Mennonite
Historical
Society

of Alberta

Namaka-Carseland-Strathmore Mennonite District Committee fonds

Accession 2002.019

Title and Physical Description

Namaka-Carseland-Strathmore Mennonite District Committee fonds. – 1937-1974. – 3.5 cm of textual records

Administrative/Biographical History

The Namaka-Carseland-Strathmore Mennonite District Committee was one of many local committees of the Vertreterversammlung der Mennonitischen Ansiedler Albertas (Representative Association of Mennonite Settlers in Alberta).  It included Mennonite Brethren and General Conference Mennonites who had migrated from a variety of places and churches in the Soviet Union in the 1920s.  Some had purchased and settled on Namaka Farm, an 8 square mile tract of land southeast of Strathmore, Alberta, and others on area farms.  Repayment of the transportation debt incurred by the immigrants was the most urgent concern of the Vertreterversammlung, but various inter-Mennonite mutal aid social, healthcare, cultural and economic programs were also established.  Members were assessed a levy or tax to cover operating costs of the Vertreterversammlung.  The Namaka-Carseland-Strathmore district committee also estalished its own cemetery and burial society and negotiated contracts with a doctor and the hospital in Rosemary whereby membership fees covered pat of the doctor’s incom and the hospital operating costs in return for significantly reduced fees for services received by members.  During and after World War II overseas aid and relief programs were created.  In 1963 some of the programs were merged to form Mennonite Central Committee, Alberta, while others, at various times, were closed or spun off as stand-alone agencies.

Custodial History

The records were received from Henry Goerzen

Scope and Content

The fonds consists of membership lists, financial records, and minutes.

Source of Acquisition

Donated by Henry Goerzen

Associated Materials

Records of the Vertreterversammlung der Mennonitischen Ansiedler Alberta’s (see MHSA Accession

Related Materials

-Namaka Mennonite Brethren Church fonds, MHSA
-Goerzen Henry D., (2000) Namaka, 1925-2000:Celebrating God’s Faithfulness from Generation to Generation. Didsbury, AB:Mennonite Historical Society of Alberta
Trails to Little Corner: A Story of Namaka and Surrounding Districts (Calgary: Namaka Community Historical Committee, 1993.

File List

1-1 Kassenbuch – Carselan