Don Yoder

Dr. Don Yoder, 93, of Devon, Pennsylvania, passed away at his home of natural causes on Tuesday, August 11th.

He was born on August 27th, 1921, in Altoona, Blair County, to the late Jacob H. and Ora M. (Cronister) Yoder, and spent his summers as a youth in the Hegins Valley with his grandparents.

Dr. Yoder was the co-owner of the Roughwood Collection with Dr. William Woys Weaver.

He is predeceased by a sister, Mary (Yoder) Miller.

Dr. Don Yoder was Emeritus Professor of Folklife Studies, Religious Studies, and American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where he taught for forty years (1956-1996) and directed sixty PhD dissertations.

Dr. Yoder was responsible for the introduction of the term "Folklife" to its present academic use in the United States, and he helped to found the Center for American Folklife at the Library of Congress.

In 1947, he received his PhD from the University of Chicago in religious studies, and in his early career he taught at Franklin and Marshal College, and later at Muhlenberg College.

In 1949, Dr. Yoder co-founded the Pennsylvania Folklife Center with Dr. Alfred L. Shoemaker and J. William Frey, and together they established the Kutztown Folk Festival in 1950, the first ethnic festival of its kind.

Dr. Yoder has published seventeen books, and countless articles on Pennsylvania Dutch folk culture. He was widely known in Europe and his work was influential to the German composer Hindemith and the writings of H. L. Mencken. He was considered the dean of German-American genealogy.

A self-described "incurable Pennsylvanian," Dr. Yoder devoted his life to the study and cultural preservation of the folkways of his native people, and has inspired new generations in reviving and maintaining the spirit of the Pennsylvania Dutch.

The memorial service will be scheduled at a time to be determined at the Friends Meeting in Haverford, Pennsylvania.

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