| bio | Lindsay, Bertha (Goldie Ina Ruby) (1897-1990) of Canterbury, NH, was born in Braintree, MA, and was the youngest of nine children. Orphaned at the age of four, she lived with an older sister for three years. She was admitted to the Shakers in 1905, according to the wishes her parents expressed before their deaths. Her Shaker mother was Sr. Lillian Phelps, who gave her the name Bertha, which she assumed upon signing the covenant in 1918, the day after she turned 21. By that time she was already in the position of the head cook for the business leaders and their guests. She was involved with harvesting, processing, and serving food; and was one of the community's photographers. From 1944 to 1958 she was in charge of the fancy work trade and also was personally involved in constructing poplar boxes. During the 1960s she was instrumental in forming a museum at the village, together with other Sisters. She delivered a talk together with Sr. Lillian Phelps at a seminar at Canterbury, in 1961, published in 1968: "Industries and inventions of the Shakers. Shaker Music... U In 1967 she became 2nd eldress at Canterbury, and in 1970, a member of the Lead Ministry. She was the honorary president of the Board of Trustees of Shaker Village Inc., a non-profit educational institution, which she helped to create. She stayed active, in spite of encroaching blindness, in the preservation and research of the site; recording memoirs; greeting visitors; writing a cookbook. This book, "Seasoned with Grace, U contains valuable biographical information on many Canterbury Shakers and other useful facts in the appendices.
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