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1958
Hutterian education: A descriptive study based on the Hutterian colonies within Warner county no. 5 Alberta Canada
William Douglas Knill The University of Montana
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Recommended Citation Knill, William Douglas, "Hutterian education: A descriptive study based on the Hutterian colonies within Warner county no. 5 Alberta Canada" (1958). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 5555. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/5555
This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HUTTERIAN.EDUCATION:. A DESCRIPTIVE STUDI BASED ON THE
HUTTERIAN COLONIES "WITHIN WARNER COUNTY NO. 5 ,
ALBERTA, CANADA
b y '
WILLIAM DOUGLAS KNILL
B.Ed., University of Alberta, 1950
Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts
MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY
1958
Approved by;
Chairman, Board of Examiners
Dean, Graduate School
AUG 2 2 1958 Date UMI Number: EP41019
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CHAPTER PAGE
I . . THE PROBLEM, PURPOSE, AND PROCEDURE OF THIS STUDY ...... 1
Significance of the Problem ...... 1
Purpose of this Study ...... It <•
Background for the s tu d y ...... ii
A history of Hutterian education ...... 5
School centralization ...... 5
The Hutterian school system ...... 6
...... 7 I Hutterian student achievement Assumptions, Delimitations, Limitations, Definition
o f T e r m s ...... 8
Assumptions ...... 8
Delimitations ...... 9
Lim itations ...... 9
Definition of Terms ...... 9
P r o c e d u r e s ...... 11
Background m aterial ...... 11
Collection of d a ta ...... lli
Treatm ent o f d ata ...... 15
Possible Outcomes . 15
I I . THE HUTTERIAN BRETHREN: 1 5 2 5 - 1 9 5 8 ...... 17
Historical Background ...... 18
The founding of the Church ...... 18
i i i i i
CHAPTER PAGE
Community of goods is established ...... 20
The first communal village ...... 21
Jacob Hutter and the naming of the Church ...... 21
P e rse c u tio n and m ig ra tio n ...... 22
The flight to Rumania and the U kraine ...... 25
The migration to A m erica ...... 26
The migration to Canada ...... 28
O bservable e f f e c ts o f th e Communal P ro p erty Act
in A l b e r t a ...... 31
Hutterian Doctrine and Beliefs ...... 35
Hutterian literature ...... 35
A summary of Hutterian religious tenets ...... 36
The H u tte ria n church s e rv ic e ...... 37
I I I . THE HUTTERIAN CULTURE ...... UO
A Typical Colony ...... ILL
Location and s iz e ...... ILL
Living quarters ...... ij.2
Colony buildings ...... i±ii
Colony organization ...... U6
Hutterian Dress and Customs ...... 5 l
C lothing ...... 51
Creative expression " ...... 53
Marriage customs ...... 5U
Cultural Motility ...... 57
Controlled acculturation ...... 58 iv
CHAPTER PAGE
• IV. A HISTORY OF HOTTERIAN EDUCATION ...... 6$
The Development of Hutterian S ch o o ls ...... 66
The first schools ...... 66
Jeronymus K aels ...... 68
Peter W alpot ...... 69
Andreas E hrenpreis ...... 71
Hutterian schools in Russia . . • ...... 73
Hutterian schools in the United S ta te s ...... 76
V. THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUTTERIAN SCHOOLS IN ALBERTA...... 79
The Establishment of Hutterian Public Schools ...... 79
First colony schools ...... 79
School district organization ...... 8 l
An experiment which f a ile d ...... 8 I4.
The relationship between Hutterite schools and
the school division ...... 85
The Legislative Committee Report of 19U 7 ...... 87
Proposed changes in the Hutterian public school ..... 88
Hutterian Education Today ...... 91
The Small S chool ...... 91
The German S c h o o l ...... 93
V I. THE HUTTERITE CHILD AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL...... 98
Child Development ...... 98
Two controls: Indoctrination and punishment ...... 99
A third control: Informing ...... 101
Horizontal identification ...... J . 102 V
CHAPTER PAGE
Submission to the common w ill ...... 103
The development of the "Hutterian conscience" ...... 105
The P u b lic School ...... 107
Instruction difficulties ...... 109
Education and social cohesion ...... 115
V II. HUTTERIAN STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT INTHE PUBLIC SCHOOL .... 116
Assumptions, Delimitations, Lim itations ...... 117
Assumptions ...... 117
Delim itations ...... 118
L i m i t a t i o n s ...... 119
Procedures ...... 120
Test Data Interpretations ...... 120
Reading ...... 121
Arithmetic ...... 122
Language ...... 130
A comparison of achievement ...... 138
Conclusions ...... Ikh
V III. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ...... 150
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... iSh
APPENDIX A. A T e stim o n ial L e t t e r ...... 161
APPENDIX B. Warner County No. 5 Policy for Hutterian Schools . . 163
APPENDIX C. A Petition Presented to the Warner County No. 5
School Committee ...... 166
APPENDIX D. A Letter from the M inister of Education,
The Honourable Mr. Barren Baker ...... 170 v i
CHAPTER PAGE
APPENDIX E. Alberta Hutterian Colonies: Address, Location,
and School D istrict ...... i ...... 172
APPENDIX F. Extracts from Annual Reports of the Department
of Education, 1918 - 1919 - 1920 176
APPENDIX G. Copy of Type of Agreement between a Divisional
Board and Hutterite C olony ...... 181
APPENDIX H. What the Church of Christ Is
and How One May J o in I t ...... I 8 I4.
APPENDIX I. Teacher Questionnaire ...... 187
APPENDIX J. Raw Scores Made on California Achievement Tests
Battery (Form AA) by Grades U, 5, 6 Students
in the Hutterite Schools of Warner County No. 5>,
March, 1958...... 191 LIST OF TABLES
TABLE PAGE
I. Location and Date of Erection of First Ten Hutterian
Colony Schools in A lb e rta ...... 80
II. A Summary of Grade Placements Made in Component
Tests of the California Achievement Battery by
Grade Four Students of the Hutterian Schools of
Warner County No, 5> March, 1958 ...... 12ij.
I I I . A Summary o f Grade Placem ents Made in Component
Tests of the California Achievement Battery by
Grade Five Students of the Hutterian Schools of
Warner County No. 5j March, 1958 ...... 126
IV . A Summary o f Grade Placem ents Made in Component
Tests of the California Achievement Battery by
Grade Six Students of the Hutterian Schools of
Warner County No. 5> March, 1958 ...... 128
V. A Comparison of Median Grade Placements Made in the
California Achievement Battery of Hutterian Students
and Centralized School Students in
Warner County No. $ ...... 1U3
v i i LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE PAGE
1. A Comparison of Scores Expressed as Grade Placements
Made in the Reading Test of the California Achievement
Battery by Grade Four Hutterian Students in Warner
County No. 5, March, 1958 ...... 131
2. A Comparison of Scores Expressed as Grade Placements
Made in the Reading Test of the California Achievement
Battery by Grade Five Hutterian Students in Warner
County No. 5, March, 1958 ...... 132
3. A Comparison of Scores Expressed as Grade Placements
Made in the Reading Test of the California Achievement
Battery by Grade Six Hutterian Students in Warner
County No. 5> March, 1958 ...... 133
U» A Comparison of Scores Expressed as Grade Placements
Made in the Arithmetic Test of the California Achievement
Battery by Grade Four Hutterian Students in Warner
County No. 5> March, 1958 ...... 135
5. A Comparison of Scores Expressed as Grade Placements
Made in the Arithmetic Test of the California Achievement
Battery by Grade Five Hutterian Students in Warner
County No. £, March, 1958 ...... 136
v i i i ix
FIGURE PAGE
6. A Comparison of Scores Expressed as Grade Placements
Made in the Arithmetic Test of the California Achievement
Battery by Grade Six Hutterian Students in Warner
County No. 5, March, 1958 ...... 137
7. A Comparison of Scores Expressed as .Grade Placements
Made in the Language Test of the California Achievement
Battery by Grade Four Hutterian Students in Warner
County No. 5, March, 1958 ...... 139
8. A Comparison of Scores Expressed as Grade Placements
Made in the Language Test of the California Achievement
Battery by Grade Five Hutterian Students in Warner
County No. 5, March, 1958 ...... 1L0
9. A Comparison of Scores Expressed as Grade Placements
Made in the Language Test of the California Achievement
Battery by Grade Six Hutterian Students in Warner
County No. $, March, 1958 ...... lU l
10. A Comparison of Total Scores Expressed as Grade Placements
Made in the California Achievement Battery between
Grade Four Hutterian Students and Eighty-six Unselected
Grade Four Students of Centralized Schools in
W arner County No. 5 ...... • 1L£ X
FIGURE PAGE
11. A Comparison of Total Scores Expressed as Grade Placements
Made in the California Achievement Battery between Grade
Five Hutterian Students and Sixty Unselected Grade Five
Students of Centralized Schools in Warner County No. 5 • • 1U6
12. A Comparison of Total Scores Expressed as Grade Placements
Made in the California Achievement Battery between Grade
Six Hutterian Students and Seventy-seven Unselected Grade
Six Students of .Centralized Schools in Warner County
No. £ ...... ‘ lli7 CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM, PURPOSE, AND PROCEDURE OF THIS STUDY
Each society has its own peculiar background of education. The
degree of success a society attains in perpetuating its culture, creed, and institutions can be attributed in part to the adequacy of its educa- i* tional System.
The public school system, like a huge melting pot, essays the modification and transmutation of sects, classes, and races into useful citizens. The training offered by the public schools provides the means whereby individuals may become effective citizens, gain fuller and richer lives, and render some service to their community and country.
This writer endeavors to apply these broad philosophical objec tives of education to a small isolated group of Canadians. With the exception only of monastic orders, this assembly of Christians is the oldest communistic society in the world today.^
I . SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROBLEM
In 1918 eleven groups of people, known as the Hutterian Brethren and having a common faith , came to Alberta from South Dakota and Montana to establish communes and seek freedom to continue practicing their religious beliefs. Today, in-Alberta, there are over five thousand
^"Bertha W« Clark, "The Huterian [sic] C om m unitiesThe Journal o f P o l i t i c a l Economy, 32:14.81+, Ju n e , 1921+.
1 2
Hutterians in fifty colonies. To understand these peoples’ way of life
it is necessary to know the history of the Hutterian Brethren or, as
they are commonly known, the H utterites.
Jacob Hutter, from whom the Brethren derive their name, was one of the early founders, and he was burned at the stake, as a martyr, in
1!?36. For four centuries the Brethren were forced to flee from country to country: from Moravia to Transylvania and Hungary, then to Romania and Russia, finally to the United States and Canada. The blood their church martyrs shed for their beliefs provides a thin red line that can be traced throughout the history of the Reform Movement in Europe. To generalize their history it may be said they prospered in times of peace and were persecuted and forced to flee in times of war.
The essential differences between the tenets of most evangelical churches and those of the Hutterian Church are: (1) Their belief in having all property in common, (2) Their practice of nonresistance, (3)
Their refusal to take oaths, (U) Their refusal to hold public office, and (5) Their belief in adult baptism only upon profession of faith.
Deep religious sentiment is the keynote of every phase of the community life —in daily practice as well as theory. Theirs is a true communism, based upon biblical injunction. L ittle or nothing, has been reported about them in this respect. Their belief in common ownership reflects in every facet of their lives. The only distinction between members is the family name and the fact that each family has its own
^Rudolf Wolkan, Geschicht-Buch der Hutterischen Brueder (Macleod, Alberta, Canada: Standoff Colony, 1923), pp. 208-1*0. The Brethren’s statement of essential differences is given here. 3
sleeping compartment. Family life is stripped of all its characteris- 3 tics but procreative and affection giving.
The Hutterian communal way of life has posed problems to the
municipal and provincial governments in the Province of Alberta. Some
of these problems may be briefly stated:
1. Although the Hutterians pay their taxes promptly, they will not take part in any municipal government. Too many colonies within one municipality prevent the extension of services such as telephone and electrical.
2. They are isolated self-contained units in the social and eco nomic life of the province, and as a minority group they.have brought about a very definite feeling against themselves by the other citizens of the Province of Alberta. The Alberta Legislature passed the Land Sales Prohibition Act in 19h2 and a g a in in 19hu. In 19U7 The Communal P ro p e rty Act was p assed .
3. "The better qualified teachers do not wish to teach in Hutterite schools, and, thereby,, Hutterite children receive somewhat inferior instruction."^
1*. The Hutterian Brethren prefer to educate their own children in an ungraded school situated on colony land. The School Com mittee of the county would prefer to educate the Hutterite children in centralized schools, as some colonies are situated so that the entire set-up of centralization is disrupted.
In 19if!7 the Alberta School Trustees' Association and two school divisions submitted briefs to a Legislative Committee to the effect that the Hutterite school situation is inadequate, and that it will not fit the Hutterite children for a place in the Canadian way of life. They said that in not all instances do the Brethren meet all school regulations.-5
^B ert Kaplan and Thomas F . A* P la u t, P e rs o n a lity in a Communal Society (Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Publications, 1956), pT^OT " , '
^Report of The Legislative Committee regarding.. The Land Sales Prohibition Act, lfCE, as amended (Edmonton, Alberta: The Queen's Printer, l9k7), p. 1*.
'’i b i d . h
6. The Hutterite school building is also the Hutterian Church building, with services held as often as each week-day and twice on Sunday. As the Brethren believe in no adornment, schoolroom walls must be kept clear of all pictures and dis play material. As they believe in no entertainment, schools must not have radios, phonographs, pianos, or motion picture projectors. As they refuse to swear allegiance to the country, the flag is not displayed except during school hours. The public school teacher finds it difficult to implement the curriculum with these lim itations.
7. Low German, an archaic Tyrolean German dialect of the sixteenth century, is spoken at all times within the colony. Children enter school at seven years of age speaking this language. From their first year's training in the German School they are able to read and write High German. This previous training and the language barrier present special problems to the non- Hutterite teacher.
8. Each Hutterite colony sponsors its own educational program, with its own'teachers, for the children of the colony between the ages of two-and-a-half to fifteen years. The whole program is devoted to religious instruction and is a cloak of counter- indoctrination thrown around the public school.
An effort has been made to investigate those problems related to the field of education and to survey the Hutterian educational program.
I I . PUEPOSE OF THIS STUDY
Background for the Study
The educational system of any specified society or sect can be described only in the light of the members1 common history, traditions, beliefs, and institutions. To present the reader with a description of
Hutterian education, the setting must first be constructed.
A brief history of the Hutterian movement as a story of oppres sion and migrations is first presented. Emphasis is placed on the more recent historical developments of the movement. A description of a typical colony, its organization, and the Hutterian culture is dealt *
with next. Factors which may destroy or modify this culture and result
in the ultimate assimilation of these people are considered.
A History of Hutterian Education
An understanding of present day Hutterian education can be gained
only through a study of the historical development of their schools.
Little has been written in English about this phase of Hutterian life,
and it is necessary to go back to the writings of the early chroniclers
of the Brethren. A chronological description of Hutterian school^devel-
opment is given.
The establishment of an ungraded rural school in each colony at
the time each colony was formed in Alberta was the accepted procedure.
Prior to 1937, in Alberta, the rural school was the standard institution
for educating rural children. The trend since that period has been toward the centralization of schools. In the light of this change in rural education and the Brethren's determination.to maintain the status quo, a description of the development of Hutterian schools in Alberta is p re s e n te d .
School Centralization
Seven Hutterian colonies are established within Warner County
No. $• The land holdings of these colonies are as follows: Elmspring
Colony, 7,006 acres; Miami Colony, 9,728 acres; Milford Colony, 8,6 $9 acres; New Rockport Colony, 7,169 acres; O.K. Colony, 6,078 acres;
Sunnysite Colony, 8,000 acres; and Wolf Creek Colony, 7,200 acres.
Land holdings of this size disrupt the organization of the cen tralized schools. At present the only rural ungraded schools left in 6
the county are situated on the colonies. School buses pass by colony
land, but the Brethren refuse to let their children go to the central
ized schools. The Brethren's justification for this refusal is sub-
mitted in this study.
The H u tte ria n School System
A survey of the Hutterian school system is presented as a
descriptive study. The system includes the following educational in sti
tu tio n s :
The kindergarten. Children, ages two-and-a-half to six, are
placed in the kindergarten under the care of one or more elderly women.
The children have this school in a small separate building, often near
the public school building. Their first training in gregarious communal
living commences here.
The German School. At the age of six the children are placed under the supervision of the German Teacher. They spend one fu ll year
in the German School where they are instructed in the reading and w rit
ing of High German. Their formal education in the Hutterian religion
now begins. At the age of seven the Hutterian children enrol in grade
one of the public school but continue their German School as well. They
a re given f u r th e r in s tr u c tio n in th e High German lan g u ag e, and commence
an intensive program of religious training. Their attendance at German
School is required until they reach the age of fifteen. Upon graduation from the German School, they assume adult roles in colony life.
The Sunday School., A casual observer would conclude that the
Sunday School is only an extension of the German School, but to the 7
Brethren it is the most important institution. This school is held
every Sunday and every religious holiday without exception; if the Ger
man Teacher is absent, the minister or his assistant instructs the stu
dents. Sunday School students include all the young people of the
colony from the age of nine years to the age of baptism, which takes
place between the ages of twenty and twenty-four years.
The Colony Public School. The public schools in the Province of
Alberta have a curriculum and a program of studies laid down by the
Department of Education. Although the teachers are instructed to imple ment the curriculum to the best of their ability to meet the needs of the child, it is still more prescriptive in nature than what may be found in many American schools. Through interviews and a questionnaire the writer attempts to survey the problems these teachers find in '■ attaining the objects of the program of studies for Alberta schools.
Hutterian Student Achievement
A testing program for the school year 1957-58 was conducted in the seven colony schools. The California Achievement Tests Battery was chosen as the testing instrument. This test had been introduced as part of the testing program for the centralized schools in the county the preceding year. The battery covers six areas in the three fundamental tool subject; Reading Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension, Arithmetic
Reasoning, Arithmetic Fundamentals, Mechanics of Speech and Grammar, and
S p e llin g .
It was not possible to have a Control group which would be simi lar to an ungraded Hutterian school because there are no other ungraded 8
Schools within the county. Percentile and median scores, expressed as grade equivalents, of the Hutterian pupils are compared with the national norms established by the test makers, and the grade equivalents of students attending the centralized schools of Warner County.
I I I . ASSUMPTIONS, DELIMITATIONS, LIMITATIONS, DEFINITION OF TERMS
Assumptions
If the education of Hutterian children is not comparable with
"acceptable standards" and is not fitting them for the Canadian way of life, the factors lie within the communal way of life of the- Brethren, their religious beliefs, and their own system of education. This is an underlying assumption which the w riter feels must be made to justify the stu d y .
Specific assumptions made for this study are:
1. The instruments chosen and constructed are valid for the purpose of analyzing and evaluating.
2. The testing results available from the county’s testing program are sufficient to give a valid comparison of the Hutterian children's achievement with the centralized school children's achievement. It is assumed the tests themselves are suitable instruments.
3. An assumption is made that the technique of interviewing and the use of a questionnaire for non-Hutterite teachers are the best methods for gaining information. ' t A. The w riter assumes that interviewing Hutterian German Teachers and colony leaders w ill yield information from which general, but valid, conclusions can be drawn.
5. Except in the area of achievement testing, there are no existing criteria by which the school system can be evaluated. An assumption is made that the non-quantitative data collected are best presented in a descriptive form. 9
Delimitations
The survey is restricted.to those seven Hutterian schools within
Warner County. The historical background and cultural description w ill
be presented inasmuch as it is pertinent to an understanding of the
Hutterian educational system. However, the homogeneity of the commu
nities makes much of this study applicable to other colony schools of the
Brethren in Alberta.
The test survey is delimited to students in grades four, five, and six in the Hutterian and centralized schools of Warner County. The tests used are delimited to the tool or skill subjects.
Limitations
This investigation was undertaken while the w riter conducted school on the Elmspring Colony during the 1957-58 school year. The time element has proven to be a lim itation of'the study.
Limitations in the testing survey may invalidate certain conclu sions, particularly those conclusions concerning comparisons of Hutter ian students' achievement with'the students' of the centralized schools.
The limiting factors are discussed in Chapter VII.
There.is no instrument yet constructed which can be used to eval uate the extent to which the public school curriculum is being imple mented in each school. This lim itation requires the teachers' self- evaluations to be accepted as valid.
Definition of Terms
A Hutterite Colony. A communal farm operated by a group of 0 Hutterian Brethren and their fam ilies. The colony supports, on the 10
average, ten to fifteen families ,of ten members each.
The Hutterian Brethren. They are commonly known as H utterites.
They represent a religious movement, branching from the Anabaptist faith, which traces its history back to lf>25. The Brethren are sometimes con
sidered an isolated branch of the Merinonite movement, although they were
originally Swiss Brethren and were never influenced by Menno Simmons, the first leader of the Mennonites.
German School. The school conducted by the German Teacher for
Hutterian children between the ages of six and fifteen. This school is religious xn nature and is conducted in the German language. German
School sessions are held before and after the public school hours and■ again on Saturday for about nine months of each year.
Kindergarten. Sometimes termed the Small School or klein-schule and has the children from the age of two-and-a-half to six years. This, school is conducted in a small building which is usually near the public school building.
Public School. This is an educational program superimposed upon the Hutterians1 own system. The public school is ungraded and under the supervision of a licensed Alberta teacher who is hired by the County ■ I School Committee. The school abides by the regulations laid down by the
Alberta School Act. It operates five hours each day for two hundred school days each year.
Colony Boss. Known as the w irt, steward, or colony manager. He is the leader of'the colony in temporal affairs. Below him are several s, minor Bosses who supervise departments of the colony’s enterprises.
