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The bulk of the materials in this collection consist of sermons, poems, songs, and catechisms, a church register, and other religious writings documenting Mennonite church and community life in Balk, Friesland (The Netherlands) during the first part of nineteenth century, 1786-1850. The papers also include sermons, poems, correspondence, and other miscellaneous records pertaining to Balk Mennonite life in New Paris, Indiana.

Most materials are in Dutch. Available English translations are noted in the detailed collection description.

The collection is organized into series, most of which are groups of documents associated with the Smid Family siblings and the wife of R. J. Smid. Series include:

(1) Background Articles and Information on Balk Mennonites, 1948-2006

(2) Early Materials, 1786, undated

(3) Obe Johannes Smid, 1815-1849

(4) Akke Johannes Smid, 1820-1828

(5) Jacobjen Johannes Smid, 1822-1836

(6) Ruurd Johannes Smid (R. J. Smith), 1822-1893

(7) Grietje Jacobs Symensma (Margaret J. Smid), 1845-1895

These materials document the professional life of Lena Graber, a medical missionary who served the (old) Mennonite Church.  Graber worked in India and Nepal from 1944 to 1969 under the auspices of the Mennonite Board of Missions and the United Mission to Nepal.  Graber's incoming and outgoing correspondence with her sister, Esther Graber, is very rich with details about her life abroad and her work, especially the medical cases she encountered.  Also included in this collection are her diary she kept from 1944 to 1948, newspaper clippings, award and honors she received, transcripts of several speeches, and miscellaneous materials.

Personal papers of an (old) Mennonite Church pastor and conference minister and his wife.  These papers are divided into two series:

(1) Cleo A. Mann Papers, 1939-1980

(2) Nellie Miller Mann Papers, 1920-2000

These personal papers include autobiographical writing, photographs, slides, and ephemera pertaining to Nafziger's work as a Mennonite medical missionary in India.  They also contain some Nafziger family records, specifically a farm journal created by Christian Nafziger II.

Papers of a female missionary worker (nurse) in India (1931-1939).  Includes diaries, extensive correspondence with family and friends in the United States, and with Indian friends and colleagues she met in the course of her mission work.  Also includes elementary school, Sunday school, and college notes, diplomas, a scrapbook made by Prairie Street Mennonite Church for her time in India, Christmas letters from missionaries and missionary families, and miscellaneous annotated publications and clippings.

Miscellaneous materials collected by genealogist Eunice Deter to document the history of the Deter and Longanecker families.  Materials include photographs, correspondence, maps, financial and land records, wills and obituaries, biographies, diaries, and genealogy notes.  Other materials include various editions of the Longanecker family history written by Deter.

Personal papers documenting the early life and education of an (old) Mennonite pastor's wife.  Materials include a diary, correspondence, essays apparently written while studying at the Elkhart Institute and Goshen College, and miscellaneous materials.  The essays represent the richest source of information in this collection, as they provide insight into Johns's thoughts on a variety of subjects -- motherhood, marriage, temperance, modest dress, mission and evangelistic work, prayer, suffering, and so forth.  Some of the essays are brief fiction pieces, and researchers will also find original poetry among the essays.

A small set of personal papers created and collected by a former director of the Mennonite School of Nursing in La Junta, Colorado.  Materials include a 1948 study of Elkhart County hospitals and health care facilities, a 1954 Crhistmas letter, a student paper about the leaders of the Mennonite Nurses Association (by Norma F. Martin, 1963), and  a diary of Mosemann's trip to Asia and Africa in 1963-1964,

This small set of personal papers includes a diary documenting Bauman's service at the Youngstown Mission in Ohio from 1912 to 1913.  Also included among the papers are manuscripts of her essays and devotional writings, miscellaneous correspondence and family papers.

This collection is divided into 4 series:

1) General Correspondence

2) Family Correspondence

3) Correspondence to M. S. Steiner

4) Diaries and Miscellaneous