From Pennsylvania to Waterloo: Pennsylvania-German Folk Culture in Transition

Lisa Arsenault is a public-school teacher in Ajax, Ontario.

This informative book compares the development of two Mennonite
communities: the Canadian community in Waterloo County, Ontario, and its
precursor in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Information is presented in
a series of essays by various experts. The development of the Mennonite
religion and culture—from its roots in German and Swiss Anabaptism and
its spread, via immigration, to North America—is summarized.
Subsequent essays compare and contrast the evolution of the distinctive
Mennonite calligraphy that derived from European-Gothic textile
production and traditional methods of food preparation and preservation
in the two communities.

An edited transcript of a panel discussion on Mennonite culture by
several residents of the two counties completes the book. Topics include
farming customs, youth activities, traditional weddings and funerals,
and education.

The contemporary state of the culture is not directly addressed,
although some indirect material is provided by the panellists, and these
essays are best utilized as source material for the social and cultural
history of the Mennonites, from their origins in 16th-century Europe
until the early 20th century in North America.