German Teacher. This Brother is selected to teach the German 11
School, supervise the childrens meals, and their activity throughout the colony. He is not trained but depends upon his own scholarship and native ability. The German Teacher may have other jobs on the colony, but teaching and child discipline are his chief responsibilities.
Kindergarten Mothers. These are the women, usually elderly, who supervise the children during their daily stay at kindergarten.
Hon-Hutterite Teacher. This is the licensed Alberta teacher of the public school hired by the County School Committee.
Standards. The term is used in conjunction with test norms as an established level of attainment. The term does not infer that these standards are necessarily criteria of excellence.
IV. PROCEDURES
Background M aterial
There is little literature available about the Hutterian Brethren.
The early writers and chroniclers of the movement left quantities of doctrinal and proselyting m aterial, but this has never been published.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica devotes only nine lines to the movement.
General descriptions of Hutterian history, community development, and religion are given in two books: John Horsch, The Hutterian Brethren;^ 7 and Eberhard Arnold, The Hutterian Brothers. The former is the book recommended by the Brethren for any "outsider11 to read. The latter pub-
^John Horsch, The Hutterian Brethren (Goshen, Indiana: The Mennonite H istorical Society, 1931)•
^Eberhard Arnold, The Hutterian Brothers (Ashton Keynes, W ilts, England: The Plough Publishing House, 19^0). 12
lication, in the form of a small pamphlet, was published as a prelimi
nary statement of an historical study which was never completed. A new 8 edition of The Mennonite Encyclopedia is now in the process of compila tion and contains historical facts pertaining to the Hutterian Brethren and Hutterian education.
Religious background, doctrine, and beliefs of the Brethren are 9 obtained from two sources: Peter Rideman, Confession of Faith; and
Peter Hofer, The Hutterian Brethren and Their Beliefs.^ The latter author is one of the few present day Brethren who have published any material. Paul S* Gross, pastor for the Pincher Creek Colony, has pub lished some translations of the early writers,.
One of the earlier studies of the Hutterian Brethren in America was completed in 192b by Bertha W. Clark. The title of her article,
"The Huterian [sic^ Communities," indicates that even by 192b so little was known about the movement that the spelling of the name had not been established. All research done up to the present invariably cites this article as authoritative.^
A sociological study, completed as a doctoral dissertation, was made by Lee Emerson Deets in the 1930's: The H utterites, A S tudy in
fi Robert Friedmann, "Hutterian Brethren,." The Mennonite Encyclope dia (first edition; Scottdale, Pennsylvania: Mennonite publishing House, l95>6- ), 2:85>b-60.
^Peter Rideman, Confession of Faith (Ashton Keynes, W ilts, England: The Plough Publishing House, 19!?0).
■^Peter Hofer, The Hutterian Brethren and Their Beliefs (R. R. 1, Starbuck, Manitoba; The Hutterian Brethren of Manitoba, 1955)• 11 Clark, op. cit. 13
12 Social Cohesion.
Three reports based upon a comprehensive survey of the Hutterian
Brethren have been published within the past five years. The first, by
Joseph W. Eaton and Albert J. Mayer, is a demographic study: "The
Social Biology of Very High F ertility Among the Hutterites. The Demog- 13 raphy of a Unique Population." The second report deals with the effect of social and cultural variables on mental disorders: Culture and Mental Disordersby Joseph ¥. Eaton, the head sociologist of the research team, and Robert J. Weil, the staff psychiatrist. Two psychol ogists on the research team, Bert Kaplan and Thomas Plaut, published t h e i r fin d in g s , e n t i t l e d P e r s o n a lity in a Communal S o c ie ty . ' T his report has served as a guide. The authors state that their instruments, the Murray TAT Test and a Sentence Completion Test, were the best avail able for their purpose, but that the ideal instrument is yet to be con structed. Secondly, they had the problem of finding a satisfactory evaluative framework, and they only hope they took a step in the right d ir e c tio n .
A study of inter-group relations was conducted by the Saskatche wan Division of The Canadian Mental Health Association in 1953. The
12 lee Emerson Deets, The H utterites, A Study in Social Cohesion (Gettysburg: Time and News Publishing Company, 1939).
^Joseph W« Eaton and Albert J. Mayer, "The Social Biology of Very High F ertility Among the H utterites. The.Demography of a Unique Population," Human Biology, 25:206-61*, September, 19!?3.
^Joseph W- Eaton and Robert J. Weil, Culture and Mental Disor ders (Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press, 19557^ -—
^Kaplan and Plaut, op. cit. 11*
investigation was concerned with the Brethren and their relations with
the larger societies in which they liv e.^ 17 x8 Legislature Committee reports from the Alberta and Manitoba
governments have stated official views of the Hutterian movement, and treat it as a problem which should be solved. Both treat the Hutterian educational system as a contributing factor but do no more than suggest
the schools should adhere more closely to provincial school regulations.
Collection of Data
For one year the w riter had the role of participant observer of colony life. Much of the subjective data was procured through inter views and observations. Interviews with colony leaders, county offi cials , and neighboring farmers gave a picture of present day problems and situations now facing the Hutterian Brethren.
H. C. Sweet, Assistant Chief Superintendent of Schools for the
Alberta Department of Education, supplied data related to the develop ment of Hutterian schools in the province. His interest in the Hutter ian Brethren dates back to 1930-31* when he served as O fficial Trustee for the Elmspring'Colony school*
"I Z The Canadian Mental Health Association (Saskatchewan Division), "The H utterites and Saskatchewan" (Regina, Saskatchewan; The Canadian Mental Health Association, 1953)• (Mimeographed.) 17 1 Report of The Legislative Committee regarding The Land Sales Prohibition Act, 191*1*, as amended, op* c it.
“I Q Report to The Honourable the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba of the Select Special Committee appointed to obtain information regard ing colonies or societies of Hutterites or Hutterian Brethren and to report and make recommendations upon the same (Winnipeg, Manitoba; The Queen’s P rinter, 191*6) • IS
Achievement data of the Hutterian students were obtained by the w riter visiting each colony school for a day and administering the Cali fornia Achievement Tests Battery. The teacher of each school was
requested to complete a questionnaire at the same time. Test data for the students of centralized schools were obtained from the County School
Superintendent’s office.
Treatment of Data
In most instances the data are presented in descriptive formj this is dictated by the nature of the survey. Test data are presented statistically in a series of tables and figures. Each test is presented by a table showing the range of scores, the 75th percentile, the 25th percentile, and median score. A figure illustrates the data of each test in graphical form showing the total range, the middle fifty per cent, and the median score. The national norm is indicated by a dotted line. The answers to the questions posed to the non-Hutterite teachers are used to analyze the problems of implementation of the Alberta cur riculum in Hutterian schools. The data are presented in descriptive form. The questionnaire completed by these teachers appears in Appendix.
I.
V. POSSIBLE OUTCOMES
The writer hopes this study w ill indicate the essential elements which exist in the Hutterian system of education. The influence of
Hutterian education on the development of faithful adherents to the
Hutterian cause is described. The intention is to focus attention on an 16 often overlooked truism, which the Brethren themselves readily acknowl edges The Hutterian movement has existed, continues to exist, and hopes to continue existing, because their educational system produces staunch and faithful adherents to "the true community of saints.'*
As Kaplan and Plaut state in their approach to their study of the
Hutterian personality, "even a blundering attempt at this fascinating 19 task might help break the way for better studies in the future."
19 . Kaplan and Plaut, op. c it., p. 1. CHAPTER I I
THE HUTTERIAN BRETHREN} 1$2 5 -1 9 5 8
A knowledge of the fundamental historical facts about the Hutter
ian movement which started in the early sixteenth century is a prerequi
site to understanding the Hutterian Brethren of today. Through an his torical approach, an attempt w ill be made to show how the basic tenets of this sect have developed. For four hundred years their story has been a sequence of oppressions and flights. One generalization may be drawn from a study of their history; In times of war, the Brethren were persecuted and forced to fleej in times of peace, they prospered.
As late as 1931, John Horseh wrote, '’The history of Hutterianism is as yet a terra incognita even to the world of learning."'*' Eberhard
Arnold, a German philosopher and publisher, became interested in the movement and was baptized into the Brotherhood in 1931. He proceeded to do thO necessary research work before writing an account of the Church, 2 but his early death in 19 h!? prevented the fulfillm ent of his plan.
Common ownership of goods is the distinctive feature of the
Hutterian Church. Needless to say, it is not a communistic society in any Marxist sense, and is vastly different from the communism which
Lenin and Stalin evolved from Marx’s historical materialism. "The mean-
■*\John Horsch, The Hutterian Brethren (Goshen, Indiana; The Mennonite H istorical Society, l 9 3 l ) , p . x v i i . p Eberhard Arnold, The Hutterian Brothers (Ashton Keynes, W ilts, England; The Plough Publishing House, 19U0), p. 5•
17 18
ing of communism as merely common ownership and sharing of income is an
old one. It is the type of communism described in many utopias and is 3 found today in some small religious communities . . ."
This is an account of one Christian "Utopia."
I . HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The story of the Hutterian Brethren Church begins in the rugged valleys of the Alps. The time was that moment in history when radical reformers began to question the authority of the Roman Catholic Church.
Two years after Martin Luther's protest of certain church practices, the
Swiss reformer, Ulrich Zwingli, was elected the people's priest of
Zurich. In 1$19, Zwingli attacked such practices as the sale of indul gences j tithes, and lenten observances. However, Zwingli's reforms did not go far enough to suit some of his followers who believed there must be a complete return to the First Church of Jerusalem. These dissenters broke away when Zwingli began to defend infant baptism and a union of the state and church.^
The Founding of the Church
Conrad Grebel, the son of a wealthy magistrate of Zurich, had found in Zwingli's sermons some answers to his spiritual dissatisfaction. % He was joined by Felix Manz, another ardent supporter of the Reform
Movement, and George Blaurock (Blue-frock), an unknown itinerant monk.
•^H. B. Mayo, Democracy and Marxism (New York: Oxford University P r e s s , 19$$) > p . 69.
^Horsch, op. c it., p. 2 19
The three were in complete agreement regarding the burning question of
adult baptism and confirmed each other's belief that baptism was for
adult believers only. This belief was contrary to Zwingli*s teachings
and they realized they must dissociate themselves from him. With fear and terror they prayed to God for guidance. George Blaurock rose first and begged Grebel to baptize him with the true Christian baptism. He then kneeled down again and Grebel baptised him. Manz and Grebel then kneeled and received their true baptism from the determined monk. "In this manner," says the oldest Hutterite Chronicle, "did they surrender to the Lord in great fear of God, confirmed one another in the service of the gospel, and began to teach and keep the faith. Thus began the c separation from the world and her wickedness." The date was January 21, 1525 . The followers, of these three leaders became known as the Swiss 6 Brethren, and, with many dissenting, fanatical, and revolutionary groups through Europe, were given the name Anabaptists (Wiedertaufer, or
7 re-baptizers).
Severe persecution immediately set in, persecution which was to last until today. Zwingli and his council of Zurich decreed that all children must be baptized and registered; this was the basis for the
£ Rudolf Wolkan, Geschicht-Buch der Hutterischen Brueder (Macleod, Alberta, Canada; Standoff Colony, 1923), p. 35. 6 John Horsch, The Principle of Nonresistance as Held by the Men- nonite Church (Scottdale, Pennsylvania; The Mennonite Publishing House, 1951), p. 6. 7 A term greatly resented by the Brethren as it grouped them with such fanatical movements as the Munsterites of Germany. 20 first wave of oppression. In 1527 Felix Manz was publicly drowned.
Conrad Grebel was spared because of his prominent family and wealth, but he died a year later from the plague. George Blaurock was flogged and expelled from the city. He carried on the work of conversio_n_when he returned to his German-speaking countrymen in the Tyrol area of Austria, in the heart of the Alps near the Brenner Pass. These people were staunch Catholics, but those who were converted accepted martyrdom as their lot. George Blaurock was burned at the stake two-and-a-half years after his explosion from Zurich.
Community of Goods is Established
Many of these converts escaped to Nikolsburg in Moravia, where many other Anabaptists, under the leadership of Balthasar Hubmaier, had received asylum. However, this was temporaiy, as the Brethren differed over the principle of bearing arms; in 1528 the non-resistant group, called the Staff-Bearers (Stabler) moved away, leaving the Hubmaier 8 group, or the Sword-Bearers (Schwertler). The leader of the former group was "the one-eyed one," Jacob Wiedemann. Approximately two hun dred adults under his leadership undertook the move to A usterlitz.
During the first day's journey, four men were elected to assist the leader. They spread a cloak on the ground and each member voluntarily gave a ll his earthly possessions. Community of goods was now instituted and has remained the distinctive feature of the Brethren's lives.
Robert Friedmann, "Hutterian Brethren," The- Mennonite Encyclope- dia (first edition'; Scottdale, Pennsylvania: Mennonite Publishing House, 1956- ) , 2 s 85U* 21
The F i r s t Communal V illa g e
The establishment of a true Christian community, with common own
ership of goods, was not easily accomplished by Jacob Wiedemann at
A u s t e r litz . Q u arrelin g among th e members over th e p r in c ip le s o f commu-
nal living was common; a struggle for leadership also caused disruption.
Within a year Wiedemann and his followers moved again to Auspitz to re-
establish themselves. However, these internal disruptions were not pub
licized and the news soon spread to small groups of. persecuted Anabap
tists that the Lord's community had been successfully established.
Jacob Hutter, of the mother congregation in the Tyrol, travelled to
Austerlitz to see for himself. He had never seen an apostolic community of the Brethren, as it was impossible to start such a community under the eyes of the Catholic authorities in the narrow valleys of the Alps.
He returned joyfully to report that he had seen a true community of the
Saints. Many of the Tyrol congregation began to move to Auspitz and
Austerlitz to join the new communities, and in 1533 Jacob Hutter, with a large group of refugees, arrived to take up residence.
Jacob Hutter and the Warning of the Church
The communities had begun to disintegrate and many members had left to take up private ownership again. Lack of discipline, poverty, and dissatisfaction with the leaders had disillusioned the members.
Jacob Hutter became the leader of those who remained, and, with circum spection and energy, he introduced the strict discipline which made the communities, strong and unified. His goal was to establish a complete community of goods according to the apostles' First Church of Jerusalem when
. . . all that believed were together, and had all things in commonj And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. (Acts 2 sI 1.I4. — *)
To convince his congregation of this requirement for true Christianity,
his favourite fiery sermon was the story of Ananias and Saphira. (Acts
5 :1-10.)
Within the three years that Jacob Hutter served as leader, he welded a spiritual and economic system of communal life that has lasted
for over four hundred years. On a missionary journey to the Tyrol, he was captured and imprisoned. After cruel torture, he was burned at the 9 stake February 25, 1536. From this time his followers have been known as the Hutterian Brethren. ’’Among themselves they called, and call, themselves ’The Brothers' after him, but never reject the tern 'The
Hutterian Brothers . 1 They like best to use the expression 'The Brothers, known as the Hutteriaris.
Persecution and Migration ' J
The Musterite revolt in western Germany of 153U-35 brought about a severe persecution of all Anabaptists throughout Europe, although the fanatical group was an "abomination to the Hutterites" and other Anabap tist groups.^ The nobles of Moravia favored the Hutterians because of
9 Hans Fischer, Jakob Huter (Newton, Kansas: The Mennonite Publi cation Office, 1956), p. 1:8." Different dates have been stated by other authorities, but this is the most recent’ study of early Hutterian docu ments and records.
^Arnold, op. cit., p. 20.
^Horsch,- The Hutterian Brethren, op. c it., p. 16. 23
their faithful services on their lands, and it was only with great
reluctance they enforced the strict decree of King Ferdinand that the
colonies be disbanded. The Brethren were forced to give up their homes
and lands, to organize their congregations into small groups, and to
scatter throughout the countryside. For several years they lived thus, but within ten years they were able to re-establish communities on the
lands of the friendly lords.
A second wave of persecution commenced in l$ h 7 . This lasted for more than four years, during which time the Brethren were driven from
Moravia to Hungary and back again. At the end of this period the com munities were organized once again and entered an era of peace with little open persecution. This period of peace lasted until 1J>92, at which time there were about one hundred communities and a membership 12 between 20,000 and 30,000 souls. During this ’’Golden Period” another strong leader, Peter Walpot, was chosen as head bishop, or Vorsteher.
The church was consolidated, schools were organized with explicit objec tives, and the history of the Brethren was first recorded by Caspar 13 Braitmichel who started the Gesehieht-Buch.
12 Friedmann, op. c it. , p. 855. 13 The recorded history of the Hutterian Brethren exists in two Chronicles. These are compilations of early Church writings and docu ments. The earlier book is commonly called The Larger Church Chronicle, and was prepared for printing by Professor Rudolf Wolkan under the title Geschicht-Buch der Hutterischen Brueder. This history of the Brethren from their origin to 1685 is recorded. The later book is commonly called The Smaller Church Chronicle, although in size it has outgrown The Larger Church Chronicle as recent writers have contributed writings. The second Chronicle originated from the writings of Johannes Waldner (17U9-182U). It was prepared for printing by Dr. A. J. F. Zieglschmid under the title Das Klein-Geschichtsbuch der Hutterischen Brueder. The severest trials to £ace the Brethren were yet to come. The
Counter-Reformation now set in, and it was decreed that those who would
not be converted to the Catholic Church must leave Moravia. The Turkish
War of l5?5 brought more suffering. Not only were excessive taxes
extorted from the Brethren} hut invading Turkish armies plundered and
sacked many communities, carrying members into slavery. The last blow was the Thirty Years' War, which brought the Moravian settlements to an
end. The few who were left escaped to Slovakia, where fifteen bruderhofs
remained, and to the single community in Transylvania. Once again a
strong leader, Andreas Ehrenpreis, came to the fore to re-establish
strict discipline and unite the Brethren. During this period the new custom of writing down all sennons was introduced. These sermons are
"the backbone of all spiritual life of the brethren today," and it may be said that the tradition of Ehrenpreis is stronger than the tradition of Jacob Hutter in the Hutterian Church at the present time.^
After the death of Andreas Ehrenpreis, the communes became weaker and a semi-private form of economy was introduced. By 17h0 Empress
Maria Theresa allowed the Jesuits to use any means at all to convert the non-Catholics. "And what torture, dungeon, and executioners could not achieve in the 16th century, the Jesuits achieved, at least partly, in 15 the 18th, mainly in Slovakia."
The writings and books of the Brethren were confiscated and many were destroyed. They were replaced with Catholic literature. Priests were appointed by the Empress as community preachers to dwell with the
■^Friedmfann, pp. cit., p. 856. ^Ibld., p. 857* 25
Brethren, to hold Catholic services with compulsory attendance, and to X6 convert all members. Children were taken from their parents and
placed in orphanages; preachers were placed in prisons or monasteries 17 where they were given Catholic instruction.
The Flight to Rumania and the Ukraine
J In Transylvania the Brotherhood dwindled to no more than forty 1 ft souls. In 1756 groups of Lutherans, migrating from Carinthia-to Tran sylvania, were attracted by the Brethren’s way of life and joined them, which brought about a rejuvenation of the community spirit. Jesuit per secution spread to this area, and by 1?67 the Brethren decided to flee
Transylvania. Under the leadership of Joseph Kuhr and Hans Kleinsasser, sixty-seven souls left to cross the high Carpathian mountains. They travelled at night over unused trails as they did not possess passports.
Within twelve days they reached Walachia (now Rumania), where they set tled for the next three years. During this time another war between
Russia and Turkey brought plundering and further hardship upon the
Brethren. In 1770 a Russian field marshal, Count Romanzov, offered them asylum at Wischenka, in the Ukraine, on his own sparsely populated land.
Here the Brethren settled for a generation.
In 1802 it was necessary to migrate again. This time they moved but a distance of ten miles to crown land offered to them by the Czar.
T. 6 The nickname '’Habaner" was given to these converted Brethren. Their descendants are s till living in areas now included in Hungary.
^Horsch, The Hutterian Brethren, op. c it., pp. 83-89. X8 Friedmann, op. c it., p. 857. 26
This move prevented their landlord, Count Romanzov^ son, from reducing
them to serfdom. However, "an inner decay had set in,", and, in face of „ 19 disunity and poverty, community of goods was abandoned in 1819• Bet
ter land in the Molotschna valley was granted the Brethren in 181*2, and
the entire colony of seventy-eight families re-established themselves
there in the village of Hutteral. This migration was supervised by r Johann Cornies, a Mennonite leader whose influence with certain Russian
government officials was used to acquire the land grant.
Two communistic colonies were organized within the next thirty- two years under the strong leadership of Michael Waldner and Darius
Walter* Three other villages, with private ownership of land sim ilar to t Hutteral, were also established within this period.
By l87l* the Russian government had withdrawn their grant of free dom from m ilitary service and warned the Brethren that the Russian lan guage must be introduced into their schools. Once again the Brethren
Wei's faced with the decision to stay and accept m ilitary conscription or seek a new frontier. They chose the latter course, and the migration to the Dakota Territories in the United States began.
The Migration to America
The first group to arrive was under the leadership of Michael
Waldner and Darius Walter. Two communal bruderhofs, the Bon Homme and
Wolf Creek Colonies, were established. In 1877 a third group estab lished themselves at Elmspring under the leadership of Jacob Wipf and
19 Horsch, The Hutterian Brethren, op. c it., p. lli*. 27
Peter Hofer. Most of the Brethren who had practiced community of goods in Russia continued to do so in America; the remaining members were tempted by the free homestead land offered by the American government 20 and decided upon private ownership. However, the followers of Jacob
Wipf were Brethren who had not lived communally in Russia but now wished to return to the true Hutterian mode of life. The total number of those who chose to live by the basic precept that private property was sinful was about fifty families. In 1880 the Federal Census showed UU3 colony 21 Hutterites.
