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Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine Pennsylvania Folklife Society Collection

Spring 1994 Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 43, No. 3 Thomas E. Gallagher Jr. Ursinus College

Elaine Mercer

Kenneth E. Kopecky

Eric O. Hoiberg

Gertrude E. Huntington

See next page for additional authors

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Recommended Citation Gallagher, Thomas E. Jr.; Mercer, Elaine; Kopecky, Kenneth E.; Hoiberg, Eric O.; Huntington, Gertrude E.; Lehman, Marilyn E.; Stoltzfus, Samuel S.; Fetterman, William B.; Hutchison, Bernadette L.; and Friesen, John W., "Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 43, No. 3" (1994). Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine. 141. https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/pafolklifemag/141

This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Pennsylvania Folklife Society Collection at Digital Commons @ Ursinus College. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Ursinus College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Authors Thomas E. Gallagher Jr., Elaine Mercer, Kenneth E. Kopecky, Eric O. Hoiberg, Gertrude E. Huntington, Marilyn E. Lehman, Samuel S. Stoltzfus, William B. Fetterman, Bernadette L. Hutchison, and John W. Friesen

This book is available at Digital Commons @ Ursinus College: https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/pafolklifemag/141

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WILLIAM FEITERMAN, who received his Ph.D. in performance studies from New York University in 1992, is currently working on a bilingual anthology of Pennsylvania-German dialect plays. JOHN W. FRIESEN, the author of many books and articles including The Community Doukhobors (Borealis, 1989); The Cultural Maze (Detselig, 1991); and When Cultures Clash (Temeron, 1993), is professor of education in the Department of Educational Policy and Administrative Studies at The University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. THOMAS E. GALLAGHER, who received his Ph.D. in anthropology from Temple University, is editor of Pennsylvania Folklife and assistant professor of anthropology at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa. He has been engaged in fieldwork among the Amish since 1976, and has worked both in the Lancaster County, Pa. and Dover, Delaware, Amish communities. ERIC O. HOlBERG received his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. A professor in the Department of Sociology at Iowa State University in Ames, his current research interests center on comparative studies of the rural community, and on farmers' attitudes and orientations toward sustainable agriculture. GERTRUDE E. HUNTINGTON, Ph.D., is a lecturer in environmental studies and an adjunct lecturer in anthropology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. A well-known authority on the Amish who has published extensively in the field, she is editor of the series Women From Utopia (Paragon Press), and co-author with John A. Hostetler of Children in Amish Society, and The Hutterites in North America. BERNADEITE L. HUTCHISON of Nottingham, Pa., did research work among the Lancaster County Amish while pursuing her undergraduate degree at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa. KENNETH E. KOPECKY holds a degree in veterinary medicine, but is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in rural sociology at Iowa State University. His research interest is directed at the indigenous animal health practices of the Old Order Amish. MARILYN E. LEHMAN, a graduate student in the Department of Germanic Languages at the University of Texas in Austin, lived in an Old Order Amish community until her parents joined a more progressive Anabaptist group when she was thirteen years old. ELAINE MERCER, a graduate of California State Polytechnic University at Pomona, lived in an Amish settlement in New York's Conewango Valley for six years in the 1970s. It was there she became interested in Amish culture and history, and, wanting to be of service to the Old Order community by providing an outlet for their bedcoverings, she established-and is co-owner--of Mercer and Bratt Amish Quilts in Belleville, Pa.

SAMUEL S. STOLTZFUS, a member of the Old Order Amish Church in the Soudersburg District, has retired from farming and now operates a woodworking shop where he makes gazebos. EDrrOR: Thoma Gallagher, Jr. M AGI G EDrrOR: ancy K. Gaugler DrrORIAL ADVISORS:

S,mon J. Bronner Donald B. Kra yblll Mra. Anhur D. Graea Hilda Adam Kring Earl C. Haag Monica Mu lZbaucr DavId J. Hufford John W. Robtns SPRING 1994, VOL. 43, NO. 3 Terry O. Jordan Evan Snyder Susan KafCik Kenneth Thigpen Don Yoder CONTENTS S UBSCRIPTI O s: 98 The Old Order Amish Nancy K. Gaugler THOMAS E. GALLAGHER FOLK F ESTIVAL DIRECTORS : 106 Amish Quilts: Creativity Supported by Mark R. Eaby Jr. Thelia Jean Eaby Rules and Traditions ELAINE MERCER F OLK FESTIVAL P UBLIC R ELATIO s: Gail M. Hartm ann 111 Conflict: A Mainspring of Amish Society P ENNSYLVANIA F OLKLlFE, KENNETH E. KOPECKY and ERI C O. HOlBERG Spring 1994, Vol. 43, No.3, 115 Occupational Opportunities for Old Order published three times a year by Amish Women Pennsylvania Folklife Society, Inc., GERTRUDE E. HUNTINGTON P.O . Box 92, Collegeville, Pa. 121 The Amish Taboo on Photography: Its Historical 19426. $5.00 fo r single copies, and Social Significance Autumn, Winter & Spring. Yearly MARILYN E. LEHMAN subscripti on $15.00. Back issues 124 Our Changing Amish Church District (v. 21-41), $5.00 each; other prices SAMUEL S. STOLTZFUS on request. 132 Images of the Amish on Stage and Film MSS AND PHOTOGRAPHS: WILLIAM FETTERMAN The Editor will be glad to consider 136 Amish Gardens: A Symbol of Identity MSS and photographs sent with BERNADETIE L. HUTCHISON a view to publication. When un­ suitable, and if accompanied by 140 The Myth of the Ideal Folk Society Versus return postage, care will be taken the Reality of Amish Life for their return, although no re­ JOHN W. FRIESEN sponsibility for their safety is CONTRIBUTORS assumed. (In side front cover) Editorial corres pondence: Nancy K. Gaugler Layout and Special Photography P.O. Box 92, WILLIAM K. MUNRO Collegeville, Pennsylvania 19426 COVER: Subscription, business correspondence: P.O. Box 92, "Characterized by bold, graphic patterns, Amish quilts Collegeville, Pennsylvania 19426 [pp. 106-110J are made in the strong, solid colors used for Amish clothing. Except for an occasional 'made-up' Folk Festival correspondence: 461 Vine Lane pattern, Amish patterns-even those most closely associated Kutztown, Pennsylvania 19530 with the culture-are borrowed from mainstream society. Phone 215 ·683·8707 The women of the various settlements adopted separate 800-447·9269 styles and then refined those styles still further. And, Folk Festival public relations: because each church group has its own colors, determined Hartmann Associates by the Ordnung (the unwritten rules which govern all 461 Vine Lane Kutztown, Pennsylvania 19530 Amish life) and by usage, each forms a separate branch Phone 215·683·5313 of Amish quiltmaking tradition and practice. Moreover, it Copyright 1994 is their use of color which sets Amish quiltmakers apart:

Entered as third class matter at Collegeville, Pa. Their solid colors emphasize, rather than obscure, the ISSN 0031-4498 pattern." (Photograph by James Roach) THE OLD ORDER AMISH 1 by Thomas E. Gallagher

Mattheus Mair's Steadfastness: The peaceful Anabaptists, to speak; hence he was drowned on the twenty-ninth day forebears of the Mennonites and Amish, often suffered of July [1592J, through the power of God steadfastly greatly for their beliefs. Asked repeatedly whether he would persevering in the faith." (Martyrs Mirror) recant, Mair "always said 'No' as long as he was able

Nineteen ninety-three was declared the three hundredth in Greek, making it widely available in Europe for the first anniversary of the founding of the Amish faith. Actually, time. In 1517, Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses choosing 1993 as the anniversary date borders on historical onto the church door in Wittenberg, and, in the same year, fiction, since the Amish Division, the point at which the Zwingli began to read Erasmus's New Testament. As a Amish became a separate group from the Mennonites, did result of his reading, Zwingli decided that his preaching not occur in an instant or even in a single year. The should be based only on the Gospels.s By 1522, Zwingli discussions, debates, and accusations that ultimately ended concluded that many of the beliefs and practices of the in the Amish Division lasted at least four years, beginning Roman Catholic Church were not Biblical in origin and in 1693 and ending in 1697.2 Have we altered history in should be rejected. Reading the New Testament convinced order to identify a date for celebration? Whatever the him, for example, that neither the custom of infant baptism reason for the choice, this anniversary was celebrated by nor the celebration of the mass were practiced in the scholars who study the Amish,3 although it was largely Apostolic church, so he decided that both should be ignored by the Amish themselves. This is not to say that abolished. He did not want to act alone, however, so he none of the Amish are interested in their own history, but sought legal support from the Zurich city council. the vast majority of them place more importance on living When the council refused to act on these matters, Zwingli their lives in accordance with their principles, than in acquiesced and refused to put his reforms into effect. Some analyzing the derivation of those principles. of his followers were horrified by this turn of events, because Zwingli had agreed with them earlier that when HISTORY the Word of God was clear-as they believed it was in these two matters- it must be followed.6 On January 21, Scholars usually trace Amish history back to the Ref­ 1525, in response to Zwingli's refusal to move, several of ormation, specifically to the German Reform movement his followers- including Conrad Grebel, George Blaurock, spearheaded by Ulrich Zwingli.4 This is because many of and Felix Manz-decided that they must follow the Word the theological concerns raised by Martin Luther and Zwingli of God even if they acted alone. That night, Conrad Grebel were the source of the more radical positions held by the baptized George Blaurock, and he in turn baptized Grebel peaceful Anabaptists, the forebears of the Mennonites and and the rest.? These men, who had been baptized as infants the Amish. In 1516, Erasmus published the New Testament as was traditional in the Roman Catholic Church, now

98 Intended to catalogue all of their belief. but rather t THE HLEITHEIM 0 FE 10 identif tho e belief v. hich the) felt demon trated their 1. Bapti m: Baptism is for believers onl y. Infant commitment to ree tabli hing the e\\ e tament Chur h. bapti m is forbidden . and which eparated them from other hn !Ian.) ince 2. Ban : The ban i to be applied to all who ha ve in the po tolic church onl} adult \\ ho \'oluntaril ch e accepted the teaching of the Lord, have been to become members ere baptized, the agreed that thi baptized, and have sub equently fallen into error was a practice to which th ey ould ha e to return. I reo er, or inned. The ban mu t be applied before there they believed that only member in good tanding in the can be a breaking of bread. church hould be permitt ed to brea bread in reenactment 3. The Breaking of Bread: Only baptized member of the Last upper of Je u Chri t; that tho e member may partake in the breaking of bread and the who had broken th ei r bapti mal 0 and fallen into error haring of wine in remembrance of the broken mu t be bann ed from the church; that they hould eparate body and shed blood of Chri t. them elve from the inful ~ o rl d; and tha t thei r leader 4. Separation from Abomination: Member mu t hould be cho en by lot, ju t as Matt hia had been cho en remove themselves from the evil of the world. to replace Juda . They al 0 bel ieved tha t they hould be 5. Shepherds in the Congregation: The shepherd (min­ peace loving that they hould avoid connict, and tha t they i ter) shall be chosen from among the congrega­ should never wear on oath. The e belief were rillen ti on, and should be a moral person rather than an down and are known today a the Schleithei m Confe io n. 9 educated person. At thi time, in the etherland , another peaceful 6. The Sword: While the sword is used by the secular Anabaptist group which influenced the emergence of the world to protect the good against the wicked, Amish was pringing to life. Although thi group wa within the church only the ban may be used. A contemporaneous with the Swi s Brethren, it received it s member of the congregation should not be in­ strongest voice in 1536 when Menno Simon , a Dutch volved in civil government because he must preside priest, decided he had more in common with the Anabapti t over evil. And while the sword is used by the than with the church he served. He began to que ti o n the world against the flesh, Christians are armed with basic doctrines he had been taught, and wondered whether the armor of God, with truth, righteousness, peace, he should follow the authority of th e Church or the authority faith, salvation, and with the Word of God. of the Scripture. Impressed with the Anabapti ts who 7. The Oath: Swearing is forbidden because we are su ffered and died for th ei r beliefs, he decided he should unable to follow through with what we promise join them. He quickly became their leading spokesman, and in swearing either because of our own failings or oon the Dutch Anabaptists were so identified with him because others may make it impossible. One can, that many outsiders began referring to th em as Menno­ however, give testimony. nites. 1O By the early 1600s the Dutch Mennonite had split into several factions. Some of the leaders, concerned about the received baptism for the second time and so became known discord, were determined to reestablish unity. After a number a Anabapti t ("rebaptizers"). This term was applied broadly of inconclusive sessions in a variety of towns, the groups to a variety of groups, some peaceful and some revolu­ finally met in the Dutch town of Dort where, in 1632, they tionary, which shared in common a rejection of infant were able to arrive at an agreement si nce kn own as the baptism, although not all practiced adult baptism. The Dordrecht Confession of Faith. Unlike the Schleitheim Swiss Brethren were one of the peaceful groups and they Confession, this new Confession-which included eighteen believed firmly that baptism was merely a sign of mem­ articles of faith-gave a brief overview of all Mennonite bership in the Christian church and of their personal beliefs, not only those which differentiated them from other commitment to live a Christian life;8 they did not believe Christians. The articles dealt with issues ranging from the that baptism had the ability to wash away sins. The Catholic creation of all things to the resurrection of the dead at the Church and most of the Protestant groups of the time, end of the world, but the most important, with regard to however, agreed that baptism could only be received once, the establishment of the Amish as a separate group, were and that knowingly to administer it twice was abominable. numbers eleven and seventeen. Article 11 required the The goal of the Anabaptist movement was to reestablish "The Washing of the Saints' Feet" in reenactment of the church of Jesus Christ as it had developed immediately Christ's washing of the feet of the Apostles, and Article after His death. As an ideal this was clear, but there were 17 compelled "The Shunning of Those Who Are Expelled." disagreements over just what constituted returning to the The Dutch Mennonites encouraged the Swiss Brethren to early Church. Hoping to resolve these conflicts peacefully, sign the Dordrecht Confession, even though neither of several Anabaptist leaders came together in the town of these practices had been observed by the Swiss. But the Schleitheim, Switzerland, in 1527, to resolve their differ­ Swiss never did sign the document," although, in 1660, ences. After considerable discussion they arrived consen­ thirteen Swiss Brethren ministers and elders from the sually with seven key points of faith. (These were not Alsatian region of France did.

99 ported Ammann, who excommunicated the two-thirds who did not agree completely with him. By 1700, Ammann THE DORDRECHT CONFESSION realized and admitted that he had acted rashly, but the 1. Concerning God and the Creation of All Things. division was irreversible. 14 2. The Fall of Man. While the Amish Division was occurring, the War of 3. The Restoration of Man Through the Promise of the Palatinate Succession was raging in both Alsace and the Coming of Christ. the Palatinate where many of the Amish and Swiss 4. The Advent of Christ into This World, and the Mennonites, earlier forced out of Switzerland, were living. Reason of His Coming. By the late 1600s the Dutch Mennonites, in concert with S. The Law of Christ, Which is the Holy Gospel, their government, pressured the Bern government to permit or the New Testament. the Amish and Swiss Mennonites to relocate to the Neth­ 6. Repentance and Amendment of Life. erlands from where they could migrate either to some other 7. Holy Baptism.* country in Europe or to America. The Dutch hired ships 8. The Church of Christ. to transport the Amish and the Mennonites to the Neth­ 9. The Office of Teachers and Ministers-Male and erlands, but they refused to travel together on the same Female-in the Church. * vessels. On the way north, the Mennonites began aban­ 10. The Lord's Supper.* doning ship at every stop, so that by the time the ships 11. The Washing of the Saints' Feet.** reached their destination very few of them remainedY 12. Matrimony. Early in the 1700s, William Penn traveled to the Rhine 13. Offices of Civil Government. * Valley to invite oppressed peoples to emigrate to his land 14. Defense by Force. * grant in the New World, Pennsylvania. We do not know 15. The Swearing of Oaths.* when the first Amish sailed to America, although there are 16. Excommunication or Expulsion from the Church. * a number of Amish surnames on passenger lists prior to 17. The Shunning of Those Who Are Expelled.** the first documented arrival of Amish in Pennsylvania in 18. The Resurrection of the Dead and the Last Judgment. 1737. In that year enough families to form a congregation arrived in Philadelphia aboard the Charming Nancy. The * Articles related to those found in the first Amish settlement was in Berks County, Pennsylvania, Schleitheim Confession. but in the same year several families moved into Lancaster ** Articles responsible in part for the Amish Division. County. During this first wave of migration approximately 500 individuals emigrated, the foundation for the present­ day Lancaster County community. In the 1800s another The founder of the Amish was a Mennonite bishop, migration occurred, and these immigrants formed commu­ Jacob Ammann, who was born in Switzerland and moved nities in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, New York, and to Alsace. Although there is very little recorded about Maryland in the United States, and in Ontario, Canada.16 Ammann's life, John A. Hostetler speculates that he may have been a convert to Anabaptism from the state church.12 AMISH BELIEFS (If Hostetler is correct, it might explain Ammann's incred­ The Amish are a deeply religious community whose ible zeal for Anabaptist beliefsY) In 1693, Ammann faith affects every aspect of their lives. If we wish to advocated that Communion be observed twice each year discover just who the Amish are, we must begin by trying rather than once as had been customary. This change was to understand their beliefs. This is not an easy task, since not rejected outright by the senior Swiss elders Hans Reist the Amish are reluctant to discuss their religious views with and Benedict Schneider, but they did deem the practice outsiders for two reasons: First, because they and their unnecessary. Then Ammann argued that when a member Anabaptist forebears were persecuted for their beliefs in is subject to excommunication, he or she must also be the past and these painful memories have not been for­ subject to social avoidance (Meidung) which followed from gotten; and second, because they believe their way of life Article 17 of the Dordrecht Confession. Finally, he urged speaks louder than theology and arguments. the practice of foot washing, a practice not observed in A unique community with their own religious views, Switzerland but which was also advocated in the Dordrecht the Amish reject many of the commonly held beliefs of Confession (Article 11). If these issues were agreed upon, other churches. Whereas some conservative Christian groups then there were two more tests. Ammann wanted to know believe people can know that they are saved, the Amish whether the other bishops agreed with him that true-hearted reject this professed knowledge as prideful. Other churches people (sympathizers of the Anabaptists who had not become emphasize the notion of grace through faith alone, believ­ Anabaptists) could not be saved, and that a person who ing that salvation comes from the grace earned by Jesus had told a lie should be excommunicated. Ammann asked Christ through his death on the cross, rather than by the the elders of the various churches in Switzerland, Germany, good works of -individuals. The Amish prefer to practice and Alsace to explain their views on these topics. Approxi­ obedience to the Word of God and self-denial which they mately a third of the elders-mostly from Alsace-sup- believe they owe to God. As long as they live their life

100 to the best of their ability, they tru t God to treat them indu tr) of Lanc ter Count Penn ylvania. Out ider tend fairly after they die. The Ami h are literalist when reading to travel to nca ter Count not to meet the mi h, but the Bible, but they are not Fundamentali t . The are to meet their idea of the ml h. In part be au e their literalist in that th ey believe that what is written in the clothing t Ie i uniform and unvar In (\\ ith the ob\ iou Bible mu t be foll owed precisely and not changed. For e ception of color \I. hich are from the blue end of the example, si nce Paul write to the Corinthian that a woman pectrum, or are hade of brown and ra)) the pular must cover her head "when praying or prophe ying" (I Cor. ie\ i that the mi h are a homo eneou roup. The 11 :5), th e Amish believe th at women mu t cover th ei r popular \ i dom i \ rong ho e er, for hile there i an heads today. (Many Christia n , of cour e, would argue th at overarching imilarity there i al 0 a tremendou di er it because of cultural changes over th e last two thou and among th e mi h. year th ese rul es do not apply today.) Indeed, th e pre ure for di er ity i built into the er They also believe that th ey are the member of th e true fabric of mi h ociety. (The oppo ite pre ure, to remain church of God on earth today, being spiritually connected similar, i not, but i important enough th at it i encour­ to th e Apo tolic church whose practices they follow a aged.) The propen ity for ariation i rooted in th e er closely a po sible. Although th ey would argue th at the nature of the Ami h Church which i a congregational va t majority of contemporary Christian churches have church in two en e : Each church i independent of eery trayed from the teachings of Jesus Chri t as contained in other church; and, while the bi hop and mini ter lead their the New Te tament, they also feel very trongly that they congregation and recommend action, final authority for shou ld not judge others, but should leave th e judging to each church re t with all th e baptized adult, rather th an God. The history of the church of God, accord ing to Ami h with the ord ai ned members alone. The Ami h believe­ belief, does not begi n with the Apostolic church which their a wa stated earlier-that th ey (and in fact everyone) An abaptist forebears had sought to emulate, but can be should obey Biblical command. These regulati o n are traced back to heaven prior to the creati on of th e world unchanging although they may be unclear. (For example, when the angels were its members. 17 After the creation, the Bible require modesty, but it doe not de cribe how the true church was established in the Garden of Eden with to dre .) In order to promote con istency and harmony Adam and Eve until the fall. 18 After the fall and the within th e community, each church has its own et of Regel expulsion from Paradise, but prior to the formation of a ulld Ordllullg (rules and order) which explain what the covenant between God and Abraham and the descendants leaders maintain and the members agree would be worldly of Abraham, the true church was represented by Enoch, or si nful. Because an Ordllullg is specific to a single district Noah, and all of those who believed in and honored God.19 it regulates only its own members. And since the Ordfluflg With the sin of Cain against Abel, the world was divided can be changed only by consensu , the rules which regulate into good and evil, and ever since the people of the earth a single church district will be followed by the member­ have been divided between members of the church of God ship. It is true that some members may push against the and the children of the Devil.20 rules, but since any member who breaks the rules must When God established His covenant with Abraham, the be excommunicated, it can be argued that members do, Hebrews became His chosen people, and they alone were in fact, follow not only Biblical command, but the Ordllung members of the true church until Jesus Christ, the Me iah, as well. Since each church district has its own Ordllung, wa born. He was sent to establish a new and more perfect rules may well vary between nearby church districts, but covenant which was to include not only the house of Israel, churches will remain in fellowship if the differences between but the Gentiles as well. This final period, which will last them are thought to be reasonable; that is, if they are not until the end of the world, saw the church of God established considered too liberal. with the Apostles.21 The Christian Church grew rapidly, and Since the Old Order Amish meet in the homes of the Anabaptists believed that along with this physical growth members for preaching service, the size of the group is came piritual decline as the early church diverged more limited to the number of people who can fit into their and more from the model of the Apostolic church.22 It was houses or shops. Any such group constitutes a church the desire of the early Anabapti ts to return to the apostolic district, the social unit of Amish society. Amish church model and to revive the true church of God; this, the Amish districts are set up with clear boundary lines, and, since believe, is what they are participating in today. And, because there is virtually no crossing of these lines, the only choice they believe that the world is basically evil, they follow St. most people have in determining church district member­ Paul's command to be separated from itY This means even ship is where they buy their farm or home. When the separation from the misguided churches that consider them­ membership becomes too large the district will divide in selves to be Christian. two. At this time a new boundary is drawn, determined The Amish are a conspicuous yet little understood group. by what is best for the church, rather than for individuals They are highly visible because of their Plain dress and or families. Church membership is an all-consuming part overtly simple lifestyle, and well known in part because of life, with the needs of the group taking precedence and they have been promoted-without their consent and to the neither family relationships, nor friendships within the exclusion of other Plain religious groups-by the tourist district, are given much consideration. The rare exception

