Old Order Amish: Their Enduring Way of Life

By Donald B. Kraybill

Book Overview

Here at last is an authentic portrait of the Amish, in striking photographs and honest accounts of their daily concerns and enduring traditions. Photographer Lucian Niemeyer earned the trust and friendship of Amish families by helping to harvest crops on their farms in Pennsylvania's Lancaster County, site of one of the oldest Amish settlements in North America. After "many backbreaking days" in the fields, he gained acceptance in a community that draws sharp lines of separation from the outside world--and has, by tradition, shunned photography. With the encouragement of his Amish friends who welcomed the chance to correct inaccurate accounts of Amish ways, Niemeyer began to assemble this honest and sensitive photographic record. He worked without filters or darkroom manipulations, using only natural light. The results are unprecedented--photographs of families, community gatherings, even the seldom seen interiors of Amish homes and schools. These unique images capture the deliberate simplicity and the natural beauty that characterize Amish life in Lancaster County. In the accompanying text, Donald Kraybill--author of the highly acclaimed Riddle of Amish Culture--tells the often surprising story of today's Old Order Amish. His introduction provides a sweeping overview of Amish life in North America and explains how a traditional people have managed not merely to survive but to flourish in the midst of modern life. In thirty-five "vignettes" throughout the book, Kraybill explains Amish views on issues ranging from "Childbirth" and "Women Entrepreneurs" to "The Riddles of Farm Machinery," "Sowing Wild Oats," and "The Politics of Separation." His concluding essay examines why modern observers are so drawn to the Amish and their traditional values.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801844266
• ISBN13: 9780801844263
• Release Date: March 1993
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 3.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 9.9" x 11.8"

Customer Reviews

Old Order Amish

Old Order Amish: Their Enduring Way of Life, explores the Amish in modern American in general, and the settlement of Amish people in Lancaster County Pennsylvania, in particular. This book not only has fascinating text which throws the reader right into the heart of what it means to be Amish, but also has breathtaking photographs of life in and around the village of Intercourse, just some 60 miles west of Philadelphia. The author explores many of the differeent aspects of Amish life, such as: farming, religion, courting, marriage, childbirth, business & industry, education & politics. This book is well worth the price; I thoroughly enjoyed it!