Huffman retires from Shaker Village after 46 Years

Published 6:56 am Friday, July 6, 2018

SHAKER VILLAGE

News release

HARRODSBURG — Alongside her family and friends, Shaker Village staff and supporters celebrated the 46-year career of Dixie Huffman on June 25.

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In recognition of her devotion to Shaker Village, an academic scholarship was founded in Huffman’s name. The scholarship will be available to juniors and seniors from Burgin High School and Mercer County Senior High School.

The following tribute was written by a member of the Shaker Village curatorial team:

“After 46 years of employment with Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Dixie Huffman is retiring. While that is a remarkable achievement by itself, Dixie’s connection to Pleasant Hill began almost literally since the day she was born. A lifelong resident of Mercer County, as a young girl in the 1930s, Dixie lived on land that was once owned by the Shakers, near the West Lot Dwelling. Her first memories of the Pleasant Hill buildings were from well before the restoration; at one time she recalled, “it didn’t look like there was much life here.”

Dixie’s professional career at Pleasant Hill began in 1971, as an interpreter during her summer breaks from her full-time teaching career. Upon retiring from teaching in the late 1970s, she became a full-time fixture of the Pleasant Hill interpretive team. As the years progressed, she began to work behind the scenes with the collection, helping the curatorial staff with very important tasks like cataloging, records management and research.

In recent years, “Miss Dixie” has become best known among staff for her extensive transcription of the Shaker primary sources. Sitting for hours in front of a microfilm machine, she diligently copied the original records onto legal pads that could easily be shared with staff and guests alike.

For more information about Shaker Village, visit shakervillageky.org.