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Erland Waltner Papers

  • US BCMLA 00/MS.383
  • Collection
  • 1920-2000

Waltner’s papers are extensive and cover his career and service in great detail. Waltner discarded very little, and this is immediately evidenced by the detailed notes and student papers surviving for the classes he took at Bethel, the University of South Dakota, and all three seminaries where he studied. A handful of Winifred’s student papers are included. Both Erland and Winifred kept journals, and Erland actually retained his pocket calendars listing appointments for virtually his entire career. The most significant documentation of the Waltner family is their correspondence, especially some thirty years of nearly weekly letters from Erland’s father, Ben J Waltner. Also revealing the story of the Waltner family are the frequent letters between Erland and Winifred; corresponding whenever they were apart early in the marriage and whenever he traveled to his numerous speaking engagements. The demand for him to speak is documented by many hundreds of letters inviting him to speak, and far more invitations were received than he could accept. Perhaps of most interest to the historian will be Waltner’s extensive correspondence regarding the Mennonite Biblical Seminary and as a General Conference leader in the 1940s and 1950s. Included are details regarding the revival of the seminary and its early years in Chicago. Most significant are likely the negotiations with the Mennonite Church (Old Mennonites) regarding the move of the seminary to Elkhart and the early cooperative efforts, which includes a number of original letters with Harold S. Bender. Also of interest are a decade of letters from E. G. Kaufman trying to recruit Waltner to Bethel College, and letters from those trying to recruit him to the seminary at the same time. Waltner’s involvement with the Board of Education and Publication and numerous subcommittees will have overlapping documentation in the archives of the General Conference, but some materials are not duplicates. This is perhaps most true of the six years of correspondence as conference president. The Board of Missions papers are mostly duplicates of the conference archives, including many numbered and circular letters, but interspersed are some likely original letters not in the church archives. (The collection contains several folders of letters from other, mostly older, General Conference leaders which Waltner somehow acquired and retained). The correspondence and reports Waltner saved from his work with MCC and MWC are also significant although not extensive. He even has papers documenting the beginning of the Mennonite Medical Association (and for many years seemed to be the only non-doctor on the membership list). He was often the person called upon to represent the General Conference in inter-Mennonite activities in the fifties, sixties, and seventies. Waltner was a founder of the first General Conference Mennonite Church in Elkhart, Hively Avenue, and the collection contains materials related to the beginning of the church and its ongoing activities. One surprise might be that this collection does not contain significant documentation from Waltner’s two decades as seminary president - these official files from his administrative duties are at the seminary as they should be. Following his retirement, Waltner did continue to receive and retained a thorough set of faculty minutes and memos. Some of these communications with other faculty may be unique copies. What is definitely unique among Waltner’s seminary papers are the thousands of pages of lecture notes, course syllabi, student papers, exams, and other evaluations. These cover a period of nearly forty years (late fifties through early nineties) and provide insight into what was being taught at a very detailed level. Although perhaps less significant historically than the MBS and General Conference materials, this collection also documents the thinking and preaching of one of the most significant General Conference preachers of the twentieth century. As many as fifteen hundred to two thousand of his sermons have survived - most are in outline form on half sheets of paper and almost all have the place/occasion and date included. They are generally sorted by the scripture passage, i.e. all of the sermons on Mark, Psalms, Job, etc. Some are sorted by topic. However, they maybe found everywhere - so a folder for a seminary course on Peter may contain a handful of sermon outlines on Peter from the 1940s or 1950s. In one respect these sermons are important because only a decade of the over four decades of sermons were as a pastor of a congregation. The demand for Waltner to preach was overwhelming and it seems like he was preaching somewhere every Sunday, including not only at local congregations but also district conferences and a host of special events, such as ordinations, building dedications, commencements, and so forth.

A handful of Waltner’s early sermons in Mountain Lake were in German, and be preached in German during some of his earlier MCC and MWC travels in Canada, Europe and South America. Otherwise the collection is in English.

Waltner, Erland, 1914-2009

Partly Dave Coffee House (Elkhart, Ind.) Records 1965-1975

  • US MCUSAA AMBS IV-I
  • Collection
  • 1965-2012

Records pertaining to an ecumenical ministry based in a coffee house known as the Partly Dave Coffee House (Elkhart, Ind.). Divided into six series:

(1) Administrative Records and Minutes, 1966-1979 (2) Financial Records, 1966-1975 (3) Publicity, 1966-1975 (4) Events, 1970-1975 (5) Correspondence, 1966-1974 (6) Miscellaneous, 1965-2012

These records are housed in the AMBS archives.

Partly Dave Coffee House (Elkhart, Ind.) Records

Paul H. and Dorothy Hackman Martin Papers

  • US MCUSAA HM1-1029
  • Collection
  • 1921 - 2018

The collection consists mainly of sermon notes and correspondence, in particular letters to/from family members.

