Americana

This page includes texts relating to uniquely American expressions of belief, as well as folklore and superstition, that don’t fit into any other category.

General Folklore

Myths and Legends of Our Own Land
by Charles M. Skinner. [1896]
A treasure-trove of American folklore, including stories from all regions.

African-American

Drums and Shadows
Georgia Writer’s Project; Work Projects Administration, Mary Granger supervisor [1940]
Coastal Georgia folklore from the 1930s and connections to African spiritual practices.

Pennsylvania Folklore

This part of the site has grown organically rather than by plan, and a small number of texts about Pennsylvania have coalesced here, for no particular reason.

Pow-wows; or Long Lost Friend
by George Hohman. [1820]
A small book of folk-magic and healing by a early nineteenth Century Pennsylvania Dutch practicioner of ‘Pow-wow’.

Folk-Lore of the Pennsylvania Germans
by W. J. Hoffman Journal of American Folk-lore [1888-9]
A grabbag of folklore from 19th Century rural Pennsylvania, including folk-magic, home remedies, superstitions and the supernatural.

The Realness of Witchcraft in America
By A. Monroe Aurand, Jr. [1942]
a little pamphlet about Pennsylvania witchcraft.
Donated by Eliza Yetter of sacredspiral.com.

Early Life of the Pennsylvania Germans
By A. Monroe Aurand, Jr. [194?]
Some historical background on the early Pennsylvania Germans, including details of their religious composition.
Donated by Eliza Yetter of sacredspiral.com.

Little Known Facts about the Amish and the Mennonites
By A. Monroe Aurand, Jr. [1938]
A short pamphlet by Aurand about the Amish. A sympathetic treatment of this deeply conservative group.

Texas

Coffee in the Gourd
edited by J. Frank Dobie [1923]
A collection of Texas folklore.
Donated by Eliza Yetter of sacredspiral.com.

9/11: A Remembrance
Complete lists of the names of the deceased, HTML version of the 9/11 Commission Report, and more.

Elsewhere at this site

The Shakers
The Shakers, who fled persecution in England to flourish in America, are a unique branch of Christianity with a feminist twist. Known for their handicrafts, the Shakers declined in the twentieth century due to their vows of celibacy and the impact of modernism.

The Mormons
The Mormons are the largest world religion indigenous to America; their revealed scripture is set in an ancient New World setting.

Native America
Sacred-texts has extensive material on the religions of the Native Americans.