150 years in America


Issue 2024, vol. 78

The year 2024 marks 150 years since the majority of “Russian” or “Schweitzer” Mennonites immigrated to North America (mostly from present-day Poland and Ukraine). Several articles in this issue of Mennonite Life are directly related to that anniversary. We also recommend Paul Schrag’s excellent overview, “Transplants that flourished,” in the June 2024 issue of Anabaptist World, https://anabaptistworld.org/transplants-that-flourished/

Special events have taken place in the first half of the year, with more to come through the summer and fall. See below for a listing.

César García and Sandra Báez of Mennonite World Conference, in the Hartzler Bible Lectures delivered last March at Bethel College, also remind us that the Anabaptist family in the last 150 years has extended across the globe, to Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia and beyond, and that the ease of travel and advancement of technology have both expanded and drawn together the Mennonite world.

This issue also includes consideration of Elder Wilhelm Ewert’s (one of the 1874 immigrants) response in 1873 to another Mennonite pastor’s defense of military service; a description of a “German Mennonite Western” from 1883; (some of) the story of an ardent Mennonite socialist who wrote prolifically in the first part of the 20th century although he was confined to bed and nearly immobilized; and Maxwell Kennel’s interview with Ron Tiessen about wide-ranging thoughts on his novel Menno in Athens.

In “Book Matter,” nine reviewers look at 10 recent books that range from poetry to theology to creation care to “theapoetics.”

150th immigration anniversary events

Jan. 28, 2024: Rod Ratzlaff, “Origins of Alexanderwohl, Hoffnungsau and Lone Tree: The Legacy of the Old Flemish Mennonites of Przechówko,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g5VVv5xGmA

Feb. 18: Mark Jantzen, “Fifty-three Years in the Russian Empire,”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTpDzX0ITAk

June 9: Arlin Buller, “A Mennonite Story Timeline – The Big Picture,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCKFcsVbw04

July 14, Tabor Mennonite Church, rural Goessel: “Kaw People and the Alexanderwohl People Side-by-Side Stories,” Pauline Sharp with Annette Voth

Aug. 2, 7 p.m., Goessel High School Auditorium (part of annual Country Threshing Days): “From Russia to Kansas: A Story of the 1874 Mennonite Immigration,” narrated pictorial presentation telling the story of the Alexanderwohl immigrants as they left South Russia and made their home at “Neu-Alexanderwohl”; includes firsthand accounts from diaries and newspapers; https://www.goesselmuseum.com/country-threshing-days-goessel

Sept. 22, 3 p.m., Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church, Goessel: Walk to the site of the original immigrant houses northeast of the church building; a tour highlighting the church’s architectural features; viewing of the original church membership books from Przechówko and Molotschna, along with other hidden gems; outline of the ship Cimbria drawn on the ground south of the shelter house; flags in the church cemetery marking immigrant graves; samples of food that may have been part of the immigrants’ journey

Newton to Alexanderwohl and Peabody to Alexanderwohl immigrant houses self-guided tours, created by Brian Stucky, are available on the museum website homepage, https://www.goesselmuseum.com/

  • Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies at Tabor College, Hillsboro, Kan.

April 20: Mennonite Heritage Tour of sites significant to the 1874 arrival of Mennonites in Marion County: Brunk Cemetery, Gnadenau orphanage and village, Ebenfeld Mennonite Brethren Church and cemetery, Peabody (Kan.) train station and POW building, Hillcrest Cemetery in Florence, Kan., and Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church, Goessel, Kan.