101 would be for never-married women or widows who would in the past. like to stay with a certain group, or for a minister, bishop, The impressive 20th-century growth of the Amish, then, or deacon who is unable to buy a farm in the district in is mostly the result of their keeping members in the which he was ordained, and so would be allowed to community, rather than in their persuading outsiders to purchase a farm close by and remain in his district. join. The Amish have always placed a great emphasis on The approximately 150,000 Old Order Amish (spread family values and on raising children properly. Ever a over twenty-three states and one Canadian province) are moral imperative, this is now a social and cultural impera­ divided into some 800 church districts. While each church tive as well, for the Amish realize that they will grow in is an independent unit it would be a mistake to assume numbers and be a strong comm·unity only as long as they that what exists are hundreds of isolated communities. are able to encourage their children to join and marry Rather, these church districts are intertwined and multi­ within the church. Such a marriage is an indication that layered, forming a complex pattern of integration and another couple, committed to having children and raising separation. Of course, some church districts are insular, them Amish, has joined the community. Marriage is so being dozens or even hundreds of miles from their nearest important, in fact, that church growth is counted in the Amish neighbor. Others, though, are clustered side by side, number of marriages performed, rather than in the number some in small groups of under ten; others in large groups of children born or the number of young people who have of a hundred or more; and still others in groups of varying been baptized, as was previously the caseY This change sizes. Then too, some of the churches that are geographi­ in view is reflected symbolically in the time when men cally contiguous are nonetheless isolated because of their begin growing their beard. In 1880, a young man was unique beliefs. Others are similar enough in discipline that expected to begin growing his beard immediately after he they are in fellowship, which means that they are in was baptized. By the 1920s, he was expected to begin sufficient agreement as far as beliefs and practices are growing his beard after he applied for marriage (usually concerned that they will permit their ministers to preach a few months after he had been baptized), and he was in each other's services and will maintain each other's expected to have the beginnings of a beard at his wedding. discipline so that a member excommunicated in one will Today, the man is married clean-shaven, but is expected be avoided by the other as well. Districts which are in not to shave again.28 fellowship with each other are part of the same affiliation. 24 Young married couples expect to have children and When one or more church districts are located in a barring reproductive problems, they will. The average Amish geographically defined area, they are classified as a settle­ couple has seven children, and, assuming their primary ment.25 Settlements are founded for a variety of reasons, responsibility to be the raising of these children in the but the major ones are a lack of good or affordable land Amish faith, that is precisely what they try to do. As a in the parent community; disagreement over church dis­ community, the Amish have expectations about children cipline; or, often, both. When a settlement has divided into and how to raise them, and these expectations influence a number of churches there are pressures to maintain child-rearing practices.29 The Amish believe, for example, disciplines that are close enough so that the different that babies are innocent and therefore can do no wrong; districts can remain in fellowship. This is important not they might be difficult to handle or they might cry a lot, only in terms of beliefs, but also because an isolated district but they cannot be bad. And, because they are not respon­ might not have enough ministers to conduct the Commun­ sible for their actions, babies are not punished. When ion service, and a district who lost a bishop would not children become toddlers, their parents begin the teach be able to ordain a new one. them to respect and obey authority, and to share with and help others. They also consider it important to teach their THE AMISH FAMILY children the value of work and to prepare them to be part The Amish population has increased dramatically during of a group, rather than to be independent. the past century, from approximately 5,300 in 1900 to When children are old enough, the parents will usually roughly 150,000 today.26 During the 18th and 19th cen­ send them to an Amish school, although a few Amish turies, when Amish membership grew very slowly, there children still attend public schools. The Amish believe that were significant differences in beliefs between the Amish schools should teach children the basic skills of reading, and non-Amish, but the visible differences were not as writing, and arithmetic, and perhaps history and geography. obvious. Clothing styles, farming practices, and other aspects They are also expected to reinforce the values of the of their life then were similar to those of their "English" community, which means children are to be motivated (non-Amish) neighbors, whereas today there are dramatic primarily by concern for others, rather than by fear of differences. Outsiders may join the community if they want punishment. The Amish also believe that it is the parent's to, but the Amish believe that it is very difficult for right and duty to teach their children about their religious someone not raised in the faith to renounce the comforts beliefs. So, even though the schools are church run the and conveniences of the world and embrace their austere teachers are expected to leave the teaching of religion to lifestyle. Conversely, it is also much more difficult for an the parents. The Amish have established parochial schools Amish person to leave the c0mmunity today than it was because they believe that while the public schools do not

102 teach about religion, th ey still convey a alue y tem that allendln unday e ening in in • u uall held at the connicts in many ways with their own. home of the famil who had the morntn church e ice or th e Ami h, adolescence i the tran ition period that benche are alread a ailable. In the between parental and community control; the time of life bo it on one ide of a Ion the when church contro l, whether in the form of parental other. hen a boy rna e e e contact with a oun woman discipline or community pre ure, is wcake t. Young people and he doe not immediatel turn her eye awa he who have been carefully nurtured and taught th e Ami h a ume that he i intere ted in him and may k if he way with exacti ng discipline are now free to make th ei r ill allow him to take her home. If he agree, the couple own deci ion about whether or not to join the church. Thi will probabl begin dating. The a umption i th at a dating period between childhood and adulthood i a time of couple are eriou ly con idering th e po ibilit of marria e, relative freedom, when community control hift from overt although they may decide after a hile that the are not to covert. There is freedom to explore the limits of ac­ right for each other and begin to go out with o meone el e. ceptable behavior and such adolescent experimentation ha Eventually the dating couple will probably ee each other been called "rowdyi m" by both HostetlerlO and Hunting­ not only on unday evening , but every other aturday ton.)1 It is a time of rebellion again t th e strict rul e of night a \ ell. These aturday nigh t meeting u ually take the community; a time for exploring acti vities such as place at the young woman' hou e after her parent ha e driving automobiles, listening to th e radio, going to movies, retired to bed for the night ; the Ami h believe th e young and exce sive drinking, gambling, and dancing- all activi­ people need time to get to know one another. The young ti es which will have to be rejet;ted if th e young people man will announce hi arrival by shining a light th rough are to become baptized members of the commun ity. her window, and he will quietly come downstai r and let While it is true that the Amish do permit time for him in. Every Sunday evening and every other Saturday unsupervised activities, this does not mean they are not night i the extent of dating right up until th e time th e concerned about the choices their young people make. couple are married. They will not see each other the re t Some of the behavior is wrong, and the parents do not of the week because they are too busy, and even when approve of it. Why would the Amis h allow behavior that they have been out very late over the weekend, th ey are violates Amish values? Huntington suggests th at " many of expected to get up bright and early on Monday mo rning the tensions within the community are exaggerated in this and do thei r work. group. The Amish youth provide healthy criticism of the The average age at marriage for the Ami h is ju t under Amish community. They act as a safety valve for the twenty-two for women and ju t over twenty-three for men.)) community; .... express(ing] smoldering aggressions that The Amish do not approve of divorce, and will not permit their parents must repress. They sin sufficiently to remind a member of th eir community to remarry--except in case themselves and others that natural man is very bad .. . The of widowhood--even if their spouse has left the commu­ 'wild' behavior of Amish youth is essential to community nity and officially received a divorce. The Amish are also existence. "32 committed to a patriarchal family tructure, but while thi s Hostetler argues that when a young person is about to is th e ideal, there are variations from family to family as join the church and to marry some independence is needed. to how rigidly it is implemented. More and more frequently Both of these decisions require a lifelong commitment, and the Amish seem to believe that the be t way for them to the consequence of violating this commitment i excom­ be successful is through a cooperative effort between munication and hunning. Parental control from birth until husband and wife. This means that while the husband may the child is ready to begin the process of deciding to join make the final decision, he will generally seek input from the Amish church is virtually absolute. Community control hi s wife before he does so. after a member has been baptized is virtually absolute as After their children have been raised, the couple will well. Between these two periods is a liminal period when generally allow one of them to move into the larger part youth are permitted to explore the limits of acceptable of the house, and they will move into the Grossdaadi Haus behavior and even to go beyond them. It is the transition (grandparents house); it contains complete facilities and so between compulsion and compliance: A child must follow allows them to be independent, yet still a part of the family. the rules while an adult is committed to following them. (In Lancaster County, the Grossdaadi generally is attached Adolescence is the period when the young people are given to the main portion of the house. In other settlements it the opportunity to become voluntary believers, rather than may be a completely separate dwelling.) As long as the being coerced by their parents. It is also the time when older couple are able to care for themselves, they will be they can decide whether they are willing to sacrifice the permitted to do so. When they do need care, help will be conveniences of the world in order to commit themselves close by. The elderly are treated with great respect, and to God. remain a vital part of the family until their death}9 Young people are permitted to select their own mate and are given opportunities to meet and date. This process AGRICULTURE AND OTHER begins at age sixteen for boys, and between the ages of ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES fourteen and sixteen for girls. The young people begin by Caring for the land has a long and rich tradition among

103 the Amish. Farming, historically th e pr.eferred occupati on fro m th e outside world. External pressures such as in­ and the hallmark of th eir identity, is a legacy that evolved: creases in prices to a point where it is impossible to pay The forebears of the Swiss Brethren were educated towns­ for land through farming alone, and more rigorous sani­ people who did not choose farming voluntarily. Because tati on testing for milk requiring the acceptance of refrig­ their religious beliefs were contrary to the prevailing erati on, have forced the Amish to embrace some changes Protestant and Catholic views, they were outcasts all over they might have rejected under other circumstances. Of Europe, and when th ey were allowed to settle in a country cou rse, there are oth er issues th at affect what is accepted it was only on condition they cultivate the land-land that and what is rejected. Some changes are accepted si mply previously had been exploi ted and left unproductive. They because a number of fa rmers would like to use some new accepted this fate initially as another act of persecution, things, but whatever is accepted must permit them to but soon began to look at their plight differently, for they maintain a clear separation from the outside world. fo und Biblical justifications for viewing farming as an ideal The fa rm is seen as the ideal place to rai se children occupati on for a people of God. In Genesis, they read that (both the father and moth er will be able to participate), man was given a mandate to cultivate and care for the and when th ey are grown the parents retire from full-time land; in Psalms they read that "the earth is the Lord's ... " farming. This does not mean they stop working, for many which they interpreted as meaning th at we are merely will begin another job, such as operating a small furniture caretakers of the land and are expected to tend it. In the or cabinet shop. The Amish have always been involved New Testament, they found evidence that we should be in some non-farming occupations, but the types and the stewards of the earth caring for the land for God's sake.J4 reasons for involvement have changed through time. Thirty Farming, therefore, became a calling, and transforming years ago, a few began to become involved in the con­ worn-out land into some of the most productive soil in version of tractor-drawn equipment to horse-drawn, while Europe became the Anabaptist trademark. Believing that still others began making and repairing harnesses. At that human ownership was meaningless since all ultimately time, too, increasing numbers of young married couples belongs to God, the fact that they did not own the land were unable to begin farming and had to find another line did not keep them from working hard : Whether tenant of work. Commonly limited to jobs which help the Amish farmers, renters, or owners, their obligation to the soi l was community, they would manufacture and repair carriages, the same-to be caretakers for God. build si los, or repai r farm equipment. Others became Accepting farming not simply as a burden but as a carpenters and some took jobs in local factories. Today, religious obligati on encouraged the 17th-century Swiss some Amish businesses are large and have large work Brethren to become not just good farmers but the best, forces. seeking ways not only to produce crops but to improve the soil. They began to rotate crops, to feed cattle in stables, CHANGE to add natural fertilizers to the soil, and to grow clover What attracts many of us to the Amish is not who they and alfalfa to restore soil fertility. J5 Their Amish descen­ are, but who we want them to be: a people who preserve dants became the most progressive farmers in Europe, and our heritage while we move on. The Amish are a traditional then, later, in America. When hard work was all that was people who resist change, but they are not the guardians necessary to be progressive, the Amish were. Now that of our past. And, while they maintain many traditions, they technologically advanced machinery is needed in order for do not renounce everything modern. Instead, they pick and a farmer to be recognized as progressive, the Amish no choose carefully what they accept and reject. For instance, longer fit the mold. But they still see farming as the ideal their horse-and-buggy transportation and their farming with livelihood, and they still have the reputation of being horses and mules are legacies of our past, but these legacies excellent farmers. With the growing interest in sustainable are juxtaposed with a multiplicity of contemporary ele­ agriculture, people are gaining more respect for Amish ments. If you visit a Lancaster County Amish farm today, practices. you will find many nontraditional features such as milking Believing that people should be hard working, the Amish machines, diesel engines, hydraulic pumps, vitamin-and­ view physical labor as an ideal, and to avoid laziness they mineral-supplemented livestock feed, bulk milk tanks with have rejected much of 20th-century technology. They have refrigeration units, porcelain sinks, Formica countertops, rejected tractors, for example, choosing to continue using gas stoves, gas-powered refrigerators, permanent-shine vinyl horses and mules (although some communities still do not floors, spray starch, electronic calculators, and disposable allow mules because of the Biblical injunction against the diapers. While not every house will have every item, mixing of unlike species~. In order to compete economi­ these--and many other apparent anachronisms-will be cally with their non-Amish neighbors they have allowed found throughout the community. some hybrid crops, chemical fertilizers and insecticides, Even in those areas where the Amish have resisted and contour plowing. And they have slowly accepted some change the most, their resistance has not been complete. mechanization- more in Lancaster County, less in other For example, even though the Amish have continued to communities--but only within strict guidelines, with new maintain a traditional pattern for their women's dresses and items accepted if they permit them to maintain separation men's trousers, they are making them from a variety of

104 modem fabric (including polye ter). Buggie , too, ha e on Ihe Old Order mish of Lana ler COUnl), Pe nns)hania. If )OU are Inlcr Icd In addllional Information, '" e recommend the folio'" ing: for been modernized, with wind hields added to fo rmerly open­ a Ihorough o\e1' iew of conlcmporar) mlSh Sooct) , read John fronted carriages; ome even u e Therm opane gla to keep H leller', AmISh Sociefy, fourth edition (Baltimore, MD: Th Johns the windshield from foggi ng on cold day . The AmI h Hop ins ni\ersil) Press, 1993); for a "'cll''''rillen and carefull) reo arched wor see Slc\en M. Nolt' ,A HlStof) of The AmISh (Inter urse, continue to depend on hor e for farm ing, but they ha e PA Good Boo ,1992); and for an e cellenl e planalion and .lnal I attached internal-combusti on engines to a wide variet of of Ihe m)slerie of Amish life, gel Donald B, ) bill' , The Riddle of equipment to help peed up th e work. They till reject th e AmISh Culture (Baltimore, ID: The Johns Hop ins ni\ crsll Press, 19 9) use of hi gh-line electricity, although th ey do not have , l ilton Ga cho, uThe Amish Di\ision of 1693-169 in wilzerland similar qualms about oth er source of energy uch as and AJ ace," Mennonite QUiJrterly Rene" 11 (October 19 7), and John hydraulic or di esel power. B. 1asl, ed, The Letters of the AmISh Dn'LS/on (Oregon CII), Oregon C. J. Schlabach, \950); and John A. Hosletl er, Amish ocict) , fourth Wh ile many out iders, especially th o e who percei e the edilion, (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Uni ersil) Press) pp, 31--11 Ami h as a living historical society, are upset by what they 'From Jul) 22 10 25, 1993, a conference-Three Hundred ears Of see as contradicti ons, the e apparent contradiction are Persislence and Change: Amish Society 1693-1993-was held al Elizabelhlown College, Elizabethtown, Penns Ivania. Most o f the papers often th e result of internal or external change which In th is issue of Folkl;fe were first presented as papers at that conferen e. cann ot be ignored. Most Ami h would probably prefer to • illiam R. Estep, The Anabaptist tOf)' (Grand Rapid, Itchigan: maintain th ei r ociety a it was a hundred year ago, but William B. Eerdman Publishing Company, 1975) pp. -14; Steven M. olt, A History of The Amish (Intercourse, PA: Good Books, 1992) pp. it is impossible for th em to do o. Changes in farming, -9; and Jo hn A. Hostetler, Amish Society, fourth edition (Baltimore, MD: for example, are the result of increases in the price of The Jo hns Hopkins University Pre , 1993) p. 27. farmland and a variety of other pressures. As th e co t of ' Ibid., pp. ·\4. "Ibid., pp. 11-13. farmland increased beyond th e income farmers received for ' Ib id., pp. 10-1 I. th eir products, th e Amish found them elves in a ituation John Christian We nger, Glimpses of Mennonite Histof)' and Doctrine where they had to decide whether to cont inu e to re i t (Scolldale, PA: Herald Press, 1959) p. 174. 9John H. Yoder, translator and editor, The Schleitheim Confession mechanizati on, which would mean havi ng to give up th eir (Scolldale, Pennsylvania: Herald Press, 1973) p. 3. farm, or to mechanize and preserve as much of their 'OJo hn A. Hostetler, Ami h Society, fourth editi on (Baltimore, MD: traditional way of life as possible. So me communities The Jo hns Hopkins University Press, 1993) p. 27-28. " Ibid., pp. 33-34. chose not to modernize and many families did lose their 12lbid., pp. 41-43. farms. The Lancaster County Amish decided to mechanize lJSteven M. olt, A History of The Amish ( Intercourse, PA: Good in a limited way, and they have been able to preserve their Books, 1992) p. 34. " Hostetler, Amish Society, pp. 31-41; olt , A History of The Amish, farms. This situation is an example of two goods competing pp. 26-37. again t each other: the good of resisting modernization, and " Hostetler, Amish Society, pp. 50-57; olt, A History of The Amish, the good of preserving the farm which is believed to be pp. 3 -46. '"Hostetle r, Amish Society, pp. 56-66; olt, A History of The Amish, the best place to raise children. (In Lancaster County the pp. 56. choice was not very difficult.) Another example concerns I1Dietric h Philip, Enchiridion or Hand Book (Alymer, Ontario: Path· the automobile, which the Amish reject; they do not allow way Publishing Corporation, 1910) p. 423. IS /bid. members either to own or drive one (some settlements, it ' ~ieleman J. va n Braght, The Bloody Theatre; or, Martyrs Mirror should be noted, do allow members to drive automobiles (Scolldale, PA: Mennonite Publishing House, 1972) p. 392. or trucks if they are required to by a non-Amish employer). "'Gertrude Enders Huntington, " Dove at the Window: A Study of an Old Order Amish Community in Ohio," Ph.D. Dissertation, Yale Uni· Observers are sometimes horrified then, when they learn versity (Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms, 1956) p. 31. that members are allowed to ride in automobiles. But this 21 va n Braght, The Bloody Theatre; or, Martyrs Mirror, p. 392. is an adjustment the Amish made in part because their 22John C hristian Wenger, Glimpses of Mennonite History and Doctrine (Scolldale, PA: Herald Press, 1959) p. 2. ociety has grown geometrically over the past century. 23 11 Cor. 6:17. Once again, there were competing goods: The Amish believe uThis a common term used in discussions of the Old Order Amish. they should maintain not only their church district (which It can be found in Hostetler'S, Amish Society, p. 93. is a well defined geographic area), but also their family 2> Another common term used in discussions of the Old Order Amish. It can be found in Hostetler's, Amish Society, p. 91. ties, and family members may be spread throughout a '"Hostetl er, Amish Society, p. 97. community or may even live in other communities. The 27Calvin G. Bachman, The Old Order Amish of Lancaster County, Amish, then, are always struggling to adjust to pressures Pennsylvania (Norristown, PA: German Society, 1942) p. 169. 28 Donald B. Kraybill, The Riddle of Amish Culture (Baltimore, MD: that result from internal or external changes. Changes are The Jo hns Hopkins University Press, 1989) p. 57. happening, but it is unclear just where these changes are 2I>fhe material on child.rearing practices fro m birth until adolescence taking the Amish community. is taken from Hostetler'S, Amish Society, pp. 172-177; and John A. Hostetler and Gertrude Enders Huntington, Amish Children: Their Edu. calion in Family, School, and CommuniI)' (New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart, ENDNOTES Winston, 1992). IThis article is the first in a series planned for Pennsylvania Folklife JO Hostetler, Amish Society, p. 355. highlight in:: the life and history of various Pennsylvania ethnic and racial " Huntington, Dove at the Window, p. 762. communities. We intend to emphasize a different group each issue. Along '2Jbid., p. 744. with an overview we expect to include a few articles exploring some llHostetler, Amish Society, p. 99. aspects of the folklore/folklife of the highlighted community. We hope "These sources come from Hostetler'S, Amish Society, p. 114. that these articles will be accessible sources for those interested in "Ibid., p. 115. exploring the cultural diversity of Pennsylvania. This first article focuses l6Lev. 19:19

105 AMISH QUILTS: Creativity Supported by Rules and Traditions by Elaine Mercer

The Troyer Amish came from the Holmes County, Ohio settlement, and these three little crib quilts-Trip Around the World, Tumbling Blocks, and Jacob's Ladder-5how their Ohio heritage. Rectangular rather than square, they have important borders that frame them and they are intricately pieced; two are optical illusions. (A II photo­ graphs by James Roach)

For six years during the 1970s, I lived in an Amish strips of fabric called "sashing" because they resemble settlement in New York State, and it was there I learned window sash-are joined together, after which inner and that the women of this Plain sect make a distinctive kind outer borders may be added to complete the top. The of quilt. When I first saw one of these at the home of finished top, the padding, and the back are then stretched an Amish acquaintance, I merely thought it interesting that onto a frame and quilted together with many tiny stitches. she was able to make use of the scraps from her sewing. After the quilt is removed from the frame a border is added As time went on and I saw more such quilts in the homes to finish the edges. (and on the clotheslines) of my Amish friends and neigh­ AJthough immigrants from the British Isles probably bors, I realized and was impressed by the fact that all the introduced the craft into the American colonies during the female members of the community were able-and will­ Colonial Period, it is an ancient art, generally thought to ing-to do this. have "reached Britain during the period of the Crusades. My former New York neighbors were Troyer Amish, It is not an unreasonable assumption: the first evidence of an ultra-orthodox group that divided from the main body quilting in Britain appears in the Middle Ages but, at this of Amish in Holmes County, Ohio, in the first third of time decorative needlecrafts, including quilting, were widely this century. Today there are very few Troyer Amish used in Middle and Far Eastern countries. Quilting already remaining in Ohio, but there are Troyer Amish settlements had a long history dating back probably 5000 years: carved in New York, Pennsylvania, and Michigan in the United figures from ancient Mediterranean civilizations show States, and in Canada as well. In all of these communities sophisticated embroidery patterns on elements of dress, the women continue to make an Ohio-style quilt for the some of which suggest quilting."l same reason members continue to drive an Ohio-style Just as American quilt making practices were borrowed buggy: When the Amish establish daughter settlements from British tradition, Amish quiltmaking techniques were they take their history and culture-including its material borrowed, in turn, from the larger society, probably during aspects-with them. the] 800s. Thus, Amish quiltmaking is a branch of American Because of the diversity of Amish groups, this discus­ quiltmaking tradition, or, more exactly, it is several branches sion focuses on the quilts of the Troyer Amish, rather than of that tradition, for by the time] 9th-century Amish women on those of my present-day Amish neighbors in Mifflin took up the craft there were several well-established Amish County, Pennsylvania, where there is a wide range of settlements. Among them were communities in Lancaster orthodoxy and, consequently, an equally wide range of and Mifflin Counties in Pennsylvania, and Holmes County quiltmaking practices. in Ohio. * * * The earliest known listings of Amish quilts are included Quilting is simply the technique of stitching together in the] 83] estate inventory of Abraham Kurtz of Wayne two layers of fabric with a layer of padding between them. County, Ohi02 (a location listed in The Amish in America: A pieced quilt is one made of geometric shapes sewn Settlements that Failed, 1840-19603), and the 1836 inven­ together, usually into a block, the quilt's basic unit of tory of John Hartzler of Mifflin County, Pennsylvania.4 construction. Then the blocks-sometimes separated by (Interestingly, Kurtz had emigrated from Mifflin County,

