.
By Emily Erdlen '23
Collection Overview
Scope and Contents of the Materials
This collection contains materials from 1844-2024 and spans fourteen boxes donated by Johnson-Weiner in 2022. Additional materials were donated in 2023 and 2024. The collection contains correspondence, photographs, handwritten and typed notes, research materials, Dr. Johnson-Weiner’s published work, and an assortment of artifacts including hats, bonnets, dolls, children’s clothing, and a school bell. This collection includes Johnson-Weiner’s correspondence with Amish and non-Amish individuals, and her research on Amish schools, language, Amish women, the Amish in New York state, and other topics relating to Amish life.
Collection Historical Note
Karen M. Johnson-Weiner, Ph.D. is a linguistic anthropologist who has been studying Amish and Mennonite communities for over 30 years. She is a Distinguished Service Professor of Anthropology Emerita at SUNY Potsdam. Johnson-Weiner received her B.A. from Hope College in 1975, her M.A. from Michigan State University in 1976, and her Ph.D. in linguistics from McGill University in 1984.
Johnson-Weiner has written multiple books on the Amish: Train up a Child: Old Order Amish and Mennonite Schools (2006), New York Amish: Life in the Plain Communities of the Empire State (2010), The Lives of Amish Women (2020), and All About the Amish: Answers to Common Questions (2021), as well as a number of articles on Old Order Amish language, culture, and education. She also co-wrote The Amish (2013) with Dr. Donald Kraybill and Dr. Steven Nolt.
Administrative Information
Repository:
Earl H. and Anita F. Hess Archives and Special Collections
Accruals:
Additional materials were donated in 2023 and 2024.
Use Restrictions:
All researchers must complete a privacy agreement provided by the Archivist.
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Correspondence, 1985-2024],
[
Series 2: Amish Schools, 1892-2008],
[Series 3: Language, 1969-2005],
[
Series 4: Research and Publication Materials, 1844-2022],
[
Series 5: Artifacts],
[
Series 6: Audiovisual Materials],
[
All]
- Series 3: Language, 1969-2005
- This series spans two boxes and contains Johnson-Weiner’s typed and handwritten notes on Pennsylvania German and other Amish dialects, research materials, and Johnson-Weiner’s published writing on language. Series also contains notecards with phonetic spelling of words from multiple dialects. Materials in this series are from 1969-2008.
- Box 5
- Folder 4: Amish Dictionary- A
- Folder 5: Amish Dictionary- B
- Folder 6: Amish Dictionary- C
- Folder 7: Amish Dictionary- D
- Folder 8: Amish Dictionary- E
- Folder 9: Amish Dictionary- F
- Folder 10: Amish Dictionary- G
- Folder 11: Amish Dictionary- H
- Folder 12: Amish Dictionary- I
- Folder 13: Amish Dictionary- J
- Folder 14: Amish Dictionary- K
- Folder 15: Amish Dictionary- L
- Folder 16: Amish Dictionary- M
- Folder 17: Amish Dictionary- N
- Folder 18: Amish Dictionary- O
- Folder 19: Amish Dictionary- P
- Folder 20: Amish Dictionary- Q
- Folder 21: Amish Dictionary- R
- Folder 22: Amish Dictionary- S
- Folder 23: Amish Dictionary- T
- Folder 24: Amish Dictionary- U, V
- Folder 25: Amish Dictionary- W
- Folder 26: Amish Dictionary- Y
- Folder 27: Language Shift Notes and Interviews
- Folder 28: Misc. Language Data
- Folder 29: Norfolk Deitsch/ Switse Language Data
- Folder 30: Rensselaer Falls Deitsch Language Data
- Folder 31: Notebooks A
- Contains six notebooks with Johnson-Weiner's handwritten language notes, including phonetic spellings.
- Folder 32: Notebooks B
- Contains two notebooks with Johnson-Weiner's handwritten language notes, including phonetic spellings.
- Folder 33: German Lessons
- Folder 34: Enninger Paper
- Folder 35: Humpa, G.- Indiana Dialects, 1991
- Folder 36: Jakobsh, F.- German in Old Order Mennonite Schools, 1993
- Folder 37: Martin- Folk Language, 1977
- Folder 38: Stoll, J.- German and English, 1969
- Folder 39: Wolff- Social and Linguistic Change, 1993
- Folder 40: Amish Self-Concept and Language Change, 1993
- Folder 41: Assimilation as Divergence, 2000
- Folder 42: The Church and Pennsylvania German
- Folder 43: Community Identity and Language Change, 1998
- Folder 44: Community Expectations and Second Language Instruction, 1988
- Folder 45: English Language Texts, 1994
- Folder 46: Explaining Language Shift, 1992
- Folder 47: German, Dutch, and Fraktur Script, 2005
- Folder 48: Keeping Dutch, 1986
- Folder 49: Pennsylvania German in Old Order and Beachy Amish Communities, 1990
- Folder 50: What Constitutes a Viable Speech Community?, 1985
- Box 14
- Item 1: Amish Dictionary Notecards A-H
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Correspondence, 1985-2024],
[
Series 2: Amish Schools, 1892-2008],
[Series 3: Language, 1969-2005],
[
Series 4: Research and Publication Materials, 1844-2022],
[
Series 5: Artifacts],
[
Series 6: Audiovisual Materials],
[
All]
