MMHS News & Notes

Annual General Meeting

The annual general meeting of our society was held in conjunction with the MCC Meat Canning evening (see report on p.1) in Winkler on Saturday, 10 February, 2001. The chairman for the meeting, Abe Dueck, noted that the year 2000 had marked the 125th anniversary of the first Mennonite settlers on the West Reserve, and ended two years of festivities. "What new challenges, or new celebrations lie in our future?" asked Dueck.

Each committee gave a report on their activities of the past year, 2000. Some of the highlights were the report on the 125^th celebrations that were held in the West Reserve area. These have been highlighted in previous Heritage Posting issues. The first volume of the Russian Mennonite genealogy series was published: Peter Rempel's Mennonite Migration to Russia 1788-1828. Two more volumes of the translation of the Echo Historical Series were published. Other publishing projects are under way by other committees. The Post Road project was completed with signs, posts, and lecterns.

The fee increase was approved. One category, the regular membership fee was increased to $20 per year.

A new memo of understanding for distribution of society publications was agreed in principle and will be finalized by the board in the near future.

A budget was approved which calls for revenues and expenditures of just under $33,000 of which the major project is the publication of the Manitoba Mennonite history.

The new board was elected. The continuing members are: Otto Hamm, Morden; Irene Kroeker, Steinbach; Ed Hoeppner, Winnipeg; Jake Peters, Winnipeg; Hans Werner, Winnipeg; Esther Epp-Tiessen, Winnipeg; Paul Friesen, Winnipeg. Returning members who were again elected for another two-year term were: Bert Friesen, Winnipeg; Abe Dueck, Winnipeg; Alf Redekopp, Winnipeg; Elmer Heinrichs, Altona. Newly elected members were: Myron Dyck, Winnipeg; Lisa Friesen, Winnipeg; and Arthur Toews, Winnipeg.

The evening concluded with the joint meeting with MCC. Included was a report on the Manitoba Mennonite history publication project. Prof. John Friesen, writer of a new Manitoba Mennonite history, suggested that the new book should be readable and accessible, bringing together a wealth of material published since the 1970s, and break down into periods: from the 1870s to 1920s, from the 1920s to late 1940s, from the 1950s to the present.

"One of the surprises I find is that one cannot extrapolate from the present to the past. In the early years, the railways came and towns were formed, like Gretna, Plum Coulee and Morden. But they were not the bigger towns of Altona and Winkler I remember growing up in Manitoba."

"The number of Jewish merchants here intrigued me, in the beginning as peddlers, then becoming merchants." At one point some 70 Jewish people lived in Plum Coulee, noted Friesen.

Friesen also discovered a conservative Mennonite church, with four Manitoba worship houses, including Horndean and Roseau River, linked to the Kleine Gemeinde, and to a U.S. group.

MHSC Annual Meeting

The Mennonite Historical Society of Canada held its annual meeting in Waterloo, Ontario on 1 December 2000.

Two projects were highlights for the past year.

The first was the Canadian Mennonite Encyclopedia Online project. New articles have been added. Plans have been made for more content with an editorial process in place to handle newly written material from many different writers. Please explore this source of information about Mennonites at the URL www.mhsc.ca and follow the links.

The second was the series of projects undertaken called the "Divergent Voices of Canadian Mennonites". The first project was the symposium on the history of Aboriginal-Mennonite relationships. This was reported on in Heritage Posting, no.31, Dec.2000, p.1. The next project in this series is well along. It is the publication on women, gender, and family in Canadian Mennonite communities by Marlene Epp.

The work on the over-arching single volume history of Mennonites in Canada is still progressing, but only slowly. Much of what was written in Vol.1 of the three-volume history in the 1970s needs to be updated. That process is ongoing.

The national society is an active society with ongoing projects. Support for these projects is much appreciated.