J. Kenneth Kreider Papers, 1955-2025 | Earl H. and Anita F. Hess Archives and Special Collections

By Brooklyn Torquato '27

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Collection Overview

Title: J. Kenneth Kreider Papers, 1955-2025

ID: MSS/MSS-0034

Primary Creator: Kreider, J. Kenneth (1934-2025)

Extent: 1.25 Linear Feet

Scope and Contents of the Materials

This collection contains correspondence, personal diaries, reports, speeches, newspaper clippings, newsletters, and a photograph album relevant to Dr. John Kenneth Kreider’s personal life and work with the Brethren Volunteer Service. Personal correspondence spans from February 1955 to August 1957 and includes topics on the University Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he was assigned to be a normal control patient by the Brethren Volunteer Service program, as well as Kreider’s return home from Ann Arbor, his personal life, and his photography hobby. Correspondents include A. Clyde Kreider (his father), Catherine Herr Neff Kreider (his mother), and John Eberly. Three diaries, which encompass the years 1955 to1957, detail Kreider's trip abroad to Europe as a member of the Brethren Volunteer Service. A booklet in German celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Church of the Brethren. Reports from September 1955 to August 1957 written by Kreider detail his work in and travels in various European countries, particularly Germany, Austria, and Italy as a Brethren Volunteer Service member, including notes on the Heifer Project Initiative. Newspaper clippings, several featuring Kreider and some written by him, comment on the aims and achievements of the Brethren Volunteer Service and Heifer Project overseas. Clippings from the Church of the Brethren’s Gospel Messenger newsletter covers the Heifer project and Brethren volunteers serving in German. An album of annotated photographs shows the Brethren volunteers in action: providing clothes, facilitating activities, and supporting refugees in West Germany. The collection also includes later correspondence and papers from the 1960s, during his time in Elizabethtown. The speeches, ranging from 1956 to 2025, cover a variety of subject matter such as the goals and beliefs of the Church of the Brethren, the Vietnam war, conflict in the Middle East, social protest, education, politics, Christianity, peacemaking, and Elizabethtown College.

Collection Historical Note

Dr. J. [John] Kenneth Kreider (April 7, 1934 - October 19, 2025), Professor of History Emeritus, taught at Elizabethtown College for 35 years, retiring in 1999. He focused on Russian and European history, and many of his publications draw on his Brethren upbringing.

Raised in Buck, Lancaster County, Kreider grew up in the Church of the Brethren. After graduating from Southern Lancaster County Joint High School, Kreider was a conscientious objector and served in alternative service for three years. He primarily worked with Heifer Project International on post-World-War-II reconstruction in Germany and Austria.

Back in the U.S., Kreider obtained an A.B. degree from Elizabethtown College (history major, political science minor, 1961) and later M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the Pennsylvania State University. He spent his teaching career at Elizabethtown College, where he served as History Department Chair, Personnel Council Chair, and a member of the Library Committee. During the Vietnam War, he actively participated in anti-war demonstrations on campus and in the community. His wife, Carroll Kreider, also taught at the College, retiring as a Professor of Business in 1999. Both were popular teachers. In 2013 Dr. Thomas Conner (a 1972 graduate of Elizabethtown College and a current professor at Hillside College) funded the Kreider Prize endowment in their honor. The Kreider Prize for Excellence in Teaching honors both Kreiders “for their inspirational service to countless students at Elizabethtown College.”

In retirement, Kreider published the book A Cup of Cold Water: The Story of Brethren Service (Brethren Press, 2001), the autobiography From the Buck to E-town: An Awesome Journey (Brethren Press, 2010), and several articles including one in Chicken Soup for the Grandma’s Soul (Canfield, Hanser, Theiman, 2005). He frequently delivered speeches and sermons throughout his life.

For the complete autobiography from which this biographical note is taken, see box 2 folder 91. His full autobiography, From the Buck to Etown, is located in the High Library, Hess Archives, and Young Center, and details his travels to all seven continents (106 foreign countries and all 50 of the United States).

