Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario

Classification scheme:

XV-30

Title: Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario fonds

Dates of creation: 1965-
Note: Further accruals are expected

Physical description: 1.3 m of textual records

Administrative history: The Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario held its first meeting on 8 May 1965, though it was not formally organized until the following month. The Society has been loosely affiliated with Conrad Grebel College since its inception. J. Winfield Fretz, the first President of the College, also served as the Society's president from its inception until 1977.

The Society has carried out a variety of projects as well as regular public meetings. It publishes a semi-annual periodical (Mennogespräch (1983-1992) and Ontario Mennonite History (1992- )).

The Society was the formal sponsor of the Mennonite Bicentennial Commission which celebrated the 200th anniversary of Mennonites in Canada in 1986. The records of the Commission are archived under that organization. The Society is also a member of the Mennonite Historical Society of Canada, and prior to that worked jointed with the Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society in sponsoring the Mennonites in Canada history book series by Frank H. Epp.

Presidents of the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario have been: J. Winfield Fretz (1965-1977), Orland Gingerich (1977-1980), Sam Steiner, (1980-1981, 1998-2000, 2002-2006), Alice Koch (1981-1992), E. Reginald Good (1992-1998), Marlene Epp (2000-2002), Maurice Martin (2006- ). Lorna Bergey served as secretary from 1968-2000.

Custodial history: The fonds has been regularly deposited in the Mennonite Archives of Ontario since its formation.

Scope and content: There are five series: Board records, Project records, Publications, Minor Publications and Artifacts.

Notes: Original description prepared by Sam Steiner 25 November 2004

File list:

Series 1: Board Records

Legal records
Charitable registration, 1969
Ontario Corporate Charter, 1977
Constitution, 1965
Bylaws, 1977
Copyright, "Trail of the Conestoga" drama by Norma Rudy
Copyright, The Mennonites of Ontario by J. Winfield Fretz, 1967
Memo of Understanding with Conrad Grebel College, 1996
Affiliation with Ontario Historical Society, 1986
Annual registration under corporate registration act, 1986-2000, 2002
Endowment Fund Agreement - Mennonite Bicentennial Commission, MCEC & MHSO, 1991 (Perpetual care for Bicentennial Monument in Vineland)
Gertrude Bergey bequest, 2007-2010
Memo of understanding re the Mennonite Archives of Ontario, 2 Dec 2010
Minutes (Board and Annual)
1965-1967
1968-1969
1970-1977 (Note: Probably not complete.)
1974-1980
1977-1994 (Note: Annual meetings as recorded in corporate book)
1980-Jun 2011, 2018
Correspondence
1965-1977
1980-1997
1998-2006 (incomplete)
2007-May 2011
Financial records
1965-1972, 1975
1972/73-1973/74
1974-1986
1986-2011
Ontario Heritage Grant Applications, 1976-2002
Membership lists
1966-1970
Note: Subsequent membership lists can be found in the correspondence files.
Newsletter Committee
1992-1994, 1997, 2001, 2003-2009, 2011-2013, 2015-2018
Note: Includes license agreement with EBSCO Publishing, 2012.
GAMEO Ontario Subcommittee
Nov 2001-May 2006
Genealogy Committee
Lorraine Roth file, 1981-1988
Note: Transferred from Lorraine Roth fonds Hist.Mss. 1.117
Helen Freeman file, 1981-1985
Note: Transferred from Lorraine Roth fonds Hist.Mss. 1.117
Chronologies of society events, 1966-1990
J. Winfield Fretz Award/ J. Winfield Fretz Publication Fund, 1992, 1997-1999, 2001, 2009
Note: Includes a paper submitted by Isaac R. Horst ("The Krehbiel-Lapp Controversy," Oct 1997); and one by Maria Steinman ("Hidden Acres Mennonite Camp and Retreat Centre").

