RELIGIOUS VISIONS OF THE GENESEE VALLEY

Boerner, Steve

Grass Roots. Number 19, March 1984 [New York Religious History — 400 copies printed]

Rochester, New York: Grass Roots Press, 1984.

THE SEERS OF UPSTATE NEW YORK.
Number 19 of Grass Roots, a small publication devoted to amateur journalism, featuring Steve Boerner's essay 'The Seers of Upstate.'

Boerner explores the remarkable concentration of religious movements, prophets, and utopian communities that emerged in nineteenth-century western and central New York. His account discusses the Millerites and their Great Disappointment, the development of Adventist churches, John Humphrey Noyes and the Oneida Community, and the Megiddo Mission of Rochester.

Written with an engaging sense of regional history, the essay considers why this part of New York became such fertile ground for religious experimentation.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: A SMALL-PRESS PUBLICATION OF 400 COPIES.
+++ Stapled orange-yellow light-cardstock wrappers, 4.5 × 6 inches. 12 numbered pages, with additional printing on the inside wrappers.
+++ The front cover reproduces a nineteenth-century woodcut depicting the Genesee River gorge near Portageville, New York. A small grasshopper illustration decorates the rear wrapper.
+++ The colophon states that 400 copies were printed on a 6 × 10 Kelsey press by proprietor Steve Boerner at 67 Snug Harbor, Rochester, New York. Includes the emblem of the American Amateur Press Association.

CONDITION: FINE. Clean, bright, and well preserved, with no noted flaws. The original wrappers and interior pages remain fresh.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE — RELIGIOUS EXPERIMENTS IN UPSTATE NEW YORK
A REGION OF PROPHETS AND UTOPIANS.
Western and central New York became an important center of religious revival and experimentation during the nineteenth century. The region is closely associated with the Second Great Awakening, the Millerite movement, Mormonism, Spiritualism, and communal religious settlements.

Boerner's essay revisits this history through the communities and movements that developed around Rochester and the Genesee Valley, including the Oneida Community and the Megiddo Mission.

GENRES: Amateur Journalism, Small Press Publications, Regional History, Religious History, Printing Ephemera, Historical Essays, American Americana

SUBJECTS: Steve Boerner, Grass Roots Press, Rochester New York, Upstate New York, Genesee Valley, Burned-over District, Religious Revivalism, Millerites, Great Disappointment, Seventh-day Adventists, Oneida Community, John Humphrey Noyes, Megiddo Mission, Utopian Communities, American Amateur Press Association, Kelsey Printing Press, Amateur Printing

Item #22588

Price: $24.00