Hist Mss 1-673
Alvin J. Miller Collection
Papers, 1874, 1912-1977
Contained in 7 Boxes
(5 Gray, 1 Long,1 Mapcase)

Biographical Information

Alvin J. (A.J.) Miller was born December 11, 1883 in
Grantsville, Maryland. His father, Joel J. Miller, was a
minister and bishop in the Amish Mennonite Church. His
mother, Savilla Beachy, was a descendant of pioneer settlers
in southwestern Pennsylvania. A.J. Miller received a B.A.
degrees from Goshen and Columbia Colleges. He taught classes
in education and psychology at Kent State University from
1915-1954, but he took several leaves of absence to join in
various humanitarian efforts.
In 1919, Miller engaged in relief work in France,
Crimea, and Constantinople with the American Friends Service
Committee and the Red Cross. From 1921-1926 he served in
the American Relief Association and also with American
Mennonite Relief in Russia where he helped establish nearly
150 soup kitchens to feed the hungry. Miller's experiences
in Russia are documented in the book Feeding the Hungry (Box
1, Folder 8)
From 1927-1930, Miller assisted Maxwell Kratz and
colonization committees in placing Russian Mennonite
refugees onto Canadian farms. Miller was responsible for
selling second mortgage Farm Lien Bonds to American Amish
and Mennonite buyers to raise money for the venture.
Throughout his life, A.J. Miller continued to travel
and teach . He died on November 9, 1981 near his home in
Grantsville, Maryland.

Inventory Listing

Box 1
1/1 Alvin J. Miller Promotional Flyer
1/2 Correspondence re Alvin J. Miller, November 12 & 13,
1981
1/3 American Consulate Passport Document, December 1, 1921
1/4 Licenses to sell Farm Lien Bonds, 1927, 1928, 1930
1/5 Alvin J. Miller, Faculty Record, Kent State University,
May 4,1939
1/6 Program, Somerset Co. (PA) Sunday School Association
Convention, June 13, 1934
1/7 Miller, Alvin J. "Relief Work in Revolutionary Russia,"
Mennonite Life. July, 1962.
1/8 Hiebert, P.C. Feeding the Hungry: Russia Famine, 1919-
1925. Mennonite Central Committee: 1929.
1/9 Personal Correspondence, November 27, 1926 - 1942
1/10 Correspondence - to "home folks", July 30, 1910 - July
3, 1929
1/11 Correspondence ,Personal, from Olen L. Miller, March 2,
1930
1/12 Correspondence re A.J. Miller's Personal Finances,
August 9, 1921-August 31, 1933
1/13 Correspondence from A.J. Miller, 1927-1929, 1947
1/14 Correspondence from A.J. Miller to Rodney Landreth
(Stroud & Co.), July 31, 1929 - July 14, 1930
1/15 Correspondence from A.J. Miller to J.C. Marsh (Federal
Bond & Share), November 21, 1927 - November 23, 1929
1/16 Correspondence, General, 1921-1947
1/17 Correspondence from the American Friends Service
Committee, June 28, 1927
1/18 Correspondence from the Canadian Mennonite Board of
Colonization, September 9, 1927 - December 4, 1930
1/19 Correspondence from the Federal Bond & Share Company,
September 6, 1927 - December 10, 1928
1/20 Correspondence from P.C. Hiebert September 24, 1926 -
August 11, 1927 (also found in other parts of the
collection)

Box 2

2/1 Correspondence from the Intercontinental Company, Ltd.,
December 19, 1928 - March 28, 1933
2/2 Correspondence from Maxwell Kratz, May 20, 1927 - July
9, 1929
2/3 Correspondence re National Trust et al vs.
Intercontinental et al., November 8, 1933
2/4 Correspondence from the Mennonite Central Committee,
September 21, 1926 - June 2, 1972
2/5 Correspondence from Orie O. Miller, July 2, 1927
2/6 Correspondence re the Russian Mennonites and the Farm
Lien Bonds, December 17, 1928 - February 17, 1932
2/7 Correspondence from various organizations, October 31,
1922 - June 1, 1931
2/8 Correspondence from Stroud & Co., 1928
2/9 Correspondence from Stroud & Co., January - April, 1929
2/10 Correspondence from Stroud & Co., May - August, 1929
2/11 Correspondence from Stroud & Co., September, 1929
2/12 Correspondence from Stroud & Co., October - December,
1929
2/13 Correspondence from Stroud & Co., January - March, 1930
2/14 Correspondence from Stroud & Co., April, 1930

Box 3

3/1 Correspondence from Stroud & Co., April 2, 1930
3/2 Correspondence from Stroud & Co., April 7, 1930
3/3 Correspondence from Stroud & Co., May - June, 1930
3/4 Correspondence from Stroud & Co., May 9, 1930
3/5 Correspondence from Stroud & Co., June 12, 1930
3/6 Correspondence from Stroud & Co., July, 1930
3/7 Correspondence from Stroud & Co., August - December,
1930
3/8 Correspondence (German), November 6, 1921 - January 8,
1930, 1938, 1969
3/9 Correspondence (German) from Franz Isaak, January 10 -
March 1, 1929
3/10 Correspondence (German) from Cornelius F. Klassen, July
9, 1928 - June 30, 1944

Box 4

4/1 Correspondence (German) from Cornelius Martens,
February 13, 1928 - April 5, 1929
4/2 Correspondence (German) from J. Rempel, February 27 -
June 7, 1928
4/3 Papers (German), August 27, 1926 & undated
4/4 Telegrams, April 31, 1927 - October 31, 1930
4/5 Telegrams from Alvin J. Miller, July 9, 1929 - October
24, 1929
4/6 Returned Mail, December 16, 1929
4/7 Letters to & from persons other than Alvin J. Miller,
November 16, 1923 - March 2, 1935
4/8 Notes, ca. 1919-1942
4/9 Addresses
4/10 Letterheads
4/11 Published Pamphlets (English & German):
-Horsch, John Worldly Conformity in Dress., Mennonite
Publishing House, Scottdale: 1926
-Herald der Wahrheit. July, 1954.
Box 4 (cont.)

