Research Catalog

Title

Plain women : gender and ritual in the Old Order River Brethren / Margaret C. Reynolds ; edited with a foreword by Simon J. Bronner.

Author

Reynolds, Margaret C., -1999.

Publication

University Park : Pennsylvania State University Press, [2001], ©2001.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

Bronner, Simon J.

Description

xii, 192 pages : illustrations; 24 cm.

Summary

• "Despite the great interest in "plain" groups in recent years, comparatively little has been written about women and the particular role they play in preserving traditional religious and cultural values in the modern world. In Plain Women, Margaret C. Reynolds portrays the women of the Old Order River Brethren, a significant branch of the Brethren in Christ located mainly in Pennsylvania.".
• "The members of this conservative offshoot of the Brethren are often confused with the Amish because of their plain attire, but unlike Amish, they have made some notable concessions to the modern world - including the use of automobiles, computers, and home appliances. Noting these accommodations to modern American life, Reynolds examines the ceremonies and traditions that allow the Old Order River Brethren to remain "separate" from other plain groups and from contemporary mass culture.
• She describes, for example, the love feast communion, a service that involves footwashing and a breadmaking ritual (one unique to the Old Order River Brethren and solely performed by women). Reynolds focuses in particular on the gendered customs of dress, hair, and domesticity that shape women's lives and, in so doing, preserve the minority faith itself."--BOOK JACKET.

Series Statement

Publications of the Pennsylvania German Society ; v. 34. Pennsylvania German history and culture series ; no. 1

Uniform Title

• Publications of the Pennsylvania German Society (2001) ; v. 34.
• Publications of the Pennsylvania German Society (2001). Pennsylvania German history and culture series ; no. 1.

Subjects

• Anabaptist women > United States > History
• Old Order River Brethren History

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. [171]-179) and index.

Contents

Foreword / Simon J. Bronner -- 1. "Be Ye Separate": The History, Religion, and Society of the Old Order River Brethren -- 2. Coverings for the Body: The Symbolism of Plain Women's Dress -- 3. From Commune to Commerce: Kitchen Traditions and Enterprise -- 4. Women's Devotion and the Breadmaking Ritual.

ISBN

0271021381 (alk. paper)

LCCN

2001021461

OCLC

• ocm46538532
• SCSB-4215035

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries