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CURRENTLY IN CULTURE
History from the bottom up: Mennonite diarists

Harold Jantz

I’ve always been attracted to the late George Rawlyk’s idea that history needs to be understood “from the bottom up” just as much as from the top down. Reading the ordinary lives of people is a valuable way of understanding the story of faith, though of course it runs the risk of getting lost in the detail.

I would like to draw attention to five diary collections, one already very dated, to point readers to a way of reading history that can be very enriching and which they may have overlooked till now.

The first is University of Winnipeg’s Royden Loewen’s From the Inside Out (Winnipeg, Man.: University of Manitoba Press, 1999, 350 pp.). This represents nearly a decade of work – on and off – by Kleine Gemeinde historian Loewen, and is a rich, diverse collection from the diaries of 21 Mennonites – women, men, from the Dutch–Russian stream and others from the Swiss stream, some leaders, some very ordinary members of their churches. They reflect the daily life of these people. In some cases, they are quite overt about the issues that relate to their faith; in other cases, they describe daily life without much reference to faith, yet it is always implicit. Loewen has written a very helpful introduction. I found especially interesting the diaries of Margareta Jansen, an 1874 immigrant from Russia; Abraham F. Reimer, son of the KG founder Klaas Reimer; Elias Eby of Bridgeport, Ont., who describes a number of issues facing the “Old” Mennonite church; and Kleine Gemeinde minister Peter R. Dueck. The introductions to the individual diarists are also very helpful. Royden Loewen’s collection is an excellent entrance to diary-reading.

We are indebted to John B. Toews of Regent College, Vancouver, for The Diaries of David Epp, 1837–1843 (Vancouver, B.C.: Regent College Publishing, 2000, 202 pp.). In this collection, Toews has translated, edited and also introduced the diaries of a minister of the Chortitza Mennonite Church, someone who came from a leading family of the colony, though never wealthy in material terms. (Incidentally, he also came from a family which produced a number of diarists.) The entries reflect a pious, troubled, dedicated servant of the church. Toews provides an excellent introduction, giving the reader a large head start into understanding what Epp is saying in many of his entries. What probably impressed me as much as anything was the great number of children who died before their first birthday. Epp conducted a child’s funeral virtually every week. I was also impressed by the many cases of church discipline with which he dealt. In many instances, the disciplined person was ex-communicated one Sunday and accepted back into the church the following, one gathers often to Epp’s dismay. Epp’s interest in education too is noteworthy. He reflects the attitude of someone who was open to new spiritual influences.

The Diary of Johann Johann Epp (Winnipeg, Man: family-published, 2000, 210 pp.) has been preserved in a private printing through the efforts of members of the Epp family, Fred and Irma Epp and Erika Epp Koop and a number of others, with help from Lawrence Klippenstein of the Mennonite Heritage Centre of Winnipeg. The diary begins in 1880 and ends on Dec. 17, 1919. Johann J. Epp too was a minister, elected in 1887. His diary provides an intimate insight into the personal life of a Mennonite active in the church and community. Tensions in the church, tragedy in the family, a visit abroad, interaction with other leaders of the church, the changing social and political conditions of the early 1900s, are all vividly described. Several appendices add useful information about Epp, about how the diary was preserved and about the family.

Troubles and Triumphs, 1914–1924 (Excerpts from the Diary of Peter J. Dyck, edited by John P. Dyck, Springstein, Manitoba, 1981, 266 pp.). This diary was translated and published a number of years ago and someone interested would likely need to search diligently to get hold of a copy. But it would be well worth the effort. The introduction is brief but provides necessary background to understand the writer. Its strength is the power of the description of Mennonite life leading up to the 1917 Bolshevik revolution and the chaos, suffering and uncertainty during the period of civil war and anarchy that followed. Dyck was a keen observer and had enough lines to sources of information, first as a businessman, then as manager of a credit union in Halbstadt, and finally as manager of the Orphans Care (Waisenamt) that as much was possible, he knew what was going on.

Harvey Dyck of the University of Toronto has probably set the standard for this kind of diary publication with his A Mennonite in Russia: The Diaries of Jacob D. Epp 1851–1880 (Toronto, Ont.: University of Toronto Press, 1991, 456 pp.). His work has an insightful introduction, extensive footnotes and a good index. A school teacher, lay minister, farmer, village secretary and community builder, never a wealthy man but nonetheless well connected within the Mennonite world of southern Russia, Epp provides a marvellous insight into the struggles and issues Mennonites faced during his lifetime, which encompassed decades of great change. His overriding concern was for the spiritual welfare of his community. The diaries begin in the Old Colony and continue through many years in the Judenplan (the Jewish plan where some Mennonites were located to provide a model to Jewish agricultural villages). One could hardly do better than begin with this translation.

Much of Mennonite Brethren spiritual history is connected to the settings these people describe. Anyone who delves into them will be rewarded.

Harold Jantz is a former editor of the Mennonite Brethren Herald and Christianweek. He lives in Winnipeg.

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Last modified October 9, 2002.

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