106 The Troyer Amish make an Ohio-style quilt for the same All Amish quilt pal/ern , even th ose most closely associated reason th ey drive an Ohio-style buggy: When the Amish with th e culture as is this Bars desig fl, are borrowed from establish daughter settlements they ta ke th eir history and the larger society; it is th eir use of color ~ hieh et Amish culture with them. quittmakers apart. so it is probably not surprising that hi s effects included o f th e ew York co mmunity u e th e ame color for both a quilt.) There is no information concerning when the e with two exception : th ey do not wear pink but do u e two bedcoverings were actually made, but it wa almo t it a a contra t co lo r in quilt ; and th ey do wear ome certainly. well before th e estate inventories were drawn up. white, but do not u e it in th eir quilt . ot ju t any but Characterized by bold, graphic patterns, Amish quilts part icul ar s hade o f blue are T ro yer fa orite ,while carl et, are made in the strong, solid colors used for Amish cl oth ­ orange, and yellow are ne er u ed. The color u ed fo r ing. Except for an occasional " made-up" pattern, Ami h Troyer out erwear are relati vely dark , but th ei r quilt can pattern. -even those most closely associated with the be fairly bright since they include scrap from their bright er culture-are borrowed from mainstream society. The women and lighter-colored underclothe . of the vari ous ettl ement s adopted separate styles and then The photograph on th e cover show very clearly the refi ned th ose styl es still further. And, becau e each church relationship between clothing and quilt color. Most of the group has its own colors, determined by the Ordnullg (the clothes on th e line are the favorite color, blue. The sleeve­ unwritten rules which govern a ll of Amish life) and by less dre in the center, lighter and brighter than the rest usage, each forms a separate branch of Amish quiltmaking of the articles, i an undergarment. In the center, below, tradition and practice. Moreover, it is thei r use of color i a typical plain quilt; to its left is a typical pieced quilt, which sets Amish quiltmakers apart: Their solid colors mostly blue with black, purple, plum, and a touch of pink; emphasize, rather th an obscure, the pattern . the pattern is Dutch Rose. The ame women who made ...... that quilt also made the Brick Work quilt on the right, As already noted, the Troyer Amish, who e quilts are and its colors are not Troyer color at all. The two quilts under consideration here, emigrated from Holmes County, show how an Amish woman' quiltmaking choices change Ohio. In a catalog for th e exhibition, Treasures from when she moves from one group to another: The Brick Trullks-Early Quilts from Wayne and Holmes Counties, Work quilt was made when she belonged to a less orthodox author Virginia Gunn says: "Quilts studied to date indicate group in Ohio, many years before she joined the Troyer a preference for strong de ign and for bold, but pleasing, group. As a member of the Troyer Amish, she could no color contrasts. Blocks are often set o n point and separated longer u e yellow Gust vi ible in the center of the Brick by plain squares. There is relatively lillIe use of sashing Work design) or white; she could use pink, but not as an to separate blocks. Wayne and Ho lmes County quiltmakers outer border. As her old and new group both had an prefer important borders that frame the center of the quilt identical Ohio Amish heritage, the proportions, patterns, on all four sides. Their quilting is well done, but often and border of her quilts could remain the ame; only the of econdary interest to the pieced or applique designs."5 palette of colors changed. Except for the reference to applique, a technique few And, speaking of that palette, all members of the Amish use for their own quilts, this is also an apt descrip­ community know the allowed colors well-they see them tion of Ohio Amish quilts. Amish women with an Ohio everyday in the clothing worn by friends and neighbors quiltmaking heritage typically use a repeated-block style and hanging on community clothe lines. Not only are they in their quilts. Usually rectangular rather th an square, th eir familiar with the colors, they also know how those colors quilts also are characterized by intricate piecing and are are used. Indeed, only a member of the group can say often optical illusions. definitely what hues can or cannot be used, and in what As with other conservative Amish groups, Troyer quilt combinations. I saw proof of this intuitive recognition colors are closely related to clothing colors. The women while vi iting a Troyer Amish family and showing them

107 Tumbling BLocks, Pyramid Variation: A version of this quiLt was made for aLL five of this quiltmaker's daughters.

BLazing Star: The Light background coLor is beige, not white; th e materiaL is from an undergarment.

photographs of quilts from several other Troyer settle­ ments. The family's three teenage daughters were puzzled * * * by o ne of the quilts, saying it looked "strange." When I Among the Amish, quilting is a group activity. Because told them who it belonged to, they replied: "Oh, his mother they will make almost all of their family's clothing after is from Punxsautawney [Pal. That's a Punxsy quilt." I they marry, Amish girls are taught to sew by their mothers, looked through my pictures of Punxsautawney quilts and some of whom piece the tops and then allow their teenage found they were right. Although the quilt in question was daughters to do the quilting. In other families, daughters in typical Troyer colors, these were used in a slightly piece their own tops so they will learn how it is done. different way that the New York teenagers noticed imme­ Among the Troyer Amish, every woman gives a specific diately. Like the Troyer Amish, Punxsautawney Amish number of quilts to each of her children. Typically, each quiltmakers have an Ohio quiltmaking heritage (first in child receives three quilts (sometimes two are pieced and Holmes, then in Geauga, County), but th eir group identity one is plain), although each mother has her own policy. has reinforced a degree of divergence between them. One woman I knew who did not enjoy quilting gave each Amish quilts are noted for their sophisticated color of her thirteen children one identical quilt. Regardless of combinations, and after seeing hundreds of quilts-includ­ whether they marry or not, children receive the quilts­ ing those made by different generations of the same fami­ always referred to as "from home"-in their early adult­ lies-and talking to many, many, quiltmakers, I am con­ hood. Those leaving the faith, however, will not get quilts, vinced these combinations are the result of individual taste. and, as one Amish woman said, "They don't expect to." Whenever I ask Amish women about their choices, they Another example of the craft as a group enterprise, usually say they "just thought they would look nice." quilting bees are a way to raise money for mutual aid. Within their rules and traditions, Amish quilt makers can Festive and productive since ten women can complete a use the color combinations they prefer (I know one who top in a single day, they are a way to help pay the bills likes plum and green together, and this makes her quilts when medica l or other extraordinary emergencies arise. quite distinctive), and their preferences are not necessarily And, since fluctuations in milk prices and high land prices those of other family members. For example, I knew one have put Troyer Amish families under more economic woman who used every different color allowed, and just pressure than ever before in their recent past, quiltmaking as much pink as she dared. All her daughters, on the other has become an important way for individu!ll families to hand, prefer much more subdued color combinations. supplement farm income. It is work which is in accordance

108 Both the Star of Bluegrass paltern, th ese quilts show th e Wh en shown this picture, three teenage girls from a Troyer difference made by color placement. Amish family decided immediately that th e quilt (Stepping Stones) looked "strange." Th ey soon identified it-cor­ rectly-as a "Punxsy " quilt.

/

Sunshine and Shadow: Tied quilts are pieced and then The back of this quilt (Ohio Star) shows the stitches sewn knotted with yarn. as a joke by an Amish husband whose wife thought it so amusing she let them remain.

109 The bedroom of a teenage Troyer Amish girl; she already has the sewing machine she will use when she marries.

Among the Amish, quilts are often made as a form of mutual aid. This Log Cabin design was quilted in a single August day by ten women who worked outside III order to take advantage of beautiful weather.

with Amish beliefs and values, since women can remain styles, and pattern types, she does not have to contend with at home, where they are available to their family and their ever-changing fashions. If, then, she maintains traditions community. While on the subject, it is worthwhile to note handed down to her while at the same time exercising her that quilts made for sale do not conform to Amish rules own tastes within them, it will be hard for her to fail, for and traditions, but rather cater to the current "country look" those traditions, rather than limiting her creativity, provide market. the inspiration and support she needs to make beautiful * * * quilts. ENDNOTES The Amish quiltmaker has inherited a craft developed 'Osler, Dorothy, Traditiollal British Quilts (London: B. T. Batsford, over thousands of years by individuals from many diverse 1987), p. 82. cultures, a craft further refined by generations of her own 2Granick, Eva W., The Amish Quilt (Intercourse, Pa.: Good Books, 1989), p. 25. people. By the time she starts making quilts in earnest in 'Luthy, David, Tire Amislr ill America: Seulemellls Ilrat Failed, 1840- her teenage years, she has seen hundreds of them on the 1960 (1986), p. 339. beds and clotheslines of her friends and neighbors. Thor­ 'Granick, p. 25. sGunn, Virginia, Treasures from Trunks-Early Quilts from Wayne oughly familiar with the colors--chosen by consensus­ alld Holmes Coulllies (Wooster, Ohio: The College of Wooster Art of her group, and knowing the correct proportions, border Museum, 1987), p. 5.

110 CONFLICT: A Main . g 0-[ Aiiilsh by Kenneth E. Kopecky and Eric O. HOiberg

Amish barn, western New York. Most Amish still fa rm, at Least part time. (ALL photographs by James Roach)

Considered a peace-loving people, the Amish are thought anction 4 each more evere than the la t, and all de igned of as living harmoniously in a seemingly idyllic, 19th­ to get the" inner" to repent and a k fo rg i ene . T he fi r t century setting. Nevertheless, although conflict is the of the e ancti on i " private": church di tri ct authoritie antithesis of the lifestyle they prefer, it will be argued here vi it violator , and in th e privacy o f th eir own home a k that conflict is not only present, but is a force that sur­ them to mend th eir way and return to th e Ordfl u fl g. T he rounds and penetrates Amish society, serving to bind it second, u ed fo r minor offen e uch a wearing make­ together. While making it clear here, at the outset, that up or u ing ome prohibited object, i call ed " itt ing"; it the following discussion excludes any type of conflict that mean th at at a church meeting offender w ill be a ked is associated with violence, this paper will examine the to cea e uch worldly behavior. The third level, " kn eeling," ways in which conflict-both internal and external- has u ed for more eriou offen e uch a violating a sbaped and influenced Amish society from the days of the religiou taboo like riding in a car on unday; offender Reformation until the present time. will be a ked to kneel before the co ng regati on and confe their tran gres ion. MAINTAINING ORDER IN THE AMISH Sanction number four i th e mall ball/I. Thi i a COMMUNITY temporary or six-week-Iong peri od of exco mmunicatio n for "a weakne that can be corrected between brother ."5 It In The RiddLe ofAmish Culture, Donald B. Kraybill Ii t is a form of the Meiduflg, or shunning-a time o f i olati on five tactics used to promote order and survival in Ami h from the community. Such i olatio n can have a very obering society; tactics which also serve to maintain the group's effect on tho e who know only the peripheral co mmunity. isolation. These are the symbolization of core values (of The fifth, and culminating, anction i excommunication, which Plain dress is an example); centralized leader hip; most incidences of which occur becau e o f material desires, social sanctions; comprehen ive socialization; and con­ not becau e of disputes over religious doctrine. In fact, trolled interaction with outsiders.l Amish society is guided much of the conflict that leads to these confe sional-type by the Ordfluflg, which regulates public, private, and ritual sanctions i the result of disputes that involve some change life. 2 Roughly translated as "ordinance," or "di cipline," the in the life tyle of the Amish that challenges the status quo. Ordfluflg is not written, but rather is internalized; i un­ derstood. The code of conduct which orders every a pect INTERNAL CONFLICT IN THE AMISH of life, and by which the Amish are expected to live, the COMMUNITY OrdnuIIg is made up of two kinds of regulations: historical To fully comprehend the issues of order and conflict rules that originated in 16th-century special conferences, in Amish society, it i necessary to discuss at some length and modern rules that govern each individual church district.3 the concept of Gelasseflheit; a concept, it has been claimed, In some respects, the Ordfluflg is synonymous with social­ which orders the entire Amish social system.6 Translated, ization. the word literally means submission, or yielding to a higher Members who threaten the solidarity of the Amish authority-God. Although generally they are not familiar community are subject to five levels of confessional-type with the term, the Amish are very familiar with the concept,1

111 no means conflict free, "11 also describes one such incident th at took pl ace in northern Indiana. The issue concerned th e adopti on or non-adoptio n of kerosene refrigerators, and th e conflict created so much stress th at in the end, in order to keep peace and maintain solidarity in the community, a bishop was dismissed and one church district broke apart.12 Other internal conflicts also occur. As Amish youths make the transition through adolescence to adulthood, they go through a stage of "sowing the oats," an almost open rebellion against their parents and the church.13 Although Milk calis 011 an Amish farm in western New York; the this process gives young people the impression of free issues that cause the most dissent ill Amish communities choice in deciding whether or not to join the church, are those related to modernity; the desire to advance Kraybill points out several reasons why they show great beyolld the traditional agricultural community. reluctance to leave the community. These include the socialization experience; the presence of friends and fam­ which, embedded in th eir culture, indeed makes it a coun­ ily; economic incentives; and limited education and occu­ terculture to the bold , aggressive, modern American way pational skills.14 Nevertheless, the social and psychological of life, with its focus on individual achievement and ful­ aspects of perceiving the choice to be free and open has fillment. the effect of making individuals even more compliant and Gelassellheit, as practiced by the Amish, is a way of committed members of the community after baptism: thinking about the individual's rel ationship with God and believing that the choice was theirs and theirs alone, they with oth ers in the community; it means being willing to feel they must make the best of their situation. sacrifice perso nal goals for the good of the community. This kind of rebellion also serves another purpose, for Concerned with serving, respecting, and obeying those in it saves the integrity of those who chose to leave the faith. th e community, Gelassellheit entails modesty in talk, action, The twenty percent of those young people who are never and dress; it implies th at the community should be small , baptized can leave the Amish community with no sanctions compact, and si mple. Believing they have been called by or ill will. These are youths who, either because of tem­ Christ to abandon self-interest and to follow the example perament or curiosity, would probably not have made He set during His life on earth-a life characterized by compliant members as adults. By leaving before they are suffering, meekness, humility, and service-the Amish are baptized, it is likely they keep conflict from occurring in warned not to take revenge on their enemies, but rather the community sometime in the future. to love them, and to turn the other cheek and pray for thei r persecutors. EXTERNAL CONFLICT AND THE STATE The entire idea of Gela ssenheit, then, must be incor­ Although they are law-abiding citizens and are actively porated into any serious examination of the Amish for, encouraged by the church to support the civil authorities, etched into their consciousness, it "regulates the entire the Amish have generally stayed at arm's length from any spectrum of life from body language to social organization, form of government activity. And when, as sometimes from personal speech to symbolism. Submission to God's happens, Amish teachings, beliefs, values, and the Ordllullg will, meekness, and small-scale organizations merge in come in conflict with civil law, there is no question about Amish culture. Life takes on religious meaning as people their priorities: they obey the laws of God before the laws place themselves on the altar of community, a sacrifice of man. Thus, if pushed to this kind of confrontation the that brings homage to God."R Lacking some understanding Amish will take a stand, even going to prison for the sake of these religious values, it is difficult to assign reasons of their consciences. to Amish behavior. John A. Hostetler, author of the The Amish have a history of conflict with the United groundbreaking study, Amish Society, said it best: "Without States Government, especially since the Federal Govern­ taking into account how the Amish view themselves, all ment increased its presence in rural areas at the time of else in their culture is virtually incomprehensible."9 the end of the Depression and the beginning of World War * * * II. With that conflict came selective service and the draft, In any study of agricultural communities, an issue of which forced the Amish to register, even though they have great importance is the introduction and diffusion of in­ moral objections to any form of violence. During the novations. In Amish communities, Gelassellheit plays an Vietnam Era, when opposition to the war was widespread important role in the diffusion process. As already noted, and many individuals sought conscientious objector status, innovations have the potential for creating problems which that designation was harder to obtain than in previous subsequently can lead to community conflict. 1O One of the times, so Amish leaders cooperated with Selective Service few scholars to argue that the Amish "community is by authorities to work out a system which allowed draft-age

112 chooing. The e chan e brought on a erie or c nfr n­ tatlon that culmInated \\ Ith the upreme urt a.e (W/SCOII ill I. Yoder), and resulted In a Jud ment favorable to the AmI. h communll) Thl ha ba. I all) . ell led the educallon que tlon or them, for although pr blem ttll - do an e, the mechanl m I no" In placc to resoh e potcntlal c nnict \\ Ith a ullable compromIse.

' T R ' 0 NO

Amish school in western New York; the conflict over Land-u e connict , occurring primaril in Lanca ter education was eventually settled by the United tates Count Penn I ania, are particularl) detrimental to a Supreme Court. ociet \ ho e econd-Ie el c re alue and belief are centered on agriculture. (Their primar alue and belief Ami h men to work a con cientious objector o n Ami h­ are, of cour. e, focu ed on their dut and ervice to God.) upervised farms.ls This confrontation resu lt ed in the fo r­ If Ami h land are con erted t no n-agricul tural u 'e and mati on of the Amish National Steering Committee. they can no longer farm, the economic and ocial under­ The formati on of this committee wa something very pinning of the community ill be in jeopardy. dmilledl, new for the Amis h, who detest anyth ing bureaucratic. But, there are many Ami h ho are no longer full-time farmer although antithetical to their beliefs, a recent study implie but most if not all, till farm at lea t part -time. Gradually that the Amish felt compelled to create thi organization however, th e Ami h are being pu hed off their land in response to the conflict with the Government over the sometimes becau e the tate condemn ome of it for a draft. 16 Donald Kraybill points out th at while other Ami h future highway, and other time becau e of encroaching organizations have emerged under appropriate circumstances, development which make farming increasingly difficult. the Amish National Steering Committee refl ects the great­ This mixture of urban and rural land u e has also created est imprint of bureaucracy on these Pl ain People to date: condition (such as increa ed traffic conge tion) th at threaten he refers to it as "the Shadow of Bureaucracy."17 Among the immediate environment and imperil Amish resident, Amish leaders there is mixed support for the committee, who, being a peaceful people, have been socialized not to which maintains that it "i only the voice of the churches fight back.19 combined." Individual bishops fear the committee has gained everthele s, the Amis h are not alone in thei r struggle too much power and is trying to control the church. to retain th ei r traditional way of life. Conflict ometime Another source of conflict with the outside world has breed stra nge bedfellows, and in this case it ha brought been the Old Age and Survivors Insurance Act of 1935, into existence an interesting ph enomeno n, called by ome better known as the social security program. Although most "the Amish Cocoon. "20 Made up of several somewhat individuals have been able to avoid payment of the employee related groups, each with it own rea ons for wanting to share of the tax, the Amish still pay large sums into th e serve and protect the Ami h, thi cocoon-with one possible system without ever expecting to receive benefits. This is exception-has no formal organization, but is simply a so because Amish businesses that cannot find a way to coming together of interests. become exempt must pay the employer share of the tax. The exception is the National Committee fo r Amish Therefore, in order to make the broadest and most effective Rel igious Freedom, a qua i-organization " run" by William use of social security exemptions, the Amish have been Ball (who argued and won Wisconsin v. Yoder before th e creative in the ways in which they organize their busi­ Supreme Court) and Elizabeth Place, attorneys from nesses, and in the special relationships they develop among Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. A isted by some very adept the workers in their industries. Amish lay lawyers,21 the committee rai e fund, hires Yet another government intrusion into Amish affairs­ lawyers, and apparently has been quite succes ful in the conflict over education-was finally settled by the defending and tanding up for the Amish, who have never United States Supreme Court. The problem began with paid any legal fees. government attempts to increase educational efficiency in Making up the many different layers of the Amis h rural areas by consolidating one-room schools; modifying cocoon in addition to the ati o nal Committee for Amish the curriculum; enforcing compulsory attendance to a cert ai n Religious Freedom, are ma ny other groups, some infor­ age; and demanding increased requirements and certifica­ mally organized, others organized and well-established. Of tion for teachers. IS These change had a catastrophic effect these groups, the closest to the Amish are those Mennonites on the Amish, for children who once went to one-room with an Amish heritage: raised and socialized in the faith, schools controlled by an Amish school board in an Amish they o pted not to be baptized Amish when they reached settlement, now had to attend a consolidated school with adulthood. Yet having chosen to stay in the same com­ "English" children, and be taught by teachers not of Amish munity as their close family and kin, they are very pro-

113 tective of the Amish (and especially of tlieir own families), Still, alone, the Amish would likely suffer in their and are not hesitant to take direct action if the need arises. contacts with the larger society. But with the coalitions A second group working on behalf of the Amish are that form around them, it is not likely they will be overrun outsiders who derive some kind of philosophical satisfac­ by the government or by developers. This coalition depends tion from seeing them survive as a society. And support upon the Amish being there; of their being the recipients also comes from a third, and more distant group, a group of the pressure put on their land and on their lifestyle, and also concerned with preserving traditional lifestyles, but on their wanting to remain in Lancaster County. The Amish which is trying to achiev~ goals that have nothing to do do have a choice when it comes to highways and devel­ with rural values. The last group making up the cocoon opers: they can pack up and move, as they have done many is far distant from the Amish philosophically, but much times in the past, and can always do in the future. too close physically. It is, of course, the tourist industry, Conflicts with the state over laws and regulations create which brings about $400 million to Lancaster County situations that do not have simple remedies. Fortunately, annually. When this group weighs the benefits of highways with the National Committee for Amish Religious Freedom and development against the appeal of the Amish, the at the point, it is always possible to turn to the legal system Amish carry much clout: without them, Lancaster County for protection. Hopefully, the courts will continue to support would be like any other agricultural area; with them, it the desire of the Amish to be a separate society, and will is a go ld mine. continue to aid in the development of remedies that are satisfactory to all the parties involved. CONCLUSION