Martin, Paul H., 1921-2018

Mamie Smith and Vernon Snyder Correspondence

  • US MCUSAA HM1-1049
  • Collection
  • 1918-1921

Correspondence between Mamie (Smith) Snyder and Vernon Snyder written between 1918 and 1921, the year of their marriage.

Snyder, Vernon S., 1899-1988

S. D. Guengerich Papers

  • US MCUSAA HM1/002
  • Collection
  • 1841-1937

These papers consist of six series:

(1) Diaries

(2) Correspondence

(3) Business and Financial Records

(4) Educational Records

(5) Publishing Interests and Manuscripts

(6) Miscellaneous

Guengerich, S. D. (Samuel D.), 1836-1929

David Plank Papers

  • US MCUSAA HM1/005
  • Collection
  • 1837-1933

These papers of an Amish-Mennonite bishop in Ohio are divided into two series:

(1) Correspondence, 1837-1907

(2) Miscellaneous, 1863-1933

Plank, David, 1833-1912

David Helmuth Correspondence

  • US MCUSAA HM1/006
  • Collection
  • 1960-1985

David and Naomi Helmuth, a Mennonite missionary couple, worked at the Betania School in Puerto Rico under the Mennonite Board of Missions during the early 1960s. About half of this collection consists of David Helmuth's correspondence with mission board staff, fellow pastors, and other missionaries in Puerto Rico. The collection also holds a small amount of personal correspondence with friends and family.

Although the Helmuths returned to the United States in the late 1960s, David Helmuth continued to work with the mission board through the early 1970s. The collection documents this work as well. Helmuth entered the pastorate in 1982 at First Mennonite Church in Middlebury, Indiana. A small amount of correspondence pertains to this transition.

Helmuth, David

John K. Yoder Papers

  • US MCUSAA HM1/007
  • Collection
  • 1845-1899

A small set of papers of an Amish Mennonite bishop in  Wayne County, Ohio, consisting largely of incoming correspondence.

Yoder, John K., 1824-1906

John Horsch Papers

  • US MCUSAA HM1/008
  • Collection
  • 1873-1966

Personal papers of a Mennonite writer and historian affiliated with the (old) Mennonite Church.  Divided into four series:

(1) Correspondence, 1873-1940

(2) Notes and Manuscripts, circa 1873-1945

(3) Clippings Scapbooks and Notebooks, circa 1903-1927

(4) Miscellaneous, 1884-1966

Horsch, John, 1867-1941

J. D. (Jacob D.) Mininger Papers 1900-1941

  • US MCUSAA HM1/011
  • Collection
  • 1900-1991

These papers of an (old) Mennonite Church evangelist and pastor to religious conscientious objectors at Fort Leavenworth during World War I are divided into five series:

(1) Correspondence, 1900-1941

(2) Materials on Conscientious Objectors at Fort Leavenworth, 1918-1919

(3) Subject Files,circa 1900-1941

(4) Sermons and Articles, undated

(5) Miscellaneous Materials, circa 1900-1991

Mininger, J. D. (Jacob D.), 1879-1941

Delton Franz Papers

  • US MCUSAA HM1/012
  • Collection
  • 1952-2000

Personal papers of a Mennonite pastor affiliated with the General Conference Mennonite Church who was a pioneer in interracial and urban ministry in the mid 20th century.  These papers are divided into two series:

  • (1) Correspondence and Subject Files
  • (2) Journals

Franz, Delton W., 1932-2006

Jason S. Martin Papers

  • US MCUSAA HM1/014
  • Collection
  • 1956-2002

Personal and pastoral papers of an (old) Mennonite Church pastor who served congregations in Indiana, worked as an interim pastor, and later became an overseer for the Indiana-Michigan Conference.  Materials include correspondence and subject files about his pastorates, congregations he served or consulted for, workshops and and publications, and miscellaneous topics.

Martin, Jason S.

J. S. (John Samuel) Coffman Papers 1861-1899

  • US MCUSAA HM1/019
  • Collection
  • 1861-1964

These personal papers of a late 19th century Mennonite evangelist are divided into five series:

(1) Diaries, 1871-1899

(2) Correspondence, 1866-1901

(3) Notebooks and Financial Records, 1861-1880

(4) Miscellaneous Materials, 1865-1905

(5) Barbara F. Coffman Material for John S. Coffman Biography, 1949-1963

(6) Bishop Samuel Coffman Materials, 1861-1893

Coffman, J. S. (John Samuel), 1848-1899

Daniel Kauffman Papers 1907-1944

  • US MCUSAA HM1/020
  • Collection
  • 1885-1984

These papers of a Mennonite bishop, author, teacher, and leader, are divided into two series:

(1) Correspondence, 1907-1943

(2) Manuscripts and Miscellaneous Materials, 1913-1984.

Kauffman, Daniel, 1865-1944

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