In 2023, the Mennonite Heritage Archives celebrates 90 years of service to the Mennonite community. It can trace its roots to the Conference of Mennonites in Canada’s annual sessions held June 26-28, 1933, in Gnadenthal (near Plum Coulee, Man.), when Bernhard Schellenberg (1879-1966) was appointed archivist. Schellenberg advocated for the creation of the archive, citing the confiscation of the Mennonite Archives in Ukraine by the Bolsheviks in 1929 and the need to start over. He captured the spirit of the sessions, saying that forgetting our past is a sign of being ungrateful to God for what he has done for us. Throughout his time as archivist (1933-1941) Schellenberg worked at collecting historical documents and books and promoting the archival program through articles in Der Bote. Today the Mennonite Heritage Archives has more than 600 metres of paper, 40,000 photographs and more than 5,000 hours of audio recordings.
For more historical photos in the Mennonite Archival Image Database, see archives.mhsc.ca.
More moments from yesterday:
Vineland List
Gilbert Snider
La Crete river landing
CMC Yearbooks
Henry Gerbrandt, missionary to Mexico
(Photo: Mennonite Heritage Archives)
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