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Centre for MB Studies news

Photograph project proceeding

Peter Woelk joined the Centre staff on a half-time basis for the current year to work on a project that was initiated two years ago. The project, which was funded for the past two years under the Control of Holdings program of the Canadian Council of Archives, consists of processing the massive collection of Mennonite Brethren Herald photographs which have been collected since the founding of the Mennonite Brethren Herald in 1962. Approximately 3000 photographs were processed each year by Donovan Giesbrecht, which leaves approximately 10,000 or more photographs still to be processed. The photographs are first appraised and selected, resulting in the discarding of about 1/3. The remainder are arranged and described and entered into a searchable database. Finally, the photographs are placed in standard archival envelopes for storage.

Peter is working on this project on a temporary basis because of staff changes and budget adjustments in the Canadian MB Conference. The Centre is expecting to apply for a CCA grant again for the coming year to continue processing of photographs.

Centre placed under jurisdiction of new Board of Discipleship Ministries

As a result of a major restructuring of the Canadian MB Conference ratified at the convention in Abbotsford, BC in July, 2002, the Centre has been placed under the mandate of the newly created Board of Discipleship Ministries. A search for an Executive Director is currently underway. The Board of Communications, which was previously responsible for the Centre, has been discontinued, as has the Board of Christian Education. The more immediate supervision of the work of the Centre will continue under the Historical Committee. The Director of the Centre, Abe Dueck, is currently working on a half-time basis and expects to retire fully at the end of May.

75th anniversary of Concordia Hospital

Abe Dueck, Director of the Centre, has been commissioned by the Board of Directors of Concordia Hospital to write the 75th Anniversary book for Concordia Hospital. The hospital was founded in 1928 and will be celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2003. Dueck authored the 50th anniversary book in 1978. The new book will include much of the material in the previous edition, but will add a significant section on the past 25 years.

Recent accessions

1. Photo of the Maedchenschule (girl’s school) in Tiege, Molotschna, 1910 and a photo of the staff at one of Erdman Penner’s and Otto Schultz’s store on the West Reserve, ca. 1890. Donated by Bill Schroeder (Sutton Ave).
2. Winkler Mennonite Brethren Church minutes, reports, and Schwestern Verein materials.
3. Issues of the German language newspaper, Der Nordwesten, 1923–1953.
4. Cornerstone Community Church, Dartmouth, NS records, 1967–1993.
5. 4 photos of Maria Enns and Nikita Saloff-Astakoff, an evangelist in Russia and North America.
6. 7 books of Statutes and minutes of the Jugendverein of the Mennonite Brethren Church of Aberdeen, Saskatchewan, 1910–1956.
7. Photo album of photos from Isaac Wiens (1867–1942) and Katharina Warkentin (1869–1955). The photos are of the Wiens family and descendants who lived in the Winkler, MB area.
8. Correspondence to and from Linda Banman, missionary to Brazil, 1955–1986.
9. Borden MB Church records, 1906–1974.

Photo identification by reader

The September issue of the Mennonite Historian (XXVIII, 3, 2002) carried a photograph on p. 10 of the funeral of William (Wilhelm?) Klassen in the Ignatyevo Colony in southern Russia and asked readers to help identify other individuals in the photograph. Mr. Herman A. Neufeld of Tehachapi, California wrote and indicated that the individual in the front row, third from the left, was Elder Hermann A. Neufeld and that it was probably taken in 1923 or shortly prior to that. A search of the journals of Elder Neufeld, which are housed at the CMBS archives in Winnipeg and which have also been translated by the grandson, Herman A. Neufeld of California, may also yield further information. Thank you to Mr. Neufeld, who has also sent the photo to Dr. Abe Neufeld (Elder Neufeld’s son) to seek to identify others in the photo.

—A.D.

Dr. Helmut Huebert, Chair of the Historical Committee of CMBS and co-editor (with William Schroeder) of the Mennonite Historical Atlas, presenting the 5000th copy of the atlas to Paul Friesen, librarian at Canadian Mennonite University. Photo: Courtesy of Conrad Stoesz

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