Anna Balmer Myers
Encyclopedia
Anna Balmer Myers was an American
author of romantic novels featuring the local color of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
.
She was born in Lancaster County in Manheim, Pennsylvania
and attended school there. She later attended Drexel University
and lived and worked as a schoolteacher in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. Her most well known work is Amanda: A Daughter of the Mennonites (1921); other works include Patchwork; a Story of "the Plain People" (1920), The Madonna of the Curb (1922), I Lift My Lamp, and a collection of poetry entitled Rain on the Roof (1931). Amanda, about a young Mennonite
girl who seeks an education, is hired as a teacher in a local one-room schoolhouse, and eventually marries a childhood friend, contains many delightful appreciations of life along with early twentieth century reminiscences, as indicated by such chapters as: "The Snitzing Party", "Boiling Apple Butter", "The Spelling Bee", and "One Heart Made o' Two" . Patchwork, the story of a young girl growing up within a community of "plain people", some of the story in the format of a diary, includes the girl's first romance. Myers' work is frequently viewed as a gentle corrective to the harsh misrepresentations of another novelist, Helen Reimensnyder Martin
, also from Lancaster County, whose stories about the Pennsylvania Dutch
of Lancaster County, particularly her Tillie: a Mennonite Maid, provoked cries of misrepresentation from those who resented her depictions. Myers also authored another work, quite different from her other fiction, I Lift My Lamp, a historical novel about the early settlement of Lancaster County, Henry William Stiegel
and his glassworks in Manheim, a Mennonite Eby family, and the Ephrata Cloister
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author of romantic novels featuring the local color of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Lancaster County, known as the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county located in the southeastern part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of 2010 the population was 519,445. Lancaster County forms the Lancaster Metropolitan Statistical Area, the...
.
She was born in Lancaster County in Manheim, Pennsylvania
Manheim, Pennsylvania
Manheim is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,784 at the 2000 census.-General information:*ZIP code: 17545*Area code: 717*Education: Manheim Central School District and Manheim Central High School-History:...
and attended school there. She later attended Drexel University
Drexel University
Drexel University is a private research university with the main campus located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a noted financier and philanthropist. Drexel offers 70 full-time undergraduate programs and accelerated degrees...
and lived and worked as a schoolteacher in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. Her most well known work is Amanda: A Daughter of the Mennonites (1921); other works include Patchwork; a Story of "the Plain People" (1920), The Madonna of the Curb (1922), I Lift My Lamp, and a collection of poetry entitled Rain on the Roof (1931). Amanda, about a young Mennonite
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
girl who seeks an education, is hired as a teacher in a local one-room schoolhouse, and eventually marries a childhood friend, contains many delightful appreciations of life along with early twentieth century reminiscences, as indicated by such chapters as: "The Snitzing Party", "Boiling Apple Butter", "The Spelling Bee", and "One Heart Made o' Two" . Patchwork, the story of a young girl growing up within a community of "plain people", some of the story in the format of a diary, includes the girl's first romance. Myers' work is frequently viewed as a gentle corrective to the harsh misrepresentations of another novelist, Helen Reimensnyder Martin
Helen Reimensnyder Martin
Helen Reimensnyder Martin was an American author. She was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, studied at Swarthmore and at Radcliffe colleges; and married Frederic C. Martin in 1889...
, also from Lancaster County, whose stories about the Pennsylvania Dutch
Pennsylvania Dutch
Pennsylvania Dutch refers to immigrants and their descendants from southwestern Germany and Switzerland who settled in Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centuries...
of Lancaster County, particularly her Tillie: a Mennonite Maid, provoked cries of misrepresentation from those who resented her depictions. Myers also authored another work, quite different from her other fiction, I Lift My Lamp, a historical novel about the early settlement of Lancaster County, Henry William Stiegel
Henry William Stiegel
Henry William Stiegel was a German-American glassmaker and ironmaster. After arriving in Philadelphia in 1750 on a ship known as the Nancy, Stiegel moved to what is now Lancaster County, Pennsylvania...
and his glassworks in Manheim, a Mennonite Eby family, and the Ephrata Cloister
Ephrata Cloister
The Ephrata Cloister or Ephrata Community was a religious community, established in 1732 by Johann Conrad Beissel at Ephrata, in what is now Lancaster County, Pennsylvania...
.