The three groups of Brethren that exist today were formed from these three settlem ents. The Bon Homme people, under Michael Waldner, a blacksmith by trade, became known as the Schmiedeleut (Smith Group)} the
Wolf Creek people, under Darius W alter, became known as the Dariusleut
(Darius Group); and the Elmspring people, under Jacob Wipf and Peter
Hofer, both school teachers, became known as the Lehrerleut (Teacher
G roup).
Democracy and freedom proved favorable conditions for the Breth ren in America, and the colonies prospered until World War I. At this time, neighboring citizens who could not understand the nonresistant attitude of the Brethren destroyed colony property by fire and drove livestock off colony property. Of the great number of young conscien-
20 These people now call themselves Hutterite-Mennonites, but they are known to their fellow Hutterites as the Prairieleut (Prairie Group). 21 Joseph W. Eaton and Albert J. Mayer, "The Social Biology of Very High F ertility Among the H utterites. The Demography of a Unique Population,” Human Biology, 2$:208, September, 1953. tious objectors placed in federal prisons, two died of exposure and pri 22 vations. These names are now added to the "Martyrs’ Gallery" in the
Hutterian Chronicles, which list more than 2,173 brethren and sisters who suffered torture, imprisonment, and death.
The M igration to Canada
Once again the Brethren* decided to seek a new land. In 1918 six teen colonies, with a total of seventeen hundred members, started, the move to Canada. Eleven colonies of the Darius and Teacher Groups est’ab lished themselves in Alberta, and five colonies of the Smith Group established themselves in Manitoba in eight bruderhof communities. The
Canadian government granted them the same privileges of exemption from m ilitary service that the Mennonites and other conscientious objectors en jo y ed .
Resentment immediately developed in Canada, and in 1919 the Gov ernment of Canada passed an Order-in-Council prohibiting further immi gration. This wave of intolerance subsided within three years and the order was rescinded.
For the next two decades the colonies flourished. Some future chronicler of the Brethren may liken this short duration of peace and 23 development to the Hutterians' "Golden Period" of 1565-90. Four more
99 Sanford Calvin Yoder, For Conscience Sake (Scottdale, Pennsyl vania; The Herald Press, 19U5), pp. 9U-95• 23 Friedmann, op. c it. , p. 855} Horseh, The Hutterian Brethren, op. cit., p. 19. Horsch refers to this period, as "the ideal period" which lasted from 1563-92. He devotes a complete chapter to detailed description of the Brotherhood in Moravia during this era. 29
colonies migrated from South Dakota in the early 1930's, bringing the
total number of colonies originating from the United States to fifteen.
The economic depression during this same period brought hardship to the
Brethren, as it did to all farmers of Alberta. However, the Brethren, having practiced nothing but austerity and frugality, weathered this
depressed period and even managed to finance and establish daughter col-
( onies. By 19U0, the original fifteen colonies had multiplied to a total of thirty-five.^
This includes two colonies which were established but later excommunicated by the Hutterian Church: The Felger Colony (Darius Group) and the Monarch Colony.(Teacher Group). It does not include two groups which were organized by "outsiders” during the post-war depression of the 1930's. Eberhard Arnold, a son of a professor of theology, was searching for a Christian way of life as an answer to the disillusionment which existed in Germany after World War I. After intense study of the early Christian communities of Moravia, he was surprised to learn that they still existed in Western Canada. He came and lived with the Alberta Brethren of the Standoff Colony and was baptised into the Church in 1931* The group he organized in Germany on his return was forced to flee the H itler regime to England. From England the group fled to Paraguay, but three members remained and re-established a colony. Recently this group has undertaken the migration to the United States. The group is now made up of seven nationalities but is s till predominantly German. Some ethnic Hutterites have joined or married into the group. Julius Kubassek, Hungarian by birth, also sought the way to live a truly Christian life. He wandered throughout Europe and America seek ing the answer. In Canada he organized a small group of nineteen souls to live communally, and they established themselves in British Columbia. He later heard about the Hutterian movement and, after investigation, he and his group were invited to live with the Raley Colony for fourteen months. Kubassek was baptized into the church "by the laying on of hands" and his group established themselves on fj25> acres near Bright, Ontario. Five languages are spoken by the group, and the predominant nationality is Hungarian. Both these groups have been excommunicated by the ethnic Hutter ites. The charges levied by the Brethren were that these groups were too "worldly" and enticed members of the ethnic stock to leave their own colonies to join them. 30
Public opinion had been building up against the Brethren during
this time, and the collective decision of the Brethren to continue to
refuse to bear arms during World War II brought stronger public resent
ment. The Brethren’s attempt to alleviate this resentment by donating
$1$ monthly to the Red Cross for each youth of m ilitary age permitted by
Selective Service officials to remain on the colony accomplished little .
Further contributions were made during Red Cross drives, and nearly a
half-million dollars of interest free bonds were purchased from the fed
eral government. About two hundred and fifty Canadian H utterite youths
served in Conscientious Objectors’ Labour Camps between Fort William and 2< Vancouver. • Twenty-six youths decided, against community wishes, to 26 serv e in th e Armed S e rv ic e s .
In 19k2 the Alberta Legislature passed the Land Sales Prohibition
Act. The reason, stated by The Honourable Solon E. Low, was to "allay
public feeling which had been aroused to the point of threatened vio- 27 lence." The original act included both Hutterites and Enemy Aliens,
and, on the basis of the latter group, the Dominion Government disal
lowed it. In 19UU a new act was passed prohibiting the .sale or lease of
land to Hutterites only. It was considered an expedient measure and
remained in force until 19U7. A Legislative Assembly Committee was then
A. J. F. Zieglschmid, Das Klein-Geschichtsbuch der Hutterischen Brueder (Philadelphia: The Carl Schurz Memorial Foundation, Inc., l9U7)} pp.. 6U0-U1. a / •. The Candian Mental Health Association (Saskatchewan Division), "The H utterites and Saskatchewan" (Regina, Saskatchewan: The Canadian Mental Health Association, 19^3 )> p. 18* (Mimeographed.) 27 Zieglschmid, op. c it. , p. 639* 31 set up to investigate "the Hutterite Problem" and to decide if the act should remain in force. The result of this investigation was the pass- . 28 ing of The Communal P ro p erty Aet o f 19U7* This a c t lim its each colony to its holdings of I 9 I1U. In th e case o f new c o lo n ie s o rg a n iz in g a f t e r this date, no colony may establish within forty miles of any other col ony's property. No colony may acquire more than sixty-four hundred 29 acres of land. To.prevent the act from restricting a single religious group, it was w ritten to include Doukhobors, a sect which had never been discussed by the Committee.^
O bservable E ffe c ts o f The Communal P ro p erty Act in A lb e rta
Some effects of this legislation which has been in force for eleven years may now be discerned. The Brethren are still a cohesive group, legislative discrimination has knit them more tightly together.
To the Brethren, it is history repeating itself, and their Chronicles give explicit examples to follow when persecution exists. Certain
Brethren, who take an historical view of this, have told the writer that this act is welcomed by them for this reason.
The act has brought hardship to some colonies. It has prevented them from acquiring land urgently needed to develop efficient and eco-
Ibid., pp. 6 3 8 -I4.9 • The brief submitted to the Committee by L. S. Turcotte, Lethbridge, Alberta, on behalf of the Hutterian Brethren is reproduced in toto. 29 Ibid., pp. 650-53. The Act Respecting Lands in the Province H eld as Communal Property (Assented, to March 31,~19U7) is reproduced in t o t o .
^Dorothy Giffen, "The Hutterites and Civil Liberties," The Cana dian Forum, 2 7 :5 5 -5 7 , J u n e , 19U7* noraic farming methods. It is reported that some communities are now in
straitened circumstances.
Colony leaders have been forced to seek new frontiers outside of
Alberta for their daughter colonies. Since 1 9 kl seven new c o lo n ie s have
been established in the Province of Saskatchewan, ten in the State of
Montana, and one, on a trial basis, in the State of Washington. Leaders
have gone as far as Mexico to investigate conditions, but to date no
area has been found comparable to the Dakota Territories of the 1870's
or southern Alberta of the 1920's. The act is proving detrimental in
two ways. Not only have the Brethren been unable to buy the land they
need, but land owners have been unable to sell for an equitable price in
some instances. Since the war, buyers with cash have become very scarce
There have been instances where land owners have had to accept a low
price, with time payments, because they were prohibited from selling to
a neighboring colony where they would have received a profitable cash , 31 p r ic e .
The Communal Property Act did not eliminate resentment of the
Brethren on the part of local farmers. Enmity still exists. Accusa
tions without sustaining evidence are made about the Hutterians, such
as, "They don't bury their dead deep enough," or, "They are taking all the business away from our town." Certain Hutterian practices are dif
ficult for "outsiders" to tolerate, such as communal living and nonre
sistance. The bulk purchase of supplies concerns local businessmen, and
^The Canadian Mental Health Association (Saskatchewan Division)', op. cit., pp. 21-22. 33
the Hutterians' isolated self-sufficiency concerns the local governments.
Many of the local citizens feel that the main fault of the act is that
it didn’t go far enough. We’ll have to burn them out as they did in
South Dakota,” was one statement made by a local citizen. This writer
can also report, on the basis of a restricted number of interviews, that
no person voluntarily expressed any concern that this act may be more
detrimental to the people of Alberta than to the Hutterian Brethren.
The people of Alberta have, as a matter of principle, virtually denied
the Hutterians the right to live in the Province of Alberta. The Hut- 32 terians have been deprived of some fundamental rights of democracy.
Joseph W. Eaton views the act as an attempt by the people of Alberta to find scapegoats for their own problems. He says:
Alberta’s real problems derive from the insecurity of the world wheat market, a high tariff, and excessive transportation costs. The Social Credit Party was voted into power on promises of finding a s o lu tio n f o r them . But th e re i s s t i l l much in s e c u r ity among th e prairie farmers and the town shopkeepers. In other places scape goats might be found among Negroes or Jews: in Alberta, the Hutter ites have been chosen.”
Applying the theory of scapegoating to the Alberta situation may
be an oversimplification of the problem. Whereas the early Brethren in
Europe were persecuted for their religious beliefs, it would appear that
the Brethren in Alberta are now oppressed for their economic practices.
However, to say that the Brethren have become scapegoats for Alberta’s
economic problems may not account for other factors ■ which brought about
Report to The Honourable the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba of the Select Special Committee appointed to obtain information regard' ing colonies or societies of Hutterites or Hutterian Brethren and to report and make recommendations upon the same (Winnipeg, Manitoba: The Queen’s Printer, 19i|b)> p. 27* 33 Joseph W. Eaton, '’Canada’s Scapegoats,” The Nation, September 10j 19b9. (Reprint.) 3k
the legislation of The Communal Property Act.
The opinion is still held that the act "would alleviate the dis
turbing situation which was developing as a result of the rapid expan
sion of existing colonies and establishment of new colonies particularly <3| in southern areas of the province." The Legislative Committee "felt
something had to be done toward preserving the rights of other citizens
through control over the expanding colonies. Any assimilation or move
ment of the colonies to other more distant areas which might come about
through the land purchase restrictions of the Act would also be welcome.
The act did not alleviate the "disturbing situation" completely.
Once again the Hutterite situation is coming under government study and
Municipal Affairs M inister A* J» Hooke hopes that further recommenda- 36 tions will be made at the 1959 session of the legislature. These pro p o sa ls may be to make i t com pulsory f o r c o lo n ie s to pay a c e r ta in sum to
any person wishing to leave a colony, or to insist that the children 37 attend division schools rather than their own school on the colony.
One of the secondary objectives of the act, namely, to favor the
departure of the Brethren from Alberta, has been accomplished to the extent that eighteen new colonies have located in other parts of Canada and the United States.
■^Letter received by the w riter from The Honourable Mr. E. C. Manning, Office of the Premier, Edmonton, Alberta, dated April 22, 1958. Permission to quote obtained.
3^ I b id .
^Canadian Press dispatch, The Lethbridge Herald, April 12, 1958.
^E ditorial in the Claresholm Local Press, March 27, 1958. 35
The other secondary objective, namely, to encourage the Brethren to assimilate, has not been accomplished. No colony has disintegrated, disbanded, or dissociated from the Hutterian Church. Further discussion of the possibility of such a development within the Hutterian movement w ill be discussed in the next chapter.
I I . HUTTERIAN DOCTRINE AND BELIEFS
Hutterian Literature
The doctrinal writings of the Hutterian Brethren have been pre served through the centuries. Robert Friedmann states that these w rit ings are Ma major element in the foundation of this brotherhood which have enabled it to survive in almost its original form to the present day." It is also his observation that a second element is "the oral tradition of the brotherhood, the self-perpetuating spirit which has TO been kept amazingly alive through the centuries.
The Hutterian doctrine is found in three main writings. They are; 39 (1) The Handbook (Handbuchlein), an anonymous tract w ritten about 1557s
(2) Peter Rideman's Account of Our Religion and Faith (Rechenschaft) , written in 1565,^ and (3) The Great Article Book w ritten by Peter Wal-
■^Peter Walpot, "True Surrender and Christian Community of Goods," Article III of The Great Article Book, 1577, trans. Kathleen Hasenberg, with an introduction by Robert Friedmann (Bromdon, Bridgnorth, Shrop shire, England; The Plough Publishing House, 1957),, P* 5 •ao •^The Defence Against the Prozess of Worms on the Rhine in the Year 1557, trans. P. S. Gross (Lethbridge, Alberta; The Le t hbricfge Herald, n.d.).
^Peter Rideman, Confession of Faith (Ashton Keynes, W ilts, England; The Plough Publishing House, 1950). 36
pot about 1 $77^
A Summary o f H u tte ria n R e lig io u s T enets
The ninety-six articles of Rideman's Rechenschaft are considered
the final authority by the Hutterian Brethren of today. From these John
Horsch has summarized the chief tenets of the Hutterian Church which
distinguish it from other Christian sects. (1) The community of goods
i s th e h ig h e s t command o f lo v e . (2) C h ris t d ecreed th e p r in c ip le o f
nonresistance by word and deed. (3) Civil government is ordained by God,
but, as it is an instrument of force, the Brethren must not vote or hold
office. They must abide by government law and pay their taxes but must
not use the law for their own purpose or for the protection of their
worldly possessions, (1*) They must not swear or take oaths. (5) Bap
tism of children is wrong and useless. Only upon confession of faith
may an adult be baptized, and this is considered to be the most serious I p 'decision he will ever make. The Brethren would direct a stranger to
the "Ten Points of the Hutterian Church,” if he inquired about their
d o c t r i n e . ^
The Hutterian society is deeply rooted in these basic beliefs,
and the main characteristics of communal living reflect these tenets.
Common ownership of goods gives a ll members equal social statusj the
community is a classless society. No special privileges are granted
^"hijalpot, op. c it.
^ H o rs c h , The H u tte ria n B re th re n , o p . c i t . , pp. 117-1*6.
^See Appendix H. 37 those with extra responsibility. Each must contribute according to his ability; each receives according to his need. Strong religious support against ’'worldly'* luxury and "comforts of the flesh" places a high value on frugality, as it does with the Quakers. Material luxury is not con sidered unless it has a utilitarian value which w ill contribute to pro ductive efficiency. Religious support is given to isolation, and. thus the Brethren are a frontier people, always seeking to locate on the fringe of populated areas. This is a technique for cultural survival; the Brethren's "paramount need is to maintain their values-and identity."^
The Hutterian Church Service
Church services are held' daily on the colony, but attendance is not compulsory. Before the evening meal, the members are called to wor ship by a small child who is assigned to go from door to door throughout the colony calling, "Zum Gebet" ("Gome to prayer"). It is considered idolatry to have a special building for worship, so the school is used as a church. The members assemble quickly and quietly, with the men sitting on the right side and the women on the left* The elders sit in order of age at the front, beside the minister and his assistant, facing the congregation. The room must be bare of all decorations, and the only additional equipment is a small prayer-bench for the preacher. The iiB only books used are the preacher's Bible, hymnal, and sermon.
^The Canadian Mental Health Association (Saskatchewan D ivision), op* c it., pp. 8-9. hd ^Each colony minister collects his own libraiy of hand-written sermons. These w ill date back as early as 1639 when the Ehrenpreis tra dition of writing sermons was established. More than five hundred ser- 38
There is no ritualismj the service is simple and stereotyped,
opening with a ,hymn "lined out" by the preacher. Each line is recited
by the preacher before it is sung, or Ansagen as the Brethren term it.
"There is no musical instrument. The singing is a lamentation. It is the spirit groaning for liberation, the soul moaning over the world's
sin ."^ The sermon is read next, one which the preacher considers appropriate or timely, and seldom are there extemporaneous digressions from the text. This is followed by a prayer read'by the minister, and then the congregation is dismissed for the evening meal. This service lasts approximately a half-hour. The members go directly from the church to the dining room, except the minister and his assistant, who always dine alone in the m inister's apartment.
The additional Sunday service, held for two hours preceding the noon-hour meal, is of the same order, with a longer sermon, and an addi tional prayer and hymn. The Brethren have several religious holidays A- throughout the year. These days are celebrated by dispensing with all but the essential work on the colony and having a two- or three-hour church service in the morning.
The Brethren's religion is "the one subject that permeates all
Hutterian thought, the one subject in the light of which the Brethren judge of every other. Twentieth Century America knows little of that
mons have been preserved. Each preacher's library w ill be carefully indexed according to subject, transcriber, and date copiedj but seldom is the original date or author indicated.
^Marcus Bach, "Experiment in Contentment," Coronet, June, 19h6, P. 135. : " sort of piety which makes the enveloping atmosphere of all Hutterian
I 7 life .” From their religious beliefs they have evolved a unique phe nomenon in social history. Whatever sociological or economic explana tion may be given to account for the existence of the Hutterian theo cratic communism for 1*25 years, any explanation must acknowledge the j O firm Christian foundation on which their system is based.
1 7 Bertha W* Clark, "The Huterian £ sic] Communities," The Journal o f Political Science, 32:363, J u n e, 192U.
^Robert Friedmann, "The Hutterian Brethren and Community of Goods," The Recovery of the Anabaptist Vision (Scottdale,. Pennsylvania: The Herald Press, l9!?77, pp. 83-81*. CHAPTER I I I
THE HUTTERIAN CULTURE
The significant elements of the Hutterian system may be stated briefly as an overview of this chapter. The salient characteristics, true of all colonies, are determined by the Brethren’s attempt to inte grate their religion with their everyday life. Communism, in its clas sical sense, is applied to all property, profits, and wealth. Private ownership of only the most personal possessions exists. There is. little or no class distinction; all are accepted as equal in colony life and work. This is supported by eliminating private profit and personal prestige. The family does not function as a source of economic security the colony undertakes the responsibility of guaranteeing each member complete security for his lifetim e. The family exists as a unit for propagation and child-rearing. It is a society of small primary groups, where all members consent to the same fundamental principles. Their culture is characterized by a reluctance and unwillingness to conform to the twentieth century world. As an agrarian society, these people w ill accept the newest technical advances in farming methods, but w ill refuse to assent to any change in their mode of life. The social organization has a remarkable degree of stability, maintained, the Brethren claim, by their desire to emulate the true Christian life of their forefathers.^
^B ert Kaplan and Thomas F . A. P la u t, P e rs o n a lity i n a Communal Society (Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Publications, 1956), p. 20 , la
Can these isolated bastions of Hutterianism withstand the tempta
tions of our twentieth century culture? An attempt to describe the
forces which may ultimately bring about the disintegration and assimila
tion of the Hutterian culture w ill be made.
I . A TYPICAL COLGNY-
Location and Size
In Alberta the fifty colonies now established are basically homologous and, whether the colony belongs to the Darius or Teacher
Group, the plan of the farmstead is uniform. To describe a typical col ony, the writer has chosen the Elmspring Colony, with which he is best
acquainted. The Elmspring Colony, originally Old Elmspring of South
Dakota, is situated on the NE-|, Section 31, Township h> Range 16, h i miles north and miles east of the village of Warner, Alberta. This
colony, the original Teacher Group colony from which all Teacher colo nies came, may be considered an economically superior Hutterian commu nity! over the years the industry and th rift of the Brethren have resulted in a well built, well developed farm, which is now debt-free.
The Elmspring Hutterian Brethren, since arriving in Alberta in 1930, have established two daughter colonies; the Sunnysite Colony (1935)* and the Glacier Colony, Montana (1951)• The present bruderhof comprises eighteen families with a total population of 126 ’’souls. ” The farm com prises 7>006 acres of land.
2 The term ’’souls” is used by the Brethren when referring to their colony members. The first impression a visitor receives as he approaches the col ony is that of a small, well planned village, with the four large apart ment houses built in two parallel rows; the garages, machine shops, and granaries are placed to the west and north of the houses; the barns, hen houses, and livestock pens are grouped together east of the houses. The buildings are painted and in a good state of repair. Centrally located between the apartment houses is the kitchen-dining room building where a ll members eat their meals. To the south is the school, which also serves the coiony as a church. Hear the school is a smaller building which is the Klein-schule or kindergarten. Behind the school, and far ther away from the colony in a more isolated location, is the teacherage for the non-rHutte rite teacher.
Living Quarters
The Hutterian homes, or barracks-type apartments, are long, one- and-a-half-story buildings. The top floor is for storage where clothes, excess furniture, wooden chests, and equipment, are kept. The ground floor is divided into two separate sections. Each section contains four rooms divided by a hallway extending the width of the building. The hallway is wide enough to allow.for wash basins and a place to hang i coats and heavy clothing, and is shared by all the families in that half of the building. Where colonies have purchased farms that had the orig inal farm homes on them, the houses have been renovated to conform to this general plan.
