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New Treasures: Archives of the Mennonite Church
By Dennis Stoesz, Archivist
What follows is a sampling of personal papers and organizational records that have come into the Archives during the last six months of 1998. They are listed alphabetically by the name of the collection.
Central Mennonite Church, 1925-1974, Elida, Ohio. Three record books, 1925-74, from this extinct church, which was begun by members of the Pike and Salem Mennonite Churches. The earliest book, 1925-31, includes a list of the 79 charter members, as well as financial records of the first six years. The other two books are a Financial Record Book, 1932-1951, and a Minute Book, 1971-74. 3 Files. Donor: Fred Stalter, Elida, Ohio, and Loretta Troyer, Goshen, Indiana.
Hostetter, Doug, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Nyack, New York. Papers, 1995-97, on Hostetter's project of writing and publishing the Bosnian Student Project: A Response to Genocide (Pendle Hill Publications, 1997, 40 pages), a project for which he was the director from 1993-98. Includes background research, correspondence, written drafts and the published pamphlet. The project assisted more than 150 Bosnian students from various ethnic and religious traditions to escape the war zone in Bosnia and come to the United States to continue their education. Since 1993, Hostetter has been the Interfaith / International Secretary for the Fellowship of Reconciliation. Earlier he served as Executive Director of the FOR, 1987-93; worked with the American Friends Service Committee, 1980-87; with the United Methodist Office for the United Nations, 1971-80; and served as a volunteer in Vietnam, under the Mennonite Central Committee, 1966-69. The archives holds Hostetter's journals, correspondence, photographs, tapes, films, posters and artifacts from his experience in Vietnam, as well as from his ongoing involvement in peace and justice since then. The official records of the Fellowship of Reconciliation are found in the Swarthmore College Peace Collection, Pennsylvania. 6 linear inches. Donor: Doug Hostetter.
King, Levi J., 1844-1916 and Barbara Ellen (Yoder), 1845-1910. Papers, 1897-1917, and taped interview, circa 1970, covering three generations from Mifflin County, Pennsylvania to West Liberty, Logan County, Ohio. Includes last will and testament of John Y. King (1819-1906), Mifflin County, and 1916 obituary notice of son Levi J. King, Logan County, Ohio. Also includes diary, 1910-17, of a son of Levi and Barbara, John Y. King (1879-1968); and diaries, 1905-13, of a daughter of Levi and Barbara, Delilah J. King (1887-1974). Diaries include church membership records, 1913-17, of Bethel Mennonite Church, West Liberty, Ohio, where John Y. King served as minister; schedule of preachers; and life on the farm. Additional items in the collection include a District #4 Public School class record, 1898-99, District #4, Liberty Township, Logan County, Ohio, and two school souvenir cards, 1897-1902, with J. B. Hooley and Harvey B. Yoder as teachers. Interview is with Aunt Lila (Delilah King), about her years as a child, as taped by Kenneth King, circa 1970. 5 linear inches. Donor: Carol Oyer from the John S. Oyer Estate, Goshen, Indiana. Levi J. was John S. Oyer's grandfather.
Locust Grove Mennonite Church, 1943-1990s, Elkhart, Indiana. Records, 1951-85, including a file on special events, 1951-68; balloting of church officers, 1957-70; church council reports, 1956-75, and annual reports, 1956-75. 5 linear inches. Donor: Rev. Aden Horst, Elkhart. Horst was a pastor of this congregation for a number of years.
Mennonite Board of Missions, Voluntary Service Department, 1946- , Elkhart, Indiana. Records, 1954-97, as organized into three sections: Closed Out Units, 1954-97; Service Units, 1964-87; and General Records, 1954-97. This program had its origin during and after World War II, and some of the first units were overseas, 1946-51, in Poland, Belgium, and Ethiopia. The Mission Board's VS program, however, began in earnest in 1948 and a total of 257 units have been opened across Canada and the United States from that time up to 1997. Some units only lasted a year, while others have lasted for more than 30 years. The directors of this program have included Laurence Horst, 1946-49, Levi Hartzler, 1949-52, Boyd Nelson, 1952-54, Ray Horst, 1954-74, John Eby, 1974-79, Rick Stiffney, 1979-81, Dale Wentorf, 1981-83, Mary Herr, 1983-84, Dave Miller, 1985-88, Rick Kulp, 1988-90, Suzanne Lind, 1990-91, and Saul Murica, 1991-98. Miles Reimer, 1998-, currently administers this program as a joint venture between Mennonite Board of Mission and Commission on Overseas Missions. 8.75 linear feet. Donor: Ethel Hoffman, Coordinator of Office Services.
