In this Book
- Life at Four Corners: Religion, Gender, and Education in a GermanLutheran Community, 1868 -1945
- 1992
- Book
- Published by: University Press of Kansas
-
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

summary
Defined less by geography than by demographic character, Block, Kansas, in many ways exemplifies the prevalent yet seldomscrutinized ethnic, religionbased community of the rural midwest.
Physically small, the town sprang up around four corners formed by crossroads. Spiritually strong and cohesive, it became the educational and cultural center for generations of GermanLutheran families.
Block provided a religious and cultural oasisa welcome transition for GermanLutheran immigrants faced with a new language and unfamiliar customs. Yet the tight bond between an ethnic society and a religion that shunned Americanism and the English language paradoxically slowed the transition and maintained a culturally isolated community well into the twentieth century.
In Life at Four Corners, Carol Coburn analyzes the powerful combination of those ethnic and religious institutions that effectively resisted assimilation for nearly 80 years only to succumb to the influences of the outside world during the 1930s and 1940s. Emphasizing the formal and informal education provided by the church, school, and family, she examines the total process of how values, identities, and all aspects of culture were transmitted from generation to generation.
Physically small, the town sprang up around four corners formed by crossroads. Spiritually strong and cohesive, it became the educational and cultural center for generations of GermanLutheran families.
Block provided a religious and cultural oasisa welcome transition for GermanLutheran immigrants faced with a new language and unfamiliar customs. Yet the tight bond between an ethnic society and a religion that shunned Americanism and the English language paradoxically slowed the transition and maintained a culturally isolated community well into the twentieth century.
In Life at Four Corners, Carol Coburn analyzes the powerful combination of those ethnic and religious institutions that effectively resisted assimilation for nearly 80 years only to succumb to the influences of the outside world during the 1930s and 1940s. Emphasizing the formal and informal education provided by the church, school, and family, she examines the total process of how values, identities, and all aspects of culture were transmitted from generation to generation.
Table of Contents
- Table of Contents
- pp. vii-viii
- List of Maps and Illustrations
- pp. ix-x
- Preface to Kansas Open Books Edition
- pp. xi-xiv
- Acknowledgments
- pp. xv-xvi
- Introduction
- pp. 1-8
- 1. Community Overview
- pp. 9-30
- 5. The Outside World
- pp. 112-135
- 6. At War with Germany
- pp. 136-151
- Conclusion
- pp. 152-162
- Note on Sources
- pp. 163-164
- Bibliography
- pp. 203-218
Additional Information
ISBN
9780700630806
Related ISBN(s)
9780700606825
MARC Record
OCLC
1229137899
Pages
240
Launched on MUSE
2021-01-09
Language
English
Open Access
Yes