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By Erin E. Moore '23
Collection Overview
Title: National Committee for Amish Religious Freedom Records, 1984-2020
ID: MSS/MSS-0015
Extent: 2.0 Cubic Feet
Date Acquired: 09/00/2020. More info below under Accruals.
Scope and Contents of the Materials
The National Committee for Amish Religious Freedom (NCARF) Records includes legal correspondence, court documents, newspaper articles and other materials pertaining to Amish people who have been involved in court proceedings. Includes correspondence to and from Donald B. Kraybill, Ph.D., former professor at Elizabethtown College and a Senior Fellow at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies. The collection includes court documents pertaining to Amish and Mennonite people in multiple states including Wisconsin, Minnesota, Mississippi, Michigan, Indiana, New York, Ohio, and the Commonwealths of Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Cases vary widely in subject matter. Some examples include slow moving vehicle emblems on horse and buggies, religious freedom cases, school sanitation regulations and public sewer projects, zoning ordinances and urban development in counties with high Amish populations, Chesapeake Bay pollution management, questions regarding the legality of Pennsylvania Amish schools, the “Amish Act” (social security child tax credit exemption), shunning cases, accusations of abuse in the Amish community, television shows and movies that portray Amish people, child custody disputes, child labor law violations, and photo ID requirements for the Amish. Papers belonging to Dr. Joe Wittmer, who was raised Old Order Amish and served as Vice-Chair of the National Committee for Amish Religious Freedom, are included in box 2, folders 22-33.
Collection Historical Note
The National Committee for Amish Religious Freedom (NCARF) was founded by non-Amish people at the University of Chicago in 1967, with a goal to preserve “the religious liberty of the Old Order Amish (and related Anabaptist groups, including Mennonites).” A pivotal court case involving the National Committee for Amish Religious Freedom (NCARF) was Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972). The court case was brought about to prevent the state government from forcing Amish families to educate their children beyond the eighth grade.
Administrative Information
Repository:
Earl H. and Anita F. Hess Archives and Special Collections
Accruals:
Additional materials acquired in April 2022
Access Restrictions:
Researchers may view Box 2, Folder 2 (Child Custody: Lou Butler, 1998-2000) but must ask permission of the National Committee for Amish Religious Freedom before disclosing any of the contents. Restriction ends in 2040.
Acquisition Source:
National Committee for Amish Religious Freedom
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Box:
[
Box 1],
[Box 2],
[
All]
- Box 2
- Folder 1: Animal ID: Federal Program, 2005-2007
- Folder 2: Child Custody: Lou Butler, 1998-2000
- Folder 3: Basyl Adrian Petty, Gineen Gove, mother, (folder 1), 2005-2007
- Folder 4: Basyl Adrian Petty, Gineen Gove, mother, (folder 2), 2005-2007
- Folder 5: Child Custody, 1993-2008
- Folder 6: NCARF Child Labor, 1997-2003
- Folder 7: Jury Duty, 2007
- Folder 8: Low Level Flying Iowa, Wisconsin, 1995-1996
- Folder 9: Amish & the Media & Movies, 1984-2004
- Folder 10: Mifflin County, PA Highway Restrictions for Amish, 1999-2015
- Folder 11: Amish Mission Movement: Steve Nolt
- Folder 12: McGrane Seminar, 2005-2006
- Folder 13: Daniel Zehr, et al. – Immigration and Photo ID, 2004-2012
- Folder 14: Photo: Immigration – Residency Suzanna Schmucker, 2009-2019
- Folder 15: Photo I.D. – Real ID Act, (folder 1), 2005-2008
- Folder 16: Photo ID – Real ID Act, (folder 2), 2005-2008
- Folder 17: Photo ID – US Domestic notary, banking, non-photo ID cards, 1992-2012
- Folder 18: Photo ID border crossing, 2005-2012
- Folder 19: Medical, 1989-2006
- Folder 20: Pledge and flag, 2001-2004
- Folder 21: Pure Trust, 1992-1996
- Folder 22: Slow Moving Vehicle Emblems, Amish jailed, Paoli, Indiana (folder 1)
- Folder 23: Slow Moving Vehicle Emblems, Amish jailed, Paoli, Indiana (folder 2)
- Folder 24: Amish Education Debate Wisconsin v. Yoder
- Folder 25: Newspaper Clippings, Amish & Power Lines
- Folder 26: Newspaper Clippings, Violence Against the Amish, Amish Child Death
- Folder 27: Newspaper Clippings, Vaccination Debate, Amish polio outbreak
- Folder 28: Wooster Amish Case, Amish Refusal to Obtain Building Permits
- Folder 29: Photo I.D., Driver’s License Law (Amish)
- Folder 30: Newspaper Clippings, Amish History & Articles regarding Amish Life
- Folder 31: Amish-related publications, NCARF correspondence & Administrative documents
- Folder 32: Social Security, Amish Tax Fight, Amish Welfare
- Folder 33: Movie: Witness
Browse by Box:
[
Box 1],
[Box 2],
[
All]