Mennonite Central Committee, 1920- , Communications Department, Photographs, Akron, Pennsylvania. Photographs, 1984-89, including prints, negatives and contact sheets, of this organization's involvement around the world with people suffering from poverty, conflict, oppression, and natural disaster. Photographs include the work across United States and Canada, as well as Bangladesh, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Germany, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Jamaica, Jordan, Kampuchea, Kenya, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Mexico, Mozambique, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Somolia, South Africa, Soviet Union, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Vietnam, West Bank, Zaire, Zambia and Zimbabwe. 8 linear feet. Donor: Irene Leaman, Records, Library and Archives Manager.
Mennonite Church General Board, 1971- , Elkhart, Indiana. Records, 1987-89, including correspondence and reports of the work of the General Board. Some of the personnel during this time period included James M. Lapp as Executive Secretary; Samuel Hernandez, Georgia Lovett and Miriam Book as Associate Secretaries; and Eloise Glick, Freida M. Myers, Kathryn E. Rodgers and Mildred E. Schrock as Administrative Assistants. 6.25 linear feet. Donor: Scott Hartman, Accountant.
Meyer, Albert J., Goshen, Indiana. Papers, 1953-58, of Albert J. and Mary Ellen (Yoder) Meyer's voluntary service in Valdoie, France, and Basel, Switzerland, under Mennonite Central Committee. Materials include correspondence and papers from many peace conferences and organizations that Meyer was involved in while in Europe, such as the annual conference of the American Mennonite Students in Europe, which became known as the Concern Group. The most important conference was the Puidoux Theological Conference in 1955 on "The Lordship of Christ over the Church and State", for which Meyer acted as the organizer and secretary. This conference was initiated by the Historic Peace Churches in response the World Council of Churches statement that "war is wrong, and contrary to God." The conference became a historic event when it brought together not only Quaker, Church of the Brethren, Mennonite and Fellowship of Reconciliation thinkers, but many European theologians representing a vast spectrum of positions on what had happened in World War II. Collection also includes correspondence with fellow MCC volunteers, with John H. Yoder, with Clarence Bauman, with family and friends back home, and about MCC's ongoing service and mission projects. 2 linear feet. Donor: Al Meyer.
Ore Bank Farm Documents, 1821-1929, Union Township, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. Documents such as deeds, land agreements, maps, bonds, mortgages and estate sales which reflect land ownership of this Amish farm from Long Christian Zook (1776-1851) in the early 1800s to Joseph E. Sharp (1885-1967) in 1929. Names of persons found in the papers include Henry Bawel, Jonathan L. Byler, Christian Detweiler, David Z. Detweiler (1850-1913), Fanny Detweiler, Simon K. Detweiler, Charles L. Diffenderfer, Joseph M. Flemming, Magdelena Zook Hartzler, Jacob C. Hertzler, Elizabeth Zook Kanagy (1819-1897), Simon Kanagy (1829-1891), Logan Iron and Steel, Joseph Miller, Jonas Z. and Amelia Peachey, Christian Peachey (d. 1886), Christian Sharp, Elizabeth K. Sharp (1839-1905), Jesse D. Sharp (1908-1997), Jonas J. Yoder, Jonathan J. Yoder, Benjamin Zook, Catherine Zook, David Zook, Joel Zook (1807-1875), Samuel S. Zook (1824-1851). Other materials include a dower book, 1853-1900, of Magdelena C. Zook (1827-1913); guardianship papers, 1821-23, of Catherine Koenig; and patent papers, 1897. 6.5 linear inches. Collection on loan to Archives by John E. Sharp, Goshen, Indiana.
Pratt, Dorothy Ann Overstreet, Granger, Indiana. Interviews, 1994, by Pratt of eight Amish, three Mennonites and one Church of the Brethren on their experiences as conscientious objectors in World War II. Interviews include descriptions of the person's growing up years, involvement before the war, work and life in the Civilian Public Service Camps, reasons why they were conscientious objectors, and evaluations of their experiences. Interviews are transcribed and fill 30 pages. Restriction on use of materials is that names of individual Amish cannot be used. Pratt conducted these interviews in connection with her dissertation on "A Study of Cultural Persistence, The Amish in LaGrange County, Indiana, 1841-1945," University of Notre Dame, 1997 - available from Mennonite Historical Library. 1 File. Donor: Dorothy Pratt.
Troyer, Clarence, 1907-1997. Sermons, 1940-1989, of Troyer's work as minister (1940) and bishop (1948) in the Upper Peninsula, Michigan. Collection also includes a notebook, 1930-31, when Troyer attended the Kitchener Mennonite Bible School; and two notebooks, ca. 1947, used by Troyer in teaching many winter classes at the Michigan Mennonite Bible School at Fairview, Michigan. In 1940, Clarence Troyer and his spouse Wavia Irene Troyer (1908-1987), with their children, moved from LaGrange County, Indiana, up to the Peninsula as church planters under the Mission Board of the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference. Troyer first served at Wildwood Mennonite, 1940-52, located near Engadine, but his work came to focus primarily on his bishop oversight of the ten Mennonite churches which began there between 1937-1952, and his work with the Conference. He retired his bishop responsibilities in 1980, wrote a history of The Mennonite Church in the Upper Peninsula in 1986, and continued to preach in the Mennonite churches, in the nondenominational church at Curtis, Michigan, and on the radio at Newberry, Michigan. 15 linear inches. Donor: Steve and Rachel Nolt, South Bend, Indiana, on behalf of the children of Clarence and Wavia I. Troyer.
