Occupational Changes among the Old Order Amish in the Holmes County Vicinity of Ohio

THIS STUDY FOCUSES primarily upon occupational changes and trends as they relate to the Old Order Amish within the last twenty years of a select community.It will illustrate that the Amish are changing, that they are not a static society, and that they are a pragmatic people.Conflicts exist between their society and the socalled English-Yankee world which are forcing adaptation if the Amish are to survive as a unique group.This writer has observed the Old Order over the past twentyfive years. 1 During these years the Old Order has become a topic of great and increasing interest.The volume writings about them, both popular and scholarly, has grown immensely.Among the numerous books the most important is John A. Hostetler's Amish Society (3rd ed., 1980), which contains an extensive bibliography. 2Several photographic studies have appeared and an excellent film, The Amish: People of Preservation, was produced in 1975. 3 In the present article the primary concerns are to examine the changing phenomena within the Holmes County vicinity of Ohio Amish during the past twenty years.This researcher has been probing the question: Are the Amish racing assimilation and/or extinction as