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Box:

[Box 1],
[Box 2],
[Box 3],
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Box 1

Folder 1: "...County Youth Says," Intelligencer Journal, Lancaster, PA, Nov. 19, 1956
Folder 2: "What the Church of the Brethren is doing in Cold War," Mechanic Grove Church of the Brethren, Fall 1957
Folder 3: "The United States and Vietnam; from a Historical Viewpoint," E-town College, Dec. 1-2, 1965
Folder 4: "Pacifism, What about it?" E-town Church of the Brethren, July 1966
Folder 5: "Why I am a pacifist," Eastern District Youth Conference, East Fairview Church of the Brethren, Nov. 19, 1967
Folder 6: "Vietnam," Elizabethtown, Mar. 20, 1968
Folder 7: "Brethren View of War," Interfaith Seminar, Harrisburg, PA, 1968
Folder 8: "Peace: Whose Formula?" Lancaster Church of the Brethren, Feb. 16, 1969
Folder 9: "Brethren Origins in Europe," Lancaster Mennonite Conference, Historical Society, Mar. 5, 1973
Folder 10: "Arab-Israeli Problem," Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, Nov. 4, 1973
Folder 11: "In Defense of Wayne Zunkel," Council Meeting, Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, 1975
Folder 12: "Candidates - election 1976," Honor Society, Elizabethtown College, Apr. 7, 1976
Folder 13: "Roots," Lititz Church of the Brethren Youth Retreat, Camp Swatara, Feb. 12, 1977
Folder 14: "ROTC in Our Schools?" Elizabethtown Area School Board, Dec. 15, 1977
Folder 15: "Keep ROTC Out of Our Schools," PA Council of Churches, Harrisburg, Apr. 11, 1978
Folder 16: "Peace Sermon #2", May 14, 1978
Folder 17: "What is a CO? Should I be one?" Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, Dec. 27, 1978
Folder 18: "Testimony Before House Select Committee - Effects of Three Mile Island", May 31, 1979
Folder 19: "Message to Kreider family reunion," Camp Swatara, Dec. 30, 1979
Folder 20: "The Bible is a Dangerous Book," Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, 1970s
Folder 21: "Peace Position in the Early Church - up to the Reformation," Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, 1970s
Folder 22: "Peace Position of the Churches after the Reformation," Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, 1970s
Folder 23: "The Brethren in Colonial America," Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, 1970s
Folder 24: "Man's relationship to his fellow man," Annville Church of the Brethren, 1970s
Folder 25: "The Christian and Education," Lititz Church of the Brethren, 1970s
Folder 26: "Race and Renewal of the Church," Atlantic Northeast District, 1970s
Folder 27: "Can there be too much social protest?" Atlantic Northeast District, 1970s
Folder 28: "A Christian and the World," delivered in several locations, 1970s-1980s
Folder 29: "Education is in your Hands," Freshman Honor Society, Elizabethtown College, Mar. 16, 1980
Folder 30: "Christians in a Troubled Age," Chapel Service, Elizabethtown College, Oct. 5, 1980
Folder 31: "Presidential Elections," Adult Elective Sunday School Class, Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, Nov. 2 1980
Folder 32: "Christian Peacemakers," Spring Creek Church of the Brethren, Hershey, PA, Dec. 2, 1980
Folder 33: "World Understanding," Mt. Joy Rotary Club, Feb. 24, 1981
Folder 34: "Oberammergau Passion Play," Mechanic Grove Church of the Brethren, Mar. 15, 1981
Folder 35: "Moral Implications...," PA Council for Interfaith Cooperation, Harrisburg, Oct. 20, 1981
Folder 36: "Three Most Critical Issues to be Faced by the Church," Atlantic Northeast District Board Retreat, Nov. 7, 1981
Folder 37: "Gun Control," Harrisburg Church of the Brethren, Mar. 14, 1982
Folder 38: "Poland in Crisis," Lancaster County Social Studies Association, May 6, 1982
Folder 39: "Youth and the Draft; Country and God," Sunday School, East Fairview Church of the Brethren, June 13, 1982
Folder 40: "M.R. Zigler's 91st Birthday Party," New Windsor, MD, Nov. 9, 1982
Folder 41: "Peace on an Individual Basis," Lancaster Church of the Brethren, 1982
Folder 42: "Peace - Whose Formula?" Brethren World Peace Academy, New Windsor, MD, Feb. 6, 1983
Folder 43: "Brethren Youth," letter to youth of the Atlantic Northeast District Church of the Brethren, Dec. 1983
Folder 44: "The Soviet Union in 1983," Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, Dec. 3, 1983
Folder 45: "How One Deals with the Peace Issue," Annual Conference, Phoenix, AZ, July 6, 1985
Folder 46: "Historical Background to Understanding the Russians," US-USSR Peace Initiatives, On Earth Peace Assembly, Dec. 13, 1985
Folder 47: "Message to the Kreider Family Reunion," Camp Swatara, Dec. 28, 1986
