@article{960,
  keywords = {Mennonites, Ethnic identity, Germanness, Pennsylvania Germans, Bricker family},
  author = {Ross Fair},
  title = {'Theirs was a Deeper Purpose': the Pennsylvania Germans of Ontario and the Craft of the Homemaking Myth},
  abstract = {Analyzes the immigrant narrative of the Pennsylvania Germans who settled Upper Canada between the 1780's and the 1830's, using Orm Overland's framework of a 'homemaking myth.' The Pennsylvania German myth first appeared in the 1890's and claimed a share of the United Empire Loyalists' foundational myth, drawing on its themes of loyalty and sacrifice. Later authors modified and amplified these themes to distance the Pennsylvania Germans from the Germans whom Canadians were fighting in World War I. Soon after the conflict, the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada recognized the Pennsylvania German migration to Upper Canada as an event of national significance, highlighting the success of the homemaking myth's message. Throughout the rest of the 20th century, authors continued to promote the theme of loyalty, but with the dawn of official multiculturalism in Canada, the Pennsylvania Germans regained their Germanness, becoming founders of the German Canadian community. The historical analysis of other immigrant groups in Canada may benefit from the interpretive framework provided by the homemaking myth; the Pennsylvania German narrative highlights a need to rethink how local and amateur histories contribute to a shared sense of Canadian identity. [J]},
  year = {2006},
  journal = {Canadian Historical Review},
  volume = {87},
  number = {Journal Article},
  pages = {653-684, },
  isbn = {0008-3755},
  language = {English},
}