At their 19th-century peak, the Shakers numbered 4,000 believers who lived a communal life devoted to achieving Christian perfection through celibacy, obedience to elders, and confession of sins, among other practices. When these photographs were taken, their numbers had shrunk to 12.

Shaker rooms reflect Shaker values of symmetry, order, and function. At Pleasant Hill (a restored Shaker settlement in Kentucky) women entered the dining room of the Centre Family dwelling house through the left, men through the right; they sat at separate tables. Pegboards enabled chairs to be hung out of the way so a room could be swept.

—From “The Shakers’ Brief Eternity,” September 1989, National Geographic magazine