Would you like to hear an Amish person explain his faith and lifestyle in his own words? In the short film “An Amish Man”, Dennis Hochstetler does just that, discussing family, technology, separation from the world, and other Amish beliefs. He also describes his business and work as owner of Rentown Cabinets. The 10-minute film was created by Philip Bloom in the Nappanee, Indiana community. There are some beautiful shots…
How do Amish harvest ice? Arthur Bolduc recently joined a crew for a day of ice-cutting in Knox County, Ohio to give an inside look into the process. Ice is a necessity for those Amish who don’t use mechanical refrigeration, relying instead on ice houses. But the way they get their ice varies. Amish in Geauga County, for instance, purchase ice stored in ice vending stations scattered throughout the…
This 19-second video shows an Amish buggy doing donuts in the snow (snonuts?). It was filmed in Polk, Ohio (Ashland County), by Shayla Buhl, employee of the Polk Market and Deli. “I just looked out the window and grabbed my phone. They had it up on two wheels at one point,” Buhl told Fox 8 Cleveland. Ashland County contains all or parts of three Amish settlements. Given…
I’m happy to welcome Janneken Smucker, author of Amish Quilts: Crafting an American Icon, who will be sharing her Amish quilt expertise with us here. Janneken is Assistant Professor of History at West Chester University, consulting curator for the International Quilt Study Center & Museum at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and author of multiple publications on quilts and quilting (read a Q-and-A with Janneken on Amish quilts). Janneken…
Trying to talk about the “Amish approach” to health care is nothing if not complex. For one, with diverse churches and individual differences, you really can’t say there is a single “Amish approach”. But one thing is for sure – many Amish people, admirably, care about their health. That’s the conclusion you have to draw after observing the efforts they put forth to get, and…
Amish researcher and writer Donald Kraybill will be retiring from his position at Elizabethtown College as senior fellow at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies. This semester will be his last one teaching at the college. I wanted to share a few thoughts, including on how I first met Don. I also asked Don a few questions about his plans now, challenges of his work,…
Author Serena Miller believes so. A TIME magazine article titled “Why Amish Kids Are Happier Than Yours” offers five “secrets” English parents can learn from the Amish. They’re taken from Miller’s book More Than Happy: The Wisdom of Amish Parenting. One of these five ideas I hadn’t thought of before. Any guess which one? Here they are, summarized: Extended Family – large family networks boost a child’s well-being. Imperfect Hospitality –…
I’m happy to welcome Karen Johnson-Weiner as a new contributor here at Amish America. Karen is Professor of Anthropology at SUNY-Potsdam, and has studied the Old Order Amish for over 30 years. Karen’s books include New York Amish: Life in the Plain Communities of the Empire State, Train Up a Child: Old Order Amish and Mennonite Schools, and The Amish (with co-authors Donald Kraybill and Steven Nolt). We’ve…
Merlyn Yoder belongs to an Old Order Amish church in northern Indiana. A few weeks ago he shared why he felt the Ausbund is such an important book. In Why the Amish Sing: Songs of Solidarity and Identity, author D. Rose Elder explores the different purposes of Amish church song, including “to uplift spirits, to express devotion, and to experience joy in faithfulness to God.” As an Amish person…
For the Amish, nonresistance means a number of things, including refusal to do violence upon others and abstaining from litigation. Today, Jim Cates looks at the Amish response to war, and the expectations of society during times of conflict. I Ain’t Gonna Study War No More The quest for peace will always move in step with the drive for war, too often overshadowed by the demand for aggressive…