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Spend a thought-provoking morning at Canterbury Shaker Village: a panel on women's leadership followed by a tour of the Infirmary where early women physicians trained. Learn practical leadership takeaways while walking through a preserved piece of American social history.
Spend a thought-provoking morning at Canterbury Shaker Village: a panel on women's leadership followed by a tour of the Infirmary where early women physicians trained. Learn practical leadership takeaways while walking through a preserved piece of American social history.
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Operated by Canterbury Shaker Village · Canterbury, New Hampshire
At Canterbury Shaker Village in Canterbury, New Hampshire, the Women's Leadership Breakfast offers a compact morning of ideas, history, and a guided step into the Infirmary where early women physicians trained. The event, scheduled for Friday, April 24th from 8–10am, pairs a lively panel discussion on women's leadership and gender equity with a short tour across one of New England's most intact Shaker sites. Hosted and moderated by award-winning journalist and author Laura Knoy—founding host of New Hampshire Public Radio's The Exchange—the program foregrounds both contemporary conversation and the buildings that housed real change.
The morning begins with a continental breakfast and networking before the panel explores how the Shakers’ organizational practices intersect with modern leadership challenges. The tone is practical and inquisitive: expect strategies, anecdotes, and time for questions. After the program, a guided walk inside the Infirmary brings the history into focus. The Infirmary is a central physical feature here—an austere wooden structure where women physicians once trained and where visible traces of early medical practice remain in the layout, cabinetry, and circulation spaces.
What makes this event special is the pairing of dialogue and place. Canterbury Shaker Village is not a backdrop; it’s an active participant. The village green, low-slung communal buildings, and the Infirmary's interior reveal how structural design supported gender roles and medical care in a communal setting. For visitors, that makes the conversation about leadership immediate: you can move from theory at the panel into a room where women once administered care.
Practical details matter. Tickets are $20, and proceeds support Canterbury Shaker Village’s preservation work. The schedule is brisk—networking and breakfast at 8:00, program from 8:30–9:30, and the Infirmary tour from 9:30–10:00—so arrive with time to check in. The event suits anyone interested in history, nonprofit leadership, gender studies, or local civic life; it’s low-impact physically but high in conversational value.
For travelers, Canterbury sits within easy driving distance of larger New Hampshire towns and offers a quiet site visit afterward: stroll the grounds, examine timber-frame construction, or linger on benches overlooking the green. This is a morning where practical leadership takeaways meet a tangible piece of American social history—concise, rooted, and designed to leave you thinking about the structures that shape both care and authority.
Plan to arrive early to secure on-site parking and a good seat for the panel; the venue moves quickly and check-in lines can form during the breakfast hour. Dress for the season and for stepping outdoors briefly during the Infirmary tour—layers and comfortable shoes are recommended. Bring business cards for networking and an openness to cross-disciplinary ideas: fundraisers, educators, municipal leaders, and historians all leave with concrete steps they can apply at home and in their organizations.
The program runs roughly two hours: networking and breakfast at 8:00, program 8:30–9:30, then a 9:30–10:00 Infirmary tour.
Tickets are $20 and all proceeds support Canterbury Shaker Village’s preservation work.
The event is hosted and moderated by award-winning journalist and author Laura Knoy, founding host of New Hampshire Public Radio's "The Exchange."
The site includes historic buildings with limited accessibility; contact Canterbury Shaker Village directly for specific accommodation requests.
Yes. Visitors commonly stroll the grounds and view exterior architecture after the program—allow extra time if you want a longer visit.
Bring layers, comfortable shoes, and business cards for networking; a notebook is handy for notes and takeaways.
Canterbury Shaker Village is a historic Shaker community and living history museum located in Canterbury, New Hampshire. The Village offers guided tours, special exhibitions, community readings, concerts, hands-on workshops, and seasonal events that interpret Shaker life, craft, and communal practices. Educational programs highlight primary sources and personal narratives, including special tours inspired by Nicolas Briggs’s memoir Forty Years a Shaker and guided walks led by the Village’s education staff such as Director of Education Kyle Sandler. Visitors can attend readings in the 1792 Meeting House, music on the green, antique and vintage car shows set among fall foliage, and exhibition openings that honor the Shakers’ legacy. Workshops and demonstrations teach traditional Shaker skills; examples include a cherry oval box workshop led by instructor Dick Bennett and farm-to-table dinners paired with historic tours at community gatherings like Simply Shaker. Members and preview events bring curators and historians together to contextualize artifacts, as seen in the Keeping Faith exhibition talks with curators Renée Fox, Kyle Sandler, and Shirley Wajda. Canterbury Shaker Village maintains credibility through documented artifacts, named curators and educators, and a range of public programs that connect visitors directly to Shaker material culture. The Village’s calendar of events and combination of tours, exhibitions, and hands-on learning provide reliable opportunities for visitors to explore early American religious life and Shaker craftsmanship. Public programs often include live music, community readings, vintage car exhibitions, curator talks, and light refreshments during exhibition openings to deepen visitor engagement with Shaker history and authentic material culture.
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