The rooms are allocated to each family on a basis of the number of children. A single room is assigned to a newly married couple. This kl is furnished with a large double bed, piled high with feather ticks.
The bride has her large wooden chest, beautifully.made by the colony • carpenter, in which she has several years' accumulation of embroidered linens and cotton goods. There are a small table and two straight- backed chairs. There is a clock on the wall, a traditional gift from the colony to the young couple. One or two cupboards may be on the walls as.w ell. These contain such books as the Bible, hymnals, and The
Smaller Chronicle, which are also wedding gifts from the colony. The cupboards may contain dishes, or the few personal possessions of the couple. A visitor first notices the bareness and austerity of the room . and then the immaculate cleanliness. Color is often added to the una dorned room by the brightly painted table, chairs, and chest, and multi colored bed coverings.
When the first child is bom, a small wooden crib is installed in the room. Then a second crib is added for the next child. As the suc cessive children are born, another bed.is added. This second bed is made to convert into a wooden bench during the day. After the sixth child is born, the family is allocated a second bedroom, although this depends on the number of rooms available in the colony,
Each apartment building is shared by four to eight fam ilies, who live together in close harmony. It is not customary for the Brethren to knock at the door when they wish to visit each otherj they quietly enter as one of the family. If a visitor from the "outside world" goes to one of the apartments, he is made welcome immediately, and he w ill discover his host interested in discussing any topic the visitor chooses. The children stand quietly to one side and listen to all that is said. Other Brethren of the colony may come and enter into the conversation for awhile, and then withdraw quietly. They all show interest in what is being discussed and are anxious to hear about the events of the world.
Colony Buildings
A visit to the colony is not complete without a guided tour. The visitor is shown throughout the colony, and the Brethren readily explain or discuss all the features about which the visitor inquires. They take pride in showing any modern farming conveniences they may have, as well as in explaining their progressive methods of farming. As the visitor tours the colony, he is accompanied not only by his host but also by many of the other colony members, both children and adults, who are most anxious to hear the visitor’s comments.
The kitchen and dining-room. The excursion invariably includes the colony kitchen and dining-room. Here are shown the large baking ovens and a sample of the very large loaves of bread> which are light, crusty, and delicious. The kitchen is well equipped with large stoves and one or more vats for the deep-fat frying of potatoes or the boiling of ducks and meat. There are large electric freezers for meat and fowl storage. The dining-room is a large airy room with two rows of trestle tables and benches. The tables are not covered with table cloths, but are bare and scrubbed clean after each meal. The tables are set with steel cutlery, plain white crockery, and enamelware plates. There may be a separate dining-room for the .children, or they may use the same room after the adults have eaten.
If the invitation to remain for a meal is accepted, the visitor notes that the men sit on one side of the room, the women on the other, in o rd e r o f ag e. The re p a s t i s p receded and ended w ith p ra y e r. The food is not served, but each member serves himself. For certain foods, four persons share a common large bowl. Generous quantities of plain food are served, and colony produce is used as much as possible. There is no loud laughter or discourse throughout the meal.
Other buildings. The host invariably shows the industries and buildings which make up the farmstead, such as the barns, stables, feed lots for stock, the chicken houses, goose and duck yards, the black smith's shop, and the book-binder's shop. One notes that the most mod ern labor-saving equipment has been introduced where it has proven eco nomically feasible, and new technological methods for increased agricul tural production are employed.
The school buildings. The school must be visited also. This is a building the Brethren show with great pride. It serves also as a church, and once again the visitor is aware of the austerity and immacu late cleanliness of the building. It is larger than the usual country school, for, besides the desks for the children, there are several rows of pews at the back for the church services. Two pews at the front of the room are for the trustees or elders, who sit in order of seniority during the services. The walls are bare of pictures. There is no flag or picture of the Queen at the front of the room. The bulletin boards are stepped of all m aterial, and the classroom books, papers, and school equipment are kept locked in cupboards. During regular school hours the teacher may put up the flag and pictures, and make use of the bulletin board, but it is expected that all this w ill be removed at the end of 1*6
each school day.
The host explains the school's functions. The school is not only
for the regular school sessions with the non-Hutterite teacher, but
serves as the German School before and after regular school hours. It
is the church for a short service before the evening meal each week-day
and for two longer services on Sundays.
The kindergarten, near the "Big School," is the next building of
interestt This has one or two rooms sparsely furnished. Small tables
and benches are used during the children's meals. Along the walls are
wide benches, covered with heavy quilts or sheep hides, for the children
to have their naps before they are sent home in the afternoon. There
are no toys, play equipment-, pictures, or books, all of which one nor
mally would expect to see in a children's kindergarten or nursery school.
Colony Organization
The histoxy of the Hutterian Brethren is a record of their lead-
-ers. Starting with Jacob Hutter, the Hutterian movement has been
blessed with strong leaders who have been endowed with the ability to
direct and guide. This is still true today, where the success of each
individual colony can be attributed to the ability of its leaders.
Colony government. Each colony is a self-governing unit in civil
and worldly affairs. Colony government has been termed "theocratic com munism permeated by the force of brotherly love and resting upon the 3 idea of■the perfect equality of those who are united in God," and also,
3 Franz Heimann, "The H utterite Doctrines of Church and Common Life, A Study of Peter Riedemann's Confession of Faith of 151*0," The Mennonlte Quarterly Review, 26*32, January, 1952. a "patriarchal democracy.W henever one colony has any influence over another, such as a new daughter colony, it is by mutual consent of the elders of both colonies. The Darius, Teacher, and Smith Groups each have their own bishop, who may serve as the spokesman for all the colo nies in his group.^ There may be conferences, at irregular intervals, which colony elders attend. General problems of both a temporal and spiritual nature which concern all colonies are discussed. When the ministers of the colonies are in conference, they exert complete control of all the colonies in all religious matters.
The spiritual and temporal leaders. At the head of each colony are two leaders who usually work closely together. One may be termed the temporal leader, the other, the spiritual leader. The spiritual leader is the preacher, and he usually has a younger assistant. The temporal leader is the colony Boss, or w irt, but Dr. Bertha W. Clark preferred the term "steward,"^ and Dr. Joseph W-. Eaton uses the term 7 "manager." Each industry on the colony has its Boss as well. For example, there is the Field Boss, the Sheep Boss, the Chicken Boss, and the Goose Boss. Another position of importance is the German Teacher.
The positions of Head Cook and Kindergarten Mothers' are filled by women.
The selection of leaders. Positions are filled by. an election
^Joseph W. Eaton and Robert J. Weil, Culture and Mental Disorders (Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press, 1955), p. 30. ” 1
-’Peter D. Hofer (Teacher Group) of Choteau, Montana; Peter Hofer (Smith Group) of Starbuck, Manitoba; John M. Wurtz (Darius Group) of Wilson Siding, Alberta. These men do not use the term bishop but prefer to be known as Head Preachers.
^Bertha W. Clark, "The Huterian [sic]] Communities," The Journal of Political Economy, 32:365, June, 192U.
7 'Eaton and Weil, loc. cit. h8 which is held at a general meeting of colony Brethren whenever vacancies occur. Members entitled to vote are those adult Brethren who have been baptized. The women have no franchise nor do they attend meetings, although they doubtless exert their influence before a meeting'when a major decision is to be made..
Because the preacher’s position as spiritual leader is so impor tant, this position is filled in a different manner from other colony positions. All Teacher Group colonies use the following method: When the position of Head Preacher becomes vacant, the assistant preacher automatically assumes this rank. The subsequent election will be for a new assistant minister. All other ministers from the Teacher colonies will attend the meeting and have the right to vote. First, an arbitrary number of .votes is set by the group as a requirement before a nominee has the right to draw a ticket from a hat. Usually six to ten votes are set as the required number. Then nominations are made by each of the
Brethren who writes the name of the person he prefers on a slip of paper.
The ballots are then counted, and.those Brethren who have the required number of votes remain; the others withdraw from the election. A prayer is made, and the men draw lots in order of age seniority; the one draw ing a marked ticket becomes the assistant minister. To the Brethren, the combination of a democratic vote and a chance draw makes it possible for the members to express their preference and yet leave the final 8 choice to God’s w ill.
O ’’And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two Thou hast chosen.” (Acts 1:2U) The other positions are filled by voting with a secret ballotj the man receiving a simple plurality is elected. Each Boss, once elected, holds his position at the pleasure of the elders, yet he may
resign at any time. This system works well for the Hutterites. It gives the men the opportunity to specialize where their interests lie, and consequently they become experts in their chosen fields.
It is the duty of each Boss to organize and direct his part of the farm work. As an example, the Chicken Boss decides on the breed of chickens he w ill raise, the number he w ill handle each year, and the facilities he will require. He experiments with different feeds and methods of production and keeps his own records. He becomes fam iliar with the market prices and attempts to produce when prices are highest.
It is his responsibility to the colony to make as great a profit as pos sible in the poultry business* all proceeds are turned over to the col ony. The financial transactions are handled through thev colony manager, who thus gives final approval to all decisions made by the Chicken Boss and coordinates this industry with the other industries ofi the colony.
The third most important position in this agricultural community is that of Field Boss. A high degree of leadership ability is required, for he is the supervisor of most of the younger men of the colony and must establish good rapport to receive their voluntary cooperation.
Each day he confers with the Colony Boss, discusses colony business mat ters, and plans the next day's work.
The positions of responsibility tend to be held by the older men of the colony who know the colony members well and understand how they think. Business matters are not necessarily settled by fomal meetings 5o
but often by concensus gained through informal group gatherings. No
action is taken on a problem if there is a strong minority opposition.
A good leader keeps in touch with his "flock,” and his decisions are
based on common concensus.
A noteworthy feature of this system of division of labor is that
none of the Brethren needs work very hard nor has he a rigid assigned 1 . routine. They do much less work than an individual farmer who must
attempt to run a complete farm by himself. During the fall there are a
few weeks when all must put in long hours, but for the rest of the year they have time for relaxation and rest. They can work at a leisurely
pace, and, whenever it is their turn to go to town for a day or to a neighboring colony for a visit, they can leave their work and know that o th e rs w ill do i t f o r them .
The women's work. The women of the colony are organized to do their work under the direction of the Head Cook, who sees that the work is equally shared. Much of the routine work is done by the younger, unmarried women. The retirement age for colony work is set at forty- five years. The married women are responsible for maintaining their own living quarters as well as for spinning, sewing, and washing clothes for their own fam ilies. Such routine work as milking, helping in the kitchen, or attending the garden, is done on a weekly basis. On certain days when many women are required, such as in preparing geese and ducks for market or dressing meat for the colony, most of the women w ill be put to work. This system gives the women a variety of tasks, which pre vents monotony and yet provides them with free time for visiting, gos siping, and resting. The women's lot has improved vastly in recent years* In earlier days the Hutterian women were assigned field workj
this was done as recently as World War II, when women had to go to the fields to replace the men who were serving in Conscientious Objectors’
Camps.
I I . HUTTERIAN DRESS AND CUSTOMS
The dress and customs of the Hutterian Brethren can be traced to the culture of the sixteenth century peasants of central Europe. They are deeply rooted in Hutterian religion and the writings of the early leaders. "It is our way,” is a common expression heard when they are questioned about their manner of living and demeanor.
C lo th in g
Clothes are made by the women from material purchased in large quantities for the whole colony and allocated to each family on a rationing basis. There are but one style of suits for men and boys and one style of dress for women and girls. One innovation has been intro duced by the Teacher Group, and that is the use of buttons on the men's jackets. The Darius and Smith Groups s till continue to use hOok-and-eye fasteners. If the men and women wear clothes purchased from a store, and this sometimes happens, these clothes are worn underneath the Hut- terite garb and never exposed.
The men wear black cotton trousers and jackets. Under the jacket may be worn a brightly patterned shirt, but the jacket is kept closed to the neck. They wear sturdy boots made by the colony shoemaker. In the summer the men w ill Wear black felt hats with a low.crown and wide brim. 52
These are purchased by special order from town stores. In the winter
they change to a. black fur hat, made by the women, which is styled after
the winter hats worn by the Cossacks of Russia.
The women's dresses are ankle-length and have a full skirt. The bodice of the' dress has a round neck and may or may not have sleeves.
Under the dress is worn a simply cut blouse with a high collar and long
sleeves. Its material is more brightly colored than the dress, which is patterned, but in a darker, more subdued color. Large aprons are always worn over the dresses. The women wear high-buttoned shoes, cut from a
pattern similar to the men's, but made from a lighter weight leather.
Without variation, a ll women wear black and white polka-dot kerchiefs on their heads tied tightly under their chins. Under the kerchiefs are worn small caps which keep their hair in place. These are removed only when they wash and re-braid their hair once a week. The women never cut their hair, but wear it in tight chignons at the back of their heads.
The first plaits start from the top and front of their heads and are rolled under in such a manner that they are exposed under the kerchiefs.
Babies are dressed in caps and dresses from their earliest days, and boys and girls are dressed the same until two-and-a-half years of age. Blankets are not used for babies. They are placed in their cribs on heavy feather ticks, with another tick over them. This prevents the babies from moving to any great extent, and they are not allowed the freedom of movement which doctors now recommend. At the age of two-and- a-half, the children are dressed like their parents, and they take on the appearance of miniature adults. 53
Creative Expression
Songs. All Hutterites love music. Although no musical instru
ments are allowed in the church, school, or home, the younger boys may surreptitiously possess harmonicas. In their homes in the evening many families spend their time singing. Their songs are the old hymns which have been passed down through the years. These hymns have been taught in their Gennan School and their Sunday .School and are not the same as those sung at regular church services. Occasionally they know a popular modern song which has been picked up from some source such as the non-
Hutterite teacher’s radio. No phonographs, radios, or television sets are allowed on the colony; they are considered the devil's instruments of temptation. However, no ban is placed on the non-Hutterite teacher, and he may have any of these in his teacherage. It is customary for the younger people to visit the teacher for no other reason than to enjoy these modes of entertainment, but the German Teacher or the preacher may ban these visits at their discretion.
Book-writing. The art of book-writing still flourishes in the
Hutterian communities. Each preacher must have his own library of ser mons, and these are copied by hand from the books borrowed from the older preachers; as yet, they have not been put into print. Many of the hymnals are also hand-written, although three have been printed. All ] the hand-written books are hand-bound by the Hutterian book-binder, although this seems to be a disappearing art. Their books are beauti fully finished, with frontispiece, chapter and title heads decorated in colored inks. The book covers may be tooled or inlaid with colored leathers with corners and clasps made of brass. All books are individu- ally boxed to prevent soiling and to preserve them for many years.
Needlework, The women find creative expression in their needle
work. From the age of twelve, girls are taught embroideiy and cross-
stitching. Once again the work is most meticulous. It is usually
copied from patterns and seldom is a new design created by the needle- o worker. The girls w ill often do samplers, which are never framed or hung on the wall, but are stored away in their "hope" chests* The girls' names are cross-stitched on the back of their polka-dot kerchiefs, and this adds a bit of brilliant color to an otherwise drab costume. For a new non-Hutterite teacher, it is an excellent means of identification at the beginning of a school year.
Marriage Customs
The marriage customs of the Hutterians have not changed a great deal through the ages, and each marriage follows a set pattern. In the early history of the Brethren it was customary for the elders to arrange the marriage, but this does not occur today.^ The boy may court the young lady of his choice. However, once the proposal has been made and accepted, the parents of the young couple w ill "meet with the minister and decide if the union is mutually acceptable to both families. The marriage is not permitted if the. relationship is closer than second
9 ^In the Teacher Group the women are permitted to have a two-inch border on the edge of their kerchiefs. This must be black and white, the same as the kerchief. Some women hand paint the strips of cloth using the patterns which were brought over from Russia.
^Estimated by some Brethren to be prior to 18^9 although the w riter could find no exact date or record. 5 5
cousins. Both the boy and £firl must be baptized before they may be mar
ried, and, as baptism does not take place until the early twenties.,
there are seldom any teen-age marriages in the colonies.
The wedding banns are announced in church one week in advance of
the wedding, preliminary vows are taken by the couple in church, and
then the young lady becomes "bride for a week.1’ The same evening as the
wedding announcement there is a shivaree for the young couple. This is
an occasion for anyone who wishes to-attend, but usually only the
younger people participate. The evening is spent in singing. Some of
the home-made wine may be served. A second shivaree is held later in
the week, usually on the eve of the wedding. These are usually termi nated before 1 0 :0 0 p.m. by the preacher's entering the room and suggest ing that everyone should go home.
If the couple are from different colonies, the wedding is held in the boy's church. The young couple stand by themselves near the back of the church where the minister unites them as man and wife with a bless ing by "the laying on of hands." A regular church service is held in conjunction with the wedding servieej it w ill last about two.hours and is always in the morning. No rings are given, there are no flowers or decorations, and it is not expected that individuals will give gifts.
The colony supplies them with the furniture for their room, a Bible, three hymnals, a copy of The Smaller Church Chronicle, Rideman's Confes sion of Faith, and Andreas Ehrenpreis' Ein Sendbrlef.^
Immediately after the church service the colony members gather at
the dining-room for a continuation of the wedding celebrations. A meal
is served with such extras as oranges, ice cream, candy, and, for the
adults, beer. Hutterite wine, which is made by one of the elders for
community consumption, is considered top common for this occasion. The
celebration may continue for several hoursj the chief entertainment is
group singing and solos without instrumental accompaniment. People may
come and go as they wish during this time. Throughout the celebration
the men sit at one table, and the women at another on the opposite side
of the room, except the bride, who, for this one time, sits with her
husband. The newly married couple do not leave for a honeymoon but set
up housekeeping immediately at the boy's colony. The groom w ill, as
tradition dictates, start to grow a beard within the first year of mar
ria g e •
And so the young couple settle down with expectations of a long 12 and fruitful union. The probability of a divorce is remote. Their
wealth w ill be the children they hope to have, birth control being con- 13 sidered a grave sin. They are secure in the knowledge that their fam-
^A . J. F. Zleglschmid, Das Klein-Geschiehtsbuch der Hutterischen Brueder (Philadelphia: The Carl Schurz Memorial Foundation, Inc., 19^7); Peter Rideman, Confession of Faith (Ashton Keynes, W ilts, England: The Plough Publishing House, 19l>0); A. Ehrenpreis, Ein Sendbrief (Wilson, Alberta: The Hutterian Brethren of Wilson, 1953)• 12 Only one divorce is known to have occurred since the group's arrival in America.
■^Eaton and Weil, op. c it., p. U2. ". . . highest sustained net reproduction rate ( 3 6 6 . ofany modern population, which to the best of our knowledge, has ever been studied." 57
ily will be well cared for in the event of either parent's death or ill
ness. Both havings been thoroughly, indoctrinated in the values and
beliefs of the Brotherhood, it is now their duty to inculcate the next f generation in a similar manner to assure the perpetuation of this six
teenth century rustic culture in our twentieth century.
I I I . CULTURAL MOTILITY
The foregoing description of the Hutterian society has been an attempt to present some of the antiquated customs which have been
retained by these people. However, there are external and internal pressures which are bringing about a slow change in the Hutterian cul- , lk t u r e .
It is becoming increasingly difficult for the communities to remain in isolation, and business contacts with the "outside 11 w orld result in the acceptance of some of the values of the Canadian culture.
Internal pressure exerted by the younger generation may be observed. 15
The technological progress in equipment, which the Brethren adopt for increased production, does not always stop at machinery used solely for agricultural purposes. Electric motors, which were first introduced in their machine shops, are now used in the homes for the women's sewing machines. Even the traditional spinning wheel, which is given to each girl when she is fifteen, has undergone technological progress and is
■^The Canadian Mental Health Association (Saskatchewan Division)', "The H utterites and Saskatchewan"(Regina, Saskatchewan: The Canadian Men ta l Health Association, 1953), P« 17* (Mimeographed.)
^ I b i d . $8 now often operated by electric motorsi Joseph ¥. Eaton observed that
“there is no area of living in which concepts of right and wrong are not being influenced by the experiences of life in A m e r i c a ,"16
Controlled Acculturation
Although there are changes within the Hutterian culture, they are slow and controlled. This gradual process of change is possible because of the relative homogeneity and integration of the Hutterian system,
Eaton termed this change as controlled acculturation. He states* i . , , It is the process by which one culture accepts a practice from another culture but integrates the new practice into its own existing value system. It does not surrender its autonomy or' sepa rate identity, although the change may involve a modification of the degree of autonomy.
Controlled acculturation can be practiced only by a well organ ized social structure. There must be recognized sources of author ity, The presence of this practice is evidence that the culture has considerable vitality for growth and continuity, despite the pres sures for change to which it is making an adjustment. In the con trolled acculturation of H utterites, there is rarely any fundamental negation of the group1s own value system, When they adopt American ways they do not become personally identified with the mainstream of the American culture. They remain H utterites, loyal to their auton omous way of life*
. » , In time, the changes may accumulate to bring about a major shift in values, which could destroy the group's existence as a sep arate ethnic entity,17
This slow process of controlled acculturation has aggravated many people of Alberta, and they have censured the Brethren for not assuming
1^Joseph W, Eaton, "Controlled Acculturation* A Survival Tech nique of the H utterites," American Sociological Review, 17*333-3^, June, 1952.
l^Eaton and Weil, op, c it., p, 201, 18 "more fully the responsibilities of citizenship." In an at-tempt to encourage, or coerce, the Brethren to assimilate, the restrictive Commu nal Property Act of 19k 7 was passed by the Alberta Legislature. Instead of the cohesiveness of the communities being weakened, the communities have become more unified. The Brethren have established a formal church 19 organization which prevents any one colony from deviating from the '20 accepted pattern or introducing any innovations of social practice.