Even if the Amish disavow its presence or try to define ENDNOTES it away by calling it by another name, there can be no IKra ybill, D., The Riddle of Amish Culture (Battimore: The Johns doubt that conflict does occur within their communities; Hopkins Universit y Press, 1989), p. 18. ~/bid ., p. 95. nor can there be any doubt that this conflict serves a ' Hostetler, J. A., Amish Society (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Uni- constructive function by promoting integration (the coor­ versity Press, 3rd. cd., 1980), p. 84. 'Kraybill, The Riddle of Amish Culture, p. 111. dination and maintenance of viable interrelationships within 'Ibid. the social system) and the cohesion which keeps the com­ ·Cronk, S., "Gelassenheitn: The Rites of the Redemptive Process in munity stable. This is so because, as already discussed, Old Order Amish and Old Order Mennonite Communities." The Men­ nonite Quarterly Review 55 (1981) 5-44. The following discussion, the issues that cause conflict have nothing to do with drawing on the work of Cronk, is my condensation of Gelassenheit as religious values or beliefs. On the contrary, they are usually conceptualized and used by Kraybill in The Riddle of Amish Culture, associated with the maintenance of the boundaries; that is, p. 25. they are usually issues such as technology, dress, and ' Kraybill , The Riddle of Amish Culture, p. 268. "Ibid., p. 28. education-the adaptive characteristics that have kept the "Hostetler, J. A., A New Look at the Old Order Amish (Penna. State Amish separate from the " English" community. (Indeed, University: Dept. Agri. Econ. & Rural Soc.), p. 7. it has been shown by many authors22 that most of those IOHostetler, Amish Society, p. 270; and Kraybill, The Riddle of Amish Culture, p. 22. who leave the community, either before baptism or by IICong, D., "Amish Factionalism and Technology Change: A Case excommunication, do not drift far from the conservative Study of Kerosene Refrigeration and Conservatism." Ethnoloy, 31 (1992), Mennonite churches.) 217. 12lbid., 205. It is probably safe to say, then, that the issues that cause t) Kraybill, D., The Puzzles of Amish Life (Intercourse, Pa.: Good the most dissent are those related to modernity; the desire Books, 1990), p. 94. to advance beyond the traditional agricultural community. l'lbid., p. 97 I' Kraybill, The Riddle of Amish Culture, p. 218. Conflicts such as these "that do not contradict the basic I·Olshan, M. A., "The Old Order Amish Steering Committee: A Case and core values [of the community] are functional by Study in Organization Evolution." Social Forces 69 (2), p. 60l. eliminating dissociating elements."23 In other words, these I' Kraybill, The Riddle of Amish Culture, p. 86. I·See Danbom, D. B., The Resisted Revolution: Urban America and conflicts ultimately mean that individuals with differing the Industrialization of Agriculture, 1900-1930. (Ames: Iowa State Uni­ values are no longer a part of the community, which is versity Press, 1979.) cleansed and purified by the elimination of these kinds of I"See Hostetler, Amish Society and A New Look at the Old Order Amish; Kraybill, The Riddle of Amish Culture; and Testa, R-M., After material want. the Fire: The Destruction of the Lancaster County Amish (Hanover, N.H.: The Amish reaction to external conflicts-insofar as Univ. Press of New England, 1992). there has been any-results from the same desire to maintain "'Kidder, R. L. and J. A. Hostetler, "Managing Ideologies: Harmony as Ideology in Amish and Japanese Societies." Law and Society Review the boundaries that separate them from the outside world, 24 (4, 1990), 913; and Kidder, R. L., "The Role of Outsiders" in The as well as a desire to protect the values of the community. Amish and the State, ed. D. Kraybill (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Univ. Internally, such conflicts have facilitated the formation of Press, 1993), p. 9. The following discussion refers specifically to Lan­ caster County, but there is no reason why such groups could not be found leadership groups that did not exist before the school, social in other Amish communities. security, and selective service dilemmas. Whether the Amish 21Kidder and Hostetler, 914. like it or not, for rather pragmatic reasons, these gtoups 22 Especially by Hostetler in Amish Society and Kraybill in The Riddle of Amish Culture. have resulted in a somewhat dispersed church organization 23Himes, J. S. Conf/ict and COIlf/ict Mallagemelll (Athens: Univ. of com i ng closer toget her. Georgia Press, 1980), p. 130.

114 oee TI TIE FOR OLD ORDER 1 1 y rtrud E. n

Anneken van den Hove buried alive In 1597 "because she belonged to the Anabaptists." (Martyrs Mirror)

During the last two-and-a-half decades the variety of men. Rather, they have been recognized a making an economic roles open to Old Order Amish women has es ential, unique economic and cultural contribution. More increased. This has not proved to be a threat to their than four hundred and fifty year ago, Anabapti t women society, nor has it altered the basic family structure, family defended their faith at inqui itions by learned church roles, or male-female relationships. Instead, the growing officials, uffered long years of impri onment and, receiv­ economic opportunities for women have served to maintain ing equal treatment with their brother and hu band, were the Amish family's independence from the dominant culture burned alive at the stake for remaining ob tinate and and contributed to the cohesiveness of the nuclear family . steadfa t. Women's employment is structured to support the family The Amish family developed from the patriarchal, as an economic unit. Like farming, it enables the family Germanic family and is modeled on Christian Biblical to maintain a pre-industrial lifestyle in the midst of a super­ principles, especially the teaching of Paul that man is to national, international market economy. Many of the new be the head of the wife, and the wife is to ubmit herself occupations enable individuals who do not like farming or to her hu band. This submission, however, has always been domestic work to find socially acceptable employment limited. Amish marriage must be "in the Lord"; that is, within the Amish community. with a co-religionist. Individuals do not formally enter the The position and role of Amish women has been shaped Amish community until they are adults and voluntarily by historical events that have differentially affected the confess their faith, promising to support the Amish belief Amish and the rest of society. Victorian mores never system with their own actions, and promising also to help penetrated the boundaries of the Old Order Amish cul­ other members to follow the Ordnullg, or church rules. ture-neither the flirtatious prudery, nor the rampant in­ Each individual makes a public declaration of lifelong dividualism. Old Order Amish women have never been responsibility-and personal submission-to the will of the perceived as playthings, possessions, or status symbols for group (not just to the will of a father, or a husband, or

115 any male). Within this group, although women do not have produce a year, supply more than half of the produce an equal voice, they do have an equal vote. Therefore, consumed by their families, and make over three-fifths of women as well as men are recognized as having the ability their family 's c1othing.2 Although these subsistence activi­ to make responsible judgments, and as being respo nsib le ties do not contribute to the cash flow of the family, they for their ultimate destiny. are of recognized economic value. The Amish woman's Marriage "in the Lord" means that an individual's first sense of worth and economic importance was demonstrated duty is to God (as represented by the church community), when women were asked how much money they earned and one 's second responsibility is to one's spouse. In the during the preceding year and they not infrequently re­ sixteenth century this radical belief was seen as undermin­ sponded, "How much did my husband say the farm brought ing society because it relieved a wife of the obligation to in? Half of th at is mine."J obey an ungodly husband (and she could participate in the Husbands and wives are to be as individuals to one decision th at he was ungod ly). In addition, these teachings another, and of one mind to all others. Thus the public militated against arranged marriages, marriages for eco­ stance of the Amish family is one of wifely submission nomic advancement or for pleasure, and against personal and obedience; in private and in practice, the family functions desire or ostentation. Anabaptist marriage was to be a relatively democratically with important decisions (such as partnership in the Lord, and the basis of a family whose "should we move to a new location?") generally being function was to produce willing, responsible members of made jointly (often with additional input from the extended th'e believing community. This remains the primary func­ family), and minor decisions being allocated-the husband tion of the Amish family. Therefore a very high value is making those pertaining to his economic pursuits, the wife placed on children and in turn the women, who produce making those related to running the household. and nurture the children, are valued. The average Amish Unlike much of contemporary society that lauds an­ woman raises six or seven children to adulthood, and of drogyny, the Amish emphasize complementary roles, lik­ these more than three-fourths will choose to join the faith ening the church or the family to the human body in which of their parents. Children are crucial to a society that does the hand and the foot have different functions but are not recruit or convert. dependent on one another. In many ways the Ordl1ung Amish farms are jointly owned by husband and wife, functions to preserve this differentiation. The prohibition with the husband being responsible for the field crops and against modern conveniences increases the importance of the large livestock, and the wife processing much of the women who have the training and skill needed for house­ food and making most of the clothing. One study showed hold tasks such as " doing the washing." Oblivious to that Amish wives can more than five hundred quarts of political correctness, a conservative Mennonite high school

Wash day (among the Amish often a family affair) in western New York. (All photographs by James Roach)

116 boy once put it succinctl y (and chauvini tically) hen he methin to do and al pro\ ide additional inc me pinned to his bedroom wall a hand-lettered ign that read, nece ar for a large faml!) In toda . e n my. "The best household appliance wa made from dam' Her hu band Reuben, \~ ho operatc a \~ eldin hop rib." Any individual can go to a laundromat read three and repai dump ter ,h hi on helpln him \~ hile paragraphs and successfully wash and dry clothe. In Rebecca and her three daughter. alome 1 • l ar) 14 co ntrast, an Amish washday is often a family affalr­ and Rebecca are bu mannin a place In the baJ...e perh aps beginning wi th the manufacturing drying, and hop. The bab i only 2 ear old hc' u!>uall grating of the homemade laundry oap--involving th e labor atching and keeping outdoor. In additl n there are of both hu sba nd and wife. The hu sba nd frequently i th e e eral cou in helping for it i a famil affair. one to start up the gasoline, diesel, or ai r compres or engine Thi mi h \ oman i utilizing typical, gender-appr priate to run th e washing machine, while th e wife is heating and kills- irtuallyall mi h " omen can bake bread . he ha carrying the w ater. Then she wa hes progre sively dirty, expanded on these kill by ha ing learned abou t marketing carefu lly sorted piles of bedding and clothing, hanging the when he "worked out" a a oung unmarried adult. Her wa h in proper order on the line, taking down the dry hu band run hi own hop--often Ami h omen ha e washing, folding it, sprinkling th ose items that need prin­ th ei r own bu ine e runn ing parallel to th ei r hu band kling and, finally, heating the sadiron or lighting th e gasoline with both profiting from the cu tomer attracted to the iron to press the shirts and dresses before carefully putting oth er's busi ness . them on hangers to be carried to the bedrooms. Amish Both Rebecca' and her hu band 's work is typical Qf couples share work by contributing complementary ac ti vity pre-industrial cottage indu try: It is done in the home, it to the same task, rather than by delegating domestic tasks utilizes the resource of the children's labo rs, and it func­ alternately to one spouse or the other. Thus the need for ti ons to teac h the children skills, attitudes, and character one another is emphasized, rather than the fact that each traits necessa ry for survival in contemporary Ami h soci­ can substitute for the other, which implies independence ety. The clearly defined gender roles are illu trated by th e rather than mutual support. fac t th at the girls work in the bakery and the boys work In spite of the emphasis on learning housekeeping tasks in the welding shop. Also the women sel l only from the there is no taboo against a woman earning cash, and Amish house. Some of Rebecca's baked goods are sold in Phila­ women are expected to be frugal and able to manage delphia, but this is handled by a non-horse-a nd-buggy male money. (An Amish mother writes that she wants her daughter neighbor. Rebecca and the girls retai n all the decision to know how to keep house without going to the store. making, gauging the demand, determining what and how Let dad bring home the few things needed when he must much to bake, and figuring the profits. Typical of Ami h go to town on an errand. Let her learn to save, to bake culture, the individual has great freedom withi n clear bread, to make cheese, to grow food in the garden, to grow boundaries. The management of the bake shop is totally teas, to make cereal, to help butcher, to make soap, to clean Rebecca's responsibility, but it is run in such a way th at without expensive cleaners from the grocery store, to make Amish values are reinforced, gender roles are not disrupted, butter, to sew, to can, and never to frown at certain jobs: the nuclear family continues to be the primary institution, " Our attitude toward work can determine whether our and the economic need s of the family are met with a children enjoy their tasks or not."4) All Amish wives have minimum of personal interaction with the outside culture. had experience earning money before they married, and When properly structured, these small industries can have many have the expertise to establish small businesses geared the same sociological pl ace in the culture as does farming. to a money economy. The businesses they choose tend to The press ures for increased interaction with th e dominant be outgrowths of activities traditionally performed by Amish society are greater than they have been with farming women; activities in which they are already skilled and however, and thus in the long run these entrepreneurial for which they have community support. These businesses activities may blur the boundaries between Amish and non­ can be carried out at home, providing work for the children Amish, and could pose a threat to Amish culture. and enabling mother to be the primary caretaker for the * * * youngest children. When the Amish first settled in America they engaged A typical entrepreneurial situation for an Amish wife in a variety of trades in addition to farming, but during is described by a writer from Pennsylvania: the nineteenth century non-farming occupations were looked on with suspicion and often were forbidden. The earliest The mailbox says Reuben S. Stoltzfus. But it is shops were closely related to agriculture-blacksmithing, Reuben's wife, Rebecca who operates the bakery. For milling, buggy and harness shops. The oldest Amish shop several years before her marriage she worked at in continual existence is a bookshop established in 1915 Smucker's Bakery and had experience in the art of to supply suitable German books and German calendars baking and marketing. Being the mother of nine chil­ for a growing Amish community, at a time when the use dren between the ages of 2 years and 17 years, she of German was fading in the dominant society. None of reasoned her own bakery would give the children these early shops were managed by women or even listed

117 Amish chair shop in western New York; daughters, and occasionally wives, help with furniture finishing. Amish women often have their own businesses running parallel to their husbands'.

as jointly owned by women. As the differences increased Daughters, and occasionally wives, did the sanding and between the lifestyle of the Amish and that of their non­ varnishing, painting and refinishing. During the 1960s and Amish rural neighbors, specific items needed by the Amish 1970s, many Amish hardware stores and dry goods stores became harder to obtain and small shops sprang up to meet opened to supply non-electric Amish household equipment this need.6 The last thirty years have seen a rapid rise in and cloth suitable for coverings, bonnets, dresses, and the price (and a decrease in the availability) of farmland shawls. Amish women quickly moved into this arena. so that not all Amish now "have the privilege of farming," Many started small stores in their basements or in the and a growing number must find other means of economic corner of a downstairs room--<>rdering extra material they livelihood that are acceptable to their community.7 found to be especially serviceable. They sold needed items During the 1950s furniture shops were opened. They that were no longer available in the general country store made items needed by the community such as coffins and or from major mail-order catalogs. Of the eleven retail church benches, but also large extension tables and hickory stores listed in the 1980 Illinois Amish Directory, just over rockers. The owners of these shops might also repair half (six) are listed as being owned by women. Bulk furniture, and sometimes bought and sold used furniture. grocery stores, salvage stores, health food stores, bakeries,

118 craft shops, qu ilti ng store , and fabr ic store are generally untraditional, gender rol are frequentl) blurred, and daily run , if not owned, by women. (Many of the health food interaction ith non-AmI h, often on a fairly intimate Ie el, stores and most of the dry goods store are owned by i ine It ble. The percenta e of AmI h d In factor w rk Amish women .) Greenhou e , too, may be tarted and run arie greatly from one communll to another, and f m by Amish women, for the wife i re pon ible for the yard one church di trict to another. Some church forbid any and for th e vegetable and flower garden. As it grow. the work in to n, or in an type of factor . hu band may become more involved in the wife' bu ine • which may furni h the primary income for th e family, The health of th eir famili ha al ay been part of the replacing farming, which can be turned over to a married Ami h woman' doma in. Ami h omen have tarted health child, or replacing day laboring, which is generally di - food tore , upplied tea and upplement, and worked in couraged, is of low status, and i seen as detrimental to areas of health care th at do not requi re ad anced education th e family. or degree. ome Ami h women practice th e trad iti onal An article in the Ohio Cemeillde Register written by art of braucJr e, other give treatments in reflexology (f t the wife of a day laborer claim that working away from ma age), patterning and variou health diagnoses and home "can be your spi ritu al downfall, the downfall of you r treatments that are learned in hort, inten ive cours taught family, and of your church ."8 Within the Amish community by traveling instructor who charge participant, and give wives of day laborers are in a difficult positio n becau e th ose who complete the course a rather meaningle cer­ they have limited support from their hu bands in child tifica te. Some Am i ·h practice midwifery, and a few ha e rearing, and cannot work in close partnership with th eir birthing center in th eir homes or on th ei r farm .11 These husbands, helping with production or complementing his women have had varying amount of trai ning, u ually economic activities. Amish women whose husbands do not inform al (but often inten ive and extensive), under the farm produce a smaller percentage of the family food, can direction of re pected and experienced midwive . Where less food, and make fewer items of their family's cl othing the medical e tab li hment is sy mpathetic they work in than those who do farm.9 Wives of day laborers make a collaboration with a local doctor. Because they do not smaller contribution to the subsistence and to the economic attend high schoo l or college, Amish midwive are not survival of their family. This has an effect on the woman 's certified. A few unmarried Amish women have taken self-esteem and on her status within the community. In practical-nurse training, and one adopted daughter works addition, the children she bears are of no economic ad­ a a laboratory technician. vantage to a day laborer, and it is a problem to train them Although unmarried Amish women may comprise a in Amish ways if the father does not work at home in significant element in Amish culture they still have a an occupation in which he can bring his sons along. somewhat ambiguous position, as signified by the desig­ * * * nation, "older girl." "All the Maiden Ladies of Lancaster Before parenthood Amish women in many communities County" numbered 296 in 1984.12 These were never-married are employed on a regular basis by non-Amish individuals women thirty years old, or older. (One church district of or work in small factories. An Indiana Amish paper carried approximately seventy-five adult members had twenty-one a brief article about a new industry that spray paints maiden ladies; six of the ixty-one districts had only one automotive parts and wanted to employ "mostly Amish."lo "older girl" in the congregation.) Unmarried Amish women The non-union plant planned to hire about seventy-five travel together and have circle letters; Old Order Mennonite people and pay about four dollars an hour; most of the unmarried women publish their own periodical, and it has employees would be women and the company would supply some readership among the Amish . Until about thirty years a bus to transport them to and from work. In Ohio many ago the only occupations open to these women were small factories have been built in Amish areas to take domestic ituations in which they worked for, or cared for, advantage of cheap, conscientious labor. An Amish woman elderly or very young family members, or helped in fami­ may work in such a factory, sometimes until the birth of lies with newborn babies or in families experiencing illness her first baby. Uncharacteristically, the usually discreet or some special stress. Many did some cleaning or house­ Amishwoman informs the foreman of her pregnancy and keeping for non-Amish members of the community. Few is given light work. In these Ohio factories Amish and non­ were able to have a home of their own. Today there are Amish work together. Any employment outside the com­ many more job opportunities open to them, and more are munity constitutes some risk, but factory work, for either establishing homes of their own or shared with another men or women, offers a greater threat to the community unmarried Amish woman. than almost any other occupation. The hours are rigid, days The rise of Amish parochial (actually community) schools off are inflexible, interfering with participation in commu­ has led to the development of a new profession for (gen­ nity events such as weddings and barn raisings, and re­ erally lll}married) Amish women, that of schoolteacher. I) quired participation in social security and workman's Approximately eighty-six percent of the 1155 teachers in compensation may reduce an individual's dependence on Amish schools are women,14 and in addition there are the community. In these factories the actual work is assistant teachers, part-time teachers, and many former

119 teachers. Teachers often take correspondence courses, and a husband who is somewhat deviant due to health, emo­ sometimes go on to work as accountants, help prepare tax tional, or economic problems, and this is a way for the returns, and do custom typing and secretarial work. Amish family to maintain its integrity. One Amish woman cares women write textbooks and workbooks for Amish schools, for non-Amish elderly in her home, and many continue and have published cookbooks, coloring books, stories, to work as baby-sitters or as domestic help in non-Amish family histories and genealogies, poetry, and biographies. homes. Several have worked for various Amish publishers, editing Some Amish crafts have persisted that are used prima­ books and periodicals. Amish women work as office rily within the community and are not offered for sale to managers for doctors and in small businesses, skillfully tourists. In Lancaster County the women still carry utilizing the most modern office technology. They have handwoven diaper baskets to church; in other communities also worked with scholars, assisting in research on Amish black, stiff diaper bags are used for church. Straw is still populations. plaited for men's Sunday summer hats and some black felt The tourist industry too has spawned considerable Amish hats are made within the community. Amish women economic activity for Amish women. The interest in quilts make bonnets, sew and pleat caps, and tailor suits for the has meant that in some smaller Amish communities the men. Most of the rag rugs, found under every Amish women can more easily bring in relatively quick cash than rocker, are produced for consumption within the commu­ can the men who are engaged in traditional farming. In nity. Much of the painted and grained furniture is used all Amish communities quilts are made and sold to help within the community, especially for "nice" pieces used with medical bills and other unanticipated expenses. In the to furnish " the room." 1988 Lancaster County Family Register more women listed Changing technology, rising land prices, increased their occupation as related to some aspect of quilting than government regulation, and tourism have contributed to a to any other category excel?t "domestic." Farmers markets growing acceptance of occupational diversity by the Amish. and roadside stands on the edge of the farm sell almost Although occupational opportunities have increased for exclusively to tourists and other non-Amish, providing a Amish women they are still limited when compared with market outlet for the Amish woman's garden products, those theoretically open to all women in the larger society. baked goods, condiments (chow-chow, pickles, horserad­ The Amish value system, which also curtails formal ish, church peanut butter, apple butter, jams and preserves), education, severely limits career possibilities outside the noodles, fudge and other candy, ice cream, vanilla extract, community for both men and women. This limitation of beverage concentrates, root beer, and maple syrup; and for individual choice is consistent with Amish culture and is her crafts: crocheted booties, bibs, pot holders, pillow protective of Amish society. trims, embroidered quilt squares, pillow cases, pillows, To summarize: Although the opportunities for Amish hooked rugs, woven rugs, braided pads, hats, mittens, women to realize a cash income have increased, almost stuffed toys, dolls, pocketbooks, cloth bags, painted glass all the economic work performed, both subsistence and and painted china. Some women paint toys and knick­ cash, is gender related and functions to strengthen the knacks made by the men. (So far woodworking has re­ family and the community rather than to enhance the status mained an exclusively male occupation with women help­ of the individual. Individual participation in the cash ing with the finishing.) A few women work in restaurants, economy by either men or women that takes them outside more often as cooks than as waitresses, and some clerk the community is viewed with suspicion. Work that is in delicatessens or soda fountains. In many Amish com­ performed on Amish-owned land, involves two generations munities one or more Amish families will host tourist of the nuclear family, respects gender roles, and is of dinners (with advance registration only, so there is flex­ sufficiently small scale to employ no more than a few ibility and the tourists do not become too intrusive.) Usually Amish relatives or neighbors is accepted and encouraged, these women are in an atypical situation, generally with and helps to maintain Amish cultural integrity.

