Joseph Yoder (September 22, 1872 – November 13, 1956) was an educator,
musicologist
Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...
, and writer, the first successful
Mennonite
Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...
literary figure in the United States, especially known for his semi-fictional account of his mother's life, ''Rosanna of the Amish'' (1940), and for his investigation of the sources of the
Amish
The Amish (, also or ; ; ), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, church fellowships with Swiss people, Swiss and Alsace, Alsatian origins. As they ...
tunes of the
Ausbund
The ''Ausbund'' ("Paragon" in German) is the oldest Anabaptist hymnal and one of the oldest Christian song books in continuous use. It is used today by North American Amish congregations.
History
The core of the ''Ausbund'' is based on fifty-o ...
, along with his efforts to record and preserve traditional Amish music.
Life
Joseph Warren Yoder was born on September 22, 1872, in
Belleville, Pennsylvania
Belleville is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Kishacoquillas Valley of Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,827 at the 2010 census. Much of the population is Amish or Mennonite.
...
, United States, in the
Kishacoquillas Valley
The Kishacoquillas Valley, known locally as both Kish Valley and Big Valley, is an enclosed anticlinal valley in the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians of Central Pennsylvania, and is located in Mifflin and Huntingdon counties.
History
John Armst ...
(known locally as the Big Valley) region of
Mifflin County
Mifflin County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,143. Its county seat is Lewistown. The county was created on September 19, 1789, from parts of Cumberland County and Northumberland ...
. He received a traditional Amish education supplemented by participation in one of the "singing schools" that became popular in the Big Valley during the 1890s. He was a schoolteacher in Milltown, Pennsylvania, for two years from 1892 to 1894. He attended the Brethren Normal School (later
Juniata College
Juniata College () is a private liberal arts college in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1876 as a co-educational normal school, it was the first college started by members of the Church of the Brethren. It was originally founded as a cent ...
) in Huntingdon and was graduated in 1895. He later attended the Elkhart Institute (later
Goshen College
Goshen College is a Private college, private Mennonite Church USA, Mennonite Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Goshen, Indiana. It was founded in 1894 as the Elkhart Institute of Science, Industry and the Arts, a ...
) in
Indiana
Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
, also teaching English and music there. In 1898 he switched to
Northwestern University
Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
in
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
. He also taught at Lock Haven State Teachers College in
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
. Much of his subsequent working career he worked as a college recruiter for Juniata College in
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
. He also organized and conducted singing schools for Mennonites throughout that state. He additionally attempted to achieve reforms within the Amish and Mennonite churches in the Mifflin and
Huntingdon County
Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...
areas.
At almost age sixty he married Emily Lane of Lane's Mills, Jefferson County on February 18, 1932. They lived in
Huntingdon, Pennsylvania
Huntingdon is a borough in and county seat of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, in the Middle Atlantic states region of the Northeastern United States. It lies along the Juniata River about east of larger Altoona and west of the state capita ...
. Late in life he taught at
Belleville Mennonite School
Belleville Mennonite School is located in Belleville, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated between Stone Mountain and Jacks' Mountain. The valley they form is known as Big Valley. Belleville Mennonite is a member of the Association of Chri ...
.
He commenced his writing career in reaction to the harsh depictions of another writer, Ruth Lininger Dobson, whose 1937 novel ''Straw in the Wind'', written while she was a student at the
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
, received that school's
Hopwood Award
The Hopwood Awards are a major scholarship program at the University of Michigan, founded by Avery Hopwood.
Under the terms of the will of Avery Hopwood, a prominent American dramatist and member of the class of 1905 of the University of Michigan ...
. That book's depiction of the Amish of Indiana motivated Yoder to correct its harsh stereotypes with a better book about Amish life, so in 1940 he wrote ''Rosanna of the Amish'', the story of his mother's life (and his own). He later wrote a sequel, ''Rosanna's Boys'' (1948), as well as other books presenting and recording what he regarded as a truer picture of Amish culture.
His musical background enabled him to transcribe traditional Amish slow music into musical notation (''Amische Lieder'', 1942). He documented what he and others feel are surprising historic parallels between some of the traditional Amish tunes and
Gregorian Chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...
; some Amish were reportedly initially distressed by this kind of analysis. Much of the rest of his writing consists of recording Amish customs and of theological and Biblical exegesis relating to Amish practice, particularly the practice of ''Meidung'', or
shunning
Shunning can be the act of social rejection, or emotional distance. In a religious context, shunning is a formal decision by a denomination or a congregation to cease interaction with an individual or a group, and follows a particular set of rule ...
, of those who join and then later leave the Amish church.
Joseph Yoder died on November 13, 1956, in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, of lung cancer. He is buried in the Locust Grove Cemetery in nearby Belleville.
Works
* ''Rosanna of the Amish''. Huntingdon, PA: Yoder Publishing Co., 1940.
* ''Amische Lieder''. ''(Amish Songs)''. Huntingdon, PA: Yoder Publishing Co., 1942.
* ''Rosanna's Boys: A Sequel to Rosanna of the Amish''. Huntingdon, PA: Yoder Publishing Co., 1948.
* ''Amish Traditions''. Huntingdon, PA: Yoder Publishing Co., 1950.
* ''The Prayer Veil Analyzed''. Huntingdon, PA: Yoder Publishing Co., 1954.
References
*
Kasdorf, Julia. ''Fixing Tradition: Joseph W. Yoder, Amish American''. Telford, PA: Pandora Press, 2003.
External links
Yoder Newsletter Online: Issue 15 - April, 1990 on Joseph Warren Yoder
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoder, Joseph
American music educators
American Mennonites
Mennonite writers
American Amish writers
1956 deaths
1872 births
Mennonite musicians