The A lb e rta Communal P ro p e rty Act i s o n ly one in s ta n c e o f a deliberate attempt to force the Hutterite communities to conform to the dominant culture. The preceding chapter on the history of the Hutter- ians described the attempts made by government and Church to destroy the
Hutterian system during their stay in Europe and the persecution they suffered in South Dakota. One generalization may be formulated after this study: Direct pressure has never succeeded in assimilating or 21 destroying the Hutterian culture.
If the ultimate objective is to abrogate the Hutterian way of life and assimilate these people, then methods other than coercion
Bepprt of The Legislative Committee regarding The Land Sales Prohibition Act, 19Uk, as amended (Edmonton, Alberta: The Queen’s Printer, 19k7Ji P* 6 . The Committee quotes this from the brief submit ted by the Alberta Association of Municipal D istricts. 19 The Hutterian Brethren Church incorporated by the Parliament of Canada in 1951 as Chapter 77. Mr. E. A. Fletcher, B arrister, "Winnipeg, states, "The incorporation by the Federal Government of the Hutterian Brethren Church has the effect of creating a Corporation sim ilar to the United Church of Canada and other federally incorporated churches." on Eaton and Weil, op. c it. , p. 202. p-j The Canadian Mental Health Association (Saskatchewan Division), op. cit., pp. 2 £ -2 6 . 60
should be found. The Select Special Committee of the Manitoba Legisla
tive Assembly recommended that;
(1) The standards of the Hutterian schools must be increased, and
'•the same standard of education be enforced relative to the Hutterite 22 children as is enforced relative to other children in Manitoba." The
Hutterite children should be encouraged to attend school after the mini
mum requirements have been met, and they should be encouraged to attend 23 public schools whenever possible.
(2) The Legislature should repeal those sections of the acts
incorporating the Hutterian colonies which prevent the individual from
owning property and prevent the individual from "taking with him or her
his or her pro rata share of the assets of the colony."2^ This action OS' is directed against one of the basic tenets of the Hutterian Church.
(3) The Committee recognized "the basic fundamental rights of
every person—the right to purchase land in Manitoba where and when he 26 pleases." Therefore, the Committee'made no recommendations relative
Report to The Honourable the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba of the Select Special Committee appointed to obtain information regard ing colonies or societies of Hutterites or Hutterian Brethren and to report and make recommendations upon the same (Winnipeg, Manitoba: The Queen's Printer, 19W), p. 25•
23Ibid., pp. 25-26. 2^Ibid., p. 26. 25 Andreas Ehrenpreis, Ein Sendbrief (A.D. 1652), trans. John P. Liebe (Poplar Point, Manitoba: Poplar Point Hutterian Community £n.d.^J), PP» 57*58. (Mimeographed.) Also see Appendix H, Point 9. 26 Report to The Honourable the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba of the Select Special Committee appointed to obtain information regard ing colonies or societies of Hutterites or Hutterian Brethren and to report and make recommendations upon the same, op. c it., p. 27* 61
to land sales restrictions.
A study conducted in 1952-53 by the Saskatchewan Division of The
Canadian Mental Health Association resulted in the' authors' concluding
"that within a few generations, if there are no restrictions and little 27 scapegoating, the Hutterites w ill merge into the general population." 1
To avoid conflicts which might result in persecution or restrictive leg
islation, the following possibilities were proposed:
(1) Hutterian leaders planning to purchase land in Saskatchewan
should have access to a consultatory service which would help them
locate suitable blocks of land. This service would function to advise
the leaders what land is available, what are suitable prices for land in
these areas, and what suitable agricultural practices should be used.
The service would direct them to areas where the problem of competition 20 for land is not acute.
(2) 'Whenever the Hutterites had selected a suitable site for a
colony, a survey of that community should be made. The survey would
"assess the ideas and feelings towards the new group, potential sources
of tension, general community problems, and the sociometric and power 29 systems." From these data an educational program for the community would be designed. The program would be implemented through such media
as the press and would attempt to "build accurate and realistic expecta-
27 The Canadian Mental Health Association (Saskatchewan Division), op. cit., p. 1 1 3 . r\ O Ibid. Action has now been taken and the Saskatchewan Govern ment Hutterite Committee has been organized for this purpose.
2 9 I b i d . , p . 111*. 62
tions towards the Hutterites" on the part of the whole community.3^
(3) An inter-group committee should be set up in each community where a colony has settled. This committee would be composed of objec tive-minded people, both Hutterites and community citizens, and would serve as a source of information that would increase the understanding 31 of both groups.
C arle C. Zimmerman o f H arvard U n iv e rs ity and R ichard E. DuWors of
Bucknell University reporting to the above organization and basing their suggestions on a study of relations between the dominant and minority groups within the rural life in the United States make three sugges- 32 t i o n s .
They feel that the Hutterian communities pose only a temporary problem which w ill be resolved in one or two generations by a spontane ous internal disintegration of communal life. This change w ill come about through the influence of regional developments. This new actuat in g fo rc e
is coming in which w ill speed up all this merging and melting of cultures very rapidly during the next few years. That is the devel opment of regional community types.
. . . In practically no case will a.community sect cover such extensive territoiy as to be the single dominant population in either an Oasic or Farm city territory. Nor can the sectarians long refrain from participating in this newer community simply because it develops about them and involves them. New people come in to dilute the culture. Divergent sectarians of all types are brought together daily in the market town. Isolation is broken down.
. . . Their pronounced influence upon future sectarian isolation is inescapable. To get around the handicaps of sectarianism we find the people moving "up" in their religion as illustrated by the
3 0 I b id . 3 1 I b i d . , p . . 1 1 5 . 3 2 Ibid., pp. 1 2 0 - 3 ?. 63
development from costume wearing sects to "plain people" and to Lutherans among the Pennsylvania Dutch.
To ameliorate the temporary clashes which may exist, these two writers suggests
(1) Restrictive legislation should be avoided. This w ill make the group more cohesive and recalcitrant.
(2) "Peace talkers" who understand both cultures and can bring about reconciliation whenever necessary should be encouraged.
(3) The practice of .eojuration should be widely used. The group should be held collectively responsible for individual behavior, and the group should be made to enforce standards of behavior upon individuals
From-the preceding discussion based on statements from recognized authorities, one may draw some tentative generalizations. If the assim ilation of the Hutterians is to come about, it w ill be accomplished only through spontaneous internal break-down of their communal way of life.
Restrictive legislation will not do this, but will only encourage the
Hutterians to draw closer together in the face of oppression. The Hut terian movement becomes more cohesive and defensive with persecution*
There are two weak spots in the armour of Hutterian culture. The leaders are acutely aware- of these vulnerable areas, and they know that an attack on either would be an attack on the basic core of Hutterian b e l i e f s .
One factor which may destroy the Hutterian colonies is the temp tations of modern technological progress. They could not resist trucks,
3 3 Ibid., pp. 1 2 8 - 3 0 . 3\b id ., pp. 1 3 1 - 3 2 . 6k
35 station wagons, telephones, watches, and electric razors. To resist
the temptations offered by.cars, radios, television, and many luxury
items, w ill become increasingly difficult. The degree to which the Hut terians have already accepted the products of the dominant culture may have affected only the peripheral areas of their own culture. However, a further acceptance could result in a major shift of values, and they would ultimately "go along with the world."
The second area of vulnerability is the Hutterian educational system. Only through intensive indoctrination of the young can the
Hutterians maintain their status quo and perpetuate the Hutterian move ment. . If the German School were threatened, or the Public School gained a greater influence than the German School, then the younger Hutterite generation would ultimately "go along with the world."
3 At a preachers' meeting for all Teacher Group colonies, held Februaiy, 19^8, a ruling was made that no colony may purchase station wagons. The three colonies whioh had them at that time were given one year to dispose of them. Panel trucks and new or used school buses are permitted. The Darius Group colonies s till continue to purchase and use station wagons. Eaton reports that the Smith Group had forbidden them as early as 1 9 5 1 * CHAPTER IV
A HISTORY OF HUTTERIAN EDUCATION
The communal life of the Hutterian Brethren made possible educa tion systematically organized from the time of their first community in
Moravia. The objective, administration, methods of instruction, and supervision have been stated clearly in the writings of the Brethren, and up to the present every attempt to implement these regulations has been made.
Three hundred years before Froebel introduced the first kinder garten in Europe, the Hutterian Brethren established their kindergarten . or kleln-schule. The Brethren may also lay claim to the introduction of adult education two centuries before adult classes were established in
England by William Singleton and Samuel Fox. Their nursery schools anteeeded the infant school of James Mill of London by 288 years; The modern technical schools were preceded by the Brethren*s by I 4OO y e a rs .
The hygienic principles of cleanliness and healthful living were intro duced in their schools of the early sixteenth century at a time when these principles were not accepted generally. Rules pertaining to wash ing, eating, daily inspection, and isolation of the sick, were formu lated and observed.
The main objective of Hutterian education is to train each Hut- 1 terite child '*to honour and fear God,” and **to seek not what is tempo-
■*\John Horsch, The Hutterian Brethren (Goshen, Indiana: The Mennonite Historical Society, P* 35. 66
2 ral but what is eternal.« The process may be considered harsh and rig
orous if considered in the light of twentieth century theories of educa
tion; but to the Brethren it is necessary, for
just as grain cannot become bread unless it is ground and broken, so it is necessary that those, who share the Last Supper, be first bro ken and ground by the millstones of the Word of God, in order to break their w ill and egotism, tame their flesh and w illfulness, and bring them into Christian serfdom. (I Corinth. 9)J
I . THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUTTERIAN SCHOOLS
The First Schools
The first school in Moravia was established by 1529, and there
after each community organized its own school system at the earliest
opportunity. For that period of time and that area of Europe, it was a
remarkably superior system. The schools were esteemed so highly that
non-Hutterites requested to attend. Most Hutterites were literate in a
country where illiteracy prevailed; and, for those adults who joined the
Brotherhood and could not read and w rite, special schools were estab
lis h e d .^
The early schools were more like a children’s home where the
^Peter Rideman, Confession of Faith (Ashton Keynes, W ilts, England: The Plough Publishing House, 1950)> p. 131.
^Andreas Ehrenpreis, Ein Sendbrief (A.D. 1652), trans. John P. Liebe (Poplar Point, Manitoba: Poplar Point Hutterian Community [n.d.]), , p. 37* (Mimeographed.)
^Horsch, op. c it., p. 33* 67 children lived and were taken care of throughout the year.'* The Smaller
Ghroncile describes the method whereby the children were indoctrinated into communal living at the earliest age. A mother kept her baby for the first six weeks, but at the end of that time the baby was placed in a special room with all other infants. The mother visited this room three times daily for the purpose of breast feeding the baby until the infant was eighteen months. At that age the child was placed with other children in another room which was under the supervision of an older woman. T his s u p e rv is o r had s e v e ra l h e lp e rs who a s s is te d each ev en in g .
The child stayed here until the age of five, when he was placed under the supervision of the schoolmaster in the Big School. The child’s for mal education now began and he was taught to read and write. ’’The real
Christian way of living” was taught to the extent that the child could understand and learn. At the age of twelve he completed school and was apprenticed within the colony to a trade for which he had shown prefer ence or aptitude.^
It should not surprise the reader to learn that the schools came under severe criticism , but opposite to the charges leveled at present day public schools. The first leader of the Brethren, Jacob Wiedemann, was censured by members of the commune for his methods of harsh child 7 discipline or kinderzucht.
^A. J. F. Zeigleschmid, Das Klein-Geschiehtsbuch der Hutterischen Brueder (Philadelphia: The Carl Schurz Memorial Foundation, Inc., 191*7), pp. itOli-5. 6 I b i d . ^Ibid., p. 22; Roland H. Bainton, ”The Anabaptist Contribution to History,” The Recovery of the Anabaptist Vision, ed. Guy Franklin Hersh berger (Scottdale, Pennsylvania: The Herald Press, 1957), p. 322. 68
Jeronymus Kaels
The Larger Chronicle tells of one of the first teachers,
Jeronymus Kaels, who was a teacher as early as 1533. He had previously been a priest of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1536 he suffered mar tyrdom in Vienna, and his farewell letter to his wife is written in the spirit of one who is not concerned with himself but thinks of those he must leave. He says in part:
Treindl, I send to you a Christian hymn that I sang in my prison, through inspiration of the Holy Ghost, with a true heart. I send it to you with a,loving heart that you may remember the faithful sin cere request and warning that I gave you at our last jparting, that you may stay pious, faithful, and firm in the truth.°
The training of the children is to this day directed toward obe dience, passivity, and brotherly love. This concern was shown by
Jeronymus Kaels in the same letter when he wrote, ". . .1 ask you that you be obedient at all times unto the beloved brethren and sisters, that you may stay lowly and humble in heart and that you may always hold the 9 other one higher than yourself."
The guiding tenets of Hutterian education are found in Peter
Rideman’s Confession of Faith. His writings state that children must be brought up "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Children are not born sinless and therefore it is necessary to prevent the "old nature" from getting the upper handj yet this must not be done too
O Rudolf Wolkan, Geschicht-Buch der Hutterischen Brueder (Macleod, Alberta, Canada: Standoff Colony, i?23), p.,12l. (Passage translated’ for this w riter by Michael P. Entz of the Elmspring Hutterian Brethren, Warner, Alberta, November 30, 1957*)
9I b id . ? 69
10 severely but in the fear of God. Even Rideman in 156? admonished the
Brethren not to permit their children to go to other schools "since they teach but wisdom, art and practises of the world, and are silent about divine things.'!^
Peter Walpot
The leader of the Moravian communities at this time, Peter Scherer bettei* known as Peter Walpot, showed great concern about education. In
1?&B he addressed the schoolmasters of the Brotherhood. He stressed the diligent care which was required for the best training of the young, and h e counselled the schoolmasters to teach the children and "direct their minds to honour and fear God, so that they may be brought up in the nur ture of the Lord and may receive from their youth the very best at your 12 hands." The schoolmaster's position was of prime importance, and he should let no other assigned task interfere with his school supervision.
The schoolmaster's presence in the school was not only "for the chil dren's sake, but also in order to be helpful and kind to the sisters
[i.e. female assistants], for they need your oversight just as much as 13 the children, since women are women and the weaker vessel."
Detailed directions were given to the school sisters to supervise the most minute details of child care. They were warned about eonta-
Rideman, op. cit., p. 130. ^Ibid.
^Harold S. Bender, "A Hutterite School Discipline of 1??8 and Peter Scherer's Address of 1568 to the Schoolmasters," The Mennonite Quarterly Review, ?:2Ul, October, 1931.
• ^ I b i d ., p p . 2U1-U2. 70
gious diseases and the dangers of mishandling food. ’’Further," Walpot
directed, "you should not bathe the children every fortnight, for this
is not necessary, but bathe them once in four weeks and wash them every * fortnight, unless there is a special reason or on account of bad heads.
The Schul-Ordnung or. H utterite School Discipline of 1578 gives further directions to those in charge of schools. The brethren or sis ters appointed to the school are first advised to "take care that no disunity, strife, or boisterous speaking is heard by the children, but rather by a peaceful, cheerful, good-natured, and sober life and quiet walk they shall inspire the youth likewise to quiet and sober living and give them a good example."^
A detailed description, of suitable punishment for the children is given, and the schoolmasters were instructed by the elders that they
shall not manifest wrath toward the children and shall not strike the children on the head with the fist nor with rods, nor shall they strike on the bare limb, but moderately on the proper place. It is necessary to exercise great discretion and discernment in disciplin ing children, for often a child can be better trained and corrected and taught by kind words when harshness would be altogether in vain, while another can be overcome by g ifts. , A third however cannot be disciplined without severity, and does not accept corrections. Therefore the exercise of discipline of children requires the fear o f God.
Older children were not permitted to discipline the younger children.
The little ones who came to school for the first time received sympathy and the teachers were warned the children "should not be broken all at 17 once because of the bad effect which might .follow."
^ I b i d . , p . 2M*. l5Ibid., p. 232 1 6 17 Ibid., p. 236. Horsch, op. c it., p. 35. 71
Inpatient teachers who employed unreasonable disciplinary mea sures were warned they would be judged by the Lord. Teachers must dis play a geniality and good w ill 5 they must train the children as if they were the teachers' own. Only this w ill win the Lord's approval, and the 1 O teachers w ill be able to answer before God with a clear conscience.
For the next half-century the Hutterian schools were organized along the lines set forth by Peter Walpot. During this same period the
Chroniclers reported that eleven schools were burned by the invading 19 Turkish armies between 1593-1618, and six schools were destroyed by 20 fire at the outset of the Thirty Years' War.
Andreas Ehrenpreis
In 1651 child discipline came under scrutiny during the leader ship of Andreas Ehrenpreis, who drew up numerous rules and regulations in an effort to prevent the spiritual decline of the communities at that time. The Smaller Chronicle states that school order had deteriorated because the children were pampered. This permissive upbringing devel oped wicked youth who could not be mastered. They were of no use to anyone and contributed little to community life. Parents were admon ished to give their children at the age of two years to the school vol untarily. Parents were reminded that in older codes the parents were not even allowed to take their children for walks beyond the colony fields, and if the elders thought parents were pampering their children,
l 8 Ibid., pp. 3 6 - 3 7 . 10 20 Zeigleschmid, op. cit., p. 123. Ibid., p. 131 72 the children were taken away from them. Parents should not excuse their own laxity by saying the school w ill punish them enough when the children are given up, nor should parents be constantly running to school to visit their children and interfering with the discipline of the school m a s t e r s .^
’’The education of children,” said Andreas Ehrenpreis in 1652, 22 "should be taken in hand in all seriousness." Taking the example of the priest Eli, who was a righteous man himself, but raised godless sons and was therefore destroyed by God, Ehrenpreis cautioned the Brethren . 23 that this was a warning to all parents. Parents should not become guilty of bringing their children’s souls into perdition by neglecting their education. 2V He goes on to say;
The separation from the world is as necessary for the children as it is for their elders, since the corrupted nature of men is already astir in childhood and has the urge to grow. Just as iron tends to rust and as the soil will nourish weeds, unless it is kept clean by continuous care, so have the children of man a strong inclination towards injustices, desires, and lusts; especially if they always hear and see the bad examples of the children of the world. In con sequence they desire nothing but dancing, playing, swearing, and all sorts of frivolities, till they have such a longing for it, that you cannot stop them any more from growing up in it. And what they are forbidden to do in the presence of their parents, they will do secretly in their absence, especially when they are in bad company.
How many parents are by nature too soft with their children.and haven’t got the strength to keep them away from evil. So we have a thousand good reasons why we should live separated from the world.in a Christian community. How much misery is prevented in this wayl For don’t we hear it often saidj how honest and respectable are these people; but look what godless children they brought upJ Some show a damnable insolence, others are un-Christian drinkers, and • some are given to frivolous playing and dancing. Sometimes father
21Ibid. , pp. 527- 2 8 . ^Ehrenpreis, op. eit.,.p . 105*
23Ibjd., pp..106-7. 2^Ibid., p. 1 0 7 - 73
and mother have died long ago and nothing is left of their earthly remains, but their bad reputation s till lives among the people who complain that they once neglected to discipline their children and brought them up disgracefully. 5
During the severe persecution by the Jesuits, which commenced in
Hungary in 1759 > and in Transylvania in 1762, and continued until the
last community of sixty-seven souls escaped over the Carpathian moun
tains in 1767, The Smaller Chronicle reports that child discipline was 26 very strict. Whatever religious instruction was given to the children
at this time must have been given in secret, as Jesuit priests were
posted in each community to instruct the Brethren in the Catholic relig
ion. The small group of sixty-seven which left Creutz in 1767 to
escape to Wallaehia left just in time, for arrangements had been made by the Jesuits to take their children and place them in an orphanage where they would have received Catholic instruction.
Hutterian Schools in Russia
The Brethren moved to Wischenka in 1770.- Within eight years, The
Smaller Chronicle states, the Brethren had established both a large and 27 small school. Rigid discipline and training must have been maintained for it is reported by a later chronicler that the disorderly and lawless behavior of the younger members in 1798 would not have been tolerated , 28 twenty years earlier.
In Russia the Hutterian school system of 1781 comprised three
schools within each community. After the baby was weaned at the age of
^Ibid., pp. 105-6. 2^Zeigleschmid, op. c it., p. 299»
27I b i d . , p . 3li9* 28 I b i d . , p . 558. 7h
eighteen months, he was placed in a "suckling home." Here he was under
the constant care of an older woman and her assistants. At four-and-a-
half years he attended a school where the children were taught writing
and were known as "blackboard children." At six years of age the chil- 29 dren learned to read and. write and started attending church services.
By 1819 certain modifications had been instituted, and The Smaller
Chronicle gives a detailed account of the schools. At seven years of
age, boys were placed under the schoolmaster; the girls were placed
under women teachers. The parents were forbidden to see their children
during school time. The children went to bed at nine, and arose at five each morning; they had one hour free after the noon m eal.^
An official report made by a Russian government agent states that in one bruderhof there were eighteen children, between the ages of one-
and-a-half and three-and-a-half, under the supervision of three elderly women. Five or six children slept together in each bed. In the Big
School there were eighty-height children who were being taught to read and
write according to their ability to learn and were also taught handi- 31 c r a f t .