ENDNOTES

•Adaptation of a paper prcsentcd at the American Anthropotogicat ' Wagler, David, Bloomfield, Iowa, Die Botschaft, January 4, 1988, Society Meetings, November 19, 1989, in Washington, D.C., in a session p. 22. titlcd 'Thc Old Order Amish: Cultural Interaction and Survival." "Millersburg, January 27, 1989. ' Ericksen, Julia and Gary Klein, "Women's Roles and Family Pro­ 9Ericksen and KJein, pp. 289-290. duction Among the Otd Order Amish," Rural Sociology 48 (2) 1961: ,oDie Blall, July 24, 1986, p. 13. The work was being done for the 286. Ford Motor Co. and Generat Motors. 3Huntington, Gertrude E., "The Amish Family," in Ethnic Families "Huntington, Gertrude E., " Health Care," in Donald E. Kraybill's in America: Pallems and Variations, eds. Mindet, Habenstein, and Wright Amish and the State (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993), (3rd. edition), p. 379. pp. 172-75. 'Shantz, Mrs. Ian, "Things I Want My Daughter to Know," Pioneer "The Maiden Ladies of Lancaster County, Penna. (Gordonvilte (Pa.) Catalog of Country Living, Elmo Stoll and Mark Stoll (Toronto: Personal Print Shop, 1984). Library Pubtishers, 1980), pp. 87-89. 13Hostetter, John A. and Gertrude Enders Huntington, Amish Children, 5Eppihimer, Margarct, Die Botschaft, July 30, 1986, p. 17. Education ill the Family, School and Community (Ft. Worth, Tx.: Harcourt ·Fisher, Gideon L., Farm Life alld Its Changes (Gordonville, Pa .: Brace Jovanovich College Publishers, 1992). Pequea Pubtishers, 1978). "lJlackboard lJulletill, November, 1993, pp. 8-25.

120 THEAMIS Its Histori al an nifi n y arilyn hm n

Amish spring wagon and kerosene lamp, western New York. Among the Amish the restriction of progress and individual freedom indicates tradition and community. (Photographs by James Roach)

Several years ago, ] went to Kansas to visit the old my experience that it is the general con ensus of mo t non­ family farm where my great-grandparents had lived and Amish people that the forbidding of photograph represents to see my mother's birthplace. My cousin Eli, the farm's an un ophisticated, outdated, and naively literal interpre­ current owner, showed me around, pointing out the room tation of the Second Commandment (Exodu 20:4, King where my grandmother used to sleep, the desk where my James Version): "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven great-grandfather used to sit. I remarked that ] could no image, or any likeness of anything that i in heaven above, longer picture my great-grandparents even though I had or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under known them well before they died during my teen years. the earth." Cousin Eli suggested that I should look at his father, my I would like to suggest another perspective on the Amish mother's Uncle Willie, in order to remember how great­ taboo against picture taking. My intention is not to question grandfather looked. And, he added, if ] wanted to remem­ the inherent value of images per se, or to sugge t that ber what my great-grandmother looked like, my mother's photography, either as an art form or simply as a way of Aunt Lisbet would remind me. Several weeks later I had recording the people and moments of our lives, is somehow occasion to visit both of these relatives whom I had not wrong or implicitly destructive. Nor do I believe that the seen in years. Then, as Eli predicted, my mental picture Amish hold such a view. Rather, I would like to look at of my great-grandparents was restored! some of the connotations of our society's fa cination with In a society in which picture taking is not practiced, picture taking in order to gain a better understanding of this is how one's ancestors are remembered- through the Amish society's restriction against it. I will argue that this living images of their descendants. In my own family, the restriction must be placed in the context of a cultural world practice of taking pictures began when] was thirteen year view which differs markedly from that of mainstream old, when my parents left the Amish and joined the more society. In Peace, Faith, Nation: Mennonites in Nineteenth­ progressive Conservative Mennonite Church. As a member Century America, Theron F. Schlabach notes that the Amish of this more modern Anabaptist group, I soon learned to world view does not embrace many ingrained Western regret those thirteen years of missing pictures, not to assumptions; he argues that these assumptions must be mention the generations of grandmothers and great-grand­ suspended in order to understand the Amish.! A look at mothers whose physical features had not been photographi­ some of the cultural values or tendencies reflected in our cally recorded for me. It seemed to me that the Amish own society's practice of taking pictures, then, may shed restriction against picture taking represented an excessive some light on its absence in a community which does not emphasis on the suppression of pride. Indeed, it has been share the same world view.

121 * * * vi sible aspects of movement not otherwise detectable. Di stant As a result of the influence of the ideas of the eigh­ objects can be brought cl oser by using various types of teenth-century Enlightenment, Western society puts a high lenses. Indeed, the great advantage of photography is that premium on progress and individual freedom. The Amish, it allows us to look at things that ordinarily escape our on the other hand, have not inherited and do not accept view, at closer ranges than the limits of our vision normally the Enlightenment ideals of discrete individuals and pro­ allow. gressive history. Rather, the virtues of community and On the other hand, there are aspects of reality that are tradition are given priority. In The Riddle ofAmish Culture, not technologically reproducible. Benjamin speaks of the Donald B. Kraybill addresses the issue of community "aura" which surrounds natural objects. Since it cannot be versus individual autonomy in the context of Amish so­ captured by the lens, this aura is, in effect, destroyed by ciety, concluding that the achievement of community is the photograph or film. Thus the uniqueness and transient esteemed above the individual's right to pursue his own quality of the natural object is suppressed in the perma­ course. Kraybill also suggests that progress is checked by nence and reproducibility of the photograph.3 As the lyrics tradition: It is not that technology, or progress, is evil in of a contemporary song (echoing the Native-American itself, and it is not always shunned; but it is not accepted taboo on photography) succinctly declare, "Every time he as inherently good either.2 The restriction of progress and c1icks/ his Kodak pix/ he steals a little bit of soul."4 individual freedom, then, indicates a preference for tradi­ Benjamin contends that the human mode of existence tion and community. is intricately related to sense perception.s The way we see The historical roots of the Amish taboo against picture things, in other words, affects our concept of reality and taking can be traced to the beginning of the Anabaptist influences the way we organize our lives to fit that reality. movement during the Reformation. The abolishment of Because photographs depict natural objects stripped of images from churches was an element of the Protestant authenticity and transience and imbued with permanence polemic against the Catholic Church. Luther, in Germany, and reproducibility, accepting them as portrayals of those and Zwingli, in Switzerland, held different views regarding objects, or as records of experiences, effects a suppression the issue of the removal of images from churches, and of the distinction between original and reproduction. The Luther quarreled heatedly with Carlstadt and the radical elusive boundaries between reproduced likeness and origi­ reformers about the unauthorized destruction of religious nal ("aura" defies definition as well as reproduction) make icons. Nevertheless, all were in agreement in their con­ the substitution of the replication for the real thing effort­ demnation of religious art. less and usually unconscious. From this vantage, having Today most Protestant groups remain iconoclastic, but effaced the missing elements of reality, the reproduction few have extended the prohibition against religious imag­ can alter the human perception of that reality. This phe­ ery into the secular domain of everyday practice. (But other nomenon, while more readily recognized in film, is also religious groups, such as native Americans and Muslims, characteristic of photography. The employment of me­ also have taboos against photography.) The Amish respect chanical reproduction, then, in photography and film, reflects for tradition and their conviction that religious faith should and affects a culture's concept of reality, its values, and permeate the entire spectrum of the human experience, its way of life. however, make such an extension defensible. Indeed, it is The desire to "bring things closer," to get "hold of' characteristic of a society which does not distinguish between objects by means of a reproduced replication, as Benjamin sacred and secular realms of practice. For example, the Old observes, tends to universalize objects as it diminishes their Orders have no church buildings. Rather, religious services authenticity and individuality. The uniqueness of every are held in homes or barns. In this way the experience reality is negated in the acceptance of its likeness; thus of worship in effect transforms everyday space into sacred the particular is generalized into the common, the specific space, while sacred space is hallowed by the toil of everyday into the typical. Benjamin compares this tendency in the living. The everyday ritual of life is made sacred in the field of perception to the importance of statistics in the extension of religion into all aspects of the human expe­ theoretical realm. It involves, for him, an "adjustment of rience. reality to the masses and of the masses to reality."6 Beyond the historical and traditional basis for the Furthermore, this attempt to get "hold of' and "bring prohibition against picture taking, then, the question con­ things closer" reflects a desire to overcome the limitations cerning the social significance of such a restriction for of the human condition, and is characteristic of our Western Amish society today, remains. In "The Work of Art in the faith in the ability of science and technology to overcome Age of Mechanical Reproduction," Walter Benjamin has or subjugate nature. It reveals itself in our discomfort with, written about how the technology of mechanical reproduc­ or distrust of, wilderness; our urge to civilize and control tion, particularly photography and film, alters the human the natural elements. Stephen Greenblatt speaks of visiting perception of reality. One can, for example, see things in Yosemite National Park and encountering, at the point from a picture that cannot be discerned with the naked eye. As which the view of Nevada Falls is most compelling, a a moment of action frozen in time, the photograph makes photographic reproduction of the very scene he is viewing.

122 He observes that the pleasure of the e penence, be) ond bet .... een CI\ ill7allon and the natural \\ rid. the direct encounter with nature, is den ed from the or I. the _en. e of allen tat Ion and fra mentallOn, effacement of the difference between nature and artl Ice charaten. tic of maIn tream let), common In clo. e- which the image effects.7 nIt communll) deepl) r ted In tradItIon. \\ Ilhln ml h Ph otography may al 0 provide a wa for estern culture clet the Indl\, IduJI I. defined In relatIOn to then., a to re it or overcome the increasing ense of alienatIOn and oppmed to . ee Ing an autonomou elf-Identll). en e fragmentation which our fas t-paced technological lIfe t}le, of belongin \\ Ithln the famll anti the c mmuOlt), and with its veneration of individuali m, ha brought about. In o ha\lng one's role \\ell-defined b) tradItIon generate!> a a 1974 film, Alice ill dell ladlell, the young German olld elf-Identll). The IOdl\'lduall. 'rounded 10 the . tren th protagonist, wandering acro s America in sea rch of hi of a tron communi t and in enduring tradlllon. identity and a story he is unable to write, take picture In the Old Order e perience, memorie of the pa tare of everything he see. He experiences anx :ety as he ai t captured and pre erved in torie. \ hile the tor cannot for th e Polaroid film to develop into concrete proof of what compete with the objecti it of a photograph or ideo-­ he is experiencing. In a desperate effort to reconnect, he it ha a way of changing through the ear and i dependent visits his former girlfriend, who defines his problem for on the ubjecti ity of the indi idual narrator-it doe ha e him: He needs to take picture in order to prove th at he advantage. picture i imper onal and fl at; it cannot tell exists, because he doesn ' t know who he i .8 Similarily, an a story. An orally tran milled tor, on the other hand, i art criti c, commenting recently on the anniversary com­ per onal and multi-dimen ional. Furthermore, in a culture memoration of one of the earliest American photography which maintain clo e family and community connection, exhibits, attributed th e fascination of American with a culture in which the pace of Ii ing i lower, and hich photography to ou r lack of history and ou r ne ed to pro e i not subject to the outside interferences of televi ion, thi th at we exi t. 9 way of recording the stages of life and the hi tor of a The penchant for picture taking, then, seem to be people i till po ible. The telling of a story doe, after intricately interwoven with th e cultural value of mai n­ all, take time-and can carcely compete with a ball game strea m American society. Since th ese values are not shared on televi ion! by th e Amish, the absence of ph otography from that It i , finally, the telling of the story which tran form community might suggest altern ati ve values. Despite their Amish iconocla m from an inherited tradition into a modern de-e mphasis of individual aut onomy, it appea rs th at this adaptive response specific to the twentieth century. The community does esteem individual uniquene s, more so in photograph i canonical. It cannot portray reality, and is, fact th an it esteems the advantages of technology. Cer­ therefore, a false au th ority on reality. The telling and re­ tainly, the constraint against mechanica lly reproduced rep­ telling of tone, on the other hand gives an account of resentation protects the originality and au th en ticity of reality that i ba ed on human ex perience within a tradition objects-particularly persons. And, it nei th er denies nor of community. Thus, authority in Ami h society i located diminishes the transitory nature of experiences. Withou t in community. Con equently, it, th e community control pictures to capture those privileged Kodak " moments," human destiny, rather th an entrusting it to the blind pro­ might it not be that the Amish are less likely to fool gression of cience and technology. Storytelling, th en, themselves about the brevity of life? About the never con titutes a non-Western but neverth eles modern way of recurring, ever elusive, nature of th e present? Those coping with the world as it is today. In a sense th e Ami h "moments" cannot, after all, be captured! Perh aps, as the taboo agai nst photography could serve as a metap hor of search for perfect moments becomes less en ticing, the deviation from the scientific, de-per onal, and univer al possibility of living in the moment, of appreciating and ideals of the Enlightenment. accepting life as it comes, becomes more appealing. E DOTES Undoubtedly, a taboo on imagery reduces the likelihood tSchlabach, Theron F., Peace, Fait/~ Nation: Mennonites and Amish that the community will be seduced by the ideas of in Nineteellllr-Century America (Scolldale: Herald Press, 1988), p. 20 I. mainstream society--especially from television and film. 2Kraybill, Donald B., The Riddle of Amish Culture (Ballimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, t 989), pp. 250rr. A restriction on photography also reveals a different JBenjamin, Waller, "The Work of Arl in Ihe Age or Mechanical view among the Amish of the relation hip between human Production," in Illuminations, lrans. Harry Zohn (New York : Schocken beings and nature. Nature is not to be conquered or civi­ Books, 1969), p. 223. ' Prine, John , "Picture Show," in Tire Missing Years (Oh Boy Records, lized as much as it is to be got along with. Kraybill refers 1991), casselle recording. to the importance of Gelassenheit, or submission, in Amish ' Benjamin, Waller, "The Work or Art in the Age or Mechanical society.1O This attitude of yieldedness to a higher authority Productio n," in Illuminations, tra ns. Harry Zohn ( ew York: Schockcn Books, 1969), p. 222. expresses itself in the relationship of the individual to "Ibid., p. 223. nature as well as to the community. Nature is an exten ion 7Greenblall , Slephen, "Towards a Poelics or Cullure," in Tire New of God; as God's handiwork, it is to be respected. Although Historicism, Aram Vecser, ed. ( ew York: Routl edge, 1989), p. 9. "Alice in den Stadten, direcled by Wim Wenders, wrillen by Wim the Amish subjugate the earth as they till the soil, they Wenders & Veilh von Furslenberg (Pacific Arts Video, 1974). are quite comfortable with the wilderness and find no need 'CBS Sunday Morning, April 18, 1993. to bring it within their control, or to negate the distinction t° Kraybill, pp. 25ff.

123 OUR CHANGING AMISH CHURCH DISTRICT by Samuel S. Stoltzfus

and next, it seems the family enjoys a special blessing by Editor's Note: In the 18th century there were three having services in their home, and at times on Sunday eve, separate Amish settlements in Lancaster County-the West by having a young-folks gathering there also. Conestoga, Chester Valley, and Lower Pequea; each com­ For the worship services the church benches, table trestles, prised a single church district. Over time, the first two chairs, books, and dishes travel in a special wagon. My settlements disappeared, but the Lower Pequea settlement dad, grandad, and other church folks built this wagon back thrived, and today has become over one hundred church in 1963. Let's follow this wagon as it made one rotation districts in fellowship with one another. (Generally, Amish around the Northeast Upper Pequea District in that year. - church districts split when the membership becomes too (Here in the Pequea Valley districts the wagon travels large to meet in individual homes. Separations have also clockwise; in some other church districts counterclockwise; occurred over religious differences, but since these mean no one seems to know why.) a change in fellowship the resulting new districts are not In 1963 the first church place (CPl on the map) was included in the total mentioned above.) Amos and Christ M. Stoltzfus's farm along the Irishtown The Lower Pequea settlement was a single church district Road. Amos was our presiding minister and Christ served until 1843 when a line was drawn just off the Old Phila­ as deacon. Christ operated the fifty-acre tobacco and dairy delphia Pike and it was divided into the Millcreek and farm, and Amos, his wife Fanny, and their daughter Sarah Lower Pequea Districts. (The latter was also referred to lived in the Daadi house. [A separate dwelling-sometimes as the Upper Pequea, or simply as the Pequea, District; attached to the main house-where the grandparents live multiple names for church districts were not uncommon.) after retiring from farming.] Maiden lady Sarah did house­ By 1852 the Lower Pequea community had grown to the cleaning. This farm has an old stone farmhouse built in point where division was again necessary, with the result­ 1769 by the Reverend John Woodhull, who was then pastor ing districts being known as the Lower Pequea and the of the Leacock Presbyterian Church on Route 340. Upper Pequea. In 1865, as the result of continued growth, Church place number two (CP2) was my home place­ the Upper Pequea divided again, into the Upper Pequea a seventy-two acre dairy and tobacco farm operated by my and Middle Pequea District. dad, Gideon B. Stoltzfus. My grandparents, the Samuel In 1905 the Middle Pequea was too large and was Stoltzfuses, lived in the Daadi house with my Aunt Liz, divided into the West Middle Pequea and the East Middle a maiden lady who worked at the Victor Weaver chicken Pequea. In 1913 it was time for the Upper Pequea District processing plant. Daadi Samuel worked as a carpenter and to divide, and it became the East Upper Pequea and barn framer and had a small shop. Then came Elam Lapp's Greenland Districts. In 1954, the Upper Pequea District place (CP3), a ninety-acre dairy and tobacco farm. Elam's was bounded on all four sides for the first time when a widowed mother, Emma Lapp, lived in the Daadi house. dividing line was drawn along Route 896. The area to the The main house was built in 1815 by John Lapp, one of north became the Northeast Upper Pequea Church District, this area's first settlers. and the area to the south the Mt. Pleasant District. The Next came home number one (HI), a little place [too following essay describes the Northeast Upper Pequea small for church services] in Gordonville owned by Gideon District as it was in 1963, and the Soudersburg District Fisher, whose nephew David King lived there. He worked created (along with the Fairview District) when the North­ for Gid in his wagon shop. Church place number four east Upper Pequea District was divided in 1981. (CP4) was the old Elam Fisher farm. An eighty-five-acre dairy and tobacco farm, it was operated by Elam's son Stephen. Elam, who lived in the Daadi house, worked as Let's take a detailed look at this 300-year-old worship­ a carpenter; he had previously operated a custom threshing ing group called the Old Order Amish, who have church rig. Across Route 30 was Daniel L. Stoltzfus's 130-acre services in their homes. Why so? Isn't this the way all dairy, tobacco, and potato farm (CP5). Daniel's mother­ churches began? Jesus often preached in homes and on the in-law, Mary, lived in the farm's Daadi house, and there hillsides. But slowly, because generation after generation was also a small house where Daniel's aunt, maiden lady wanted changes, simple little meetinghouses became vast, Linnie Fisher, lived, and a tenant house. Daniel's nephew sprawling cathedrals with large staffs and budgets. Not so lived in the tenant house and worked for Daniel on the among the Old Order Amish, whose services are held in farm. When not needed there he worked as a carpenter. the house (sometimes in the basement), and at times in Going east on Route 30 one-half mile, we come to my shops or barns. When church services are at your place, Uncle Sylvan Stoltzfus's sixty-five-acre dairy and tobacco it gets a good cleaning; even some repairs and painting place (CP6). Sylvan was one of the church ministers. The are done. Thus, the blessing is twofold: first, all is cleaned; old stone house and barn on this property were built by

124 Fig. 1: The Lower Pequea Amish settlement was a single church district until 1843 when it was divided into the Millcreek and Lower Pequea Districts. The latter was next divided into the Lower (1), Middle (2), and Upper (3) Pequea Church Districts.

the Mary Ferre family about 1730. Moving across the Pequea Creek, the church wagon arrives at the 140-acre dairy and tobacco farm owned and operated by preacher Ephraim King, who worked for his two sons on their farms, and also part-time as a carpenter. He and his wife lived on the tenant farm (CP7). Ephraim's son David King operated a fifty-acre dairy and tobacco place (CP8) owned by Ervin Denlinger. Ephraim King's home farm (CP9) was the 140-acre spread operated by his son Samuel. Now we proceed south on Cherry Hill Road to a fifty­ acre dairy and tobacco farm (CP10) operated by Levi King and owned by his uncle, John Beiler. The next church place The church wagon used to transport the furnishings nec­ (CPll), a bit south and west on Esbenshade Road, is an essary for Amish church services. eighty-acre dairy, tobacco, and chicken farm owned and

125 Fig. 2: Continued growth resulted in the East Lower Pequea (1), West Lower Pequea (2), East Middle Pequea (3), West Middle Pequea (4), Northeast Upper Pequea (5), Greenland (6), Belmont (7), and Bachmantown Districts.

operated by Jonas Fisher. Now the bench wagon has a little way to go, crossing Route 741 to the fartherest south church place (CP12), Joel King's eighty-six-acre farm, again a dairy, tobacco, and poultry operation. Leaving here we travel west one mile to a 120-acre dairy and tobacco farm (CP13) operated by Isaac Beiler and owned by the Denlingers. (Perhaps you wonder why all this tobacco farming among the Plain folk. Remember, farming was more diversified in 1963, with farmers having some cows, some chickens, and some steers, along with three-to-six-acres of tobacco. Then too, the draft board called all young men not on the farm, and the draft-board questionnaire wanted to know what was farmed; labor-intensive crops like tobacco kept a hired man busy. And, also, local banks and lending institutions would insist tobacco be raised as loan collat­ Amish Daadi house (right foreground) next to the main eral, so the tobacco check could be counted on for loan dwelling. repayment. But then, as now, cows were Lancaster County's

126 Fig. 3: In 1954 a dividing line was drawn along Rt. 896. The area to the north was the Northeast Upper Pequea District, the area to the south the Mt. Pleasant District.

biggest busi ne s. In 1963 there were three th ousand dairy farms in the county, each with an average of twenty cow. The milk was shipped to Philadelphia, Lancaster, and Baltimore. Then, as today, dairy farming was considered the farmer's steadiest source of income, and of course cows made the nitrogen-rich manure so vital to soil building.) * * * Now, as we move towards home, we come to Gideon Lapp's seventy-five-acre dairy and tobacco farm (CP14) along Paradise Lane. After this came home number two (H2), the Dan Zook residence, only a one-half acre prop­ erty with a house too small for church. Dan, semi-retired, worked as a carpenter. Next was a nice, ninety-acre hilltop farm (CP15)-Joel Fisher's dairy, tobacco, and chicken operation. It had a Daadi house, and Joe's widower father, Amos Fisher, lived there. Moving on, we reach the Ben K. Fisher farm, a forty-five acre dairy and tobacco opera­ Today there are eleven farms in the Soudersburg Church tion along the Pequea Creek (CP16). A part of the Christian District. Herr tract deeded from the Penn Family in the mid-1700s,