April 21: CMBS annual dinner with keynote address by Benjamin Schmidt, Wichita, “Forerunners of Faithfulness: The Gnadenau Krimmer Mennonite Brethren Settlement in Marion County, Kan.,” and presale of a children’s ABC book highlighting Mennonites immigrating to Marion County, produced by Derek Hamm, Tabor associate professor of graphic design, and Advanced Graphic Design students

July 13: Opening of 1974 time capsule during Henderson Heritage Days. The capsule was buried Oct. 14, 1974, to mark the centennial of the arrival in Henderson of 35 Mennonite families from the Russian Empire. Four generations of the Friesen family put items into the time capsule: Rev. A.W. Friesen (Bible), Dr. Harold Friesen (articles about current medicine), Marlene Friesen Thieszen (cookbook) and Connie Thieszen (autographs from her and her 6th-grade classmates). The capsule also contains letters from other Henderson community members, public school classes and Sunday school classes describing what they thought might be of historical interest 50 years later; church yearbooks; a school handbook; a commercial club book; photos; hymnbooks; and church constitutions.

July 29, 2023: Plowing bee, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKqIX1RMHj8

March 23-24, 2024: A Goodly Heritage, drama exploring the history of the Swiss Volhynian Mennonites, written by Jenny Schrag with Dawn Abrahams, choir directed by Bonita Howard, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay_ln9B2cUk

March 31: Unveiling of commemorative sculpture, “Fields of Hope,” by Ann Zerger and Chip Parker in Moundridge

May 4-5: A Century of Mennonite Quilts, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdPcFF81oPU and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KthOZ8idkDs

early June: Turkey Red winter wheat binding and shocking

Aug. 23-25: 150th-Year Celebration of Coming to America, Eden Mennonite Church, rural Moundridge. Friday night: keynote address by Wynn Goering, Albuquerque, with singing led by Austin McCabe-Juhnke, Columbus, Ohio, and William Eash, North Newton; Saturday: readers theater, seminars, Turkey Red wheat threshing and milling, visits to nearby historical sites, children’s activities, food trucks, ethnic evening meal by reservation, “Menno Night Live: Schweitzers and Friends Edition”; Sunday: service with a special choir and a sermon by Nathan Stucky, Princeton, N.J. Register at: https://swissmennonite.org/150th-year-celebration/

Three-part series of moderated panel discussions with Dan Flyger, Marnette (Ortman) Hofer, Norman Hofer and S. Roy Kaufman: June 2; July 14, “From Russia to Dakota”; Aug. 4, 3 p.m., “Arrival on the Dakota Prairie”

  • Canada

Toronto filmmaker Dale Hildebrand says he’s still on track to debut his documentary about the 1874 arrival of Mennonites in Canada in early August. See https://anabaptistworld.org/canadian-filmmaker-no-whitewash-in-story-of-migration-from-russia/

Aug. 3-5: annual Pioneer Days, this year celebrating the 150th anniversary of Mennonites arriving in Manitoba. Pioneer demonstrations, steam-powered threshing, live music, ethnic food and the grand opening of the new exhibit “Mennonite Reflections – Arriving in Manitoba 150 Years Ago”

Aug. 17: Annual cycle-a-thon fundraiser along the Peace Trail, from “Mennonite Landing” at the Red and Rat Rivers, past important historic locations, ending at MHV

Aug. 18: “Celebrating 150 Years: A Tapestry of Pioneering Women,” sponsored by the MHV Auxiliary. Personal stories of pioneering women as told by Marylou Driedger, Eleanore Chornoboy and members of the auxiliary, concluding with faspa. Ticket purchase required; call 204-326-9661.

  • Hoffnungsau Mennonite Church, rural Inman, Kan.

Aug. 31-Sept. 1: “Celebrating 150 Years of a Hopeful View,” https://www.hoffchurch.com/150th-celebration

Sept. 29, 2024-May 25, 2025: Special exhibit, “Unlocking the Past: Immigrant Artifacts and the Stories They Tell,” with monthly programs at the museum, including:

Oct. 25: Living Endowment Dinner with Michal Targowski, assistant professor of history, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, Poland, considered the Polish expert on Mennonites in the Vistula River valley

  • 2024 Menno Simons Lectures at Bethel College

Oct. 27-28: Eric Schmaltz, professor of history and global studies, Northwestern Oklahoma University, Alva