It was this same year (1819) that the Brotherhood abandoned com munity of goods. Poverty and disunity not only disrupted the economic
29 I b i d *, p . 5U2 . 3°Ibid., pp. 1*2 0 - 2 1 .
3*This is the first and only reference to the teaching of handi craft in Hutterian schools. When children left the Hutterian school, their formal academic education 4 k s completed and they then commenced their practical or manual training by serving an apprenticeship. 75
32 system o f the bruderhofs but destroyed the school system as well. A chronicler wrote on January 10, l82£, that the schools, which their forefathers had always considered of greatest importance, were entirely neglected. Many children grew up without learning to read or write, something which had never happened before in any period of Hutterian history. "Our community is being threatened both spiritually and tempo- 33 r a l l y , 11 was. the chronicler's observation. For twenty years there were no organized schools, a period unique in Hutterian history. However, a report dated November 20, l8ii5, states that a village school was opened with an enrolment of ninety-one children. Great hopes were seen for the growing children and the interest in the school became so great that grown-ups and even married people asked Teacher Janzen to hold evening c l a s s e s . ^
The schools which were established subsequent to this period dif fered from the preceding schools in one important aspect. They were no longer the children's'school-home where the children were kept day and night. They now became day schools, and the students returned to their families at the end of each school day.
32 J The older Brethren of today assert that the Hutterian movement came closer to extinction during this period than at any other time in their history. , The church would have sunk into oblivion, and the Breth ren would have become assimilated into the Russian peasant class, if it had not been for Johann Cornies, a Mennonite Brother. Through his efforts and his friendship with the Russian Minister of Agriculture, he located new land and arranged a government grant for the Brethren to move to the Molotschna valley. He led the Brethren from Reditschawa in l8lji2 after the M inister of Agriculture had cautioned him, "Then take these people on your neck if you like." 33 ^©gjgl^schmid, op. c it., p. U 26
^ I b i d . , p . U37 76
Hutterian Schools in the United States
When the Hutterian migration to the Dakota Territories took place between 187k and 1877, schools were established on each of the three colonies, and those who had been teachers in Russia conducted the new schools in America.
Public school requirements were first imposed upon the Hutterian educational system at this time. As a newly opened agricultural area for pioneers, the Dakota Territories had few school regulations. Lee
Emerson Deets, who reported on the old Bon Homme Colony, estimated that the colony schools were probably equal or superior to the local ungraded rural schools of the Territories at that time. The schools were con ducted by each colony's schoolmaster, who was expected to give instruc tion in English. Certification requirements were set by the State of
South Dakota after 1889, and the Hutterite schoolmaster had to qualify for these by writing qualification examinations.
Lee Emerson Deets claims that the old Bon Homme Colony pioneered in the field of instituting a public school^system within the colony.
The first "outside" teacher was hired in 1909, but her services were discontinued when the colony preacher felt that she had a too "worldly" influence on.the girls. , By 1912-13 the same colony was offering a low quality grade five level of instruction) three years later the sixth grade was added, and not until 1 9 2 6 -2 7 was the seventh grade included.
Lee Emerson Deets, The H utterites, A Study in Social Cohesion (Gettysburg! Time and News Publishing Co., 1 9 3 9 ), PP* 39-U1•
-^Ibid., p. U0. 77
By 1931 no Smith Group colony had an eighth grade in its school system,
but all the instruction was being done by outside teachers. As state
qualifications for teachers became increasingly stricter, few Hutterite 37 teachers were able to procure licenses.
The original Lehrerleut colony, Old Elmspring, which organized
in 1877 under the leadership of two teachers, Jacob Wipf and Peter Hofer,
antedated the old Bon Homme Colony by many years in hiring woutside,r
teachers. Three male teachers were engaged in succession to conduct the
first school in this colony. None of the Brethren could speak English .'--1 38 well enough to teach it, so Messrs. Moore, Lee, and Massey were hired,
in that order, to conduct school until one of the Brethren could qualify as a teacher. Johann Entz was the first to qualify, and the Old Elm
spring Colony had Hutterian teachers until the colony moved to Alberta
in 1930. Paul P. Entz was the last to teach the public school for this
colony, and by self-study he qualified for a First-class Certificate for 39 South Dakota.
The Brethren's attitude towards education imposed by state regu-
3 7Ibid., p. Ul.
The name Massey has now become part of the Hutterian language. A very popular fare of the Brethren is potatoes fried in deep fat, and this is served as a main course for noon meals regularly two or three times each week. Massey became so fond of these potatoes he would dis miss school early on the days it was served so he would be first at the kitchen. Since then this fare has been termed "massey," and all Teacher Group c o lo n ie s know t h i s food by no o th e r name. 39 This information was obtained from Mrs. Rachel P. Hofer, age 91, daughter of Peter Hofer, and now residing at the Sunnysite Colony, March 3, 1958, and Mr. Paul P. Entz, the last teacher of the Old Elmspring Colony of South Dakota, now residing at the Glacier Colony, Montana, January 5, 1958. 78
lations has. been expressed by Marcus Bach in his book, The Dream Gate.
This is the sole piece of fiction based on Hutterian life that has been
published to date. Bach puts the following words into the mouths of
Joshua, who is a renegade H utterite, and Michael, who is the colony car
p e n te r ;
"I went to a school in the world for a w hile,” Joshua explained, "and it taught me that there are many things that the Hutterians can learn without being corrupted.”
"That's a trap you can set for us, but we need not walk into it," said Michael suspiciously. "Corrupt us with outside learning and you'll see the end of our way of life . We have our colony school and the children are taught what they should know. Hutterian teach ing's pure and away. A boy can still learn a trade from his father; a girl learns about raising a family from her mother. James the Teacher and Pastor Kunz can te ll us about God, and for history we have the Hutterian tradition. All other education can stop right out at the colony fence. It's over-educated people who are farthest from God and it's over-educated nations that cause all the wars."
This Hutterian m istrust of the educational system superimposed by the state and their firm faith in their own traditional system w ill be further discussed in the next chapter which describes the establishment of the Hutterian schools in Alberta.
Marcus Bach, The Dream Gate (New York; The Bobbs-M errill Com pany, Inc., 19U9), p . 5>3* The pastor's surname, like a ll names in the book, is fictitious. None of the fifteen patronyms in the colonies used. Elders who have read this book have identified Pastor Kunz as Michael Waldner, th e,first leader of the Smith Group. CHAPTER V
' THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUTTERIAN SCHOOLS IN ALBERTA
The establishment of an ungraded rural school in each of the com
munes which had migrated to Alberta between 1918 and 1930 was acceptable
to school authorities. At that time the rural ungraded school, under
the jurisdiction of a local board, was the accepted system of rural edu
cation in Alberta. In the past twenty years there have been many changes in this educational system, and the centralization of rural
schools has been one of .the major innovations. The Hutterian Brethren wish to maintain the status quo of the public education system which has
existed in the colonies since their establishment in Alberta. School officials and administrators prefer to see the colony schools keep pace with other schools. In the future these diverging points of view may bring about a conflict similar to the situation which developed in 19h7 and r e s u lte d in th e passage o f The Communal P ro p e rty A c t.^
I . THE ESTABLISHMENT OF HUTTERIAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS'
The F i r s t Colony Schools
Immediately upon the arrival of the Brethren in Alberta, a school
^Editorial in the Claresholm Local Press, March 27, i9!?8. The editor states, "Now the proposal is that the people of Alberta take steps to bring about the eventual dissolution of the colonies. One way is by making it compulsory for the colony to pay a certain sum to any person who wishes to leave the colony and another way is insisting that the children go to division schools rather than to their own school on the colony land."
79 8o was erected upon each colony's land and a local school district was j organized by the O fficial Trustee who was appointed by the Alberta
Department of Education.
Early records show the first ten colonies which established sc h o o ls:^
TABLE I
LOCATION AND DATE OF ERECTION OF FIRST TEN HUTTERIAN COLONY SCHOOLS IN ALBERTA
L ocation Date of Erection by No. D i s t r i c t Notice of Minister in T .. R. W. The Alberta Gazette
373k Foch (Milford) 5-20-1* Oct. 9, 1918
31k 7 East Elm 1* - 21 - 1* Nov. 1, 1918
37U8 Old Elm k - 22 - k Nov. 1, 1918
3 7k9 New Elm k - 22 - 1* Nov. 1, 1918
3 7 # S ta n d o ff 6 - 25 - 1* Dec. 3 , 1918
3 7 # East Cardston 3-25-1* Dec. 3, 1918
3757 West Raley 1* - 21* - k Dec. 3., 1918
' 3768 Sayre 27 - 22 - 1* Jan. 18, 1919
3769 Rosebud River 27 - 23 - 1* Jan. 18, 1919
1*192 Miami > 5-18-1* Apr. 17, 1919
1*515 Elm spring 1* - .1 6 - 1* Sept. 8, 1930
One.of the requirements for holding office as school trustee was
p A complete list of colonies in Alberta is found in Appendix E. that the trustee be a British subject. This requirement the Brethren
could not meet and would make no effort to fu lfill. It was necessary
for the Department of Education to appoint Official Trustees whose
duties were the same as a Board of School Trustees as set forth in The
Alberta School Act. The positions of Official Trustees were taken by
the school inspectors at that time. Joseph A. Morgan, Inspector, of
Schools at Lethbridge, was the first Official Trustee for Hutterian
schools. Succeeding Official Trustees were J. A* MacGregor,'R. H.
Roberts, Owen Williams, A. B. Evenson, and H. C. Sweet. Today the posi
tions are taken by the school superintendents of the school divisions which have colony schools. J. W. McNicol of Lethbridge served as Secre- tary-Treasurer for most of the colony schools in southern Alberta as l a t e as 193U-
School D istrict Organization
The first plan that was followed by the Department of Education was to withdraw colony lands from existing school districts and reorgan ize a new school district for the colony school. As an example, the
Elmspring School D istrict No. was created by withdrawing about two- and-a-half sections from the Warner Consolidated School D istrict No. 1 and two-and-a-haIf sections from the Bunton School D istrict. The school tax levied on this land and an additional government grant supported the
Elmspring School. The balance of the Elmspring Colony's land holdings,
■a The requirement today is that school trustees must be Canadian citizens. Brethren born in Canada would now qualify, but, in accord with Hutterian belief, they do not accept citizenship. 82
which remained in the Warner Consolidated School D istrict, was taxed for
that school's support.
When later colony school districts were organized under this plan, ( some of the school boards concerned objected to the withdrawal of the
Hutterian lands. As an example, when the New Rockport Colony wished to
establish a school district in 1932 and withdraw lands from the New
Dayton Consolidated School D istrict, there was opposition from the Board
of Trustees. Under these circumstances the new district was not organ
ized, but the New Rockport Colony applied for and received permission to
operate a private school.
These school boards which opposed the withdrawal of lands to
organize colony schools wished to retain the school tax revenue of the
lands# However, the boards were quite agreeable to the attendance of ( Hutterite children at the schools already in operation in the estab
lished districts. To the Hutterians, this suggestion was not acceptable,
and. they chose to support a private school on their property at the same time paying school taxes to the other school districts.^ Approval of
these private schools was given by the Department of Education whenever
the Brethren fulfilled the requirements that had been laid down by
Appendix F, "Extract from the Annual Report of the Department of Education, 1920, Mennonite Schools," gives an account of such an inci dent. It is of interest to note that the Hutterian Brethren were quite amenable to have other children attend their schools. 83
c O rd er-in -C o u n cil No. U/I 4.6 .
Inspector Hutchinson of Macleod, Alberta, one of the early Offi
cial Trustees for the colony schools in that area, gave the Department
of Education a most favorable report of the school under his jurisdic
tion in 1920. He observed that the members of that commune were quiet and industrious. The colony leader showed keen interest in the"school, and he offered full cooperation in school matters. Regarding financial support of the school, Inspector Hutchinson reported:
When it comes to the paying of taxes in order to support the school, we find in the Hutterites a people who pay, and who pay without eva sion, murmur or complaint. During the present school year the English-speaking ratepayers, among whom were those who had sold certain of their lands to these Hutterites at high prices, strenu ously objected to paying taxes to support a school designed for the education of foreigners. They succeeded in their efforts to have their lands withdrawn from the district. This reduced considerably the area of the district and threw an added burden of taxation upon the H utterites, yet no complaint was heard from these people. They assumed the additional obligation as though it were the inevitable and went on paying their taxes as quietly and complacently as before. Had a sim ilar thing happened in the English district, what a storm we would have had to face!
The annual reports submitted to the Department of Education by the early Official Trustees, regarding what they erroneously labeled
Mennonite schools, indicate a keen interest in the Brethren. They attempted to locate teachers with the best qualifications possible and encouraged the teachers to further the knowledge of the English language
d______'’A. J. F. 2^)gl^schmid, Das Klein-Geschichtsbuch der Hutterischen Brueder (Philadelphia: The Carl Schurz Memorial Foundation, Inc., 19^7), pp. 635>-37. Order-in-Council No. k/k& is reporduced along with letters to the Ewelme and Thompson Colonies regarding the operation of private s c h o o ls . 6 Appendix F. 8U in the colonies. One teacher was favorably cited for having sponsored 7 evening classes in his teacherage for the younger men of the colony.
The teacher encouraged them to read current magazines which dealt with agricultural and scientific problems.
An -Ebcperiment Which F a ile d
The colonies in South. Dakota had several German Teachers who held teachers' certificates, but when the colonies moved to Alberta no Hut- terite teacher qualified for an Alberta certificate. The colonies were required to engage outside teachers. In 1921^22 an experiment, was car ried out by sending four young, men from Alberta colonies for high school education and teacher training. Three attended the Magrath High School, one attended the Cardston High School, and later they enrolled at the
Calgary Normal School. The Brethren considered it a failure as only one boy returned with his teacher's certificate. He conducted school for a period of ten years before becoming a colony manager. The weltleute, or
"outer" world, proved too tempting to the other three youths. One deserted his colony permanently and divorced his wife, but the other two eventually returned. Today the elders hold themselves personally accountable for having led these souls from the' narrow path leading to salvation, and no’elders w ill now take the responsibility for sending another young man out into temptation "to live like a heathen."
In 192£ some of the Hutterian elders, were concerned with the problem of selecting teachers suitable for their schools. They did not
7I b id . 85
want teachers who would, interfere in any way with the religious indoc
trination given by the German School. Representation was made by four
Hutterian leaders to the Department of Education, and they expressed
misgivings about some of the non-Hutterite teachers who had been engaged
for colony schools. They were concerned about the teachers who were
undermining Hutterian religious instruction and "raising doubts in the
minds of [ their]] pupils concerning the validity of the religious beliefs 8 in which they had been reared." They received a sympathetic hearing
t from the M inister of Education, the Honourable Mr. Parren Baker, and it
was suggested that each colony have a committee of three elders who
would express their wishes to the O fficial Trustee regarding the appoint
ment of teachers.
The Relationship Between Hutterite Schools and the School Division
On January 1, 1937, the Alberta Department of Education began the
reorganization of the small school districts into the larger school
divisions. This sim plified the school organization problems for colony
schools, for the colonies now pay all their school taxes to the school
division which administers their schools and engages the non-Hutterite
teachers. Those private Hutterian schools which sought, or agreed to,
the operation and management of the schools by the board of the school
division have joined school divisions. Today there are only three colo- 9 nies which maintain private schools.
Appendix D. 9 The Ewelme, H utterville, and Thompson Colony schools s till have private school status. 86
The agreement which exists between divisional boards, or county
school committees where they exist, and Hutterian colonies outlines the
conditions which both parties must m eet.^ The agreement states that if
"the Colony insist that they shall have their own school apart from the
schools for the Division, the other ratepayers of the Division should
not be asked to bear any of the cost of the school in the Hutterite Col- 11 ; ony." A school site of three acres, fenced, an approved building pro vided with fuel and janitor service, and a teacher's residence are to be provided by the Colony, The division appoints and pays the non-Hutter ite teacher, supplies school equipment and furniture, and permits the school building to be used for church purposes, The division w ill supply a second teacher and the additional equipment if the enrolment of the school exceeds forty pupils.
To what extent the colonies fulfill the conditions of this agree ment cannot be assessed. However, the opinion has been expressed that
"the school authorities should make every possible effort to see that 12 all school regulations are carried out." This may indicate the Hut terian characteristic of fulfilling the law to the letter but refusing to go beyond the requirements of any man-make regulation.
In an attempt to establish more uniformity among the Hutterite schools within Warner County No. 5, certain policies were established
■^See Appendix G, "Copy of Type of Agreement."
11Ib id .
1 9 R eport o f The Legislative Committee regarding The Land Sales Prohibition Act,~T9hU, as amended (Edmonton, A lberta:The Queen’s Printer, 19U7), p. U. 87
after a joint meeting of county officials and Hutterian representatives.^
School hours for the public school were set, and the children were given
an additional quarter hour at noon to accommodate the Brethren, who have
their noon meal at 11:1*5 a.m. A uniform rental fee for the teacherages
was se t.' The Hutterian representatives agreed that they would not inter
fere with work which the teacher places on the blackboard in the evening
for lessons the following day. Each school should be equipped with a
tack board that has a cover that may be pulled down when the church ser
vices are in session. There should be sufficient cupboards, equipped with locks, to hold all school supplies. Although these points may
appear trivial, to the teachers who conduct the colony schools the poli
cies agreed upon eliminated certain controversies which they had experi
enced with colony leaders.
The Legislative Committee Report of 19i*7
The Report of The Legislative Committee regarding The Land Sales
Prohibition Act of 191*1* was presented in 191*7. A testim onial letter w ritten by Owen Williams, an Official Trustee for colony schools, was presented as evidence that the Hutterian schools were efficient, self- supporting plants.^ He considered the children's attainment in English
remarkable and believed the results obtained in colony schools are com parable to ordinary ungraded schools in the province. The Committee reported, however, that "the better qualified teachers do not wish to teach in Hutterite schools, and, thereby, Hutterite children receive a
■^Appendix B, "Warner County No. 5 Policy for Hutterian Schools.'!
^Appendix A, "A Testimonial Letter," 88
somewhat inferior instruction.'* 15 The report did not define "better
qualified teachers," nor did it attempt to estimate the degree of "some
what inferior instruction." A brief submitted to the Committee during
the hearings,.on behalf of the Alberta School Trustees' Association and
two school divisions, stated that the Hutterite schools are inadequate,
and that they do not fit the Hutterite children for a place in the Cana
dian way of life. Further discussion and objective findings relative to
these statements w ill be presented in Chapter VII, and the reader may
make his own assessment of the validity of these allegations.
Proposed Changes in the Hutterian Public School
Although the formation of the larger school divisions has facili
tated the formation of centralized schools, no Hutterian ungraded rural
school on any colony has been affected. The organization of central
ized schools has been disrupted in somesareas by the Hutterian colonies.^
School vans transporting other children must pass by colonies but do not
take Hutterite children. A suggestion by the council of Warner County
No. 5 was made in 195k to the members of the seven Hutterian’communities within the county that a centralized Hutterite school could be estab
lished. The Hutterian reply, composed by the seven colony preachers, was a definite rejection of the suggestion.
The Brethren are well aware of the importance of education in maintaining the status quo of the commune. The public school system
15 ^Report of The Legislative Committee regarding The Land Sales Prohibition Act, 19liU, as amended, loc. c it.
l6 Ib id . 89 which presently exists on each colony can be stifled by the cloak of counter-indoctrination supplied by their own educational system. As long as the rural ungraded one-room school exists on the colony, it will not pose a threat to the Hutterian way of life. However, any changes in this system, such as taking the children away from the colony for instruction in centralized schools, would be a serious menace and would cause grave concern among th e B re th re n .
Primary objections. The specific objections Hutterian leaders have against the.centralization of their schools are; (1) The central ization of schools would require the children to be off the colony and would bring them into contact with the "outer" world and the many things which Hutterians must shun. (2),Valuable time would be lost in transport ing the children to school. Time which is now used for religious instruction immediately prior to, and following, their public schooling would be needlessly sacrificed. (3) If instructional equipment such as radios, television, pianos, and motion picture projectors, were installed in the centralized schools, the children would be exposed to
"worldly" influences which are counter to Hutterian doctrine. (U) The children would escape the full impact of constant discipline if they were taken away from the colony each day. This discipline is essential for the preservation of the status quo, and the Brethren know they must not relinquish this right if the next generation is to be thoroughly 17 indoctrinated to become staunch Hutterians.
17 Appendix C, ."A Petition Presented to the Warner County No* 5 School Committee." 90
Secondary objections. The Brethren have secondary reasons for
resisting any attempt to centralize their schools. They advance such
objections as: (1) The cost of constructing such a school is an unnec
essary expense which would only burden the taxpayers further and possi
bly cause more resentment and ill-w ill toward the Brethren. (2) Feeding
the children away from the colony would be an inconvenience. Children's
meals are supervised by the German Teacher, who maintains strict disci
pline. The meal begins and ends with a prayer. Proper supervision,
such as this requires, would not be possible at a centralized school.
(3) The older boys and girls who would be attending school would not be
available for colony work. The Brethren conclude that these objections
"may seem trivial, but, you may be assured, they are quite essential to
us . . .we believe they are serious enough to affect the Hutterite way
of life and faith in the future."^®
The Alberta School Act does not give the school boards the right
to impose centralization on any school districts opposed to it. When
questioned about this possibility, the present M inister of Education
stated, "It is probable, however, that the Department would hesitate to
support an enforced transporting of Hutterite pupils to schools outside 19 their colonies." With little support from the Department and with
such definite resistance from the Brethren, the county proposal has now been dropped.
^Letter received by the w riter from The Honourable Mr. A. 0. Aalborg, M inister of Education, Edmonton, Alberta, May 6, 195>8. The minister also stated: "Our policy is to~ encourage the Hutterite colonies 91
I I . HUTTERIAN EDUCATION TODAY
Hutterian education is viewed by the Brethren as a purely relig
ious enterprise," and teaching is a divine assignment. The basic princi
ples have been preserved with little change up to the present day; a
study of their schools reveals that Hutterian education is religious
through and through and the end product is "the glory of God and promo- 20 tion of his purpose on the earth."
