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  Historical Committee
Archives
Scrapbook Page, North Newton
By John D. Thiesen
| Immigration is not just a phenomenon of the distant
past for Mennonites. This photo from about 1991 shows the Engh-Ho
Taiwanese Mennonite fellowship in Topeka, Kansas. The group met from
about 1989 to the mid-1990s. (from folder 86. MCA.II.3.a.1.e, Western
District conference minister files). |
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At least twice in the 1870s, a national weekly
newspaper, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, published articles and
illustrations about Mennonite immigrants from Russia. The images from
the 1875 article have become the classic visual symbols of the 1870s
Mennonite immigration into the United States. This image, however,
comes from a less well-known article of September 6, 1873. The caption
of the original reads ”New York City—Arrival of Mennonite Emigrants, a
Religious Sect Expelled from Russia and Seeking a Refuge in Dakota,
America—a Scene on a Hamburg Steamer on the Hudson River.” |
| Title page of a book written in 1843 by Jakob Krehbiel
of Clarence Center, New York. The title translated is Migration of the
Christian Reinhold Family to the United States of North America,
including Conversations about the Ocean: True Occurrences. This is a
work that we might now call historical fiction or creative non-fiction,
a compilation of migration experiences of various persons brought
together in one narrative about a fictional family. The 132-page book
follows the usual conventions of book printing—even including
footnotes—-but is entirely handwritten. Krehbiel shows his literary
awareness, even of English literature, by, among other things,
including a quote from Keats on the title page. Krehbiel was born
October 11, 1780 at the Pfrimmerhof in what is today southwestern
Germany;, married Maria Gramm;, migrated to Clarence Center, New York,
in 1831; and died there April 1860. He became elder/bishop of the
Clarence Center church in 1839. (SA.II.1248) |
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Beginning in 1951 the General Conference had a home
missions activity with a multi-racial community of migrant workers near
Eloy, Arizona. A congregation called Friendly Corners Chapel continued
until disbanding in 1980. In this photo from about 1962, Glen Habegger
teaches a group of migrant workers’ children. |
Map showing land selections from the Santa Fe railroad
made by 1870s immigrants to the Halstead, Kansas, area, including both
immigrants from Russia (Bernhard Warkentin, Abraham Quiring) and from
South Germany via Illinois (Krehbiel, Haury, Leisy). Map is dated Nov.
1, 1875. (SA.II.964)
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Mennonite Historical
Bulletin
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Mission
Statement:
"God calls us to preserve our faith heritage, to interpret our stories,
and to proclaim God's work among us."
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