Tabitha Babbitt
From Circularsaw1813
When I think of a circular saw, I see a man using the saw with lumber all around him and saw dust flying everywhere. The circular saw has become an icon of power tools and getting a ‘man’s’ job done quickly. My surprise was unique when I discovered the circular saw was invented by a woman, Tabitha Babbitt a member of a Harvard Shaker Community. The story of Tabitha Babbitt inspired me even more interesting because the openness of the Shaker’s culture and acceptance of female ideas. “Shakers valued living communally, equality between sexes and hard work” (Edmonds, 2011). This equality was rare to be found during this time period as most other women did not have the right to speak up to their husbands or vote (Hopple, 1989-90). The Shaker community was a perfect environment for a creative Tabitha Babbitt to change the world one wooden board at a time.
