Karen Johnson-Weiner is Chair of the Department of Anthropology at SUNY Potsdam, and has been studying the Amish for 25 years. Professor Johnson-Weiner’s areas of specialty include Old Order schools, language in Anabaptist communities, and the Swartzentruber Amish. In Part One of this three-part Q-and-A, she shares her insights on New York Amish. Amish America: Your upcoming book focuses on the Amish in New York. …
Dr. Michael Werner passes on a link to the Pennsylvania German website Hiwwe wie Driwwe (‘Over here as over there’). The site is coupled with a biannual newspaper of the same name, apparently the only regular Pennsylvania German language publication. A bit of background on the dialect, from the Hiwwe wie Driwwe site: In North America, one can still find a few speech islands, in…
Kevin over at the informative and fun Amish Cook blog has beaten me to the punch here, but I thought I’d bring to your attention an article in the New York Times on Amish business. It’s a pretty meat-and-potatoes look at Amish entrepreneurship but nice to see in a high-profile spot. Donald Kraybill contributes here, pointing out that in some settlements high majorities–even 90%–of households…
Thanks to substantial genealogical records, many Amish can trace their lineage back to the 1700’s and 1800’s, when significant waves of Amish immigration to North America occurred. One of the most common Amish names is Stoltzfus, found predominantly in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and its offshoot settlements. The short-version history of the Stoltzfus name, courtesy of Family Life: “On Oct. 18, 1766 Nicholas Stoltzfus with his…
A Goshen News article just out on layoffs among nothern Indiana Amish factory workers brings to light the challenge that local Amish, many of whom are dependent on factory income, are facing as hours and jobs are cut in a limping economy. Most Amish heads of household work in the local RV industry, and most people would consider RVs a non-essential item. Skyrocketing oil prices…
Any work that discusses bundling in ‘the good old-fashioned way’ has got to be a heady read. And so it goes with Little Known Facts About the Amish and the Mennonites, a tourist booklet first printed in 1938. The seeds of Amish tourism were planted in the early 20th century, with the enterprise really getting a proper start in the 1930’s and 40’s. Amish-themed postcards,…
In this second part of an interview with an anonymous Lancaster County Amishman, we look at the phenomenon of outsiders joining the Amish, using the Amish name to market and sell products to the public, Amish participation in the recent presidential election, and the meaning and purpose of shunning. (And if you missed the first part, here it is: An Amish America Q-and-A with a…
“It is very definitely a gray area, in fact it is nearly black.” An anonymous Amish friend from Lancaster County has offered candid answers to some questions on Amish life. In this first of two parts, he comments on topics such as the Amish presence in the media, Amish internet usage, friendships with non-Amish people, and the benefits and challenges of living life as an…
Millers, Yoders, Schrocks, Stoltzfuses. These names are a dime a dozen in Amish America. Meet enough Amish people, and once in a while you’ll come across an unusual name, one that may sound non-Germanic or even a Germanic-sounding name that is simply uncommon. The Amish have welcomed a fair share of converts to the faith over the years. Last names such as Jones, Jess, Chupp…
Shunning is a widely-known yet controversial social practice of the Old Order Amish. How do the Old Order Mennonites, close spiritual cousins of the Amish, approach the matter? An excerpt on the topic: “Members who stray from the teachings and practice of the church are reprimanded by the deacon. Persons who refuse to cooperate with the church may be “set back” from communion. If they…