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Winnipeg, Man.
Mennonite Historical Society undertakes new projects


“Divergent Voices of Canadian Mennonites” is a package of four projects undertaken by the Mennonite Historical Society of Canada. The initiative highlighted its annual meeting Dec. 4 at the Mennonite Historical Centre in Winnipeg.

Mennonite Central Committee Canada will provide $48,000 over the next six years in support of the four projects: Historical research on the relationship of aboriginal communities and Mennonite agencies; a book on the diverse experience of Mennonite women in Canada; research on the coming, settlement and faith activity of German-speaking Latin American Mennonite (Kanadier) immigrants to Canada; and study on the history of Asian and African refugees who have been assisted by Canadian Mennonite families since 1960.

The coordinating committee for the projects is composed of Royden Loewen and Ken Reddig of Winnipeg, Laureen Harder-Gissing of Kitchener, Ont., Lucille Marr of Edmonton and Leonard Doell of Aberdeen, Sask. They will be assisted by MCC Canada staff who work in related areas.

An initial conference on Mennonite and aboriginal historic relations will be held at the University of Winnipeg Oct. 13-14, 2000. An organizing committee for the event includes persons from Mennonite and aboriginal communities.

The Society hopes to announce the author of a monograph on women, gender and family in Canadian Mennonite families early in the new year. Conversations with an author are underway, but details were not finalized at the time of the annual meeting.

Other business included an update on the Society’s Canadian Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. One of the purposes of C.M.E.O. is to make accessible the database of material accmulated during the writing of the three-volume Mennonites in Canada. New articles, particularly on Canadian Mennonite educational and mission institutions, will be added during the year. Already on-line are congregational profiles. The Web site URL is www.mhsc.ca.

Ted Regehr reported progress in his research for a one-volume history of Mennonites in Canada. That format would be such that would appeal to the general reader, and could be used as a textbook. Regehr said recent scholarship questions how “separate” Ontario Mennonites in the 19th century actually were. During 2000, his research will focus on Western Canada. A publication date has not been set. A pictorial history is also envisioned.

Board members agreed to have a new logo designed for the Society. They also heard reports from five provincial historical societies and from a variety of Mennonite denominational archives. They re-elected Royden Loewen, chair of Mennonite studies at the University of Winnipeg, as president. Other executive members are David Giesbrecht of Abbotsford, B.C., Sam Steiner of Waterloo, Ont., and Laureen Harder-Gissing.  – Sam Steiner, Bert Friesen

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Last modified January 11, 2000.

© 2000 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
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