When Bradley K. Smith introduced Pennsylvania Dutch language classes at the Berks History Center two years ago, he was hoping for a dozen or so students. “But suddenly, and much to our surprise, ...

It’s a language that was a cornerstone of life for European immigrants and is still spoken fluently in thriving Amish and Mennonite communities across North America and beyond. Longtime Lehigh Valley ...

Many people falsely assume Pennsylvania Dutch was historically spoken only by Old Order Amish and Mennonites, said Bradley K. Smith, archivist and associate director of the Berks History Center.

The Amish population in North America nearly doubles every 20 years, according to a 2023 study by Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College. This suggests the number of ...

Lillian Geisler, a native of Millersville, Pennsylvania, graduated in 1936 from Millersville State Teachers College where her father was the chef at the college’s dining hall. When she accepted a ...

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