4928 Treffer anzeigen

3/16” stack. Jacob ter Meulen (1884-1962)”studied history and was librarian of the Peace Palace at The Hague 1924-1952... He was one of the first Dutch pacifists and an active member of the Mennonite Peace Association (Arbeidsgroep tegen de Krijgsdienst).”--GAMEO. He corresponded with Bender almost always in English.

The following annotations may not conform exactly to those in the folder's "Items", because these represent a bit of editing and reformatting. {1} H. S. Bender to Ernest E. Miller, in India, February 20, 1937: glad to hear Miller would be joining the Goshen faculty--President Yoder [S. C. Yoder--Sanford C. Yoder, Sanford Calvin Yoder] had officially invited Miller, Miller had accepted; “We will not use M. C. Lehman [Martin Clifford Lehman, “Cliff” Lehman] beyond the academic year 1937-1938”; hoped Miller could start in September 1938--if not, would have to go into the market and hire a non-Mennonite [apparently meaning for 1938-1939], but hoped not; Yoder giving Miller details; mention “Dr. Hertzler” [Silas Hertzler] as head of education department; mention Mary Royer, Paul Mininger as teachers, and about teaching Psychology; etc. {2}Ernest E. Miller to Bender (Dhamtari Christian Academy letterhead, he as Principal), April 19, 1937: happy for February 20 letter; it would help Miller select courses at New York University; had informed Yoder why he could not begin in Fall [1937?]; on how he might adjust his schedule; news from his school. {3}Ernest E. Miller to Bender (still from India), September 13, 1937: form letter with attachment, inviting comment on Miller’s plan for his advanced education. {4}Bender to Dr. John Dale Russell of University of Chicago Department of Education, December 10, 1938 [but the “8” pencilled out and “1937” added as correction]: due to his parents’ ill health, Ernest E. Miller wanted to be closer to Indiana than he would be in New York, so upon returning from India he wished to study at Chicago rather than at New York University as planned; on behalf of Miller, asking questions about Miller’s transferring from New York University to University of Chicago, including whether Miller could submit the dissertation he had written for the New York institution; etc. • • • REPLY, John Dale Russell to Bender, December 14, 1937: Miller would need residency at Chicago for three quarters etc. etc. {5}Ernest E. Miller to Bender, April , 1938: was at Masontown, Pennsylvania, with Metzler [probably A. J. Metzler, Abram J. Metzler] Miller had visited at the remnants of old church house where the first Mennonite Sunday School had occurred; citing a precedent of American Colleges obtaining marble blocks from Geneva Switzerland (as explained to Miller by Orie Gerig [O. B. Gerig, Orie B. Gerig), Miller proposed that Goshen might get some stones from that old church building to put into the foundation of the new Memorial Library at Goshen College; mention Mennonite Historical Library. {6}Miller to Bender, October 17, 1938, from New York City: from “Bro. Graber” [C. L. Graber, Christian L. Graber, Chris Graber] had learned Bender’s health was improving--good news; comments on enrollment at Goshen and, after talking with A. E. Kreider [Amos E. Kreider], at Bluffton College; on Mennonite Colleges needing to cooperate--mention “our friend Milo” [Milo Kauffman?]; about courses he would teach; and his study program [at New York University]. {7}Bender to Miller, October 25, 1938: response to various points of Miller’s of October 23; that “Hesston has always felt freer to cooperate with Bethel in the west [sic]--Paul Erb was even on the Bethel College Advisory Board--but “the intensity of feeling in our middle west [sic] church relations is much greater than in the far west [sic]; etc. [interMennonite relations]. • • • REPLY, Miller to Bender, November 7, 1938: appreciation for the October 25 letter; personal report on feelings upon entering the educational program in New York, etc. etc.; had recently spent a weekend “with my cousin, Gaius Baumgartner, at Princeton”, attended a service in the Seminary chapel there and thought of his friends who had had that atmosphere; that S. C. Yoder [Sanford C. Yoder, Sanford Calvin Yoder] might visit him in New York--Miller hoped to be able to have long conversation with Yoder. {8} Ernest E. Miller to Bender, December 22, 1938: responding to an extant letter from Bender, December 15, a personal letter about seeing each other over the holidays; personal and professional details.

1/8” stack. John Mosemann, Sr. (1877-1938), was a bishop in Lancaster Mennonite Conference (MC), a manufacturer of peanut butter and seller of cheese, etc. He was quite fundamentalistic and outspoken at trends or developments in the church he deemed to be amiss.

About a dozen items, many--whether by Nickel or by Bender--in German.

