Amish America

Preview: PBS/American Experience special ‘The Amish’

In yesterday’s interview, Saloma mentioned an upcoming PBS special on the Amish, part of the American Experience series. American Experience has a good reputation for in-depth documentary films, mainly of a historical nature. “The Amish” is a 2-hour film described as “an extraordinarily intimate portrait of contemporary Amish faith and life”. Quite a few [...]

To read this post in full, click the blue title link above. Question on the Amish? Try the Amish Online Encyclopedia. Or visit the Amish State Guide to learn more about Amish communities across North America.

Saloma Miller Furlong on Why I Left the Amish (giveaway)

Saloma Miller Furlong was raised Amish in Ohio. Why I Left the Amish is the story of her childhood and adolescence, and eventual departure from Amish society. I enjoyed meeting Saloma for the first time this summer while in PA, and have always appreciated her comments here on the blog. I just recently had a [...]

Is Amish clothing really “Plain”?

Stephen B writes: While I certainly understand the idea behind Plain-ness, of not calling undue attention to one’s self out of modesty and of not wanting to be too much of this world, it seems to me that as times and fashions change, the Amish haven’t really updated their fashions enough to actually *stay* plain. [...]

The Amish of St. Joseph County, Michigan (Centreville)

Michigan’s largest Amish settlement Michigan currently occupies 6th place when it comes to the size of their Amish population. The state is home to nearly 12,000 Amish in 3 dozen communities (see Young Center 2011 Amish statistics). Over one-tenth of the Michigan Amish population is found in St. Joseph County, in a settlement located near [...]

10 views of the Adams County, Indiana Amish

We haven’t done one of these in awhile, so here are ten photos from the Adams County, Indiana Amish settlement. As you can see, it was a fairly grey day, so that didn’t help. Which do you think came out best? If you enjoyed these, some other photos: 10 views of Lancaster County Amish 10 views [...]

KY Amish teen cited following accident

Kentucky Amish SMV problems continue. If you missed it, on Saturday, a Graves County teenage buggy driver was cited for failure to display the SMV triangle after his buggy was hit and dragged into a ditch. Five children were in the carriage, ages 7 to 15 (Amish children operate horse-drawn vehicles from a young age). [...]

1947: Amish court conflict over a “mite”

We’ve seen Amish in court quite a bit lately. Some cases have involved Amish clashing with laws of the state (KY SMV; PA horse neglect). Others involve grievances between Amish and former Amish (Amish beard-cutting). For another example of the latter, we can look back in history to a 1947 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper piece “‘Mited’ [...]

What are Amish burial practices?

Michigan Mary asks: What are the standard burial rituals for the Amish? Who/what digs their graves? Takes care of their cemeteries? We’ve hit on this topic on a couple of occasions, so I may just direct you to these previous posts: on the Amish funeral, and Amish cemetery. As to who digs graves, that would [...]

A Separate People winners

We have 3 winners today of Isaac Horst’s A Separate People: An Insider’s View of Old Order Mennonite Customs and Traditions. If you missed the original interview with Isaac’s son Osiah, you can find it here: Osiah Horst on Old Order Mennonites. We’ve also got an excerpt from the book to share with you today. [...]