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Series 2: Projects

Mennonites in Ontario by J. Winfield Fretz (1967, 1974)
Typescript, 1967
Tearsheets, 1967
Correspondence, 1966-1974
Centennial Pageant "The New Commandment" (1967)
Script by Barbara Coffman, 1967
Artwork, background material
Correspondence, committee minutes, 1966-1967
Trail of the Conestoga (Play and film) (1969, 1970, 1973, 1977 (film))
Script by Norma Rudy, 1969
Correspondence, records, 1969 production
Correspondence, records, 1970 production
Correspondence, records, 1973 production
Correspondence, records, 1973-1977 film production
Memorandum of Understanding re: royalties with Norma Rudy, 1977
Brubacher House (1966- )
Correspondence, minutes, etc., 1966-1978
Newsclippings, 1968-
Architectural Drawings, Sept. 1968
Contract/Specifications of restoration, 1976
Memo of Understanding with Conrad Grebel College, 1996
Brubacher House storyline and tour scripts, [19--], 1983, [1995?], 2000. This file also includes a draft of Ancestors & Descendents of John E. Brubacher and Magdalena M. Musselman by Paul A. Hunsberger (2002), and notes for several tours given by Lorna Bergey.
Reports (visitor count, etc.) by hosts, 1994-2004
Brubacher House Committee minutes, 1979-2003
Appraisal for artefact donations, 1999
Note: Appraisal is for: Linen show towel by Magdalena Eby Betzner (b.1813); Jacquard woven coverlet by Catherine Sherk Brubacher (1798-1882)
Brubacher House Museum / produced by W. E. Nassau for the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario. - optical disc. (labelled "master") 15 min., 2005.
Brubacher House / Schaefer, 1981. - col. print ; 39 x 32 cm (in frame). - Inscription reads: "Brubacher House: The City of Waterloo Council and LACAC recognize your contribution in preserving our heritage." - Originally presented to the University of Waterloo. Received by the Archives from the University of Waterloo's president's office in 2015.
Brubacher antique dresser documents, 2014
Spinning wheel correspondence, 2017
Catherine and Martin Brubacher coverlet donation, 2019
Donation of quilt made by Louisa Cressman Brubacher (1860-1934), 2020
Photographs, 1980-1991, 2012
Presentation to MHSO by Marlene Epp and Laura Enns on new Brubacher House signage, .mp4 of online meeting, October 2020 (located in MAO Media Archive)
Deed of Gift for nursing rocking char, 2022
Misc. documents from hosts, 2001-2006
Brubacher House presentation slides and script, 1988. Note: Hist.Mss.10.45 is the physical location for the slides. The slide set and accompanying script is described in the Mennonite Archival Information Database.
And When Their Time Had Come (1970-1976)
Tentative Script, 1971
Resumés of principals in E. Mina Associates, 1971
Correspondence, 1970-1976
Treasurer's Records on Project, 1971-1977
Booking records, 1973-1983
This Land is Ours / Beyond This Land (1970-1975)
Correspondence, 1970-1975
Booking records, 1973-1981
South Bend, Indiana production, 1973
Note: This file was donated in 2018 by John Bender. A poster for the production was donated in 2021 by Fred Lichti (located in map case).
Dee Fria : a Low German Dialect Play (1970)
Script by Arnold Dyck
Program and Poster
Brubacher House DVD, 2004-2006
Minutes & correspondence, 2004-2006 (minutes start with meeting #8)
Amish & Their Neighbours by Lorraine Roth, 1996-1998
Financial records
Mennonites in Ontario by Marlene Epp, 1990-
Notes, financial records, etc.
Reesor play, Sept 2009
Poster (located in map case)
Amish Bicentennial, 2022
Note: Includes report, minutes, program, etc. Poster located in map case. One file is restricted.
Russlaender immigration commemorations, 2023
Poster and program for "The Place of Memory," Waterloo
Program for Saengerfest, Winnipeg

Series 3: Publications

Mennonites in Ontario
The Mennonites in Ontario by J. Winfield Fretz (1967)
The Mennonites in Ontario by J. Winfield Fretz (1974)
The Mennonites in Ontario by J. Winfield Fretz (1982)
Mennonites in Ontario by Marlene Epp (1994)
Mennonites in Ontario by Marlene Epp (2002)
A Brief History of Mennonites in Ontario by L. J. Burkholder (1986 reprint)
Willing Service : Stories of Ontario Mennonite Women by Lorraine Roth (1992)
The Amish and Their Neighbours : the German Block, Wilmot Township 1822-1860 by Lorraine Roth (1998, 1999 reprint)
Semiannual Newsletter
Mennogespräch (1983-1992)
Ontario Mennonite History (1993-2011)
Brochures

