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| Book Review | Indiana Magazine of History, 102.2 | The History Cooperative
102.2  
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June, 2006
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Reviews

The Amish Schools of Indiana
Faith in Education

By Stephen Bowers Harroff
(West Lafayette: Purdue University Press, 2004. Pp. ix, 210. Charts, illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. $34.95.)

Shipshewana
An Indiana Amish Community

By Dorothy O. Pratt
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, Quarry Books, 2004. Pp. ix, 209. Illustrations, map, notes, suggestions for further reading, index. $29.95.)

Whatever the public's infatuation with the Amish, these books prove that a place remains for the serious and responsible study of Amish life. In a field that has focused disproportionately upon the Amish in Pennsylvania—and especially Lancaster County (from John A. Hostetler's early studies to Donald B. Kraybill's recent works)—Harroff and Pratt promise to provide fresh insight based on the experiences of the Amish in Indiana. 1
      The two books are quite dissimilar. Shipshewana is a version of Pratt's Notre Dame history dissertation. Harroff studied Amish schools during three decades of teaching German language, literature, and culture at Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne. While chapter one of his volume offers a valuable and competent history, the pages that follow provide almost no historical framework, explanation, or analysis. Another difference lies in basic method. Harroff's rearing and religion (Church of the Brethren) seem to have put him close enough to help him understand many subtleties of the Amish world-view. He conducted participant-observer research by visiting and keenly watching Amish schools, meanwhile forming genuine friendships to the point that the Amish sometimes called on him to substitute for a teacher. Pratt did some interviewing, but she otherwise relied mainly on written sources. Even for the purpose of writing history, she might well have profited from getting further into day-to-day Amish life and perceptions. . . .
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