Folder 48: "Our Brethren Heritage," Lititz Church of the Brethren class, Camp Swatara, Mar. 28, 1987
Folder 49: "Personal Observations of visit to Soviet Union", July 1987
Folder 50: "Peacemaking; How does it affect me?" Church of the Brethren workshop, Ephrata, Nov. 14, 1987
Folder 51: "Soviet Union," All College Assembly, Elizabethtown College, Jan. 25, 1988
Folder 52: "Brethren Service - from Colonial Period to..." Sunday School, Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, Feb. 14, 1988
Folder 53: "Brethren in 19th and 20th Centuries," Adult Elective Sunday School, Elizabethtown, Feb. 21, 1988
Folder 54: "BPF-BRF," Insight Session, Annual Conference, St. Louis, MO, July 1988
Folder 55: "National Universalism," Adult Elective Sunday School class, Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, 1988
Folder 56: "Christian Businessperson in Historical Perspective," Manheim, PA, May 31, 1989
Folder 57: "Last Lecture," Elizabethtown College, 1980s
Folder 58: "Brethren Peace Position," East Fairview Church of the Brethren, Sep. 26, 1990
Folder 59: "Elizabethtown College During the 1960s," Elizabethtown College, 1990s
Folder 60: "A Better Tomorrow: Justice For All," World Day of Prayer, Brethren Village, Mar. 2, 1990
Folder 61: "Brethren Service; Middle East," East Fairview Church of the Brethren, Oct. 17, 1990
Folder 62: "Letter to Barry Schmuck" The Spoke, Elizabethtown Rotary Club, Feb. 15, 1991
Folder 63: "Freshman Orientation," Elizabethtown College, June 27, 1992
Folder 64: "Religious Change in Russia," Elizabethtown Alumni Dinner, Richmond, Virginia, July 4, 1992
Folder 65: "Tales of Travel," Harrisburg Church of the Brethren Sunday School, Feb. 11, 1992
Folder 66: "Beginnings of Brethren Service," Awards Dinner, Elizabethtown, Apr. 27, 1992
Folder 67: "Brethren Heritage," Seekers Class, Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, Apr. 4, 1993
Folder 68: "Travails of the Early Church - and later," Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, Apr. 11, 1993
Folder 69: "Brethren in Eastern USA," Glen Landis Historical Tour Group, Aug. 29, 1993
Folder 70: "Hershey and the Pennsylvania Dutch Country," EACUBO conference, Hershey, PA, Oct. 18, 1993
Folder 71: "M.R. Ziegler and On Earth Peace," Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, Jan. 22, 1995
Folder 72: "Bio Letter to David Kerkove," On Earth Peace Organization, May 20, 1996
Folder 73: "Another Dimension to the Debate," Elizabethtown Rotary Spoke, June 7, 1996
Folder 74: "Letter in Support of Professor Jill Bartoli," Elizabethtown College, Sep. 16, 1996
Folder 75: "Brethren Heritage," Seekers Class, Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, Dec. 8, 1996
Folder 76: "Recollections from my short visit to Elgin", Aug. 10, 1998
Folder 77: "My Early Experiences at Elizabethtown College," Faculty Forum, Elizabethtown College, Sep. 9, 1998
Folder 78: "My Experience in BVS," Myerstown Church of the Brethren, Sep. 20, 1998
Folder 79: "Florence May Neff Kreider," Eulogy, Mechanic Grove Church of the Brethren, Oct. 22, 1998
Folder 80: "Introduction to COB," New Members Class, Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, May 9, 1999
Folder 81: "Cup of Cold Water", Mar. 18, 1999
Folder 82: "Reflections on Brethren Service," Annual Conference, Milwaukee, WI, July 1, 1999
Folder 83: "Stories of Brethren Service," Annual Conference, Milwaukee, WI, July 1, 1999
Folder 84: "Peacekeeping in Today's World: Focus on Middle East and Palestine", Oct. 29, 1999
Folder 85: "Let Your Joys Be Known," Youth Class, Lititz Church of the Brethren, Dec. 19, 1999
Folder 86: "Moses and the Midlife Crisis," Sunday School Class, Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, Nov. 21, 1999
Folder 87: "Egypt," Address to Elizabethtown College Alumni, Boston, MA, Jan. 22, 2000
Folder 88: "Brethren Pacifism and Non-Violence," Senior High class, Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, Apr, 9, 2000
Folder 89: "Stories of Brethren Service," Young Center, Elizabethtown College, Apr. 11, 2000
Folder 90: "Storytelling," Elizabethtown College, Apr. 26, 2000
Folder 91: "Voting as an Expression of my Christian Faith," Discovery Class, Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, Nov. 5, 2000
Folder 92: "Elizabethtown in Our Lives," Press release, Elizabethtown College, 2000
Folder 93: "Historical Background of Alexander Mack and the Schwarzenau Seven", 2000
Folder 94: "President's Address," Induction as President to Rotary Club, Lititz, PA, June 21, 2001
Folder 95: "Brethren Service - and Ramifications for the Future," Annual Conference, Baltimore, MD, July 2001

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