Cloister Talk: The Pennsylvania German Material Texts Podcast

Special collections libraries and archives shape the work of historians and other researchers by preserving and making accessible the records of our shared past. Yet they are also complex, vibrant institutions immersed in the changing social, cultural, academic, and information landscape of the 21st century. What challenges and opportunities to special collections libraries face, especially in an era of rapidly evolving information technology? How do different kinds of libraries and archives—from those situated at major universities to small, independent operations—address these opportunities and challenges? In this special conversation with Dr. Paul J. Erickson, the Randolph G. Adams Director of the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan, we’ll dive into these and many more questions about the work of libraries and archives as they stake a claim in 21st-century America’s hotly contested civic space.

Rare book libraries, archives, and museums find themselves in the midst of a digitization revolution, which is shifting discoverability of, and access to, their collections, and bringing about a transformation in institutions’ conceptions of their place within the social world. These trends have become even more pronounced on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic, which changed expectations for the special collections library user experience. In this episode of Cloister Talk, we’ll take a peek behind the curtain of digitization efforts at the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan, where technicians recently digitized the Holstein family account book for consideration in this season of the podcast. Chris Ridgway, Digitization Specialist at the Clements Library, shares details about digitization processes and workflows and offers insights on how digital technologies are shifting the work of special collections libraries. All collections-based scholars have a vested interest in the finances, operations, and strategies of institutional digitization projects, so check out this conversation for some valuable insights into one of the key trends shaping special collections libraries today.

The William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan is a world-renowned repository for the study of early American history—holding artifacts including the Pennsylvania German Holstein family’s account and penmanship exercise book discussed in the previous episode of Cloister Talk. In this special roundtable discussion, we’ll go behind the scenes into the work of the Clements Library to preserve treasures of American history with members of the Library’s distinguished staff. We also discuss the staff members’ favorite objects in the collection, and how they interact with University of Michigan students and the general public.

Resources to study the history of Pennsylvania German material texts exist in institutions all around the nation and world, and it behooves scholars to look beyond the best-known repositories in southeastern Pennsylvania in order to discover underutilized and undiscovered resources. It also is in historians’ best interest to make use of examples of Pennsylvania German calligraphy and penmanship that may not rank as the most beautiful examples of the art form but push us to understand Frakturschrift calligraphy in a broader social-historical context. The Holstein family account and penmanship practice book at the William L. Clements Library of the University of Michigan offers a wonderful example of both of these points. Created by several generations of a rural Pennsylvania German family, this everyday manuscript provides insight into how children learned penmanship, manuscript illumination, and lessons in Protestant piety. In this special episode of Cloister Talk, we take a virtual trip to the Clements Library in Michigan to study the complex, fascinating, and analytically rich Holstein manuscript. The episode takes a deep dive into the materiality of the manuscript before considering the history of the Holstein family and drawing comparisons with other account books and penmanship exercise books held by the Winterthur Library in Delaware. The episode also includes reflections on lessons learned for Pennsylvania German studies. You may view the Holstein manuscript here, via the Clements Library’s digital repository: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/h/holsteinfam/.

One of the most wonderful things about Pennsylvania German Studies is its interdisciplinary nature, and its bringing together of scholarly study with artistic and craft practice. In this exciting episode of Cloister Talk, accomplished artist Rachel Yoder discusses the origins of her passion for Pennsylvania German/Pennsylvania Dutch design and how the visual arts connect her to a Pennsylvania Dutch family heritage. We discuss Rachel’s new book Pennsylvania Dutch Design: A History of Kitsch, Folk Art, & More, as well as how historical research informs Rachel’s work. This conversation will inspire you to pick up a quill and paintbrush and try your hand at Pennsylvania Dutch folk art traditions!

