Amish Education and Schooling

Wisconsin v. Yoder & The Fleeing Amish Children Photo

Wisconsin v. Yoder & The Fleeing Amish Children Photo

Some time ago I was asked about the famous photo of Amish schoolchildren running away from officials in Iowa.  You can see the photo below, taken during an incident in 1965.  It was a turbulent time for Amish which ended with the 1972 Wisconsin v. Yoder Supreme Court decision enabling Amish schooling as we know it today. This photo was taken in Buchanan County, Iowa, after…

Emma Miller on the Amish Descendant Scholarship Fund

We have a guest post today from Emma Miller.  Though most people raised Amish end up joining an Amish church, a certain percentage for one reason or another do not.  Here’s Emma writing about a new organization she’s started for former Amish: I grew up Amish in a small town in Missouri, the 6th child out of 12. I have many fond memories of summer…

Old schoolhouses

Continuing our look at relics of the past, the one-room schoolhouse. I think the country schoolhouse definitely fits the category of cultural items that have come and gone in North America (but for a few pockets here and there).  The Amish are probably the most obvious example of a group maintaining the small rural school tradition. I love old one-room school buildings.  You still see…

Interpreting for Amish in court

News from yet another Kentucky Amish SMV case: defendants will have a PA Dutch interpreter (story no longer online) following difficulties understanding court proceedings. In this latest case (the third this year in KY, in Logan County), four Amish, including one woman, have been cited for not displaying the orange triangle. Even though Amish speak English from a young age, and many very capably, we might…

What happens at Amish schools in the summer…

A little while back I gave an interview for a newspaper column on Amish frugality. One example which I think captures the mindset (and which I wish I’d shared) was what happens at Amish schools in the summer time.  What happens?  Well, this: All that green stuff you see, that’s normally the schoolyard 8-9 months of the year.  But rather than let the land lie…

Amish children and spanking

I just read an article by Donald Kraybill which examines Amish and obedience (http://goo.gl/Sb7e7).  In the piece, Kraybill explains why Amish use physical punishment to discipline children, citing an Amish mother named Hannah: Hannah explained that, when children are about two years old, their wills need to be broken. If it’s not done at that stage, she said, they will likely become disobedient, rebellious adults. The…

Healing on both sides of the Nickel Mines tragedy, four years on

Healing on both sides of the Nickel Mines tragedy, four years on

Today marks the fourth anniversary of the Nickel Mines Amish school shootings.  I’d like to share two items with you. The recently-released paperback version of Amish Grace features a Q-and-A with Charles Roberts’ mother Terri, whom Donald Kraybill interviewed earlier this year. In it, she discusses her feelings on learning of the shooting, the Amish community’s response, and how she has interacted with the families…

New to Amish America: The Amish Online Encyclopedia

I’ve been looking forward to this new addition to Amish America for a long time.  Various questions seem to recur on Amish topics.  I thought it might be nice to put together a resource to try to answer some of those questions. The Amish Online Encyclopedia (AOE) covers a variety of subjects including Amish culture, beliefs, the different Amish affiliations, occupations, education, transportation, and so…

Authors Charles Hurst and David McConnell on An Amish Paradox

I recently read a book I’d been looking forward to for a long time. An Amish Paradox: Diversity and Change in the World’s Largest Amish Community is an in-depth look at the Amish settlement at Holmes County, Ohio, and one of the most interesting books on the Amish I have read. In Ohio last month I had the pleasure of meeting the book’s authors, Charles…