The Small School
The education of the Hutterite child today commences at the age
of two-and-a-half when the child is first sent to school where
there are sisters, appointed by the Church to care for them, who have been recognized to be competent and diligent therein; and, as soon as they can speak, they lay the word of God's testimony in their mouths and teach them to speak with or from the same, te ll them of. prayer and such things as children can understand. 1
So at this early age, when the first distinction of sex is made by the
clothes the children wear, they are sent to the Klein-schule or kinder-
to avail themselves of schools operated for them by the school division within whose boundaries they lie, rather than to operate private schools. We realize that the complete integration of the colonies into the regu lar school system can be achieved very slowly, if at all. We think that the situation is more hopeful in this regard if the schools are operated by the school divisions. We think, also, that even if voluntary segrega tion continues the quality of education w ill be somewhat better under these circumstances." 20 Harold S. Bender, "A Hutterite School Discipline of 1978 and Peter Scherer's Address of 1968 to the Schoolmasters," The Mennonite Quarterly Review, 9:21*1, October, 1931.
^P eter Rideman, Confession of Faith (Ashton Keynes, W ilts, England? The Plough Publishing House, 1990), p. 131• 92
garten which is still "truly Hutterian."22 There are two or three
School Mothers who take charge alternately. Under the School Mother’s,
careful supervision the children play either indoors or out. They are
given a morning lunch which usually consists of a bowl of milk or very
weak coffee with milk added and small buns that have been dried in the
oven. For the noon meal they have soup or the same food that is served
in the colony dining-room.
After lunch the children have their nap. They sleep on wide
wooden benches which are along the walls and covered with sheep hides or
blankets. At two-thirty in the afternoon they are awakened to repeat
their evening prayers and are sent home. This six hour session has
given the mothers an opportunity to do their assigned tasks about the
colony with the knowledge that their children are well cared for during
th a t tim e .
While in kindergarten the children are taught simple, short
religious songs and prayers. There are no toys nor instructional equip
ment in the kindergarten and no playground equipment outside. The chil- / dren are not taught any organized games, so they play separately or
simple, self-devised games such as tag or follow-the-leader. This is
the child’s first experience away from his family, and it is his first
experience in gregarious communal living with a peer group. , The experi
ence of integrating himself with his peer group of the colony and devel
oping Gemeinschaftsgeist, or community sp irit, is an essential feature
22 Robert Friedman, "Hutterite Education," The Mennonite Encyclo pedia (first edition; Scottdale, Pennsylvania; Mennonite Publishing House, 1956- ), 2;l50. 93
of the kindergarten. To the Brethren, the primary objective is early
\ religious indoctrination and discipline. However, the kindergarten has
always served an economic purpose as well. It frees the mother for
colony work; and, as the early Brethren discovered, serving the chil
dren’s food in the kindergarten saves food and prevents waste.
The German School
The program of formal education begins at six years of age when
the children are
entrusted to the schoolmaster, who teacheth them the same and thereby instructeth them more and more in the knowledge of God, that they learn to know God and His w ill and strive to keep the same. He observeth the following order with them? when they all come together in the morning to school he teacheth them to thank the Lord together, and to pray to Him. Then he preacheth to.them as children for the space of half an hour, telling them how they ought to obey, be sub ject to and honour their parents , teachers and those set, over them, and illustrateth from the Old and New Testaments both the promise-to godly and the punishment of disobedient and obstinate children.
For the,first year the children spend four to five hours each day, five days a week, with the German Teacher, and their education is inau gurated by learning to read and write High German. For the first year a non-Hutterite primer has been used for the past thirty years.^
At the age of seven the children commence their public school education under the supervision of a non-Hutterite teacher, but the Ger man Teacher w ill have them for an additional two hours each day, six days a week. One hour is taken each morning before nine o’clock and
2^Rideman, op. c it., p. 131.
* 2li^W itter’s German English Primer, F irst German Reader and Song Book, prepared by Teachers of the St. Louis Public Schools -(St. Louis, Mo.: C. W itter Publisher, Bookseller and Importer, 1929)- 9h
another hour after the public school has closed for the afternoon. The
program is composed of Bible study, copying, rote learning of hymns and
Bible verses, and the recitation of Bible stories. The study of the New
Testament is given greater stress as most Hutterian doctrine is based on
this latter part of the Bible.
The hymns and Bible stories were composed by the early writers of
the sixteenth century especially for children. A typical hymn is trans lated as follows?
Come children, and I w ill teach you How happiness you may attain. 0 come ye and listen to me, 1 w ill speak to you of wisdom Which in your life shall bring to you Knowledge, blessing, fortune, and repose.
Obey and serve your parents, Honour them with words and deeds, Hold them worthy of a ll your love, This w ill bring true life to you. You w ill gain success in everything And the desires of your heart.
Take as patterns for your life Joseph, Jacob, Samuel, Who greatly loved their parents. See, how for this worthy piousness All happiness and welfare came, That the Lord alone doth give.
So receiveth not the insolent, Who weaken their parents' honour These inherit but curse and ban, Disaster follows in their footsteps, And in their wake Follow terror, dread, and fear.
E li’s wicked children findeth For their sins but misery and death, Esau received not the blessings, Ham inherited naught but curse, Dishonourable death was Absolora's, A swift decision it was. 95
Children who scorn their parents, Such the ravens exterminate By the stream where their bodies lie. Hearts that forget faithfulness Are greedily devoured by the young eagles, Who, claim their flesh as booty. ^
At seven years of age the young student receives his New Testa
ment, and he commences a program of memorizing two hundred Bible verses.
On completion of this he w ill be assigned an additional three hundred,
and a total of five hundred verses w ill be committed to memory before he
is fifteen. This rote learning is the student's daily homework.
On the completion of the first two hundred Bible verses, the stu-
dent is given his book of scriptural history. Fifty-four stories are
based on the Old Testaments fifty-five stories are based on the New
Testament. Those Bible verses which are related to each story are
reviewed at the time each Biblical anecdote is studied. These 109 Bible
stories and five hundred Bible verses make up the course of studies for
the German School. Eight years of intensive study and repetition ena
ble the student to recite these stories from memory at the age of fif
te e n .
At the age of fifteen, the legal age to discontinue public school
in the Province of Alberta, the Hutterite youth leaves both the German
School and the public school to do his share of colony work. He is now
^Translated for the w riter by Michael P. Entz, Elmspring Hutter ian Brethren, Warner, Alberta, November 30, 1957. 26 Biblische Geschichten des Alten und Neuen Testaments (Leth bridge, Alberta, Canada: den Hutterischen Brudern in Canada, 1951)• This was originally an old Mennonite publication published in 1881. 96
tri-lingual and can speak and write the Hutterite dialect which is an
archaic Tyrolese German, High German, and English. Usually the student
is anxious to leave school after this period of disciplined indoctrina
tion. He may regret leaving the public school with its wider range of
subjects and greater opportunity for ’’worldly" knowledge, but it is only
a wistful desire that is nullified by the exigency of playing a more
adult role in community life .
The young Hutterite does not dissociate himself completely from
education at this stage but continues on with Sunday School. He has been in attendance from the age of nine and w ill continue until he is baptized, which takes place during the early twenties for both men and women. To the Hutterians this school is of the greatest importance, and, if the German Teacher is not available, the.minister or his assistant takes over instruction.
Each Sunday session follows a prescribed and standard pattern.
The theme is set by the opening hymn, followed by ah extemporaneous ser mon by the German Teacher, who correlates the theme to the Bible verses previously memorized by the students. There are oral questions, oral reviews, and rote recitations. A short period of time is spent by the teacher's giving an oral examination on the morning's church service, with the teacher simplifying or explaining parts of the sermon. The school closes with the same hymn which was used for the opening.
Occasionally the German Teacher w ill use the sixty-page catechism,
teaching and explaining sections and assigning parts for study. How ever, intensive study of the catechism only takes place each Sunday for six weeks preceding baptism, and here the m inister, his assistant, and 97 each of the elders of the colony w ill assemble to instruct the catechism class for two-hour periods. With this solid background of Biblical knowledge, the elders feel the student is capable of understanding the doctrine of the Hutterian Church, and they instruct him carefully on the articles of baptism and "The Ten Points of the Hutterian Church."^
Only after he has understood these teachings, accepted them, and requested on his own volition the sacred rite of baptism is he ' accepted. Only after he has received membership in the church through baptism is he a Brother, known as a Hutterian..
^ A p p e n d ix H, "What th e Church o f C h r is t I s and How One May J o in It,"' CHAPTER VI
THE HUTTERITE CHILD AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL
I . CHILD DEVELOPMENT
The child* like his parents, must conform to the Hutterian mores.
Parental permissiveness in child-rearing is never allowed, and any
impulsive behavior on the part of the child is checked. These are
essential requirements to ’’mould the child for piousness.” This inten
sive program to shape the child’s personality to fit into gregarious
communal life begins at the earliest age. He is constantly surrounded
b y. the pressures to conform: in the home, in the kindergarten and
school, in the church, and in the dining-room. Parents, teachers, and
adults continually present a consistent set of beliefs and behavior pat
terns for him to emulate. There is no conflict between home and school,
school and church, or church and playground. Constant supervision by
the German Teacher, parents, and minister^ gives the child little oppor
tunity to get into mischief. In this the childhood differs greatly from the surrounding."outer” world. Early in life the child is expected to conform by repressing any tendency to assert his individuality except along the approved lines.^
■*The w riter as a participant observer of colony life bases these statements on his own experiences and observations.
98 99
Two Controls t Indoctrination and Punishment
Two intermediate goals of child training are the development of a
moral conscience and the desire to conform. This is accomplished through
indoctrination and habituation which start at infancy. It does not stop
at the age of fifteen, when the student leaves school, nor at the age of.
baptism, but is continued throughout adult life by means of the daily
church service. The church service is primarily religious in nature and
purpose, but it has a secondary function which is to continue the les
sons which positively stress brotherly love, communality, passivity, 2 conformity, and Gelassenheit, which is yielding to the will of God.
Sloth, self-regard, and individuality, are suppressed.
The chief control of the individual is accomplished through edu
cation, which is treated in the preceding chapter, and the secondary
control is through punition. In the early history of the Brethren
retributive justice involved whipping, but, to the best of the w riter's knowledge, this form of castigation has been abolished for baptized
adults. Adults are punished by.doing public penance. The individual who violates a colony rule is first counselled by the preacher and he is
admonished. A second transgression of the same rule requires a hearing before the preacher and the elders who jointly decide what punishment is deemed necessary. This usually requires the individual to stand through-
2 Robert Friedmann, "The Hutterian Brethren and Community of Goods," The Recovery of the Anabaptist Vision (Scottdale, Pennsylvania; The Herald Press, 19'ZTJn PP* 83-81;• The writer attempts to translate this difficult term. . It means relinquishing all self-w ill and self- regard, yielding completely to God's w ill, and accepting God's command ments without question. 100 out a short evening church service or a two-hour Sunday morning service 3 depending on the seriousness of the misdemeanor.
The most severe punishment is excommunication. The individual is shunned by other members of the colony; he eats alone and does not par ticipate in colony life. He is ignored by his family and other members, but he is not hated or persecuted. This period lasts until the individ ual repents. The Brethren attest to the effectiveness of this punish ment. If the individual refuses to repent, his isolation becomes unbearable, and he leaves on his own volition to join the "outer" world.
Whenever a person leaves the colony, the Brethren explain it by saying,
’•All wheat has chaff.
Child discipline involves physical punishment to a greater extent than one finds in the schools and homes of present day America. "A gar dener must bend his tree when it is young," is a basic maxim for the
Hutterite teacher, who is'responsible for child discipline in the Hut terian school and throughout the colony. Parental discipline with all its variability exists only in the home and is not as important-a factor as in an average American home. Parents usually permit any other adult members of the community to discipline their children, if the children warrant punishment. The Hutterite child is not concerned as much with
■^Colony le a d e rs r e a d ily e x p la in th is procedure to show th a t phys ical coercion is not necessary in colony life.
^Lee Emerson Deets, The H utterites, A Study in Social Cohesion (Gettysburg: Time and News Publishing Co., 1939), p. U7* This w riter considers "continuance of the order depends upon voluntarily given loy alty to the central beliefs." Penal procedure must not be emphasized in a Hutterian society. 101 what his parents w ill do if he misbehaves as with what the German
Teacher or the preacher w ill do to him.
A Third Control: Informing ' * A control which is practiced constantly in the community is that of reporting another member's transgressions. It is ethical and compul sory for each member to inform the preacher of any misbehavior or non conformity of another person. Each member accepts this as a necessary requisite to becoming a member of the community, and, as one member observed, "In the colony there are many eyes to watch you." The Breth ren explain this by stating they are responsible for each other's beha vior; and, if one observes another committing a sin, it is his duty to 5 report him; otherwise, he in turn has sinned. The training in this belief starts early,^ and the non-Hutterite teachers are aware of a greater tendency.,araong the school children to bear tales than among other children of school age. However, the teacher may also observe a very high degree of inter-group loyalty, if the teacher takes the in iti ative and asks questions pertaining to misbehavior. It would appear that if the children sense a danger from an "outsider" to their own
£ Possibly the greatest worldly temptation this writer brought to the Brethren was his television set. Many had never seen television before, but all except the most pious elders had made a visit to the w riter's teacherage to view it before the year was over. Several mar ried men admitted they had come to watch television in spite of their wives' objections and threats that they were going to tell the preacher. A noticeable decrease in the number of visits to the teacherage was observed toward the end of the year, and the writer assumes that Hutter ian beliefs and indoctrination held firm and won the battle over "the devil's own instrument of temptation."
.^Appendix H, Point 6. 102
group's integrity there is a tacit agreement to become completely uncom
municative .
Horizontal Identification
The Hutterite child is brought up through gradual horizontal
levels of development with children of his own age. This horizontal
identification with age-mates produces fewer frustations than the verti
cal identification with the older generation which children in our eul- 7 ture develop. Colony children group themselves by sex and age. Ry the
age of six, boys and girls stop playing together; the distinction is
encouraged, for example, by segregating the males and females in the
German School, Sunday School, church, and dining-room. The assigned
colony chores are distinctly "boys' work" or "girls' work." The child
is greatly influenced by the older children in his own group, and he
spends more time with his peer group than with adults. He progresses
through easy stages to identify himself with the adult role. From the
standpoint of mental health, Eaton states this may be important, for:
The traumatic impact of suppression of the spontaneity of chil- ren by adults may-also be lessened by the strong horizontal identi fication among the youngsters in the same age groups. No child is. singled out for restriction or punishment. It is an experience shared by all.
Childhood is a time of extensive psychological stress, but the above
factor, combined with a great deal of parental love, is considered by
7 Joseph ¥. Eaton, Bobert J. Weil, and Bert Kaplan, "The Hutterite Mental Health Study,""Mennonite Quarterly Review, 25:9, Januaiy, 1951. ( R e p rin t.)
O , Joseph W. Eaton and Robert J. Weil, Culture and Mental Disorders (Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press, 1955)> pT’TJJT"’ 103
Eaton to be the major reason why he and his staff failed to find any 9 child with a severe behavior problem.
Submission to the Common Will
Hutterian indoctrination of the child is a process of eliminating the individual's self-w ill or, as the Hutterites term it, self-regard, and developing a desire to abide with the common w ill which they term
Gemelhschaftsgeist. It is essential for each to identify himself with the common w ill to maintain the status quo established by the old tradi tions* $hd beliefs.1^ Anything which might endanger this status quo is discouraged. No encouragement is given to critical thinking, either in the educational system or in the community. To ask a student a question which would require critical thought or some evaluation on his part results in either no response or a stereotyped answer memorized from his
German School lessons.
"It takes about eighteen years to grow to a full-fledged Hutter ite," and before this time the children are not considered responsible for all their actions.'*'1 In this respect Eaton observed that the "culture encourages parents to be permissive towards the physical and intellec- 12 tual limitations of children at various stages of development." Sub missiveness is a highly regarded tra it, and the German Teacher identi-
9 Ibid., p. 129.
•^Deets, op. c it., p. 18.
■ ^ I b id ., p . 26.
"I p Eaton and Weil, op. c it., p. 129. ioU fies a submissive child as a "good” child. As Eaton states:
Impulsive behavior in children . . . which is regarded as ’’normal” by most contemporary child-rearing experts, is energetically repressed. Permissiveness in child rearing is not a Hutterite virtue; it is regarded as a viee.^
Beets' assertion that a Hutterite can be grown in eighteen years may be an astute observation. During World War II approximately 150 young Hutterites served in Conscientious Objector Camps in Alberta, and the elders feared that this contact with the "outer” world would tempt these young men to break away from the colonies. However, every man eventually returned to his colony at the end of the war, although a few lingered for one or two years after being released from the labor camps.
Today the Hutterian elders are greatly concerned with the "worldliness” of the younger generation, particularly the boys in their late teens.
They have few controls over them, and they fear these boys are showing too great a dissatisfaction with community life. A boy may desert the colony "to try the world"; his punishment for this misdemeanor is to stand in church for one service on his return. He is then forgiven by the community and takes up colony life as before. However, after bap tism this offence is viewed as a grave sin and the punishment is not the same as before baptism. He is excommunicated and allowed to return to the colony only after intensive interrogation by the elders and repeat ing his baptism vows a second time. The Brethren consider this a seri ous sin, for the apostate renegade was first baptized only by request, after intensive instruction, and after he had accepted the Hutterian
^Ibid., p. 126.' 105 doctrine of "having all things in common.""^ He also agreed to take nothing with him if he left.'*'?
Baptism does not take place before the age of eighteen and usu ally not until the early twenties. The Brethren consider this the most important decision they w ill ever make. Some Hutterian men have told this w riter about their "wild youth" and how they matured and changed their viewpoint after baptism and now accept Hutterianism without ques tion. The Hutterian culture has a powerful impact on the adolescent and 16 further study in this area needs to be done.
The Development of the "Hutterian Conscience"
The development of an awareness of one's conscience is an essen tia l purpose of Hutterian education. Whenever questions pertaining to violations of colony rules are posed to a Brother, the. recurring reply is, "My conscience wouldn't let me," and his hand invariably touches his breast. All the individual's behavior is subject to the scrutiny of his conscience, which he terms gewissen. This is "the still small voice" within him which helps him exercise his free w ill, and he is acutely
■^Appendix H, Point 8, "What the Church of Christ Is and How One May Join It."
^Ibid., Point 9.
^Joseph W. Eaton and Lee Emerson Deets concur with this observa t io n . 106
17 aware of it at all times. To the Brethren* it is the strength of
eonscience which has enabled them to withstand the persecution and mar
tyrdom they have suffered throughout their history.
Organismic psychology describes the broad social motivations of
values, ideals, and moral standards as functions of the superego. In
terms of this theory, conscience is only one function, and, to develop
a "truly Hutterian" personality, education must be directed toward all l8 three aspects of superego functions.
The individual is trained to be acutely aware of his conscience,
or negative psychogenic motivation. The Hutterite moral standards are
definite and concise; the "good" Hutterite must have strength to with
stand temptation. Those who break even the most minor community codes
report they suffer great remorse until they have confessed to the minis
ter and have received an admonition or punishment.
Ego-ideals are instilled by teaching the individual to aspire to
one objective, namely, to reach heaven. This can be accomplished by
"walking the narrow path," and living a communal life like the early
Biblical apostles. Ho deviation is allowed; no other ambition is per
mitted. The path to heaven has been well marked by the Biblical saints
17 Hutterianism is a fundamentalist religion which accepts the doctrine of free w ill. However, a faithful Hutterite feels that his conscience can be so strong it w ill not permit him to break a colony code. The writer attempted to discuss this aspect of Hutterite behavior with colony leaders in the light of the psychological theory of deter minism. There was no disagreement, and the colony leaders felt the w riter was simply explaining the Hutterian view but using different te rm s. T A Bert R. Sappenfield, Personality Dynamics (New York.* Alfred A. Knopf, 1 9$k), pp» 7a~76. 107 and the early martyrs of the Hutterian Church.
Self-observations or self-awareness, the third aspect of super ego functions 'of the personality, is encouraged through education. The child is trained to be constantly aware of his behavior in relation to community expectations. Gregarious communal life, to which the child must adjust, starts at two-and-a-half years when he first goes to the kindergarten.
There is no conflict of values or beliefs between the home and eolony. Standards and ideals are consistent, and -the child has unchang ing behavior patterns to which he must conform to receive parental and community approval. The child is not exposed to conflicting social con ventions, nor to people, except the non-Hutterite teacher, whose beliefs vary from those of his parents. This consistency and dependability of ideals, values, and moral standards may account for no serious mental 19 disorders among Hutterite children. Further studies in this area may be possible to ascertain what other factors, such as parental love and heredity, have an influence on these children.
I I . THE PUBLIC SCHOOL
1 There are certain common elements in the Hutterian schools. A teacher, accepting a position in any Hutterian community for the first time, would observe these features;
The school building, which serves as thei community church as well, has several wooden pews at the back of the room. The desks, which are
"^Eaton and Weil, op. c it. , pp. 128, 133• I 108
fastened to the floor or to wooden runners, have the tilt-up seats,
which, are spaced far enough from the desk top to permit a person to
kneel down and pray. Behind the teacher's desk are two chairs for the
preacher and his assistant during church services, and on either side
are two benches for the colony elders. Under the teacher's desk is a
small wooden prayer-bench for the preacher's use.
