Amana: The Community of True Inspiration [Paperback]

Bertha H. M. Shambaugh (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0941016471 | ISBN-13: 978-0941016476 | Publication Date: August 1, 1988

The story of the Amana colonies, one of America's communal experiments. Shambaugh was one of Iowa's delightful writers, making this a classic work.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

When Bertha M. Horack Shambaugh (1871-1953) died at age 82, the Amana church elders and Amana Society directors in a rare joint statement said: "Mrs. Shambaugh's writings about Amana, its history and its people and its Faith, prove and substantiate her love and her deep concern and interest...The sincerity of her thoughts and words...often approach a poetical charm and quality which has never been equaled or duplicated in any other article or manuscript about Amana.
Bertha Horack was in her teens when her family vacationed for a week at an Amana hotel. This and other family outings to the Amanas began her lifelong friendship with the Amana people.
In 1897 she married Benjamin F. Shambaugh, professor of political science and director of the State Historical Society of Iowa. Mrs. Shambaugh, talented in drawing and painting, soon was making maps and charts, editing, reading proofs and preparing indexes for publications of the Historical Society. Entertaining was the favorite Shambaugh pastime. Hamlin Garland, Thornton Wilder and Jane Addams were among their dinner guests.
Mrs. Shambaugh's father, an attorney, was born in Czechoslovakia. Of her mother, Katherine Horack, Mrs. Shambaugh said: "Anything that I have done in the past and all I hope to do in the future is due to her inspiring guidance." --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 414 pages
• Publisher: Penfield Pr (August 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0941016471
• ISBN-13: 978-0941016476
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,314,080 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A look into the Amana Colonies, November 19, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Amana: The Community of True Inspiration (Paperback)

This is the only book of its kind written by an observer of the Amana Colonies during the era when the people lived under religious communism.

Mrs. Shambaugh made repeated trips to the Amanas and became a lifelong friend of the Amana people. This rare book tells of life in the Amana Colonies at the turn of the century.

The Amana people voted in 1932 to live under free enterprise, incorporating their land and businesses as the Amana Society and establishing a separate Amana Church Society. The people brought their own homes and many opened small businesses. With their traditional German family style restaurants, the Amanas today are Iowa's premier tourist attraction.