The Mennonite Heritage Center holds a large and significant collection of Mennonite fraktur from Eastern Pennsylvania. You can view the fraktur collection in our online catalog.

New in the Mary Jane Lederach Hershey Fraktur Gallery:

“Fraktur: The Art of Reading, Writing, and Religion”

Opened April 2024

Did you know that the folk art of fraktur sprung from colonial and early American schoolrooms?

Pennsylvania German schoolmasters—notably Christopher Dock—utilized fraktur to instruct students in literacy and morality, as well encourage scholarly achievement. This exhibit features fraktur created in local schools from around 1740-1840, showcasing the variety of ways fraktur functioned in classrooms. Visitors may also engage with replicated portions of an early American classroom through practicing penmanship on a slate or coloring their own fraktur. Explore how fraktur illustrates change and continuity in American schools by brining your own experiences into the conversation. Come for the art and gain an education!

$7.00 suggested admission (no charge for MHC members and children under 12).
There is handicap access to exhibits.

Special tours can be scheduled. Contact Regina B. Wenger at wengerr@mhep.org or 215-256-3020 ext. 112