organizing and nonviolent resistance, the organizations that would become the UFW, were able secure a collective bargaining agreement that benefited more than 10,000 farmworkers.

While Cesar Chavez died in 1993, and lost a lot of support due to controversial actions in his later years, he remains a folk hero among Mexican-Americans. And Dolores Huerta, even at the current age of 90, remains active as a labor leader and civil rights activist.

Old Stone Bridge – Louisville to Nashville Turnpike – Kentucky

Old Stone Bridge – Louisville to Nashville Turnpike – Kentucky

Old Stone Bridge - Louisville to Nashville Turnpike - Kentucky

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One of the oldest bridges in the state of Kentucky, it can be found outside of military base of Fort Knox, along what remains of the old Louisville to Nashville Turnpike, and shares a trailhead with Tioga Falls. As the name implies, the turnpike ran between Louisville, Kentucky and Nashville, Tennessee. There were two segments, known today as Highway 31 West and 31 East. The turnpike was used by both Union and Confederate troops during the Civil War, and the bridge dates back to before that time period. It was also traveled by President Andrew Jackson on several occasions. The western turnpike passed through Elizabethtown, Bowling Green, Glasgow Junction, and Franklin. And the eastern turnpike ran through Bardstown, Buffalo, Glasgow, and Scottsville.