Commercial dog breeders (also frequently described as puppy mills) have been in the news a lot lately. Recent changes in Pennsylvania law has made it difficult for breeders to operate, thus forcing many to begin to get out of the business. Opponents, most visibly in the form of activists such as Bill Smith of Main Line Animal Rescue, have made headlines with their sometimes dramatic…
The Amish potential-exemption-from-health-insurance-requirement story has shot around the net and become something of a hot sub-story to the health care issue. Frankly I thought it would get some attention but the amount of media coverage surprised me a bit. A scan of commentary reveals some upset at what’s been called a ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ card for the Amish (and, presumably other religious groups who meet the criteria),…
Behalt is the name of a pictorial history of the Anabaptists from the time of European beginnings through their existence in America. Not only is it educational, it has been dubbed “the most exciting cyclorama in America”. Having only visited one cyclorama in America (the other – of the Battle of Raclawice in Poland being non-American and of a decidedly non-pacifist nature) I can’t say…
A week back I wrote about how Amish celebrate Christmas, with a mention of the holiday program that takes place in many Amish schools. Rick shares a photo from a recent visit to the New Wilmington, PA Amish community, taken during the Christmas Eve program at a local one-room school.
The qualities of being a closed population, as well as good genealogical records, make the Amish an attractive group for genetic and health-related studies. In a recently-reported Ohio State study, researchers theorized about higher rates of cancer, but found the opposite. They discovered that Amish in Holmes County, Ohio exhibit cancer rates only 56% of the national average. The researchers explain that low cancer rates…
North Carolina is my home state, and not one known for having a large Amish population. Amish have attempted to settle NC in the past, however, and today one settlement does exist, at Union Grove, a hamlet lying some miles west of Winston-Salem. Union Grove, which began in 1985 as a spinoff of the Guthrie, Kentucky community, is considered a New Order settlement. Like its…
Most Amish homes have a sizable basement. The basement is an important part of the typical Amish home for a number of reasons. The basement of course makes a good storage area. Amish families often keep their stores of canned goods in the basement. The basement also offers living space. Amish in warmer climes may ‘move’ downstairs to the basement in summertime, eating meals and…
Since 2020, a small Amish presence has been found in New Mexico, not far from the Colorado border, at Ortiz in Santa Fe County. And as to Amish in the Land of Enchantment, there is also one interesting nugget from Amish history worth mentioning. Kevin at the Amish Cook blog points to an article about Amish and Mennonites visiting the site of an old Amish…
Just got a hot tip from the Young Center that the 2009 Amish population statistics are up at the Amish Studies web site. A couple quick things I noticed between this year’s and last year’s numbers: on the lower end, Arkansas has jumped from 1 to 3 settlements, and the Maine Amish, Montana Amish, and Kansas Amish have all added a settlement. Ohio, Pennsylvania, and…
Just read an interesting article in the Mount Vernon News about the relationship between law enforcement and Amish in a few Ohio communities. One of the two sheriffs interviewed–hailing from Knox County, an area with a relatively small Amish population–says that law enforcement tries to be sensitive to Amish customs and in particular the Amish system of church discipline. “I believe a lot of times…