127 \ PA 741 I 'L, CP12 Fig. 4: The Northeast - District in ]963. ------128 it is just beside Herr's mill and co ered bridge. Here "'a. of 199 \\,.e ee there are man) more wor In hou e\\l\e . the only shop in th e district: Ben '" ired buggIes and man, dIfferent occupation and bu inc e. and a I t fe\\cr manufactured Pequea six- and twelve-volt ballerie . farmer. (In other di trict In the c unt), h \\ c\Cr, farmer Ju t a bit north, along South Ron Road, wa the lam are more numerou.) 0\\ the fir t church pia e ( PI) I. Stoltzfuse ' fifty-acre dairy and tobacco farm (CP1 7); the farm belon ing to pre Idln mIni ter Jo FI hcr. Joe lam's father-i n-law, Amos Kauffman, lived with th em. ha retired from the agriculture bu Ine . and he and n The house here was a double unit, and Elam' brother Le i and mo operate a trailer hop called herr Lane Yonie lived in th e second part (H3); he worked as a anufacturing. Joe' on Oa\ e, \\ h run the I\t - 1\ e- carpenter. Another small pl ace on the property (H4) wa acre, forty-co dair farm, al Ii e here In a hou e (H I) occupi ed by Aaron Fi sher, who was a carpenter foreman. too tin for ervice. Ju t out th e lane a hort wa) IS the Across Route 30, along orth Ronks Road, was th e Dave home of the am . i her (H2). The are in th ei r eightie B. King home (HS), also too small for regular ervices. and take care o f each oth er. The King were retired folks. Maiden lady Sara Fisher, The econd church place (CP2) i a ne d elling, the a typist, lived with her non-Ami h ister in a hou e on Steve Fi her re idence along ouder burg Road. te e Route 30 in Soudersburg. works for hi brother Allen, ho operate Garden raft Ju st in a short fa rm lane was the nice and level eighty­ Manufacturing; they make gazebo and cupola and do five-acre dai ry and tobacco farm (CPI8) owned and operated millwork. Ste e's wife, Anna, ha a craft hop along Rou te by Samuel Fi sher. (One of the Ben Fisher farms, it was 30 in Souder burg. ex t i the re idence of I in Lapp settl ed about 1822.) Only a short di stance north was Joe (CP3) who \ orks as a ma o n. As is the trend th ese da , Fisher's farm (CPI9), a seventy-acre dairy and tobacco the hou e has a large ba ement and church ervice are operation owned by Joe's fa th er, Sam Fisher. Here also hel d th ere. In the lane i preacher Ike Fi her's e ent - was a mall Daadi house (H6) w here Levi Stolt zfus li ved. fiv e-acre dairy and tobacco operati on ( P4). Ike run the House number seven (H7) was Jonas Smoker's residence. farm and ha a soft pretzel bu ine . Hi parent Ii e in Jonas worked as a laborer when he was not bu y on his the Daadi house; Ike Sr. works at th e Pequea Saddle hop. small (fifteen-acre) farm. Next-and last-came Isaac Across the fields is Elam B. Stoltzfu' new hou e Fisher's seventy-eight-acre dai ry and tobacco farm . Right (CPS) and several acres of paddock . Elam buys and ell on the township line, it was owned by Isaac's father, Elam, horses; hi s business i called Ir i htown table. Just acro who also owned properties four and sixteen (CP4; CP16). th e lane is hi s fifty-acre farm and its building (CP6). The * * * house, built in 1769, i a landmark here in Leacock Town­ Now watch as the years go by: More and more farms ship. Living in it is John Fi s her, who run the forty-two­ are purchased and occupied by Amish families; more Daadi cow dairy and tobacco operatio n. Elam's wife, Marion, ha houses go up. The church grows to more than fo rt y fami­ a quilt shop in the east end o f th e house. Anoth er farm , lies, and by 1979 there's talk of dividing the di strict. a seventy-five-acre, th irty-five-cow dairy operation run by Always a great topic of conversati o n, this can bring some Amos Stoltzfus, is th e next church pl ace (CP7). It also has adversity, but the younger folks, who sit furtherest away a Daadi house, where Amo 's parents, th e Gid B. Stolt zfu es, from the ministers, can't hear the preaching, the smaller live; Gid helps on the farm , has a fix-it shop, and goes houses can' t hold all the people, and the upstairs rooms to sales. can't hold all the sleeping babies. And, si nce it takes from Along the Irishtown Road is the Simeo n Stoltzfus thirty-five to sixty snitz [dried apple] pies, th at means more residence (CP8), a story -and-a-half house with room for baking and preparation. But there is another considerati on services in the basement. Simeon has a carpentry busines too: Dividing the district means there must be four more and makes bird feeders in hi s shop. His wife, Barbara, ministers ordained-which rests on the young men's shoul­ makes shirts for several local retail outlets. (How do th ese ders-and another bishop chosen before long. non-farmers move th e church wagon? Well, th e farmers But in this case, as always before, the needs become lend th eir motive power-a team!) urgent. So, in February, 1981, when se ' ~' ices were at Amos On the outskirts o f Gordonville we come to Aaron and Christ Stoltzfus's farm (CP1), after the last hymn was King's place (H3); he works as a painter. Three houses sung council was taken, and the di strict was divided in east is the John Fisher residence (H4), a small, one-and­ two. The north district was called Soudersburg, the south , a-half story house on two acres of land. Jo hn works at Fairview. Paradise Lane was the dividing line, alt hough DS Machine. Ho me number five (HS) belongs to Joh n Esh, all the farms north of Paradise Lane with lanes running who works for his father as a carpenter. John 's wife has into it were in the south district. This was done so the a sewing business maki ng men's coats. They used to have four ministers were divided equally. services upstairs in th ei r barn, but it was somewhat crowded. The Dave King residence (H6) sits on a small lot. Dave THE SOUDERSBURG DISTRICT TODAY works at the Esbenshade Turkey Farm in Strasburg, and Looking at our Soudersburg church district in the summer his wife, Emma, has a little upho lstery shop. The Elmer

129 PA 741 -- King home (CP9) IS a nice, big hou~e \\ Ilh a th irt) -b)­ once part of the Herr. \Itli tra t. land that hdon ed to fifty-foot barn. Imer wor s at the Hoober eed , lill in a grand on of Han. Herr Ht;rr. thc fir . t h.nnonlte bl . hop Gord onville. Services are held In the basement of 0 ,1\ id in the Pequea \ aile). came hue \\ ith hI. 1\ C .on. In 1- 10. . Stoltzfus's new house (CPlO), built, along \\ Ith a shop, John I~her al. 0\\ n\ the Oa\ e h . hu home (1 111) on in 19 7. With fifteen employees, Oa e operates 0 1achlne, outh Ron _ Road. Oa\ e \\ or . at tht: PcqUCJ Joole hop. manufacturing display and ad erti lng rac . and dOing Ju t ne t door I am and erna I. her'~ r ... Iol.n c ( ~_O). stainless steel and repai r work. The ha\ e a mall hou e al. 0, and u~uall) ha\ e fall oun il ext comes my home, a forty-two acre, th lrty-t O-CO\\' meeting. . am ha ' a la\\ n urnlture bu. Inc ~. cJlled oun­ dairy farm . Son Gideon lives in the east half of th e hou . e try Ide lanufactunng, located In tra. burg. about three and run th e farm; I operate a woodworking shop and my mile. \\ e. t. wife makes and sells fresh prepared horseradish (Lcacod. ome t 0 hundred yard farther north on uth Ron . Manor Horseradish). ervices are held here two time Road i the it-acre, thirt - i -CO\\ dair farm ( P21 ) (CPll , CP1 2)-once for u and once for Gideon. Thi i owned and operated b Oa id i her; it i one of the en probably th e oldest property in th e di strict : it wa deeded Fisher farm ettled in 1 22. Jonathan h' plac (H L) to the Ferre family by the Penns in 1715. i an apartment-like re idence. Er u. le tolt7fu In Paradise i a little place (H7) where Sol Wagler live. (CP22) u ually ha e ervice in thei r baement; f\ In Sol , nin ety-one, is a widower; hi s wife died in July, 1993. operate a a\ mill bu ine . From here the church wagon ha a mile-long trip to Je Cro ing 0 er Rou te 0 e come to the Dan toltzfu ' Lapp 's eighty-five-acre, forty-four-cow dai ry and tobacco re idence (H13). The toltzfu chad er ice e eral time farm (CP13). Jess is a dyed-i n-the-wool farm er, and th ere when the di trict wa fir t di ided, but th eir hou e \ a are no other economic activities here. The property wa oon too mall. Dan wa a metal fabricat r for ear until settled by John Lapp in 1 10, and the fam ily ha been hi ight failed; he doe ome \ ork for Jay Ad ertising here for seven successive generations. Just a short way now, and al 0 rai e potbelly pig . ow, proceeding in the outh of here, on a one-acre lot, is Allen Fisher' home lane from Linnie Fisher' hou e we come to the la t church (CP14), a typical story-and-a half house. There i also a place (CP23). Thi i the original Ben Fi her farm pur­ two-story, thirty-by-fifty-foot barn shop and a mall hor e chased in 1 22. St ill in th e direct i her family, the eighty­ meadow. Allen started his Garden Craft Company here (he acre, thirty-six-cow dairy farm i owned and operated by make gazebos and cupolas), but outgrew the space and Preacher Sam Fi sher. Sam is th e fifth generation of hi moved his business to the Leola Industrial Park about six family to run the farm; his widowed mother lives in the miles away. Now he commutes daily for a 7 a.m. to 5 Daadi hou e. p.m. workday. So, in an area a mile-and-a-half wide and two-and-a­ Next is the Ivan Fi her farm (CP15), an eighty-five acre, quarter miles long, there are twenty-three church places forty-cow dairy operation. Ivan 's parents, the Steven Fi sh­ (only eleven are farm ), thirteen homes, and five Daadi er, live in the Daadi hou e; he helps his two sons on hou e , with eighty-four members all told. Thus, [since their farms. Along Route 30 in Soudersburg is the littl e services are held every other week] you can expect church residence of the Amos Fisher family (H8); Amos works to be at your place every forty-fourth week, unle you for Tyler Foods. The Sam F. Stoltzfus place (CP16) is a are having a wedding. Then, becau e your hou e will be sixty-five-acre dairy and tobacco farm . Sam's parents, the all cleaned and the benche there, you can be moved ahead Deacon Dan L. Stoltzfuses, live in the Daadi house here; or back a turn or two. Or, if your wife just had--or is Dan works for Jay Advertising in Ronks, and his wife about to have-a baby, you can change places with ome­ makes quilts. Dan L.'s farm [CP5 in 1963; 130 acres] wa one else. divided in 1976, making Sam F. 's place and another sixty­ five-acre dairy and tobacco operation (CP17) owned by * * * Jess Lapp's brother Dave, who moved to Kentucky; it i operated by Christ Fisher. A " For Sale" sign goe up along South Ronk Road. Along Soudersburg Road is Sam Suarey 's residence In due time the property is sold and the family moves to (H9); he works at Pequea Batteries in Ronks. The Levi Perry County, Pennsylvania, because of the potential for Fishers (CP18) usually have council meeting, where only more growth there. But a young married couple moves in to half as many people as usual are present since no children the house, so there is still potential for growth here, too. attend. House ten (Hl0) is maiden lady Linnie Fisher's So, no doubt as long as the Pequea Creek keep flowing residence. Across the Pequea Creek is John Fisher's fifty­ through the Pequea Valley, the Amish church in the area acre, thirty-eight-cow dairy farm (CP19). This farm was will keep growing.

131 IMAGES OF THE AMISH ON STAGE AND FILM by William Fetterman

Witness was filmed almost entirely in Lancaster County, where peaceful scenes such as this abound.

Although always a minority within the Pennsylvania­ Lancaster (City and County), the major destination. German community, according to the mainstream Ameri­ Important, too, in fostering an interest in the Plain can entertainment media it is the Amish and Old Order People was the region's proximity to New York City. For Mennonites who exemplify the "Pennsylvania Dutch." The many years theatrical people such as the actor Claude Rains following discussion, however, is not a comprehensive and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II had country houses in survey of stage and film depictions of the Amish, but rather the New Hope area of Bucks County. It is probable that a close look at the two most significant examples: the 1955 at least some of those involved in the creation of Plain musical comedy Plain and Fancy, and the 1985 motion and Fancy had visited the area and were responding to picture Witness. Without their Amish elements both would the burgeoning interest in Pennsylvania-German tourism. be completely undistinguished examples of popular enter­ That they were able to see the Amish as suitable subjects tainment. Yet, ironically, a close examination shows that for musical comedy was largely due to Richard Rogers and both reveal more about mainstream American cultural Oscar Hammerstein II. Their groundbreaking 1943 produc­ assumptions than they do about these Plain People. tion Oklahoma! was a simple love story placed in the context of the conflict between farmers and ranchers around * * * the turn of the century; the time of the closing of the Not a major Broadway hit, Plain and Fancy did have American frontier. Unabashedly sentimental, it found its a respectable run of 476 performances;l was performed integrity in a folk-rural-domestic and nostalgic Americana, throughout the country by a professional touring company; and gave new respectability to the Broadway musical. had a semi-popular hit song;2 and for years afterward was The plot of Plain and Fancy concerns Dan King, who often performed at amateur summer theaters and dinner has just inherited a farm near Bird in Hand, Pennsylvania. theaters in southeastern Pennsylvania.3 The impetus for its With long-time female friend Ruth Winters, Dan travels creation was the new direction given the Broadway musical (by car, of course) from New York City to Lancaster comedy by Rogers and Hammerstein, and the increase in County, and, after some difficulty in finding the farm, tourism at the time. The latter was particularly significant: discovers the most likely buyer for it is one Papa Yoder, severely curtailed during World War II, automobile travel an Amishman. Papa Yoder has arranged the marriage of was widely encouraged in the late 1940s and early 1950 . his daughter Katie to Ezra Reber, but she is in love with Automobile manufacturers, gasoline companies, and group Ezra's brother Peter. Believing Peter to be a fighter and such as the Automobile Association of America and local a troublemaker, Papa Yoder will have none of this. Then, chambers of commerce actively promoted day and week­ shortly after Peter is involved in a fight, a barn burns down; end trips. In southeastern Pennsylvania, the earliest and Papa Yoder believes that Peter has "hexed" it. greatest increase in tourism in Pennsylvania-German areas Despite Dan's pleas on his behalf, the Amish commu­ was the result of the creation of the Kutztown Pennsylvania nity shuns Peter. Soon afterward, Dan's friend Ruth un­ Dutch Folk Festival in 1950. Souvenir programs from the wittingly gets Ezra drunk and he goes to a local carnival. Festival's early years featured slickly designed road maps Peter goes after his brother, and then Papa Yoder relents of the area showing Allentown, Reading, and, of course, and allows Katie and Peter to marry. Meanwhile, Dan, the

132 object of the Am ish girl Hilda iller's affectlon~, per­ a. "till 'iahl . suades her to marry within her community and a<, a re<,ult, In b th. too, a }' ung ml. h \\ man be mc roman­ realizes he is really in love with Ruth . In the end, Dan IIcall) invohed v.ith a male. urban OUlldcr In Plalll alld l>elb the farm to Peter, and love tnumph for all the FOrie) the relatlOn<,hlp I bct\\ ecn Dan and Hilda; in 1I'1I1It.' couples.' It I John and Rachel \\ ho fall In I 'e. B th womcn are With ou t th e novelty of the Amish, Plalll alld Fallcy )mbol f. ual nal\cte-\ulnerable and cmotional. thc) would have been ju t anoth er mediocre musical, and Witlle are pcrsonal embodiment of th Ir ulture. There 1_ the would merely have been typical tele ision and motIOn Ibilit) the) \\ ill rebel again t that culturc and be hunncd picture fare. Filmed almo t entirely on location in lan­ in consequence. Becau e of the con' cntlons of the mu . I al caster County, it begin with the funeral of Jacob lapp. comed} \\e do not c.\pect Dan and Hilda to on"ummat who leaves behind hi young wife Rachel, hi on amuel. their budding romance, but In Willie s thiS almo. t happens. and hi s father Ii . Aft er the funeral Rachel and amuel \! hen John Book realize \\ hat the con cquen c of that leave to vi si t her sister in Baltimore, and the boy witnes e. would be, he acnfice him elf for their mutual good. And, a brutal murder in th e men's room at Ph iladelphia' 30th \ hen Rachel realize that although she \\ ants John, II IS treet St ati on. Qu esti oned by detective John Book, amuel not meant to be, he reaffirm both her cultural ties and identifies th e murderer from a di splay ca e of police award: her 0\ n identity. he is a member of the Ph iladelphia Police Force. Book The practice of hunning i cert alnl) touched on In both tells hi s superior officer of the identification, but it turn work but in nei th er th e pia nor th e film i the threat out he, too, is implicated in th e murder which involve taken eriou Iy; it i merel a de ice to mo\e the plot police collaboration with th e local illegal drug trade. along. In Plaill alld Fallcy th e outca t Peter redeem. hlmsclf Wounded by th e murderer, Book takes Rachel and and i accepted back in to the communit . HI ca~ual Samu el back Lancaster Count y where, after he i nur ed reaccept ance i orne hat curiou In real-life terms, bu t back to hea lth , he is given Jacob's cl oth e to wear. These perfectly under tandable by mu ical-comedy tandard. In enable him to hide in th e Amish community, which tol­ Witn ess hile John and Rachel are dancing playfully in erates hi s presence. Eventually, of course, the corrupt the barn to mu ic from th e radio in hi car, Eli en ter. officers di scover his hiding pl ace, and th en-just as in an He say she hames her elf and if he continue he \ ill old western movie- th ere is a hootout at the Lapp farm . have to be hunned. Defiant, he ays (truthfull ) th at Predictably, Book and Rachel fall in love, but in th e end "nothing happened"; adding, " You shame your elf!" he gives her up and returns to the city.s The "Germ el hau en" th eme i another element Plaill * * arid Fancy and Wiflless have in common. (Cermelshausell , Both Plaill alld Fancy and Witn ess share common th eme, by Fri edrich Ger tacker [1 66], i a cia ic tory from th e alth ough they are handled very differently. (In part, of German Romantic Movement; it concern a vani hed, course, because th ey are very different kinds of entertain­ haunt ed village th at reappears from time-to-time and 0 i ment.) For example, in both a barn rai sing is the high poi nt symbolic of a remote, anachronistic society th at occa io n­ of the narrative structure. Emblematic of cultural unity and ally interpenetrates with contemporary con ciou ness.) In solidarity, it is a personal and social identification of Ami sh Plain and Fancy thi i apparent at th e very beginning society. In Plain and Fancy the barn raising (at the opening when Dan and Ruth are un ab le to follow th e road map of Act II) is the occasion for one of the grandiose, flam­ or igns to Bird in Hand, and mu t ask some of th e local boyant, and overl y enthusiastic song-and-dance numbers so for directi ons . They sugge t various landmarks, alway typical of Broadway musical comedy. Outsiders Dan and with the refrain, " You can 't mi s it! " In Witness, the Ruth are merely passive observers of the activity. In Witness, corrupt police su pervisor knows th at John Lapp is stayi ng on the other hand, John Book's latent carpentry skills allow in Lancaster County with an Amish family named Lapp, him to take an active part in the work. (It hould be noted but is told modern police surveillance technique are in­ that although Dan King always remains an outsider, John effective there: ot only are there th ousa nds of Lapps in Book does seem to become-at least temporarily-a part the county, but the Amish do not have telephones or live of the Amish community.) Lasting about eight minutes, the in the twentieth century. barn-raising sequence in Witness is filmed in documentary The theme of the out ider redeemed by brief contact style, relying more on edited visual images than spoken with the Amish also figures in both works, although it is dialogue. of much greater importance in Plain and Fallcy than it Superstition or backwardness---or both-are seen as is in Witness. For Dan King, being among the Ami h is integral to the Amish way of life in both the play and the a cathartic experience-a time away from the city th at film. In the former it is the supposed hexerei (witchcraft) enables him to get his feet back on the ground through by Peter with the coincidence of the burned barn; in the expo ure to rural, traditional (" honest") values. This ex­ latter, the use of traditional remedies (a salve, herbal teas) perience help him rediscover his true self and his true to heal John Book's near-fatal bullet wound. Again, there emotions--particularly his love for Ruth. Witness, on the is a difference in approach. Plain and Fancy adopts a other hand, is really about personal equilibrium. (The comical, patronizing tone; in Witness the old ways are seen screenplay was originally titled Called Home.6) The main

133 In Witness the police detective John Book takes refuge on an Amish farm in Lancaster County.

pl ot is th e conflict between good and evil ; th e subplot is Eng li sh spoken by th e " Amis h," and the Bibel Deitsch does a romance th at cann ot be. T hu s th e film is not so much not sound entirely convincing either. But this is, after all , about th e Amis h as it is about justice, responsibility, and a commercial film and th e actors are obviously not flu ent reciprocati on. The vi sual metaphor is a birdhouse: After di alect speakers in real life, so such inco nsistenci es can he returned Rachel and Samu el to th e farm , John Book be overl ooked. In fact, the language usage is not obj ec­ tri ed to leave, but weak from his bullet wound collapsed ti onable in Witness, whose makers were certainly more and drove into a birdhouse. Later, he and Grandfather Eli sensitive in this regard than those of Plain and Fancy. reerect it. W atching fro m the house, Rachel kn ows this Concerning costume, I have little argument with the means th at John is go ing to leave. In setting the birdhouse men's clothing in the original production of Plain and ri g ht agai n, he is leavin g their world as it was before he Fancy. It was meant to look Amish and it does. The intruded into it. women's dresses, however, were not appropriate. Amish The pursuit o f justice is John Book's primary reason women wear dresses that are comparatively s hapeless and fo r bein g. It is th e reason he protects Rachel and Samuel which de-emphasize the body. In the pl ay the Amish fro m th e corrupt Philadelphi a po li ce officers, and the reason women wore " farm dresses" with definite waistlines and he stays in the Amish community; it g iv es him a chance bustlines. These actually look more like the dresses in mid- to work out a way to bring th e guilt y to j ustice. Book has 1950s copies of Vogue or Harper's Bazaar than they do to confront himself and consid er hi s personal and profes­ Amish attire.8 This is not a problem in Witness, where the sional valu es. On a personal level, he is willing to sacri fice; actors wear clothing that is authentic and appropriate. to deny himself. But hi s stay among the Amish wi ll not But perhaps the biggest difference between the two change th e vio lent way he responds to crises in th e out side works is the way the Amish are depicted. In Plain and wo rl d. T here is redemption, but more on th e order of a Fancy none of them have a sense of humor. In fact, all pause fo r re fl ecti o n th an actu al personal change. When the " humor" in the play comes from jokes at their expense. John Book drives away fro m th e farm , we know that he The stereotypical portrayal of Papa Yoder (the very has become deeper as a person, but we do not expect he embodiment of Amish society) as stern, dogmatic, unemo­ will give up hi s previous way o f life when he returns to ti onal , and even insensitive to the personal needs and th e cit y. frailties o f others, does not even begin to address the values * * * and concerns (positive and negative) of a patriarchal society. Althoug h both productions have th emes in common, This is not the case in Witness. One of the nice touches th ere are major di fferences as well. Witn ess relys heavil y in the film is a scene in which Grandfather Eli wakes John on visual images, while Plain and Fancy is, by cont em­ Book well before dawn so that he can help with the farm porary stand ards, a rather " ta lk y" script. Plain and Fan cy chores. Eli explains how the milking should be done, but is loud, Witn ess is quiet; Plain alld Fall cy employs a broad, Book is unable to get any milk to fl ow. "Haven't you ever cart oon-like approach, Witn ess is subtl e, understated. The had your hands on a tit [pronounced " teet"] before?" Eli language in Plain and Fan cy is basicall y th e " Dutc hi fied asks. " Yes," Book grumbles, "but not one this big." Eli Eng li sh" found o n diner pl acemats thirty years ago ("th ro w pauses, thi nks about it, and then laughs and sl aps Book th e cow over th e fe nce some hay"), with a liberal sprinkling on the back befo re walking away. This admittedly sexist of d ia lect words intended to lend auth enticity to the script. joke g ives us an insight into humor in a patriarchal society Witness, with it s semi -document ary approach, uses Bibel (theirs and ours), and helps us to realize the Amish are Deitsch (Pennsylvani a Hi g h German) in th e opening fu ­ "just folks" after all. So the scene, which began as an neral scenes, and Engli sh with a few di alect words in the example of personal and cultural conflict, ends as a male­ Philade lphi a scenes. In th e majo rity of the film- th e oonding ritual with the audience discovering that the Amish, Lancaster County sequences-th ere is some Pennsyl vani a­ although unworldly, not only have a sense of humor, but G erm an di alect interspersed with th e Engli sh. a knowledge of intimate human sexuality as well. Li stening to th e original cast recording of Plain and Plain and Fancy presents the Amish in almost com­ Fall cy o ne no ti ces that all the Amis h characters use stan­ pletely patronizing terms as a hard-working, honorable dard Eng li sh pronunciati o n when they sing, but speak with people who are nonetheless naive, exotic, novel, and an inconsistent pronunciati on reminiscent of either a Swedi sh anachronistic. A people to be viewed as distinct objects or European-German accent. 7 In Witll ess, too, there is an (much as one might look at a picture postcard) rather than inco nsistency in the pronunciati o n of the dialect and th e as human beings. The Amish "credo," as presented in a