A Kay Berger writing from Los Angeles in 1930 gave a long description of attending a Billy Sunday meeting at "the Bible Institute" [BIOLA?] and of liking the event very much, including the "fluent" sermon on atonement

Bessie Berkey, a Hesston graduate, writing from Chicago, wrote in 1930 that one feature of Chicago she disliked was "that it seems to be a 'Niggers'' [word posessive and underlined] town. I think they are taking possession."

A very interesting letter by Bender himself to his "Old Bunkie" Blauch [Lloyd E. Blauch], with Bender launching philosophical about applying rationalism to questions such as death and then commenting on Mennonites starting the Near East relief unit and on C.O. men in camps and at Leavenworth prison. Some letters show Bender at work gathering historical sources (and obviously evoking antagonism from an Eastern District minister, Victor B. Boyer;, March 6, 1928).

From Henry S. Burrage of Kennebunkport, Maine, a scholar of Anabaptism

"Not an 'open' letter," objecting rather vehemently to Dean N. E. Byers [Noah E. Byers] of Bluffton for a Byers statement in Christian Exponent saying John Horsch was not promulgating nonresistance. Of course Horsch was Bender's father-in-law, but the tensions related to the Exponent are probably more important. (Bender pointed to a key writing in German by Horsch and sent carbons to Horsch and to Lester Hostetler; Byers replied, and the two letters show the tensions of the day).

Thin folder (8 items). 1917-1928

Letters in this folder are some that passed between Bender and Daniel H. Bender. “D. H.” Bender was a brother of H. S. Bender’s father George L. Bender [G. L. Bender, George Lewis Bender, George Bender]. Like George, he was something of a denomination-wide leader in the (MC) Mennonite Church--in these letter from a base as Principal then President of Hesston College and Bible School in Kansas.

D. H. Bender to Bender, November 25, 1920 [stationery of Hesston Academy and Bible School, D. H. Bender now the President]: your special delivery letter came this morning [not extant here]; about whether D. H. would be coming to Elkhart--difficult, discussed his schedule; reference to H. S. Bender letter to Oscar Burkholder [not extant here]; then much about a meeting [somehow related to] “your questionaire” [sic]; wrote as if the meeting dealt with controversy [annotator’s guess is that it may have been a meeting of the Young People’s Conference--Bender had been made chairman of its Executive Committee the previous July (see Albert N. Keim’s biography, Harold S. Bender, 1897-1962, page 98 and elsewhere--see “Young People’s Conference” in index); also a reference to the matter being related to “the movement started in France” [see on-line in GAMEO, “Reconstruction Work (France)”, and “Young People's Conference”; in June 1919 workers in France had held a controversial conference at Clermont-en-Argonne that had helped spawn the Young People’s Conference in the U.S.A.]; rest of letter seems to be advice on how Bender should respond to these developments laden with generational conflict...; P.S., wanted Minnie Swartzendruber Geometry grade [later Minnie Graber, spouse of J. D. Graber (Joseph D.)].

D. H. Bender to Bender, December 15, 1920 [stationery of Hesston Academy and Bible School, D. H. Bender now the President]: had Bender letter of December 12 [not extant here]; sorry to hear that George L. Bender was running a temperature...; rest of letter is D. H.’s comments and advice about Bender’s leadership of the Young People’s Conference; spelled out the dilemma from the church leadership point of view, and how the dispute might be healed [the YPC side admitting error, and then...]; how the matter might look after some time; advice to go slowly; etc.

D. H. Bender to Bender, March 13, 1925 [stationery of Hesston Academy and Bible School, D. H. Bender, President]: thanks for altering dates for your program in June and the invitation to take part; could hardly give firm answer; was not clear just who was sponsoring the program and its nature; who was Dr. Newman?/ Sympathy for “the loss of your little one” [miscarriage?]; glad Elizabeth was doing well [Elizabeth Bender, Elizabeth Horsch Bender].

1/4" stack of letters mainly about Burkhart's academic plans and progress as he pursued post-secondary education.  (He discussed and write an M.A. thesis, 1929, at the University of Pittsburgh, titled The historical signification of the thought of Menno Simons concerning the incarnation of Jesus of Nazareth.  In his life he wrote various items for the church, and among whatever else, served as a fund-raiser for Goshen College.  Canadian-born, he also got involved in a court case on pacifism of one who applied for U. S. citizenship.)  Letters of December 1929 are on Hesston College and Bible School stationery.

1/4" stack of letters mainly on local Mennonite history from the region of Markham, Ontario, where Burkholder was a minister and eventually a teacher at Ontario Mennonite Bible School. Menion especially of Wideman congregation and Reeser family. Some typed-out historical documents (translated?) including a German one by Benjamin Eby.