Yoder, Jonathan G., 1904-1991 and Fyrne A. Miller, 1904-1995. Films, 1937-1953, of Mennonites in India, as taken by Jonathan Yoder. Dr. Yoder served as superintendent of the Dhamtari Christian Hospital, Dhamtari, Madhya Pradesh, India. Yoder together with his wife, and children, served under the auspices of the Mennonite Board of Missions, Elkhart, Indiana, from 1937-45, and again from 1947-53, 1957-58 and 1978-79. They also served at Landour, India in 1960 and several years in Nepal, 1961-63, 1970-72 and 1975-76. Materials also include films by a sister, Rhea Yoder, when she taught at the school at Woodstock, Landour, India, from 1948-59. There are a total of sixteen 8mm films, in both five and seven inch reels. 15 linear inches. Donor: Paton Yoder, Goshen, Indiana.
Photos and Illustrations:
(Photos listed in order of preference) (except for Photo #H)
Photo #A: Doug Hostetter (on right) with Asmira Kulenovic in Bihac, Bosnia, 1996. Hostetter was director of the Bosnian Student Project, 1993-98, which enabled over 150 Bosnian students from various ethnic and religious traditions to escape the war zone in Bosnia and come to the United States to continue their education. Asmira is the younger sister of Samir Kulenovic, a Bosnian student from Bihac who was hosted by Hostetter in his home during the war. Photograph by Dolores Gunter. Source: Doug Hostetter Collection.
Photo #B: Destroyed Muslim homes and market place in the foreground, undamaged Christian Orthodox Church in background, Bosanska Krupa, Bosnia, 1996. Photograph by Dolores Gunter. Source: Doug Hostetter Collection.
Photo #C: Participants at the historic 1955 Puidoux Theological Conference. Back row (l-r): Prof. H. G. Wood, Pastor Fritzhermann, Prof. Ernst Wolf, Doris Neff, John H. Yoder, Prof. Culbert G. Rutenber, W. Harold Row, Dr. Alvin Pitcher, Pastor Edouard Theis, Prof. John W. Harvey, Oberkirchenrat Heinz Kloppenburg, Oberkirchenrat Joachim Beckmann, and Dr. G. Hartdorff. Seated on Steps, Bottom left (l-r): Dr. E. L. Allen, Prof. Goetz Harbsmeier, Dean Harold S. Bender, and A. J. Muste. Second row, starting with seated person on wall with name tag (l-r): Colin Fawcett, Dean William Beahm, Dr. Hendrick Bremer, Pastor Jean Lasserre, Pastor Emile J_quier, Pastor Walter Dignath, Esko Loewen, Andr_ Trocm_, Graydon F. Snyder, Mrs. Percy Bartlett, Albert J. Meyer, Percy Bartlett, and M. R. Zigler. Source: Albert J. Meyer Collection.
Photo #D: Clarence Troyer, 1907-1997. Long time minister (1940) and bishop (1948) serving the Mennonite Churches in the Upper Peninsula, Michigan, from 1940-1997. Source: Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference Photograph Collection.
Photo #E: The meetingplace for the Bethel Mennonite Church, 1895- , West Liberty, Ohio. It "started as a result of the conversion of twelve....young people during evangelistic meetings held by John F. Funk and D. J. Johns at the South Union Church." The archives recently received the diary of John Y. King, minister, which includes some membership records of this church, 1913-17. Drawing is by Mrs. Irvin J. Kauffman, 1956. Quote is from Mennonites of the Ohio and Eastern Conference, page 304. Source: Wilmer Swope Photograph Collection.
Photo #F: Jonathan G. Yoder, 1904-1991. Dr. Yoder served as superintendent of the Dhamtari Christian Hospital, Dhamtari, India, from 1937-58. The archives recently received ten 8mm films taken by Yoder of the Mennonites in India during this time period. Photograph by Troyer Studios. Source: Mennonite Publishing House Photograph Collection.
Photo #H: Dower Book, 1853-1900, of Magdelene (Zook) Hartzler, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. Money received by her from the "land which belonged to Christian Zook Deceased which was taken by the apraisment on a writ of a partition on said estate of Elisabeth Kanagy and Simon Kanagy." Total amount of Dower was $463.56, as paid out annually by the amount of $9.76 over 48 years - the first two years were slightly smaller amounts. Source: Ore Bank Farm Documents Collection.
Mennonite Historical Bulletin, January 1999
Last updated 7 September 1999