Kandis Friesen is an artist with Russian Mennonite heritage. While visiting the Mennonite Heritage Archives she came to a realization. In her Mennonite Historian article “The Thing That Holds,” Friesen declares that the archives “is a labyrinthine space, a dwelling for documents, a vulnerable and venerable vault; it is a Read More
First Irish Catholic to work in Mennonite Archive. At age 25, John Lynch, a clothier who grew up on a farm in Latton, Ireland, found himself in Manitoba to start a new life in 1950. He had already witnessed the Three Years War that led to Irish independence in 1937. Read More
In the past few weeks here at Mennonite Heritage Archives (MHA) I have learned a tremendous amount about the roles, and methodologies of archivists. I have found myself, on many occasions, explaining to peers outside of my workplace what an archive actually is and what the archivist actually does. In Read More
On July 24, 2019 a full house listened intently to Bernhard Thiessen’s lecture about Mennonites in the GDR (former East Germany) 1945-2000. An interesting micro-story of Bernhard’s talk was how the Stasi (secret police) had informants everywhere and was able to infiltrate the Mennonite Church in East Germany. Bernhard is Read More
June 1919, the Canadian government banned Mennonites from entering Canada. In speaking to the proposed legislation, John Wesley Edwards said “Whether they be called Mennonites, Hutterites, or any kind of ‘ites,’ we do not want them to come to Canada… if they are willing to allow others to do their Read More