II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4124 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to assess 

the suitability and feasibility of designating the Canterbury Shaker Village National Heritage Area, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 15, 2024 

Ms. HASSAN (for herself and Mr. TILLIS) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a 

study to assess the suitability and feasibility of designating the Canterbury Shaker Village National Heritage 

Area, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Canterbury Shaker Vil5 lage National Heritage Area Study Authorization Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) Canterbury Shaker Village, which was es2 tablished in 1792, has played a prominent role in 

3 the history of the United Society of Believers, com4 monly known as the ‘‘Shakers’’, which was the long5 est-lived and most successful of the several utopian 

6 experiments of the 19th century in the United 

7 States; 

8 (2) the advent and growth of the Shaker move9 ment was a significant component of a trans10 formational religious and social fervor in the United 

11 States— 

12 (A) which is known as the ‘‘Second Great 

13 Awakening’’; and 

14 (B) that led to the development of a num15 ber of churches and sects that diversified and 

16 enriched the society of the United States; 

17 (3) the Shakers— 

18 (A) were a communal and celibate religious 

19 group that saw work, music, and dance as wor20 ship; 

21 (B) practiced equality of the sexes, paci22 fism, and technological invention; and 

23 (C) by withdrawing from the larger society, 

24 developed a refined and aesthetically significant 

25 expression of architecture, decorative arts, and 


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1 utilitarian objects that are now known and 

2 studied throughout the world; 

3 (4) Canterbury Shaker Village played an in4 creasingly important role in the Shaker movement, 

5 eventually becoming the home of the Shaker Central 

6 Ministry, which supervised the consolidation at Can7 terbury Shaker Village of other Shaker settlements 

8 as the other settlements declined and closed during 

9 the 20th century, preserving and distilling remnants 

10 of the societies at a single site; 

11 (5) Canterbury Shaker Village was the only 

12 Shaker community to deliberately transform the 

13 community from a religious society to a nonprofit 

14 museum, Canterbury Shaker Village, Inc., to which, 

15 in 1969, Canterbury Shaker Village conveyed the 

16 land, buildings, furnishings, and archives of Canter17 bury Shaker Village as an intact legacy; 

18 (6) in 1992, in recognition of the historical sig19 nificance and physical integrity of Canterbury Shak20 er Village, Canterbury Shaker Village was des21 ignated as a National Historic Landmark; 

22 (7) as of the date of enactment of this Act, 

23 Canterbury Shaker Village includes— 

24 (A) approximately 700 acres of land; 

25 (B) 25 buildings; and 


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1 (C) extensive and verified archaeological 

2 resources, gardens, orchards, a community cem3 etery, miles of roadways, stone culverts and 

4 walls, and a chain of manmade ponds that have 

5 powered a range of industries, including some 

6 industries that derived from the inventions of 

7 the Shakers; and 

8 (8) Canterbury Shaker Village has been the 

9 beneficiary of years of concentrated surveying, map10 ping, photographic recordation, archaeological inves11 tigation, and documentary research and writing 

12 that— 

13 (A) reflect a fascination on the part of the 

14 outside world with Canterbury Shaker Village 

15 that began in the early 1800s; 

16 (B) are scholarly and popular in nature; 

17 and 

18 (C) have defined a cultural landscape and 

19 a historical legacy that is of national signifi20 cance and high educational and aesthetic value 

21 to the people of the United States. 

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act: 

24 (1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

25 the Secretary of the Interior. 


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1 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

2 of New Hampshire. 

3 (3) STUDY AREA.—The term ‘‘study area’’ 

4 means the geographic boundaries of the Canterbury 

5 Shaker Village National Historic Landmark located 

6 in Merrimack County, New Hampshire. 

7 SEC. 4. CANTERBURY SHAKER VILLAGE NATIONAL HERIT8 AGE AREA STUDY. 

9 The Secretary, in consultation with State and local 

10 historic preservation officers, State and local historical so11 cieties, State and local tourism offices, and other appro12 priate organizations and governmental agencies and in ac13 cordance with section 120103(a) of title 54, United States 

14 Code, shall conduct a study to assess the suitability and 

15 feasibility of designating the study area as a National 

16 Heritage Area, to be known as the ‘‘Canterbury Shaker 

17 Village National Heritage Area’’. 

Æ 


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