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Series 4: Minor Publications / Unpublished Papers

Bulletin
Mimeographed issues published in 1966, 1969, 1970, 1973 (also press releases from 1965 and 1969)
"Recent Amish Immigration to Ontario" by Joseph Stoll (1966)
"Early Amish Settlements and Their Development" by Orland Gingerich (1966)
"The Family Bible" by Walter Klaassen (1968)
Note: Moved to XV-30.4/5
"Historical Comments on the Froschauer Bible" by Delbert Gratz; "The Family Bible: by Walter Klaassen
Scope and content: Program, guest list, and remarks made by Gratz and Klaassen on the occasion of the donation of the Schneider family Bible to the Mennonite Archives of Ontario.
Mennonite Tour of Waterloo County (1972)
"Two Mennonite Cultures Meet" by J. Winfield Fretz (1974)
"The Human Drama of Conrad Grebel" by Leland Harder (1975)
"Practical Sight Singing for Singing Schools" by Allen D. Martin (1978)(Song samples only)
"The Cober Dunkard Church in Vaughan" (1978)
"The Mennonites in Essex County" by Mary M. Janzen (1979)
"A Historical Sketch of Bertie Congregation" by Abbie Sider (1980)
"Mennonite History in the Southern Niagara Peninsula" by Harold Nigh (1981)
"A Resume of the History of the Blake Mennonite Church" by Gordon Erb (1981)
Mennonite Historical Society Bus Trip (1982) (North and West areas of Kitchener-Waterloo)
"Berea Mennonite Church" (1982)
"Tour of Early Mennonite Settlement in Waterloo Township" [Tour & map] (1983)
"Field Trip to the Mennonite Settlements in the Townships of North Dumfries, Blenheim and Blandford" by Lorna Bergey (1984)
Celebrating Our First Twenty Years (1985)
Tour of The Twenty (Vineland area) (1986)
Five Mennonite tour maps (derived from Mennonite Bicentennial Tour Map)(1986)
Tour of Vineland area (Map, 1992)
Bloomingdale Area Tour (1996)
"Tour of Early Mennonite Settlement -- Preston, Doon, Blair, Beaverdale, Riverbank Dr." by Lorna Bergey (1997)
"Amish Mennonite Settlers of Wilmot Township" [Tour text] by Alice Koch, et al (1998)
Markham area tour (1999)
"Remembering the Arrival of Mennonite Refugees from Russia in July 1924" [program and associated papers] (1999)
Generic Mennonite Settlement in Waterloo County tour by Lorna Bergey (1980s)
"Disappearing Mennonites of Welland County" by Sam Steiner (2006); includes text of presentation, travel commentary and map
"A Century of Christian Education" [Sunday School at East Zorra Mennonite Church] by Shirley J. Wagler (2003)
"Mennonite village life in Russia" / by Herbert Enns
Scope and content: text of presentation given at the fall meeting, 23 Nov 1968.
"Report given at the Stirling Ave. Mennonite Church on July 26/70 [relating his experiences in Russia in connection with the work of Mennonite Central Committee during the famine of 1922]" / by Nicholas Fehderau (1970)
History of Dunnville United Mennonite Church, 1927-1977 / Susan Dyck
Scope and content: Presentation at the MHSO annual meeting, 1977
1888-1988 [a history of Waterloo-Kitchener Mennonite Church] / Herbert Enns
Scope and content: Presentation at the MHSO annual meeting, 1988
History of Black/Mennonite interaction in Peel Township: driving tour, Saturday, June 15th, 2013 [pamphlet] / Timothy Epp. File also includes maps.
Biographical notes on the pioneer Rieser farm, Markham, Ontario / Ada Reesor, 2 Oct 1969