4/12 Published Pamphlets (German):
-Seid eurer Vaeter wert!. January, 1925
-Janzen, Jacob, Erzaehlungen aus der Mennoniten-
Geschichte
-Stobbe, L. Montau - Gruppe. 1918
-Mannhardt, H. G. Die Danziger Mennonitengemeinde. 1919
4/13 National Service Handbook, 1917
4/14 Legal Practice Concerning Religious Objectors Against
War. ca.1927
4/15 Pamphlets from World Peace Foundation, April, 1911 -
July, 1912
4/16 Program for the General Conference of Mennonites in
France in Reconstruction, June 13-15, 1919.
4/17 Publication about French Background, ca. 1918
4/18 Service (published by American Friends Service
Committee), July - August, 1919.
4/19 Reconstruction (published by the Society of Friends),
May 1919-May, 1920
4/20 American Friends Service Committee Bulletins, 1921
4/21 American Friends Service Committee Newsletters, 1921-
1926

Box 5

5/1 American Friends Service Committee Locations
5/2 Dein Reichtomme, January - July, 1926
5/3 Unser Blatt, September 1926 - September, 1927
5/4 Mennonite Central Committee Treasurer's Report, March
1, 1927
5/5 Notebook with record of contributions for Russian
Mennonites, 1874-1875
5/6 Permission Letter from the Indiana - Michigan Mennonite
Conference to sell Farm Lien Bonds
5/7 Request from Maxwell H. Kratz for an update on the
situation in Russia, October 25, 1928
5/8 Confirmation Slips towards purchases of Farm Lien
Bonds, 1929-1930
5/9 Report of Special Committee of Investigation of
Mennonite Colonization Board, September 25, 1926
5/10 Indenture of Mortgage and Trust Deed, November 27, 1926
5/11 Intercontinental Company, Ltd. Farm Lien 7% Gold Bonds
Information, July 8, 1929
5/12 The Gospel Call of Russia, January, 1930
5/13 Clippings of articles re the Soviet Union by Harry
Sacher, The Baltimore Sun, October 16, 1930 - October
21, 1930
5/14 Intercontinental Company, Ltd. Letter re Farm Lien
Bonds, February 26, 1931
5/15 Printed Matter re Russian Mennonites, 1930-1933
5/16 List of Expenses, November [1929?]
5/17 Receipts, 1921-1930
5/18 Receipts, 1938
5/19 Materials from the Reichsparteitag (the annual National-
Socialist Party Conference), 1938
5/20 Newsletter re Mennonite Central Committee Relief Work
in Germany, 1940-1941
5/21 Travel Brochures - Austria, 1934
5/22 Travel Brochures - France
5/23 Travel Brochures - Germany
5/24 Travel Brochures - Russia
5/25 Travel Brochures - Switzerland
5/26 Materials re the Friendship Study Tour to the Soviet
Union, May 18, 1934
5/27 Programs, 1903, 1912
5/28 Published Materials, 1912-1939

Box 6 (Long)

6/1 Personal Information Document, Berlin, 1926
6/2 The Epistle from London Yearly Meeting of the Religious
Society of Friends, 1919
6/3 Notes about Russian Relief work, 1920 - ?, written
sometime after 1929
6/4 Receipts, Hotel d'Angleterre, 1926-1927
6/5 Correspondence from Allrussischer Mennonitischer
Landwirtschaftlicher Verein, May 4 & August 26, 1928
6/6 Farm Lien Bonds, List of Buyers, December 10, 1929
6/7 "Statement of the Movement of Mennonites from Russia to
Canada" from the Canadian Mennonite Board of
Colonization
6/8 Der Ost-Europa Markt, December 1, 1929
6/9 Bulletins re French Education (French), 1937-1938
6/10 Bourses Nationales D'Enseignement, April, 1938
6/11 Friends of Europe Information Service Bulletin,
December 21, 1939
6/12 Jordan, Max "Die reichsten Maenner der Welt"
6/13 Life magazine (Special Issue On the U.S.S.R.), March
29, 1943
6/14 Cumberland Evening Times, December 5, 1977
6/15 Artifact, Mennonite Disaster Service Button
6/16 Cuts for Alvin J. Miller Promotional Flyer

Box 7 (Mapcase)

7/1 Maps of Europe and Maryland (see Mapcase)

Subject Tracings:

-American Friends Service Committee
-Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization
-Intercontinental Company, Ltd.
-International Relief - France
-International Relief - Russia
-Klassen, Cornelius F.
-Kratz, Maxwell
-Mennonites - Russia
-National Socialism
-Russia - Emigration and Immigration
-Stroud & Company, Inc.

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Archives of the Mennonite Church, Goshen,Indiana
Processed by Ann Wenger
July 3, 1995