Local History Committee
Report for the year 2008 to the Annual Meeting of the MMHS: 18 April 2009
In addition to the Committee’s on-going events –the annual spring and fall “workshops”– and the publication of volume 4 of the East Reserve Historical Series, it has focused attention on the village history project.
Workshops
The spring workshop was again held together with the Genealogy-Roots day in cooperation with MHV and the EastMenn Historical Committee at Mennonite Heritage Village, Steinbach, on April 5. Two reports into research on pioneer East Reserve villages were presented to capacity audiences by Loren Koehler (Schoenwiese) and Ernest Braun (Friedrichsthal). Both communities broke up in connection with the relocation of many Bergthal immigrants to the West Reserve around 1880.
The fall gathering at CMU on November 8 was limited to a very small group of participants due to virtually impassable driving conditions. Interest in theme of Mennonite social and cultural traditions (birthing, midwifery, courtship and marriage, burial and funeral practices) was very strong and there is consideration of repeating the program in the future.
Publication
A fourth volume in the East Reserve Historical Series had been planned by the former Hanover Steinbach Historical Society in the 1990s. An editorial committee appointed by our committee and the EastMenn Historical Committee reworked the projected contents that had been put together by the late John Dyck and added several new chapters. The manuscript, entitled Settlers of the East Reserve: Moving in – Moving out – Staying, is at the printers with a spring launch scheduled for Mennonite Village Museum on Victoria Day. EastMenn Historical Committee is covering the anticipated publication costs.
Village History Project
The Committee has agreed in principle to promote the production of well-researched histories of existing and disbanded villages especially on the former West Reserve. Since many of these will not be book-length projects, it proposes a monograph series to be published in limited press run edition. The committee would ensure that a copy of each monograph would be available in the various Mennonite-related archival and research centres in Manitoba and assist in publishing on a “print-on-demand” basis.
Cooperation with other committees
Under the leadership of the Historical Sites and Monuments Committee, our committee participated in planning a systematic inventory (photograph, description, location) of Mennonite-related cairns, plaques and other markers of Mennonite-related historic sites in the province. A joint task force has been asked to implement the plan this spring and summer.
Cooperation with the EastMenn Historical Committee in the book publishing project mentioned above will likely expand into other areas as well. That committee is well ahead of ours in completing its goal of having a published history of each former (and current) village within the former East Reserve.
Committee members are: Joe Braun (Altona), Mary Bueckert (Austin), Adolf Ens (Winnipeg, Chair), Henry Fast (Steinbach), Dave Harms (Altona), Martha Martens (Winkler, Secretary), John Penner (Winnipeg), Marlene Plett (Altona), Jake E. Peters (Winnipeg, Vice-chair). We are grateful for the huge amount of time Martha Martens and John Penner have devoted to committee projects during their 6-year tenure. They have richly earned their sabbatical year of rest.
Respectfully submitted by Adolf Ens, Chair.