Modern life
“The car [is] the child and charm of modernity,” writes sociologist Donald Kraybill. A century ago, this new technology became another dividing line between Mennonites who contested or accepted—even embraced—modern life. This photo of horse sheds outside Elmira Mennonite Church, Ont., in 1955, captures a moment of embrace. How will coming changes in transportation technology…
Mennonite refugees arrive in Waterloo
A camera captures the moment on July 19, 1924, when Mennonite immigrants from Russia met their “Swiss” Mennonite cousins in Ontario. The so-called Swiss Mennonites were the first Mennonites to immigrate to Canada, beginning in the late 1700s. They were followed by the Amish, who arrived directly from Europe, beginning in the 1820s. The Russian…
David K. Jantzi
David K. Jantzi came from an Old Order Amish family. He felt obligated to become a conscientious objector during the Second World War because “the church required it.” In his second year of alternative service, his personal attitude changed, as he realized that “non-resistance is much deeper than not going to war.” A cabinet maker…
David Klassen
David Klassen of Rosenfeld, Manitoba, age 83, poses for an informal portrait at a family reunion. The photo is from a 1955 article in The Canadian Mennonite, which frequently published articles about family reunions and wedding anniversaries as matters of wider interest to the Mennonite community. The articles contained such details as the family’s history…
Cat train
In this Mennonite Pioneer Mission photo, a “cat train,” powered by a caterpillar tractor, travels along an ice road, hauling supplies to northern Manitoba communities in the 1950s. Ice roads provide an economical way to transport goods to communities not connected to the all-weather road system. For more historical photos in the Mennonite Archival Image…
Gift for the Queen
Fifty years ago, in June 1973, Queen Elizabeth II visited the Waterloo region. What gift could she be given to represent the area? These two bronze figures of an Old Order couple by Waterloo artist Renie Ellis were chosen. At the time, Mennonites constituted about 10 percent of the area’s population. For more historical photos…
Bergthal church
The Ontario Mennonite businessman Jacob Y. Shantz established rough housing for newcomers and promoted immigration to a place he called Didsbury, N.W.T., in 1893. In the following two years, Mennonites from Ontario and Manitoba arrived to what became known as Didsbury, Alta. The Bergthal Church was established there in 1903 and became part of the…
Harold Cardinal
Cree chief, lawyer and author Harold Cardinal speaks at a symposium on “Native Peoples” at the University of Waterloo, Ont., in 1976. The event was planned by Conrad Grebel College students, and attracted Indigenous students from other universities, as well as Dene and Haudenosaunee participants and civil servants. Prominent topics included Indigenous control of their…
Peter J. Dyck
Peter J. Dyck was recognized with an honorary doctorate from the University of Waterloo on Oct. 18, 1974. Dyck was born in 1914 and immigrated with his family to a farm near Laird, Saskatchewan, in 1927. During World War II, he and his wife, Elfrieda were part of the MCC work in Europe helping refugees…
Cairn unveiled
Hochstadt, Man., near Altona was the location of the first delegate meeting of the Conference of Mennonites in Canada (CMC) in 1903. A cairn was unveiled in July 1978 at that location to mark the 75th anniversary. On the left is Peter J. Hamm, but who is the man with the beard on the right?…