134 mu ~ i ca l num ber at th e conclusion of ct I, bcgins: a Ihc FBI. Had Ihi heen Ihe .J (., Ihere \ ould hi!\ e he~n Plai n we live/ For plai n we see, II's good for pcople onl) a mini r ;\ m h pre en ~ n Ihl; t r t h.Jlf of Ihe ml'\ ie to live pl ai n. and, ultimale!" a \ er~ dit !erent II m Hard we wo rk/ 0 life i good;, hen life is hard \\c don't compl ain . \\ Ilh an) Iheatrical prl; entation 01 the Aml ... h there \\ III Like th e rest of the play, th is gIve no real InsIght inlo ah\ a) s bc .ome \\ ho are not completel} ~atl. fied I am Amis h life or values. nellhcr a spo esper on lor thc ,\ ml. h nor an

Willl ess, too, portrays the Ami h a quai nt , childlike people means conflICt. II In fact. ours I a so ICt} centcrcd on with an idyllic lifestyle be t appreciated at a distance. LI e conflIct (usuall) \\ Ith \ lolcncc), \\ hllc, a. I scc II, the Plain and Fancy a secula r representati on, it ha no real mish (idcall) at Ica t) are a 0 ICt) ccntercd on harmon) element of Christi anit y ei the r, although it doe have an ith God, na ture, and other human beIngs. Llfc for the impo rt ant cene between Eli and young Samu el abou t the Ami h i. real, and adult are no t In ohed In fri olou' nature of paci fism, worldl y invo lvement, and the difficult acti il ie such a acting. ctor are thoe pretending t moral qu estio n of recognizi ng good and bad people. It mu t be omeo ne el e; Iho e \\ ho pcak cript ed word in a be noted, too, th at Witn ess doe present the Amish re pect­ ficti onal cont ext. In other \\ ord , th e are lia r , and the full y. Book come to appreciate and value th em so much fact Ih at th e cont e t is a pl ay or a fil m doe not e cuse th at he threaten to strangle a rath er obnoxious fem ale the lie . Thi mean that no matter ho ell -intended, the tourist if she takes a photograph. A moment later, a few theatrica l model will al ay bc objectionable in any rowdy teenage boys are mocking the Ami h, 0 Book get depictio n of the Ami h, becau e it i mi placed \ ith in the out of th e wagon and tell s th em to stop. Wh en one of th em co ntex t of Ami h ociety. continue to be di srespectful , he is brutally beaten by Book. 9 E ' Daniet Btum, ed ., Th eatre World Seasoll 1955· 1956 ( ew Yo rk : By far the mo t important and successful popul ari za ti on Greenberg, 1956), p. 125. of the Amish to date, Witll ess is not necessarily any more ' Malerial in Ihe Plaill alld Fall CY fil es, colleclion of Ihe ew Yo rk valuable than Plaill alld Fancy. At least with th at show Pu blic Library. The song, Young and Foolish, was sung by Dca n Man in and Jo Slafford. the obvious limitations of mu ical-comedy convention ' Many of my older informanlS such as Richard Peler Hoffman. Sall y allow us to accept it as fiction and nothing more. The emi ­ Rue Ru hf, and Linda Bowers, who are inleresled in local Ihealer pro · documentary approach of Witll ess lends it an air of au­ duclions in soulheaslern Pennsylvania, have recalled arious amaleur produclions of Plain and Fancy in Ihe lale 1950s and early I 960s. And thenticity not really warranted, and questi ons of nudity and the pl ay's title became a boon to tourism. In the 1960s, when I was violence, and the nitpicking about the accuracy or in ac­ a chil d, I remember many roadside diners called the " Plain and Fancy." curacy of the language, obscure what I believe to be major And even today there is a " Plai n and Fancy Motors" just nonh of Allenlown, Pa. misrepresentations or inconsistencies. For example, th e ' Joseph Stei n and Will Glickma n (book), Arnold B. Horwill (I rics), scene at the beginning that shows the Amish walking and Alben Ha gue (music), Plain and Fall cy ( ew York : Samuel French, abreast through a wheat field makes an engaging visual Inc., 1956). ' Ea rl W. Wallace and Will ia m Kelley, Willlcss (fil m di rected by Peler image, but in real life farm people do not trample th eir Wei r, th eatrica l release by Paramount Pictures, Hollywood, Calif., 19 5; crops. Another gratuitous image-this one intended to tit ­ video release by Paramounl Piclures, 19 5). illate-is that of Rachel (seen nude from th e wai st up) 6'fhe screenplay for Witness is un published, bu t because of the many fil mmaking sludenl S in ew York Cily, Ihere is an underground of bathing with the door open. This, of course, is a way of il legally photocopied fil mscripts. I bought a photocopy of lVitness, which furthering the romantic subplot. is dated 8 April 1984, with re visions Ih rough 15 June 1984. This is nOI More important, though, is the question of role: in th e the final shooting script, as there are scenes wh ich appea r in the fi nal film that are not in my copy. However, by mid-June th e screenplay was film it is Rachel who decides that John Book can stay, basicall y in ilS fi nal form. and it is she who hides the gun and the bullets (in the ' Pla in and Fancy o ri gi nal Broa dway cast recording (Hollywood, kitchen). It is far more likely, however, that in a patriarchal Calif. : Capital Records, 1955). 8Linda Bowers, special colleclio ns libraria n al Mu hlenberg Coll ege, society Eli would make decisions like this, and would hide told me a very funny story about an amalcur dinner thea lre prod uctio n the weapon-probably in the toolshed. There is, too, th e of Plain and Fancy th at she allended in soulheaslern Pennsylvania around question of allowing John Book to wear Amish clothes in 1960. The productio n was made on a very meager budget, bu t someone had donated a quantity of ball fringe 10 Ihe prod ucer for possible use order to conceal his identity. This seems to be duplicity with costumes. Being economi cal, the prod ucer deci ded to make use of and worldly collaboration to an alarming degree. And the material, and as a result the women's Amish coS lumes in Ihal having the Amish elders agree to Book's remaining in the production were decorated wilh ball fr inge. "When I saw Witness in a movie thealer in 1985, Ihe aud ie nce had community after he has recovered from his bullet wound been so manipulated (through John Book) to id entify with th e Amish is also questionable. His continued presence is dangerous that they cheered Book's revenge. and could easily lead the murderer to young Samuel. More "'There is, though, a form which need not involve conflict, as in some of the works of playwright Samuel Becken and composer John Cage, fundamentally, after his recovery John Book could have in which there is no narrative and no characters involved in fictitious turned his investigation over to an independent agency such situations that require--by convention--a resolution of crisis.

135 AMISH GARDENS: A Symbol of Identity

by Bernadette Hutchison

Even those Amish who are not farmers have a garden; this one-photographed in early and late spring-lakes up all of the space between the front of the house and the road.

The Old Order Amish are one of the few groups in the culture. Research on the group has taken two different United States who have resisted modern culture and tech­ approaches, with some scholars emphasizing a detailed nological progress. They have done so in order to preserve description of Amish life, and others analyzing changes their own culture, identity and, most importantly, their in Amish society. The gardens of the Amish have been religion. The Amish have been able to do this by selec­ mentioned in these studies, but have never been discussed tively rejecting some features of the larger society while at great length. Yet all the Amish have a garden regardless at the same time subtly integrating other parts of it into of their occupation, and these gardens seem to have a their lives. They are a tightly knit community whose identity symbolic as well as a utilitarian function: they help feed is in part maintained by many outward symbols-such as the family and give rich meaning to Amish life. So, while their traditional style of dress, and their use of the horse admittedly not as obvious a symbol of Amishness as their and buggy-which not only homogenize the community, style of dress and mode of transportation, their gardens but mark its separateness as well. are, nonetheless, a real and significant part of what it means The aspects of Amish life which separate them from to be Amish. the rest of modern society are the result of deliberate rather than arbitrary choices, and often involve specific rejections * * * which, when studied, give a greater insight into their Driving through Lancaster County it is hard not to notice

136 th e large and tidy ga rd ens of the Old Order Ami h. On God told dam and e that their d endant \\ uld be /irst thought this doe not seem to be an unnatural cIr­ teward of the earth. 0 the mi h \\ III \\ r in the rd n cumstance since most of th e group arc farmer and before the) d other or. and the eneral rule I that ga rd ening could be assumed to be a part of farming. garden mu t be neat and \\ ell cared f r. hi exp l In Moreover, on a farm a garden is relatively ea y to maintain. h , e en hen it i reall) not ec nomlcal, r \\ hen the Yet two problems arise from th is assumption: the garden time could be more profitabl) pent earnin of non-Amish farmers are, for th e most part, maller, not Ami h feel it ould be ef) difficult to d as well-kept, or non-exi tent ; and, as al ready mentioned garden. all the Amish on the other hand have remarkably imilar There i another factor, too, hich mu t e c n idered garden, whether or not they are farmers . hen di cu ing Ami h garden. For, a important the Interviewing a variety of Amish people with a diversity are a a ou rce of food, garden are probabl more aluable of occupations (including working and retired farmer and to th e cultu re as an in trument for teaching the mo t shopkeepers) in order to find out why gardens are so ignificant Ami h value: hard ork , di cipline, and co- important to them, it becomes apparent th ey are not in­ operation. Although the women and children do mo t of terested in explaining their actions and motives, but would the work, gardening i a famil affair mbolizing their rather show their reasoning by example. Di scussing th em­ togetherne , elf- ufficiency and interdependence. From selves directly would be viewed by th e Ami sh as prideful, the mall tasks they are gi en children learn the alue of and none will ever speak highly of their own garden. Thu , con i tency and per everance, and gain a en e of accom­ even meticulously cared for gardens are most often de­ pli hment. scribed as merely "adequate," and "in need of improve­ * • * ment." Once the ground ha thawed in th e pring the ga rden The importance of a garden to the Amish can be gauged becomes the first ta k of import ance. Early in th e yea r th e in part by their willingness to meet the sometimes arduous men will help turn the soil over with manure, working it conditions necessary for its cultivation. The Amish garden until it is ready to be planted. The oil i turned by a plow is large, taking up roughly one-sixth of an acre, so that hitched to a horse (the buggy horse will be used if th e farmers must set aside land from other uses for it, while family does not live on a farm); later a di sc, cultivator, those_with non-farming occupations must buy enough land or motor tiller is used to break the soil into finer pi eces. for it, as well as for a house and a shed for the horse The hu sband controls the pl ow while the wife lead the and buggy. Of course a garden requires not only a sig­ horse; this is a wonderful and rare opportunity for them nificant amount of land, but a considerable amount of time to work together, for during most of the summer the men and work as well. Although they enjoy it, garden work are occupied with work in the fields or barn, while the is considered an obligation, for the Amish firmly believe women are busy with cleaning, cooking, child care, and, we all have a special tie to the land: in Genesis 3:17-19, of course, gardening.

The buggy horse will be used to turn over the garden soil if the Amish family does not live Oil a farm. 137 As noted above, the main fe rtilizati o n o f th e gard en enough to keep the soi l around th e roots mo ist. Insect pests, takes pl ace in the spri ng when the ground is first turned especially the already-menti oned potato bug, can easi ly over. Most o f th e Amish use whatever manure th ey have destroy crops, and a good example of the way in which avai lable to th em, th e most common being horse manure. the Amish use the garden to trai n children to work is seen Dairy farmers may use cow manure but it is difficult to in one of the methods used to control th em: th e first job work wit h since, in an effort to increase milk production, often given children is picking bugs off plants by hand. feed for dairy cows has been concentrated wit h protein. (Sometimes this will earn a child a penny a bug.) Other This increase in protei n without an increase in bulk in th e meth ods used to discourage such pests include spreading cows' diet means their manure now has a liquid consis­ wood ash or the fine dust from tobacco stripping on the tency, and so it is often mixed with some oth er manure plants. (usuall y horse manure) to make it easier to handle. Others * * * may use pi g or chi cken dung, ei th er by mixing it in with, When asked why they have a garden, a common re­ or alternating its use with, anoth er manure fro m year to sponse from the Amish was that home-grown vegetables year. taste best. Yet later, many said they grow rhubarb and The garden is not pl owed all at once, but row by row asparagus even though they do not really like them. Further as each vegetable is ready to be planted. It is easy to see research revealed that these are enjoyed not so much for th e order in which the crops were planted simpl y by thei r flavor, but because they are the first fresh vegetables following each row in turn from th e peas, th e first crop available. It does seem reasonable to assume that gardens to be put into the ground. Althoug h no major effort is made are valued for their ability to provide fresh produce through­ to rotate crops, most Amish will move the peas down a out the growing season, but on a practical level they do row each year, which in effect shifts the remaining crops more than that. Amish gardens yield enough for the winter as well (some will do this only every oth er year). In as well as the summer months, and this surplus is preserved general, it is important to rotate crops so th at the nutrients by canning or freezing. in the soil depleted by one pl ant can be replaced by another. Since canning is time consuming and laborious, the It is especially important for potatoes, not so much because preferred method of preserving is freezing. It has become of nutrients, but because it prevents potato bugs from more and more popular among the Amish even though it establishing themselves and destroying the crop. Perennials can be difficult for them to find a freezer to use, since such as strawberries, asparagus, and rhubarb which cann ot they do not have electricity in their houses. Oftentimes be rotated are usually pl anted together on the edge of the commercial freezer lockers are leased and used to store plot so they will not interfere with spring plowing. frozen produce as well as any meat from animals they have Once the peas are in (and with, of course, the perennials raised--or bought-and slaughtered. Alternatively, they already in the ground) the rest of the vegetables are planted may make arrangements to use a freezer in a non-Amish according to thei r growing season up until about June. neighbor's house, or they may be renting from a non­ Generally, the Amish raise a large variety of vegetables Amish landlord who has provided them with electricity for so they will mature at different times during the growing a freezer in the barn. season. So me crops--especially corn-are planted every While other varieties are grown for eating fresh, white two weeks during the season to give them a lo nger yield . corn (Silver Queen) is tho ught to be best for freezing. In additi on to corn and peas, most will plant at least lettuce, Seemingly a universal favorite among the Amish (one cabbage, onions, tomatoes, red beets, lima beans, string woman interviewed said that "corn in itself is supposed beans, potatoes, and carrots. Also pl anted are certain oth er to be enough for a meal"), the corn is blanched on the crops that tend to vary from year to year: melons, pump­ cob, and then cut off and frozen. Peas are also a favorite kins, eggplants, soybeans, cucumbers, herbs, teas, brocco li , and will be frozen, as will asparagus if it is grown in large and spinach. (These latter two, like lettuce, are cold tolerant enough quantities, and strawberries. During the winter and wi ll sometimes be pl ant ed in th e fall as well.) Whether these frozen strawberries can be used for desert by making or not th ese will be grown often depends on th e time and a mush with tapioca pudding. Other vegetables sometimes space avai lable for the garden, and on need. Cucumbers, frozen are string beans, lima beans, and soybeans. for example, are planted o nly in the years they are needed Although it is more work, canning is often the best way to make pickles; one crop of cucumbers usu ally makes to put up certain crops for the winter. Tomatoes are canned enough pickles to last a family two years. as pizza sauce or ketchup; string beans are thought by some Obviously planting is only the begi nning of the gardener'S to be better canned than frozen; and fruits such as peaches job. Daily work in the garden includes cultivating, weed­ and pears are also canned, either whole or as jam. Apples ing, controlling insect pests, harvesting the crops, and then are mainly canned as sauce, and beets and cucumbers are sometimes replacing harvested plants with fl owers. The pickled and then canned. Some vegetables are neither garden is usually not watered daily unless pl ants are in canned nor frozen, but are stored for the winter in a cold, danger of bei ng lost to drought, or unless there are young dry cellar. Among these are onions, potatoes, and carrots. pl ants that have just been put into the ground. Older plants Not all the produce consumed by Amish families is usually do not need daily watering si nce they are mulched home grown. Some crops are purchased if it is not practical

138 to raise them, either becau .. e of the length of the gro .... in J about the qualit} f the food the, con. umc, and their sea .. on or the expense. or example, most of the frull eaten pre erence or natural and tradit i nal method. hc) .HC fresh or canned are bought because of the co t of main­ not afraId of hard \\ or and d not 100 (or hort ut taining an orchard that needs constant prayIng. ift) )ear<; that ha\'e the potentIal to b harmful. ago most AmIsh farms had orchard Ith peach. cherr). apple, and other fruit tree . The invalon of the Japanese C ntrary to the belle of man). chan e ha ('me to the beetle in the 19 0 changed that; today most ha e onl) ml h communll) In a \ariet) of way!>. t\ ft.\\ of the .e a few apple or peach tree or both although there I a change. (II e me of those mentIOned a \ 1..) ma) be new trend toward planting dwarf fruit tree th at are re­ rather I Ible. but In other ca. e the t\ml~h ha\ e . ubtl sistan t to pests. In th e winter th e Ami h will al 0 buy citru Integrated modern matenal Into theIr ulture In \\a)!> not fru its 'uch as orange and grapefruits, a well a other ob IOU to the ca ual obsener. Itnough thl. ma) seem tropical fruits such a banana. h pocnllcal to me, clo. e e>. amlOatlon ho\\ that II I. The decline of orchard s i only one a pect of the changes nol. I n the ca e of \\ eanng apparel. or e ample, \\ e 1'1 nd in food-production meth od on Amish farm . 0 t farmer the mlh ha e begun \\ caring machIne-made . hlrts and used to have a smal l fl ock of one to two hundred chicken using machIne-made fabric for theIr clothIng. t the to provide eggs and mea t for th e family all year round. matenal u ed and the method of pr duct Ion are not But dairy farmers were forced to get rid of th ei r flock imply end in them el e for it i the traditional lyle when milk inspections became more stringen t and 100 e of dre 5--\ hich ha been ret ai ned-that help them maintain animals were prohibited from roa ming in the milking barn. th eir eparate identit . In the ame \ a , e en th ough ow th e expense of con tructing pen , coupled with ri ing buggie now are built with modern material, the fact feed prices and competition from large- ca le chicken-rai - remain th at thi method of tran portation limit the ing operations, has made it too costl y to rai e chicken movement of individual and 0 help pre erve the integrity for family consumption. of th e community. In th e sa me mann er, th e large-scale raisi ng of all live­ On the other hand, th e ery lack of change in gardening stock has led to th e disa ppea rance of mos t small herd , method eem to uggest th at the family garden i much so a dai ry farmer's income mu t now st retch to cover th e more important to th e community' identity th an pre iou I cost of buying meat since it is no longer cos t-effective to th ought. For in tance, would th e ymbolic ignificance of raise it himself. This situation, along with an increase in th e Amish garden not be the same if it ere fertilized \ ith land prices and taxes and a decrease in milk price, has a commercial product rather th an with manure? Or, if made it more difficult to run a small farm profitably, and gardens were cultivated simply for th ei r output, would it has forced some young Amish men to explore oth er ways not be simpler and more efficient for one man in each of making a living. community to grow prod uce for all, ju t a one per on now But changes on Amish farms have been mainly in the make buggies, anoth er hat , and till another hoe, and area of running them as a source of income, and uch so on? changes have been slow to affect the family garden. Before Obviou Iy the garden is not primarily symbolic, but the indu trial revolution farmer raised a variety of crop rather is representative of omething much more deeply throughout the year for market sales, a strategy known as ingrained in Ami h life. In "English" (non-Ami h) soci­ generalized farming. Once tractors and other mechanized etie ,idea give rise to behavior: people ac t in way th ey equipment became available, however, it became much think appropriate to the si tu ations in which th ey find more profitable to raise one crop on a large scale. The th emselves. In Amish society th e oppo ite i true-behav­ Amish have been forced to adopt this method as well, but ior give rise to ideas. The Ami h teach th ei r children to have been able to preserve the ideal of generalized farming behave a certain way in order to in till the ideals of their in their gardens, which today are cultivated in very much culture, and ga rdens are an important part of th e proce ; the same manner as they were in years past. they are reminders of th e pa t and nurturers of the future. For instance, herbicides and pesticides have had a Without this vital link of understanding between the significant impact on farming communities. Herbicides can generation , th e tradition , hi tory, and religion of the increase yields considerably, giving slow-growing crops a group would be los t. chance to thrive by killing opportunist weeds th at would More, therefore, th an a symbol of Amish society's choke them out. But, while the Amish have begun using resistance to the modern world, the gard en is a way of these herbicides on field crops, they do not use them in preserving Ami h traditions and beliefs, and a way of the garden, and there is no evidence that they would even teac hing and perpetu ating Ami h values and ideal. It is consider doing so. an outdoor cia sroom where children learn to work together Pesticides, too, are frequently used on field crops, and and to work hard. Indeed, at one ti me or another during there may be a trend toward using them in the garden, th e year every member of the family is involved in its although most Amish resist the idea, choosing instead to cultivation, working toward a common goal-that of putting use the methods of pest control already discussed. This food on the table. In every sense, then, the garden is truly resistance to the use of chemicals reflects Amish concern a real and significant part of what it means to be Amish.