If any single theme or idea emerges from consideration of the history of Lancaster County, it is the possibilities, and perils, of intense ethnic, racial, linguistic, and cultural interaction. From the earliest settlement of the area by European settler-colonizers all the way through to the present day, Lancaster County is a remarkably multifaceted community. Reflective of broader trends in America history, the cultural mixing that occurred in the region resulted in horrifying violence and remarkable displays of the pluralism that in many ways is distinctive of the American experience. The guest on this episode of the podcast, Dr. Leroy Hopkins, has devoted his scholarly career to investigating the interactions of Pennsylvania Germans and Black residents of the county, and what the presence of both of these communities in Pennsylvania can teach us about race, ethnicity, language, and culture in America. A native of Lancaster, Dr. Hopkins received a B.A. in German and Russian from Millersville State College in 1966 and a Ph.D. in Germanic Languages & Literatures from Harvard University in 1974. Dr. Hopkins served as Associate Director of Program and Planning and then as Acting Executive Director of the Urban League of Lancaster County from 1976 to 1979. He then began his tenure at Millersville University in 1979, retiring in 2015 as Professor Emeritus of Foreign Languages. He’s done extensive international research to understand the connections between Germans and Black Americans. In this episode of Cloister Talk, we discuss Dr. Hopkins’s scholarly journey and his thoughts about promising pathways in Pennsylvania German studies.

One of the most wonderful things about Pennsylvania German studies is the opportunity they open for interdisciplinary research. In fact, interdisciplinary perspectives that draw on multiple theories, methodological approaches, and research skill sets are required to develop a fulsome view of Pennsylvania German culture. In this episode of Cloister Talk, musicologist Dr. Christopher Dylan Herbert grants us special insights into his research focused on the music of the Ephrata community. We consider Dr. Herbert’s inspirations for exploring Ephrata’s rich and complex musical heritage, the findings of his research, and the value of interdisciplinary methods in a shifting scholarly landscape. Listen to Dr. Herbert’s new album of Ephrata music, Voices in the Wilderness, here: https://open.spotify.com/album/6iPkwxZsUaOEbY2zeB4gf0.

Lancaster, Pennsylvania has been a diverse cultural crossroads for centuries, and the immense collections of LancasterHistory document the history of calligraphy, penmanship, and literacy education in this important urban center of Pennsylvania German life. In this episode of Cloister Talk, we’ll explore the penmanship and calligraphy collections at LancasterHistory to reflect on how they can inform our interpretations of rural Pennsylvania German “fraktur” manuscripts. The episode also includes a discussion of research methodologies and a consideration of scholarly trends in the interpretation of Pennsylvania German manuscript culture.  

There are few characters from early Pennsylvania history more mysterious and fascinating than Johannes Kelpius, “the hermit of the Wissahickon” whose intellectual and spiritual life is the stuff of legend, centuries after his death. Kelpius embodied many of the deep traditions of European religious devotional life that found expression in early Pennsylvania—Pietism and mysticism included. In this episode of Cloister Talk, Dr. Timothy Grieve-Carlson welcomes us into the world of Kelpius’s spirituality as it connects to early modern understandings of nature and the environment and discusses Kelpius’s lasting resonance as a religious pioneer of sorts. Professor Grieve-Carlson also walks us through his research process and reflects on future pathways in Pennsylvania German studies.

Season 4 of Cloister Talk is devoted to the consideration of the past, present, and future of Pennsylvania German Studies. In this inaugural episode of the new season, Patrick J. Donmoyer of the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania offers a broad-ranging assessment of the state of the interdisciplinary set of fields that comprise Pennsylvania German Studies. In this fulsome conversation, we discuss the historical origins of Pennsylvania German Studies in their current form, the most vibrant modern-day research areas, and Donmoyer’s recommendations for new pathways in the field. We also dive into Donmoyer’s own groundbreaking research in to the Pennsylvania German folk healing practices known as “Braucherei.” This episode of Cloister Talk will be an invaluable resource for those already deeply familiar with Pennsylvania German scholarship, as well as those just getting their start in the interdisciplinary field who are looking for new avenues available for groundbreaking study. Tune in today for an engaging introduction to the state of the field!