Calvin Redekop Old Colony Mennonite Research Collection, 1952-2012 | Earl H. and Anita F. Hess Archives and Special Collections

By Benjamin Errickson '19 and Abigail Sholes '23

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Collection Overview

Collection Historical Note

Administrative Information

Box and Folder Listing

Series 1: Correspondence and Research Materials, 1956-2012

The contents of this series relate to a variety of projects Calvin Redekop was involved in between 1956-2012 concerning the Old Colony Mennonites in Mexico and Canada. Folders 1 and 2 relate to Redekop’s collaborative research with Charles Loomis, professor at Michigan State University. These folders contain correspondence between Redekop and Loomis, as well as correspondence involving John Hostetler and J. Winfield Fretz, plus articles relevant to the project. Subjects of focus among correspondents include Old Colony Mennonites in Latin America, Loomis’ research trip to India, and Redekop’s research in Mexico. Important titles include “The Plain People—Their Place in Sociological Study,” “Socio-Economic Change and the Religious Factor in India,” “Mennonites in Mexico: A Study of Cultural Interaction,” and “The Old Colony Mennonites: Dilemmas of Ethnic Minority Life.” Folder 3 contains information specific to Redekop’s population research in Manitoba and Mexico, including population reports (in German), statistics, notes, newspaper clippings, and correspondence. Correspondence is in both German and English, and correspondents include Calvin Redekop, Isaac Dyck, Gordon Allen, Jacob Rempel, and Carl Jantzen. Geographically, research was based in Bolivia, Manitoba, British Honduras, and Cuauhtemoc. Redekop was involved in the Manitoba Plan and Swift Plan during this research period. Folder 4 consists of correspondence between Calvin Redekop and future senator Gabrielle Giffords, on the topic of Giffords’ Watson Fellowship Proposal and Fulbright project. The Watson Fellowship was aimed towards fieldwork in Cuauhtemoc, Mexico, and the Fulbright focuses on Mennonites in Mexico. Included among the correspondence are examples of demographic data collected by Giffords in the Mexican archives, photocopies from Mennonite “wish books,” and an outline for a traveling exhibition on Mexican Mennonites funded by the Arizona Historical Society. Folders 5-12, as well as volume 1, pertain to Redekop’s collaboration with geneticist Gordon Allen. Correspondence, articles, and research material related to demographic research conducted by Redekop and Allen is included in this series, with materials in both English and German. Correspondents include Calvin Redekop, Gordon Allen, Ken Barkmen, David Eitzen, Isaac Wolf, Klaas Fehr, Isaac Dyck, Franz Gunter, and John Hostetler. Subjects of correspondence largely pertain to research: the census in Mexico, the creation of the census, and Redekop and Allen’s publication in the Social Biology journal. Other materials in the series pertaining to this work include newspaper articles, interview questions, surveys, and statistical data, as well as extensive demographic research papers and notes. Redekop’s fieldwork notebook from the project is also included. Folders 13-16 contain a variety of research materials and correspondence on Old Colony Mennonites in English, German and Spanish. Research materials range from bibliographies and reports to newspaper clippings and magazine article about the Old Colony Mennonites and Redekop’s research. Correspondents include Calvin Redekop, William Janzen, Joyce Miller Rios, Abe Warkentin, Gordon Allen, and John Hostetler. In their correspondence, these individuals discuss the Mennonites of Mexico and Canada, migration from Mexico to Canada, and the Projections for Kanadier Work in Mexico. Finally, in folder 17, the series contains general information and papers about Mexico, including a pamphlet, a report, newspaper and magazine clippings, and a Spanish language magazine. This subject matter of this material relates to the Villa Jones Center, as well as the effect of Mexican people on the United States and Mennonites in Mexico.

Folder 1: Charles Loomis Collaboration Correspondence, 1956-1959

Folder 2: Charles Loomis Collaboration Correspondence and Articles, 1960-1978

Folder 3: Manitoba/Mexico Population Research and Correspondence, 1977-1985

Folder 4: Correspondence to/from Gabrielle Giffords, 1992-1994

Folder 5: Gordon Allen Collaboration Correspondence, 1965-1966

Folder 6: Gordon Allen Collaboration Correspondence, 1966-1975, undated

Folder 7: Research and Correspondence to/from Gordon Allen, 1980-1990

Folder 8: Correspondence to/from Gordon Allen and Calvin Redekop, 1966-1976

Folder 9: Correspondence to/from Ken Barkman, 1967-1969

Folder 10: Correspondence to/from David Eitzen, 1967

Folder 11: Demographic Research Papers, 1958-1989

Folder 12: Demographic Research Notes, undated

Volume 1: Notebook, 1964-1968

Folder 13: Old Colony Mennonite Research Materials and Correspondence, 1956-1966

Folder 14: Old Colony Mennonite Research Materials and Correspondence, 1966-1977

Folder 15: Old Colony Mennonite Research Materials and Correspondence, 1977-1987

Folder 16: Old Colony Mennonite Research Materials and Correspondence, 1987-2012

Folder 17: General Mexico Information, 1963-2004

Series 2: Visual Materials, c. 1952-1989

This series contains various visual materials including photographs, postcards, and a transparency depicting Old Colony Mennonites. Topics include the modernization of the Old Colony during the 1950s, traditional Old Colony Styles, the Manitoba Plan, daily life of Old Colony Mennonites, and Redekop’s 1989 trip to Mexico. Images location are Mexican cities and states, including Chihuahua, Chortitz, and Cuauhtemoc. Most of the photographs were taken by Jeri and Rohn Engh.

Folder 18: Photographs, c. 1952-1989

Folder 19: Photographs, c. 1952-1989

Folder 20: Postcards, Photographs, and Negatives, c. 1952-1989

Series 3: Dissertation Research, 1958-1959

The two volumes contained in this series include demographic data, interview transcriptions, and other materials from Redekop’s 1958-1959 dissertation research in Chortitz, Manitoba and Chihuahua, Mexico. The “Demographic Data” volume contains fieldwork notes and data which was used for statistical purposes, including maps, suicide statistics, population numbers, birth numbers, and death numbers. The “Mexican Data (original)” volume contains interview questions, transcriptions, and notes. Interview questions cover Old Colony migration, development, the separation from other Mennonite groups, systems of leadership, religion, education, economy, thoughts on voluntary membership, other groups of people, decision making, their lives in Mexico, modern culture, and what being a member of the Old Colony means to individuals.

Volume 2: Demographic Data, 1958-1959

Volume 3: Mexico Data (original), 1958-1959