Yoder, Joseph Warren (1872-1956)
Joseph Warren Yoder (1872-1956), the son of an Amish preacher, Christian Z. Yoder, and his wife Rosanna (McGonegal) Yoder, an Irish Catholic orphan reared by an Amish maiden lady. Following his graduation from Brethern Normal School (now Juniata College) in 1895, he served for two years as principal of the Milroy (Pennsylvania, USA) High School. His outstanding personality and his success as an inspiring teacher led to an invitation by John S. Coffman to teach at the Elkhart Institute where he served as an instructor in English, music, and Greek in 1897-1901, interrupted by a period of study at Northwestern University. He returned to Juniata College in 1901 where he secured the B.A. degree in 1904. Following his graduation he taught in Lock Haven (Pennsylvania, USA) Teachers Normal for a number of years. But from 1904 on, one of his major interests was music. He taught music classes for Brethren, Mennonites, Methodists, River Brethren, and Amish Mennonites. He became one of the most widely known "musical directors" at teachers' institutes in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, and Virginia. His connection with Juniata College as "high school visitor" attracted many young people to that institution. He is widely known for his books: Rosanna of the Amish (1940), his mother's story, an intimate, authentic account of Amish family life; Amische Lieder (1942), a "first" in the history of musicology - notating the tunes of the hymns sung by the Amish in Mifflin County, PA; Rosanna's Boys (1949), the sequel to the 1940 volume; and Amish Traditions (1950), an effort to show that many divisions arise from unscriptural causes. "J. W." maintained his membership in the Mennonite Church (Maple Grove, at Belleville, Pennsylvania) where he was baptized and where on 15 November 1956, his funeral services were held. He died on 13 November 1956.
| Author(s) | John S Umble |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1959 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Umble, John S. "Yoder, Joseph Warren (1872-1956)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 25 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Yoder,_Joseph_Warren_(1872-1956)&oldid=78922.
APA style
Umble, John S. (1959). Yoder, Joseph Warren (1872-1956). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 25 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Yoder,_Joseph_Warren_(1872-1956)&oldid=78922.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 1007. All rights reserved.
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