139 THE MYTH OF THE IDEAL FOLK SOCIETY VERSUS THE REALITY OF AMISH LIFE by John W. Friesen

Amish farmhouse, western New York (ALL photographs by James Roach)

JournaLists and visitors in generaL, tend to romanticize perspective has an ancient historical base, found in the the Amish . . . untiL inconsistencies are discovered. I Biblical account of an incident in the history of the tribe of Israel. Trying to keep the story of the cause of King Saul's death from enemy Philistine ears, the Israelites were THE "TELL IT NOT IN GATH" SYNDROME commanded to "tell it not in Gath, [to] proclaim it not Anabaptists, it seems, and perhaps ethnic groups gen­ in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Phi­ erally, do not like to have their histories portrayed with listines be glad, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised any shading of negative light. Early Mennonite writers, in rejoice. 4 fact, were sometimes thought of as "liars and rascals" by A cursory examination of the more popular literature their more conservative members who felt that even the about the Amish will confirm the tendency outlined above. act of writing about their lifestyle was wrong and sinful.2 This is particularly so when their lifestyle is characterized Perhaps the penchant of Anabaptist writers to write only by Mennonite writers, rather than by members of the favorable stories has been at least partially motivated by Amish community themselves. The bulk of the literature the difficulties they experienced trying to attain a positive analyzed herein appears to be targeted at tourists for the public image when they first migrated to North America.3 implicit purpose of explaining Amish life to outsiders. As a means of promoting such an image, then, only Some illustrative examples will substantiate this hypoth­ the praiseworthy aspects of their histories are told. This esis.

140 Amish playhouse, western ew York.. Evell th e arena of child pia i 1I0t exempt from rules alld regulatiolls.

AMISH BEGINNINGS IN AMERICA . . . another unity that the Ami h have pre erved i that of work and pleasure. The live of fellow creature Investigating popular literature profiling the Ami h and our delight in th ose live are great posse sion . migration to this continent, one encounters orne very And these are ecured and made available by great po itive-sounding titles, as, for example, The Gentle People; posses ions that are cultural ... [the Ami h] look at The Quiet Land; The Amish: A Piolleer Heritage; Real the world and fi nd it good, and ... they honor it People: Amish and Mennonites in Lancaster COUllty; A goodnes in their dai ly work ... R Quiet alld Peaceable Life; This is Good Coulltry; and Our Amish Neighbors. 5 And, as the following excerpts show, ... to this day there are no book printed that can Ami h origin are described in warm, glowing term which fully explain th e true spiritual, brotherly love of th eir vividly portray the concepts of peace, tranquility, unity, religious faith . There are no word found in any lan­ and community: guage that can explain the basic fundamental of their faith that was inherited from ancestor of many gen­ They are a culture born out of turbulent times when erations ago, which wa granted to them through the the Christian world was dividing into liberal and con­ grace of our Lord Jesus Chri t, and is to this day servative factions. They are God-fearing people who cultivated as their every day mi ion.9 believe in following the teachings of the Bible. They live simple and somewhat uncomplicated lives because Described in these genteel terms, the Amish have jus­ they feel God commands this of them. They are simply tifiably been idolized by variou other ector of society. a people who are following the dictates of their con­ During the Vietnam War era, for example, the Amish sciences.6 became the symbol of the simple lifestyle idealized by Stemming from the conservative Old Order Amish are many of the young people who rejected militarism and many more liberal sects, each with its own varied materialism.1O Their effective control of out ide cultural forms of customs and worship. Despite the differences, influences has been envied by many North Americans however, all are bound together by their traditions, weary of resisting the pressures of a technologically driven, basic beliefs and code of ethics. Their ideal is to live pleasure-seeking society. To an extent, the Amish have simple, work-filled lives, with humility and obedience created a distinct counterculture rooted in Christian under­ to the word of God.? standing. Their intent ha been to combat assimilation by

141 Amish buggy shop, western New York

creating a system fo r li vin g whi ch a ll ows little deviati on, The Amish must be viewed as a socio-religious group and which extends to virtu a ll y every aspect of daily life.11 with attending economic stipulations. For the past three Due in part to the nature of th e literature describing th eir centuries they have tried to maintain a rather close rela­ way of life, however, th e attentio n of observers has been ti onship between religious beliefs and the everyday activi­ drawn to the uniqueness of Amish ways without any ties of their members.14 This admixture has necessitated awareness of the intrinsic press for conformity or th e the formation of a close link between daily behavior and individual struggles emanating th erefrom. earning a living. It also has historical roots for the Amish, since, " ... being ethnically Swiss, they have a pronounced AMISH PHILOSOPHY need for sharing and group involvement. A loner is a rare thing among these people. They just naturally like to do The Amish philosophy, or way of looking at life, is quite things together."ls specific, much of it based on an oral tradition ex plicated This sense of "comprehensive" community distinguishes for the newborn by elders and parents. Deviancy in any the Amish from the workings of mainstream society. It is form is quickly attended to and, hopefully, corrected, the a difficult orientation for outsiders to comprehend. For transgressor being made well-aware of the seri ous nature example (and in more poetic terms), the academic world of the errant act. Contrast this reality with th e descriptions and science are preoccupied with theory and the recon­ encountered by the touri st: struction of the order of nature, while the Amishman is simply awed by the orderliness of the seasons, the heavens, Tara and I took a seat among the to mato pl ants and the world of growing plants, the animals, and the process corn stalks and silently watched as th ese flowers of living and dying. The Amish, with this philosophy, have unfo ld ed. The beauty of the fl owers made me appre­ prospered on the land more often than their "English" (non­ ciate even more the beauty of those with whom I was Amish) neighbors who are engulfed in the high cost of sharing them ... th e beauty of the Amish.12 mechanization and finally forced to sell and move to industrial or more lucrative livelihoods."16 Practices that identify the Amish as a people draw Clearly a sense of superiority is evident in the com­ them together and accentuate their differences from parison of the Amish lifestyle with that of their English mainstream culture. Accepted ways . . . all build neighbors. Enlarging on that, we are told that " the Amish parameters that help the Amish to live humbly, gently community experiences little delinquency in minors, causes and peacefully with God's people and earthY and fights no wars, uses no polluting machines, eschews

142 Amish buggy, western ew York

materiali m, and has no economically ba ed cia a ked, ' Brother, are ou a ed?' The long-bearded Dunkard tem ."" It is al 0 pointed out that although " th e late t did not re pond immediatel . He pulled out a pi ece of discoveries of cience and the mo t recent invention of paper and wrote on it then handed it to the tranger. ' Here,' electricity, tractor, and automobile have not penetrated the he aid, 'are the name and addre e o f my famil , lives of the Amish, nevertheless, the re tless, curious, and neighbor and people I do bu ine \ ith. k them if the acqui itive advocate of gadgets of fashion , mechanic., and think I' m a ed. I could tell ou anything."'lJ science may find here a healt hy antidote." 18 If one Ii ten carefully to tho e \ ho peak longingl And, finally, we learn th at " their generous brotherhoods of the "good old day ," there i a realization that thi kind .. . are made up of hard-working and generally pro perou of religious te timony ould have been characteri tic of people. T heir neighborli ness, sel f-control, goodwi II and almost any rural ection of orth America a century ago. thri ft contribu te immeasurably to th e foundations of our The same may be said of thi ob ervation: "The elderly civi liza ti o n . . . candidates for th e Biblical way of life are highly re pected in Ami h ociety. Older per on do whi ch no nresistant C hri stian alone can fulfill are alto­ everyth ing they can to help the young get tarted. But the geth er too few."19 young re pect their parents and grandparent and involve There is a price to pay for th ese virtues, and th at price them in meaningful way of being u eful."14 And the includes implicit obedience to th e order of th e community, following, too, evoke memorie of year gone by when respect for and adherence to religious discipline, and un ­ the pace of life wa slower: " I have een many a modern questi oning conformity. These regul ations are in effect fa rm er so bu y in hi field that he barely had time to wave. from early childhood through adulthood. Even th e arena But every Amish farmer working his land with hi team of child play is not exempt. For example, "one school has of hor e alway had time to stop by the fence for a chat."26 forbidden the use of baseball gloves and hard balls at For the most part the Amish probably do not "play to school. By the children's playing with a sponge baIlor thei r audience," but are concern ed wi th the careful pro­ other soft ball , and no gloves, baseball does not become tection and nurture of th eir children in an effort to maintain a competitive game with worldly met hods which might the cultural continuity and cultural integrity which ha range out of control among teenagers and be carried on enabled them to remain a di crete minority steadfa t to into adulthood."20 their own vision of the good life.25 Their methodology In return for playing by the rules, the Amis h member naturally involves community di cipline a well as com­ receives "a durable identity, a sense of belo nging to a munity support, but only the latter appears to be highlighted distinctive people, a meaningful world view, a keen sense in " touri tic" pre entation to the public. of social roots and an unwavering emotional security."21 READING BETWEEN THE LINES THE AMISH LIFESTYLE The poetic and unreali tic image of th e Amish probably There is considerable truth to the statement that much contribute to feelings of envy and inadequacy on the part of the Amish way of life resembles the way most Ameri­ of the casual observer. Im agine contrasting one's own cans lived a century agoY Perhaps public admiration for harried middle-class urban lifestyle, with all of its self­ their way of doing things simply represents a nostalgic imposed demands and responsibilities, with that of the yearning for the "good old days" in which such virtues pastoral, peaceful "people of God" : " I remember many as hard work, hospitality and neighborliness allegedly nights arriving home past midnight and lying on the grass abounded. Consider, for instance, "this variously told story watching the stars dance in the sky. It would be quiet and of a plain-dressed Dunkard accosted on the streets of a peaceful, and I felt as if I just might be in touch with Pennsylvania town by an evangelical young man who God. To me, this is what being Amish is all about."27

143 As the Biblical accounts will attest, all people of God­ also apply to other constituencies: Speaking of another including the Jewish patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Amish group slightly less strict than hers, an Amish woman David, Peter, and Paul-have their human side. As mem- said, "They iron too much."34 bers of Christendom believe, these individuals and their Closer to home is family life, another arena in which corresponding families or communities were "in touch with the human element of the Amish lifestyle becomes appar­ God" in the same sense that the Amish (and members of ent. In large families sibling rivalry is not uncommon, even other structured Christian communities) may be in touch though it is probably not quite as intense as in dominant with God. As has been noted, however, "when people society. After many hours of bending over picking straw­ attempt to be as Christ-like, consistent and perfect as berries in the hot sun, tempers might occasionally flare. possible, several results surface again and again .... the Then, one of the boys will grab a horse whip and chase dual themes of perfection and humility provide fertile an innocent victim around the pasture until the offended milieu for many, but tear other persons apart. . .. Those one gives in, and throwing himself on the ground cries who can't stand the tension suffer emotional and spiritual out, "Go ahead and kill me."3S angu ish."28 The Amish believe that customs are good because they It is also true that "the quest for peace with God is are old and therefore are authentic or true. How or why sometimes advertised as the simple process of seeking and the rules came to be in the first place is not important finding. However, after the initial experience the concomi­ to them; they must be obeyed. Without this requirement tant community produces guidelines consisting of rewards, there is no certainty of any future with God. The Amish punishments, sanctions and taboos by which the process firmly believe that modern civilization will come to a is to be continued. In the case of the Amish, they also terrible ruin, and that only they have a chance at salvation.36 believe that if anything is a hindrance to the spiritual well­ Thus the implicit rationale for explicit obedience, whether being of the church it should be abstained from."29 enforced by coaxing, by example, or by coercion, is the These hidden directives may not be immediately visible only safe route. The popular Amish literature says little to the outsider, but they are certainly well-known to younger about this, nor does it give much hint to the attending members within folk communities like the Amish. A closer spiritual tension with which the Amishman must cope. look will reveal the extent to which these guidelines apply to the various sectors of "ordinary life." To begin with, AN AMISH PERSPECTIVE warnings are given. For example, many Plain People see The Amish child has an enormous sense of security in the large-scale putting off of Plain clothing as part of the community. The practice of mutual aid and caring for one apostasy of the end times, and refer to the Biblical proph­ another assures children that they will be supported and ecy concerning a "great falling away."30 kept from complete loneliness from the day they are born Warnings also take on a specificity not immediately until the day they die.37 "The Amish provide a social model apparent to those not familiar with Anabaptist ways. For wherein the individual's needs are fulfilled :1Ot through the example, "an Amish youth who quits smoking, or stops delights of individualism, but in sacrifice and submission telling the usual dirty jokes, or gives up the rowdy barn to a greater collective good. There are no promises of free­ dances is immediately suspected of fellowship with the wheeling self-fulfillment in Amish life, but the individual Mennonites. Of all the ways youth can rebel, association is cared for and cherished by a supportive social system­ with the Mennonites or some other religious order is the a humane and durable promise."3R most feared."31 This assurance is comforting to the individual and the Moving away from the arena of warnings is the matter "fleeting pleasures" of the outside world are readily viewed of informal social control. Even the idyllic world of the as temporary, risky, and even dangerous. In the meanwhile, Amish qui Iter is not devoid of elements of group protocol the Amish community offers approved outlets to meet all and influence--some of it quite restricting for the semi­ aspects of human need-physically, socially, and spiritu­ skilled quilter: "No one wants to be next to the fastest ally. Note these expressions "from the inside," and catch qui Iter because she will be ready to 'roll' before they are. the human elements of, respectively, caring, loneliness, Straight lines are easier to quilt than curves so the less hurting, humor, belonging, and prayer: experienced quilters will sit at those places if they exisl."32 Moreover, "being assigned to the kitchen when you would To Susan he [her husband] seemed so strong and rather quilt can be humbling. It is sometimes the younger capable. His voice was so kind. She hoped she would girls whose stitches are not yet tiny enough or neat enough never disappoint him. He was a quiet person, and so who get that job."33 patient. 39 Conformity to group expectations is evident even in the No visiting ministers had been through this year. Mart recreational aspects of Amish life, and with the "encour­ and Susan longed once more to have fellowship with agement" of group approval or disapproval one is moti­ other Amish families. They enjoyed their own Bible vated to quilt faster, to be neater and to try to make smaller reading and singing, but they needed fellowship with stitches. In addition, forms of approval or non-approval others toO .4O

144 A ~hort while later as they nelt for the e enlng pra) er, ne .... home, but he ne" . he'd Ind on _ me\\ here U their heart s ached for the young ""'Idow and the si 1J1lie children. Only God could heal theIr bro en hean .'1

ow the bachelor hears some Olces, and he tare. The realtt} of ml h Itfe I. that II I Ir.-t an forem . t in disbelief! urely that can't be! Ye, ure en ough, a human life tyle, albell me \ hat unique In Jmpan n a whole gang of th em, gIgglIng, tal Ing womenfol to that of other ethn ultural mmunlllC. or tlomlnant coming straIght for hIS cabIn. Too late to run out the clet) . There I a d deal of literature ab ut the Ami h front door! I f on ly there was a back door! At th e la t and theIr II etyle th at I both Informatl\e and obJ!; tl\ c." minute he decides to quick climb the ladder to th e but, unfortunatel II" III probabl} n t e encountered b} loft and escape to the very far corner.42 toun t, ho "III II el} continue to b Innuen ed b) more etlc and m th olo Ical rendenn ,than . to thclr pcru al They beckoned "Come! " M an and u an knew th at of readll) acce Ible matenal.. The tra ed} of thl~ reallt} it would mean leaving family and friend all 0 er I th at the ml h II I continue to be percel\ ed a~ a I nd again. But they were still young, and th e urge to go of ideal fol ociet , and their true humanll) "III not be back to the land they had so loved was great, 0 great appreciated . Thu an) Ie on to be learn d fr m them ma) it wa. almo t like a magnet. 43 be 10 t becau e of th e di tracllon of th eI r unique "cultural he made one la t climb to her spot on 01 en Hill covering." Thi ma al 0 re tnct an ) meaningful inter­ to pray and talk with the Heavenly Father before they cultural interaction ith member of the out Ide world left. She needed this moment to renew her faith. he which could er e to reinforce the mutualit f the human didn't know where her special spot would be near her family.

E DOTE

IGood, Merle, Who Are the Amish? (tnlercourse, Pa .: Good Books, "'Fisher, Sara E. and Rachel J. Siahl , The Amish chool. People' 1985), p. 10. Place Booklel o. 6 (Inlercourse, Pa .: Good Boo , 19 6), p. 9. ' Hofer, Samuel, Born HUllerite (Saskaloon: Hofer Publishing, 1990), 11 Kraybill, Donald B., The Puzzles of Amish Life. People' Pia p. 3. Booklel o. 10 ( Inlercourse, Pa. : Good B ks, 1990), pp. 108-00. ' Palmer, Howard, The Land of the Second Chance (Lelhbridge: The 21SCOIl , Slephen, The Amish WeddIng and Other Spectal OccasIOns Lclhbridge Herald, 1972); Friesen, John W., People, Culture & Learning of Old Order Communities. People's Pl ace Booklel o. (Inlercourse, (Ca lgary: Delselig Enlerprises, 1977). Pa .: Good Books, 19 ); SCOII , Slephen and Kennelh Pellman, LlvlIIg 'II Samuel 1:20, King James Versio n. WithoUl Electricity. People's Pla ce Booklel 0. 9 ( tnlercourse, Pa.: Good ' Warner, James A. and Donald M. Denlinger, The Cell/Ie People: Book , 1990). A Portrait of the Amish (Lancasler, Pa. : SICI -mar Publishers, t 969 & 2l RUlh, p. 62. " Good, p. 124. " Zielin ki, p. t4. 1982); Warner, James A., The Quiet Land (WilminglOn, Del.: The Middle 26 Hoslcll er, John A. and Genrude Enders Hunlinglon, Children 111 Allanlic Press, 1970): Zielinski, John M., The Amish: A Pioneer Heritage Amish Society: Socialization and Commun ity Education ( ew York: HolI, (Des Moines: Wallace-Homeslead Book Co., 1975); Denlinger, A. Manha, Rinehan and Winslon, 1971), p. 116; and Keim, Alben . cd., Com­ Real People: Amish and Mennonites in Lancaster COUll/y, Pennsylvania pulsory Education and the Amish. (Scolldale, Pa .: Herald Press, 1975); RUlh, John L., A Quiet and Peaceable " Kull , p. 5. Life. People's Place Booklel No.2 (Inlercoursc, Pa .: Good Books, 1979); "'Good, Merle and Phyllis Good, 20 Most Asked Questions About the Clark, Allen B., This Is Cood Coulllry: A /Iistory of the Amish of Amish and the Mennonites. People's Pl ace Bookici o. 1 ( Inlercourse, Dclaware, 1915-1988 (Gordonville, Pa.: Gordonville Prinl Shop, 1988); Pa.: Good Books, 1979), p. 76. Schreiber, William I., Our Amish Neighbors (Woosler, Ohio: The College "'SCOII, Slcphen, Plain Buggies: Amish, Mennonite and Breth ren of Woosler, 1990). lIorse-Drawn Transportation. People 's Place Booklel 0.3 ( Inlercourse, 'Kull, Phyllis Kalhryn, Through My Eyes: The Amish Way (Dover, Pa .: Good Books, 19 I), p. 4. Ohio: ewhouse Prinl ing, 1986). p. 4. )OSCOII, Why Do They Dress That Way? p. 12. 'Warner, p. ix . " a lor, Ph lIis Re ynoldS, An Amish Family ( c\ York: Lamplighl 'Berry, Wendell , Creat Possessions: An Amish Farmer's Journal (San Publishing, 1977), p. 44. Francisco: onh Poinl Press, 1990), pp. xi-xiii. " Pellman, Rachel T . and Joanne Ranck, Quilts Among the Pla in 9Fisher, Gideon, Fa rm Life and l IS Changes (Gordonville, Pa .: Pequea People. People's Place Booklel o. 4 (I nlercourse, Pa .: Good Books, Publishers, 1978), p. 370. 19 I), p. 16. IO Clark, p. 164. lllbid., p. 1 . " RUlh, p. 23. l'Kull , p. 36. " SCO II , Stephen, W7ly Do They Dress Tha t Way? People's Place 16 aylor, p. 44. l1 Fisher and Slahl, p. 91. Booklel o. 7 (Inlercoursc, Pa.: Good Books, 1986) p. 22. )8 Kraybill, Donald B., The Riddle of Amish Culture (Ballimore: The I'Kull , p. 50. Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1989), p. 259. " Seilz, RUlh Hoover, Amish Ways (HarriSbu rg, Pa.: RB Books, 1991 ), 19Hochsleller, Manin and Susan, Life on the Edge of the Wilderness p. 9. (Coalgale, Okla.: Published by Ihc aulhors, 1987), p. 9. " Smilh , Elmer L., Th e Amish: An Jl/ustrated Essay (Lebanon, Pa .: "'Ibid., p. 171. Appl ied Arts Pu bli shers, 1978), p. 5. "Hochslcllcr, Manin and Susan, Farm Life in the Hills (Coalgale, " Glick, Danie l M., The Amish of Lancaster County. A Brochure Okla.: Published by Ihe authors, 19 9), p. 22. (Smokelown, Pa.: Menno nile Tour Gu ide, n.d.). "Hochslelicr, Manin and Susan, Cabin Life on the Koone/wi (Wesl I· Warn er and Denl inger, p. 132. Union, Ohio: Published by Ihe aUlhors, 199/ ), p. 52. 17 Arons, Slephen, "Co mpulsory Educalion: The Pl ai n People Resisl," QHochslelicr and Hochsletler, Fa rm Life in the Hills, p. 146. in CompUlsory Education and th e Amish: The Right Not 10 Be Modern, "' Hoch lelier and Hochsleller, Cabin Life on the Koonena~ p. 69. ed . Al be n . Kei m (Boslo n: Beacon Press, 1976), p. 134. "Kraybill, The Riddle of Amish Culture and The Puzzles of Amish " Schrei ber, p. 6. Life; Hosleller, Amish Life; Good, Who Are the Amish; Schreiber, Our 19 Hosteller, Jo hn A., Amish Life (Scolldale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1975), Amish Neighbors; and Secll, Plain Buggies: Amish, Mennonite and Breth­ p. 37. ren Horse-Drawn Transportation. July 2 - July 10 1994

The Festival and its Sponsorship The Kutztown Folk Festival is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Folklife Society, a nonprofit educational corporation affiliated with URSINUS COLLEGE, College­ ville, Pennsylvania. The Society's purposes are threefold: First, the demonstrating and displaying of the lore and folkways of the Pennsylvania Dutch through the annual Kutztown Folk Festival; second, the collecting, studying, archiving and publishing the lore of the Dutch Country and Pennsylvania through the publi­ cation of PENNSYLVANIA FOLKLIFE Magazine; and third, using the proceeds for scholarships and general educational purposes at URSINUS COLLEGE.

FOR THE FOLK FESTIVAL BROCHURE WRITE TO: Pennsylvania folklife Society College Blvd. & Vt.ne, Kutztown, 1\. 19530