A Potter's Progress: Emanuel Suter and the Business of Craft

Abstract

In A Potter's Progress: Emanuel Suter and the Business of Craft, Scott Hamilton Suter explores the life and work of upper Shenandoah Valley potter Emanuel Suter—the author's great-great-grandfather. The result is a deeply researched and telling example of how we can tell far-reaching stories by focusing on a person and a region. Too often today, scholars look down upon regional cultural histories, but Scott Suter argues successfully that delving into a Mennonite craftsman who lived from 1833 to 1902 not only illuminates issues of US culture and the Progressive era broadly, but also is a useful addition to folklore and ceramics scholarship. The author provides a more academically rigorous companion to his previous work Shenandoah Valley Folklife (1999) and other recent ceramics catalogs and pamphlets, adding historical context and a deep reading of primary sources that historians, museum professionals, folklorists, and material culture scholars will appreciate.Because the first and second chapters are so brief—with the first having only 10 pages—Suter's book is somewhat uneven. In chapter 1, he provides an overview of the Shenandoah Valley as a cultural region, and in chapter 2, he shows that Emanuel Suter is a supporter of Progressivism in his Mennonite community. He expands upon these arguments in chapters 3 and 4, which focus on Suter's life as a potter at his New Erection Shops and the Harrisonburg Steam Pottery Company. The heart of the book is thus Scott Suter's examination of Emanuel Suter's pottery business in the ever-changing world of nineteenth-century technology, craft, and regional cultural expression.Whether at church, on his farm, or at his pottery, Emanuel Suter was dedicated to “progress.” Nowhere is that more evident than in his businesses and his response to the changing needs of his Shenandoah Valley clientele. Suter learned how to be a potter from relatives; at first, his craft and his business were intimately connected to the Pennsylvania hearth region. He and his family even lived briefly in Pennsylvania during the Civil War. As his clientele's needs changed, so did technology, transportation, and the region's connectedness with other regions beyond Pennsylvania. By the end of his career, Suter left that cultural hearth and ventured into the broader mid-Atlantic and Midwestern industrial potteries. The Shenandoah Valley was more connected than before to nationwide structures of business and manufacturing. Like others, Suter adapted not only to stay in business, but also to operate a successful commercial enterprise. The author demonstrates that as Emanuel Suter's pottery changed, so did his pottery shop, delivery methods, and the technology that he employed. Suter's life and work underwent a tremendous evolution, and the author uses Suter's accounts and diaries to make solid arguments about this transformation.The sources are what makes this a rich book. Emanuel Suter left behind account books, business papers, diaries, and personal and business letters, and Scott Suter makes good use of them. True to form as a folklorist, he also conducted oral history interviews and used interviews done by Elmer Smith, one of the founders of the Shenandoah Valley Folklore Society. Although material culture and decorative arts scholars will certainly benefit from this work, they might be disappointed that it does not contain detailed analyses of the pieces themselves or a catalog of all known extant Suter pieces. For such a short book, Scott Suter can do only so much, and he does well in exploring the transitions that Suter's life and craft—from traditional to industrial—underwent over the course of the mid- to late nineteenth century.Although this work will appeal to those both inside and outside the academy, the target audience is ceramics scholars, folklorists, and business historians. It not only contributes to the field of folklore studies but is also a much-needed academic work on nineteenth-century Shenandoah Valley culture (beyond the Civil War). University instructors will find portions of it useful in their introductory US history courses, as well as in specialized courses in American Studies, material culture, and decorative arts. While Scott Sutter could have done more to analyze the objects and buildings of Emanuel Suter's life (and thus strengthen his arguments), A Potter's Progress will make an impact on those who work in folklore, ceramics, and Shenandoah Valley studies.