The Pennsylvania Dutch

Fredric Klees' The Pennsylvania Dutch is the best and most inclusive volume with an over-all approach to its subject. "I have tried," he says, "to make this book a comprehensive treatment of the Pennsylvania Dutch in which everything was touched on and nothing ignored."It is a purpose achieved, on the whole, in a book of six parts ("Religion," "The Past," "By the Sweat of Their Brow," "The Country and the People," "Folkways," and "The Arts") with thirty-two chapters plus "A Forward...
More Description

Fredric Klees' The Pennsylvania Dutch is the best and most inclusive volume with an over-all approach to its subject. "I have tried," he says, "to make this book a comprehensive treatment of the Pennsylvania Dutch in which everything was touched on and nothing ignored."It is a purpose achieved, on the whole, in a book of six parts ("Religion," "The Past," "By the Sweat of Their Brow," "The Country and the People," "Folkways," and "The Arts") with thirty-two chapters plus "A Forward Glance" and "Epilogue," all enhanced by the author's thirty-three typical pen-and-ink drawings.Mr. Klees presents his own people in terms of their origin and background; history, struggles, and experience in America during war and peace; contributions to agriculture, industry, and art; beliefs, superstitions, and other folklore; and characteristics, dialect, place names, costumes, holidays, recreations, and foods. His intimate knowledge of the field covers the whole gamut of Pennsylvania Dutch life and adorns the religious, social, and political aspects with new facts and views.