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The personal papers of Ruth Marie Conrad Liechty include her journals, school work, writing projects, family correspondence, correspondence related to the Welcome Committee and the issue of homosexuality, and family papers related to her parents Louetta (Kauffmann) and Daniel Conrad.

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.

These papers of an (old) Mennonite Church writer and her pastor husband are divided into two series:

(1) Helen Good Brenneman Papers

(2) Virgil J. Brenneman Papers

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.

Papers of a Goshen Academy alumna (1922), long-time member of the Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Ind.), and missionary to Dhamtari, India later in life.  Contains a remarkable run of diaries, nearly unbroken, from 1910 to 1989, in which Smucker provides brief descriptions of her daily activities.  Also includes scrapbooks, postcard albums, her father's autograph book, and miscellaneous materials.

This collection chronicles the early life of Elizabeth M. Yoder Woodiwiss (1889-1986), who homesteaded in North Dakota from 1907-1910. Her diaries (photocopies of originals) record her experiences as a homesteader, as well as a few years after she returned to Pennsylvania.  Articles about Elizabeth are also in the collection, alongside her own recollections. There are also photographs depicting her as a homesteader and later in life, as well as photographs of the homesteading community.

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 created by Lydia Oyer, an early leader in Mennonite nursing education. The collection consists primarily of diaries Oyer kept throughout her years as a nurse practitioner, with very brief records on patients, personal activities, and the weather. The scrapbook contains photos, news clippings, and notes from friends, classmates, and teachers from her time at the Mennonite Hospital School of Nursing in La Junta, Colorado. Other writings include essays on religious topics and a poem.

The collection primarily includes diaries and scrapbooks. The scrapbooks consist largely of photos, obituaries and various news clippings. Her diaries include comments about the weather, domestic chores and her husband's outings.

Diaries created by two sisters who lived near Lima, Ohio.  Include brief entries about church services and meetings, Bible school, household chores, funerals, calling on friends, marriages, and  domestic activities. 

Mary Brenneman's diaries document the following years:  1909, 1915, 1964-1965, 1968-1970.

Martha Brenneman's diaries document the following years: 1915, 1936-1974.

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.

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.