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Mennonite Archives of OntarioConrad Grebel University College
140 Westmount Road North
Waterloo, ON N2L 3G6
Phone: 519-885-0220 x24238
Title: Helene (Heese) Toews fonds
Dates of creation: 1934-2018 ; predominantly 1934-1960
Physical description: 6 cm of textual records
Biographical sketch: Helene (Heese) Toews (1893-1983) was born in Chortitza, South Russia to Heinrich and Margarete (Peters) Heese. She became a student at the Chortitza Madchenschule (school for girls) and finished her education at the Weibliche Gymnasium (high school for women) in Ekaterinoslav (now Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine). She taught at the Madchenschule before marrying Bernhard Toews in 1913. The couple had three sons. The family immigrated to Canada in 1927, settling briefly in Niverville, Manitoba before moving to southwestern Ontario and then Vineland. In 1937 the family moved to the Virgil area. In 1944, after Bernhard's death, Helene moved to St. Catharines.
Despite numerous personal hardships, Helene Toews became a community leader. She took an active interest in church affairs, attending local, national and North American Mennonite conferences at her own expense (this was at a time when women were not sent as official delegates to Mennonite conferences). At a Conference of Mennonites in Canada meeting in 1945, she read a paper to a gathering of provincial women's organizations on "Die wahre Bestimmung der Frau" (the true role of women). She argued that women could work for God's kingdom outside of the realm of the family. Inspired by the organizations of Mennonite women in other provinces, she resolved to help organize the women of the United Mennonite Churches of Ontario. In May 1947, the United Mennonite Women's Mission Society of Ontario (later Ontario Women in Mission) was founded; Helene Toews was elected president and served until 1961.
Helene Toews was also a writer. She authored Glueckliche, sonnige Schulzeit (happy, sunny schooldays), a book of memories of former students and teachers at the Madchenschule, in 1952. Unpublished writings include a detailed account of her 10-day journey to the Soviet Union in 1960; she was one of the first of the 1920s Mennonite emmigrants to revisit that country. She also wrote an unpublished, spiritual autobiography which she titled "Gottes Worke an meiner Seele" (God's works upon my soul).
Custodial history: Donated to the Archives in 2009 as part of the Ontario Women in Mission fonds. Additional transcripts provided by Jakob Michael Stephan in 2018.
Scope and content: The fonds consist of Helene Toews' autobiographical writings, speech scripts, and an account of her trip to the Soviet Union in 1960. The fonds also includes various items hand copied by Helene Toews (poems, passages from devotional books, songs, etc.) that were meaningful to her. All her writings (files 1-3) are in German. Some of her writings were transliterated from Gothic to Latin script by Klara Wiens Knelsen (file 4). Some were transcribed and translated by Jakob Michael Stephan (file 5).
Notes: For additional information, see: "Helene Toews," Der Bote, August 24,1983, 6; Ontario Women in Mission. Ontario Women in Mission. S.l.: Ontario Women in Mission, 1977; Stephan, Jakob Michael, "A Mennonite women's [sic] story about doubt and leadership," Ontario Mennonite History XXXVII no.1 (June 2019): 4-7.
Original archival description created 2020 by Laureen Harder-Gissing with notes from Jakob Stephan.
File list:
2. Notebook, ca. 1934-1950
3. Loose papers
4. Writings transliterated by Klara Wiens Knelsen (some are not found in files 1-3)
5. Transliterations and translations by Jakob Stephan
Generally 9:00 am - 4:00 pm Monday to Friday. An appointment in advance is recommended.
Phone: 519-885-0220 x24238
Conrad Grebel University College
140 Westmount Road North
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G6
519-885-0220
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