The front of the school invariably faces south with one window in
the center of the wall. The chief source of light comes from several
large windows which face east. Three small windows are high on the west wall. The blackboards, which are at the front and along the west wall,
are often in poor condition as a result of bi-weekly washings. The blackboards, floors, desks, and often the walls are washed each Saturday in preparation for the Sunday service.
Each colony has, on the average, about fifteen fam ilies, and, as the average Hutterite family has 10.U children, the teacher w ill have 20 several children from each family. There are usually only four or five family names in any one colony. Altogether there are only fifteen 21 patronyms in the entire ethnic Hutterian movement. Christian names taken from the Bible are s till the most common, and often there is repe tition as a child is given only one Christian name. As a means of iden-
^Joseph W. Eaton and Albert J. Mayer, "The Social Biology of Very High F ertility Among the H utterites. The.Demography of a Unique Population," Human Biology, 2^:226, September, 195>3.
^Eaton and Weil, op. cit., p . «33» Percentage of ethnic Hutter ites with the following family names: Hofer 22.1$ Wurz 6.6# Walter 5.1# Decker 1.2# Waldner 17.2 Kleinsasser 5.8 Mandel h*S Glanzer 1.2 Wipf 9*1 Tschetter 5*8 Entz U.2 Knels .7 Stahl 6.6 Gross 5*1 Wollman 3.9 109
tification the child will take a middle initial which is the initial
letter of his father's Christian name. If this does not identify him
sufficiently, he will use his mother's initial, or both parents' ini
tials will be used jointly.
Instruction D ifficulties
The role of the teacher in colony life cannot be overestimated
because this is the closest contact the Hutterian youth have with the
"outside” world. When the teacher possesses a clear concept of his position and purpose in the colony, realizes the disadvantages and lim i tations of the colony's ungraded school, appreciates the viewpoint of
colony members, and can accept this as a challenge, he should be suc- 22 c e s s f u l.
The non-Hutterite teacher finds the following difficulties exist
in varying degrees in all colony schools:
The curriculum. The implementation of the Alberta curriculum, which is designed more for the larger graded school than the one-room ungraded school, is difficult and* in some instances, impossible. The 23 rural ungraded school is now becoming obsolete in this area of Alberta.
The Alberta Course of Studies .permits and encourages the teacher
op This and the following conclusions are based on opinions received from the teachers of the Hutterian schools within Warner County No. $, These teachers met for one day, March 7> 1958, at an Institute for Teachers of Hutterian Schools', The writer visited each teacher's school for a day at which time he observed the teacher's work and secured student achievement data for Chapter VII. Each teacher com pleted a questionnaire, a copy of which appears in Appendix I.
JThe seven Hutterite schools within Warner County No. 5 are the only ungraded rural schools within the County. 110
to fit the courses to the class needs. This allows the non-Hutterite
teacher considerable freedom in organizing instruction to meet the level
of the children. Whether there should be a special curriculum designed for Hutterian schools is s till a moot point. The Special Committee of'
the Manitoba Legislature left this as an unresolved question in 19li8.^*
The Hutterian culture. The teacher is always conscious of the
difference in the Hutterite child's cultural background, which differs
so much from that of other Alberta schoolchildren that special problems arise in the use of textbooks and reference materials. It is difficult to teach certain lessons and units. In the light of preceding descrip tions of Hutterian life, the reader may understand the difficulty facing a teacher who proposes to teach a grade two enterprise on "A Trip to the
City," or a grade six project on "How Men Live and Work in Canada Today," or a grade seven unit on "How Canadian Culture Has Been Enriched from
Many S o u rces."
Before the age of six years, children are not taken off the col ony unless they require medical treatment. Boys, after the age of six, are allowed to go to town two or three times a year, and, once a boy reaches the age of fifteen, he is granted more freedom. At fifteen he is under the jurisdiction of the Farm Boss, who organizes the business trips to town and permits the men to go on a rotational basis. Girls and women are not permitted to go to town except for medical attention,
^Report to The Honourable the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba of the Select Special Committee appointed to obtain information regard ing colonies or societies of Hutterites or Hutterian Brethren and to report and make recommendations upon the same (Winnipeg, Manitoba 5 The Queen's Printer, 19U8), pp. 18-19. " _ 1-11
although visiting other colonies is permitted. There inter-colony v isi
tations by the women are a long-standing tradition which gives the
single girls an opportunity to meet eligible, unmarried men. As the
children in school are between the ages of seven and fifteen, it is
possible to have children who have never been off the colony, and those 25 who have can usually give the exact number of trips they have made.
The textbooks and readers which the teacher must use in the
classroom pose a special problem because of this cultural difference.
Not only are the books written in a difficult language foreign to the
student, but they assume the child has a background of experience in the
Canadian or American culture.
This problem is not unique in Hutterite schools because teachers
in the isolated areas of northern Alberta may face the same problem.
However, the Hutterite child knows he w ill never participate in the
Canadian culture, and, therefore, he shows a lack of interest in learn ing about it. The countermanding German School and the Hutterian home play an effective role in rendering ineffective much of the non-Hutter ite teacher’s attempt to acquaint the child with the '’outer” world.
The language barrier. A language barrier exists that hinders instruction. The teacher must spend a great deal of time in simplifying work and repeating instructions. The Hutterische German language is
A fourteen-year-old girl submitted an essay telling about the four trips she has made during her life . In part she wrote, "When I was ten years old my father took me to Lethbridge to have the dentist pull a tooth. I also went with my father to the Glacier Colony when I was eight years old. I have been to the Hillside Colony twice, once for a v isit and once for my uncle's wedding." This grade seven student has yet to go to Warner, the neighboring village seven miles from the colony. 112
spoken constantly in the colonies, and the students communicate in
English only during school hours. Once again there is no influence from
the home or the community which encourages the children to speak English.
The German School. The Hutterite children spend approximately
twenty-five hours each week with the non-Hutterite teacher, hut they
also spend approximately an additional nineteen hours receiving relig
ious instruction in the German School, Sunday School, and church. The
children's school day commences about 7:30 a.m. when they go to German
School and have at least one hour's instruction before the non-Hutterite
teacher takes charge of the school.. When the teacher closes school for the afternoon, the children remain in the classroom for an additional
forty-five minutes of German School. Between 5:00 and 5:30 p.m. they
return to the school for the evening church service. German School is
held on Saturday mornings for approximately three hours. When the chil
dren reach nine years of age, they attend Sunday School, and this, com bined with church services, w ill total, five hours each Sunday. The children also have daily homework assignments to memorize certain desig
nated passages from the Bible. These assignments are given to all stu
dents, including the six-year-old children, and the public school teacher hesitates to give the children further homework. This program w ill not vary, and the children receive no holidays except during the summer and early fa ll months when harvest work requires additional workers, and the children are given certain chores to relieve the adults.
The amount of time spent on religious training varies from colony to colony. The German Teacher organizes his program around the basic five hundred scriptual passages, and the amount of time he devotes to 113
instruction is his own responsibility.
Instructional material and equipment. The teacher is hindered by
a lack of instructional material. Such things as a sand table, a Science
Corner, or a Reading Corner, would be possible only on condition that
they be removed at the end of each school day. However, in the Hutter
ian schools within Warner County, improvements in instruction material
have been made such as roll-up maps, tack-boards that may be covered at
the end of the school day, and wide selection of reference and reading
material from the County Library.
Motion picture and film -strip projectors, radios, phonographs,
and television sets are not permitted in the schools by colony leaders.
The Brethren s till associate these instruments with entertainment and
thus the temptations of the devil. As yet they have not been convinced
that these mechanisms can serve as valuable educational devices.
Musical instruments are considered sinful and are not permitted
in the schools. The teacher may give vocal training only. Of all forms
of creative expression, the Hutterite child seems to crave music, and the children’s ability to pick up melodies and lyrics surprises many teachers. This may be accounted for by the great deal of hymn singing
which is done in the family groups each evening.
The Hutterian attitude toward education. Parental and community attitudes toward education present an ever-present difficulty to the
teacher. ’’You don’t have to be educated to be a farmer," is the stock
answer still heard from the elders, and they feel that their apprentice
system for the boys is adequate training for the work they w ill be doing
on the colony. Some leaders readily admit that their own educational Ill;
system is inadequate in fitting the child for modern life; some wish it
were possible to send the more intelligent boys for higher education
because the colony needs better educated members. However, the fear of
losing a soul to the ’’outer” world is still too great.
, Hutterian parents show interest in their children's school work,
and they want them to do well in school and pass their grades. They do
not seem to stress the competitive spirit to the same degree one finds
in other schools, and they are not particularly interested in report 26 cards or students 1 grades.
Colony criticism . Certain aspects of the teacher's instruction may receive criticism from parents and colony leaders, although these may never be made known to the teacher directly. Certain subjects may be viewed with disapproval. To the Hutterians, physical education is
too m ilitaristic in nature. Sports encourage too much competition and
rivalry. The study of history meets with approval if it does not empha size or glorify war and bloodshed. Art and the derived decorative prod ucts are incompatible with Hutterian doctrine. Science’ is not practical for the majority of students, and, after all, the development of inquir- ing minds is not necessary. Music of a religious nature is highly approved, but singing must not become too "worldly” or frivolous. To the Hutterites the three R's are the only essentials necessary, and any additional instruction is questionable. Wien the Brethren discuss the colony school, they readily evaluate the teaching ability of their pre-
0f\ Report cards for Hutterite students have been discontinued in Warner County because it was felt that they did not accomplish their pu rp o se. 11$
ceding teachers in their own terms. Their chief criterion appears to be
the amount of noise which issues from the school when it is in session.
The teacher who maintains a quiet classroom and subdued students rates
h ig h .
Education and Social Cohesion
, Twenty-eight years ago Lee Emerson Deets made a study of the
original Bon Homme Colony of South Dakota and' its daughter colonies in 27 Manitoba. He attempted to locate the factors which tended to rein
force or disrupt social cohesion of Hutterian colonies. His observation
at that time made him conclude that the superimposed public educational
system was a strongly disruptive factor. He reported in part:
As a result of the conflict in educational programs £the super imposed system versus the Hutterian system] Hutterite children are beginning to be pulled in two ways. The development is too recent to be of great significance yet, but the battle is on. The enemy is within the gates, operating upon the most vulnerable part of the community, making use of the most powerful weapon which can be used upon them. The Hutterite program of education for self discipline is being put to the test.^°
The battle still persists in Alberta colonies, and the Hutterian / system is still holding firm. The public school in each colony is still a, superimposed system of education and has not become integrated with the Hutterian education. Hutterian education still throws a cloak of counter-indoctrination about the public schools and, although the Breth ren are aware of the threat, they know their system can successfully compete with the public school system as it now exists.
2^Deets, op. cit. 28Ibid., p. Ul. CHAPTER VII
HUTTERIAN STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL
The Hutterian schools have been charged with "offering inferior instruction" and being "inadequate."^ Another charge is that "the stan- dard of education in such schools is not as high as in public schools."
In an attempt to assess the relative achievement of the Hutterian stu dents within Warner County No. 5 in quantitative terms, a testing pro gram was instituted by the writer during the school year 1957-58.
The writer hesitates to go into a detailed statistical analysis of the data acquired from this investigation. The reasons for this ret icence are given below. However, the test data is sufficient to draw tentative inferences and make a valid comparison of the Hutterian stu dent achievement in the basic tool subjects with students of Warner
County schools and the national norms established by the makers of the
California Achievement Tests Battery.
Report of The Legislative Committee regarding The Land Sales Prohibition Act, 19hb, as amended (Edmonton, Alberta: The Queen’s Printer, 19U7), p. 1*. 2 Report to The Honourable the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba of the Select S~peclal Committee appointed to obtain information regarding colonies or societies of Hutterites or Hutterian Brethren and to report and make recommendations upon the same (Winnipeg, Manitoba: The Queen's Printer, 19R8), p. 1R.
116 117
I . ASSUMPTIONS, DELIMITATIONS, LIMITATIONS
Assumptions
A basic assumption of this survey must be that the relative
achievement of Hutterian students can be measured with an instrument
that has proven acceptable in other school systems. The California 3 Achievement Tests Battery was chosen for it "is especially well adapted
for survey purposes,and "reliabilities of the five major tests at £ each level appear to be adequate for survey purposes.'^ The norms for
this test are based on extensive and hetrogeneous sampling of areas and
school districts throughout the United States. Although this may appear 6 as a limitation for some testing purposes, in this particular survey it
should prove a fairer measuring instrument for the two groups concerned.
The writer also assumes that a comparison between scores made by the Hutterian students can be made with the national norms set by the
California Achievement Tests for schools in the United States and, with the scores made by Warner County students attending centralized schools.
A third assumption is that the seventy-nine Hutterian students tested give sufficient data for a valid comparison with 223 students in
•^Ernest W. Tiegs and W illis W. Clark, California Achievement Tests Batteiy (5916 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles 28, California; California Test Bureau, 1951)*
^Oscar K. Buros, The Third Mental Measurements Yearbook (New Brunswick; Rutgers University Press, 1 9h9)> p . 15.
^Anne Anastasi, Psychological Testing (New York; The Macmillan Company, 195U), p. U 69.
^Oscar K. Buros, The Fourth Mental Measurement Yearbook (Highland P ark , New J e rs e y : The Gryphon P r e s s , 1 9 5 3 ),‘p . 7. 118
the centralized schools.
It is not assumed that the seven colonies within Warner County- wili give a representation of all colonies in Alberta. It is possible
that there are characteristic differences between Darius and Teacher 7 Group colonies, and the predominance of Teacher Group colonies in
Warner County is not consistent with the whole of Alberta, which has a 8 * predominance of Darius colonies.
The data may substantiate in part a theory the writer had formu lated based on his own observation and experience in a Hutterite school;
Hutterian children in grades one and two make very rapid progress. They progress favorably in the next two grades, but toward the fifth or sixth grade they decelerate. The decline in achievement is characterized by a lack of interest in school and a tendency to shirk difficult assignments.
Delimitations
The testing program was delimited to the California Achievement
7 The six Teacher Group colonies are related to each other as fol lows; The original parent colony was Old Elmspring of South Dakota. Two daughter colonies established in South Dakota were the Milford Col ony and the Rockport Colony. The Milford Colony moved to Alberta in 1918 and later established the Miami Colony as a daughter colony in 1921*. The Rockport Colony, while s till in South Dakota, established a daughter colony in Alberta near Magrath, Alberta, in 1918. This was also named the Rockport Colony, and it branched out to form the New Rockport Colony in Warner County in 1932. The original Rockport Colony of South Dakota moved to Alberta in 193k and changed i t s name to th e O.K. Colony. The Old Elmspring Colony moved to Alberta in 1930 and took its original name o f 1877 > the Elmspring Colony. It established the daughter colony of Sunnysite in 1935. Thus, having originated from the one parent colony, Elmspring Colony, there are only seven patronyms in these colonies; Entz, Hofer, Kleinser (Kleinsasser), Mandel, Waldner, Wipf, and Wurz. Q The fifty colonies now established in Alberta are made up of twenty Teacher Group colonies and thirty Darius Group colonies. 119
Tests Battery which tests only the skill subjects. The testing program
was delimited to the Hutterian students in grades four, five, and six,
during the 1957-58 school year. These students are attending the seven
ungraded Hutterian schools within Warner County No. 5> The language
barrier was anticipated to be too great in the lower grades to get valid
scores. A small enrolment of forty-two students in grades seven and
eight for the current year, with some schools having no enrolment in
th e se g ra d e s , made a te s t in g program fo r th e se grades u n fe a s ib le . The
« ^enrolment in the grades tested was: grade four, twenty-nine studentsj
grade five, twenty-eight^students; grade six, twenty-two students.
The students in the centralized schools were delimited to those
who had written the complete test battery in the fifth school month of
1957.
Limitations
The nature of the test battery limits student achievement mea
surements to the sk ill subjects of Reading Vocabulary and Comprehension,
Arithmetic Reasoning and Fundamentals, Mechanics of English and Grammar,
and Spelling.
The accuracy of any inference made from the data which concerns
centralized school students' scores may be. jeopardized by the incom
pleteness of this information. Scores were taken from only those stu
dents who had completed the test during the fifth school month of 1957.
The scores were taken from the centralized schools of Warner, New Dayton,
Milk River, Coutts, and Masinasin. The 223 student scores chosen repre
sent 39.5# of the enrolment in grades four, five, and six. 120
Procedures
The testing program for the Hutterian schools was instituted
during the latter part of March, 1958. The writer visited each school
in turn and administered the California Achievement Tests Battery. This assured a consistency in test administration. The test requires two hours and eighteen minutes total testing time, and the writer spent a full day at each school for this purpose. This gave him time to meet some of the elders and the German Teacher of each colony and to inter view them. ' The school children were eager to have a "new teacher" for a day. Good rapport was quickly established with them, they listened attentively to test directions, and they were conscientious about their work.
Treatment of data. The data are grouped by grades only and not by schools. For each test and its component sub-tests, a measure of central tendency is made. The range is stated, the median, seventy- fifth percentile, and twenty-fifth percentile are calculated. This information appears in Tables II to V and againU-n,pictorial form in
Figures 1 to 12. The raw data, on which all Hutterian students' achievement calculations are based, appear in Appendix J.
I I . TEST DATA INTERPRETATIONS
A study of the graphical presentation of the test data shows a repetition and consistency for each of the three grades in each of the
t three subject areas of reading, arithmetic, and language. Tentative inferences may be drawn from the data, but the writer must be the first to acknowledge the lim itations of the testing program, which make any 121
interpretations only provisional in nature. The test survey has pro
duced only enough information to indicate that another testing program, more comprehensive and including all grades, is merited.
Reading
Grade four reading. Figure 1, which is a graphical presentation of the grade placements in reading found in Table II, shows that the median scores of grade four Hutterian students fall below the national norm in. a l l b u t two s u b - te s ts . The h ig h e st m edian sc o re s are in Word
Recognition and Interpretationsj both exceed the national norm by three months. The lowest median scores oecur in Word Form which is six months below the national norm, and Following Directions, which is a full school year below. The Total Reading Test score indicates that the median score is two months below the national norm.
Grade five reading. Figure 2, which is a graphical presentation of the grade placements in reading found in Table III, shows that all median scores of grade five Hutterian students fall below the national norm, and in only two instances does the 75th percentile exceed the national norm. The highest median scores are made in these two areas, namely, Word Recognition, which is five months below the norm line, and
Interpretations, which is four months below the norm line. The lowest median scores are found in Word Form, nineteen months below the national norm, and Following Directions, twenty-four months below the national norm. The Total Reading Test score indicates that the median is twelve months below the national norm.
Grade six reading. Figure 3, which is a graphical presentation 122
of the grade placements in reading found in Table IV* shows that all the median scores of grade six Hutterian students fall below the national
norm. In no instance does the 75th percentile score exceed the norm.
The highest median scores are in Word Recognition and Reference Skills, both eleven months below the national norm. Interpretations and Meaning of Opposites are next high; both are thirteen months below the national norm. Lowest median scores appear in Word Form, twenty-six months below the norm, and Following Directions, twenty-three months below the norm.
The Total Reading Test median score lies fourteen months below the national norm.
Generalizations. When the scores of all three grades are consid ered together, a; pattern begins to emerge. First of all, the grade four students come closest to the national norm, with a noticeable drop in grade five and a further drop in grade six. It would appear that the
Hutterian student loses ground as he progresses from grade four to grade s ix• . 9
A second observation may be made; In each grade the highest median scores are in the areas of Word Recognition and Interpretations; the lowest median scores are made in the areas of Word Form and Follow ing Directions.
A rith m etic
Grade four arithmetic. A graphical representation of grade four
^This is not a longitudinal study, and the w riter is making a tentative inference from the data of this cross sectional study on the assumption that Hutterian student potential is consistent. 123
Hutterian student achievement in the seven areas of Arithmetic is found
in Figure U. Table II provides the grade placement data. Figure U
shows that the median scores of grade four exceed the national norm in a l l b u t one s u b - te s t. The lo w est median sco re is made in Number Concept: six months below the norm. The highest median score appears in the sub test on Division: twelve months above the national norm. The Total
Arithmetic median score is six months above the national norm.
Grade five arithmetic. A graphical representation of grade five
Hutterian student achievement in Arithmetic is found in Figure $. Table
III provides the grade placement data. Figure £ shows that the median scores of grade five Hutterian students do not exceed the national norm except in one sub-test. This, the highest median score, is in the sub test on Division: four months above the national norm. The lowest median score is found in Number Concept: ten months below the national norm. The Total Arithmetic median score is two months below the national norm.
Grade six arithm etic. A graphical representation of grade six
Hutterian student achievement in Arithmetic is found in Figure 6. . Table
IV provides the grade placement data. Figure 6 indicates that no median score of grade six Hutterian students exceeds the national norm. In only two instances does the ?$th percentile exceed the norm. The high est median scores are found in the sub-tests on Division, and Signs and
Symbols: both are two months below the norm. The lowest median score appears in number concept: twenty months below the national norm. The
Total Arithmetic median is six months below the national norm.
Generalizations. As with Reading, a pattern emerges when the 12U
TABLE II
A SUMMARY OF GRADE PLACEMENTS10 MADE IN COMPONENT TESTS OF THE CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT BATTERY BY GRADE FOUR STUDENTS OF THE HUTTERIAN SCHOOLS OF WARNER COUNTY NO. 5 , MARCH, 1958
READING
Range P e rc e n tile Test High Low 75th 25th Median
P a rt A Word Form 7 .0 2 .8 S.5 2 .9 U .l
P a rt B Word Recognition 7.0 2 .3 5 .8 Iw l 5 .0
P a rt C Meaning of Opposites 6 .8 3 .8 2*.l k.$
P a rt D Meaning of Sim ilarities 6 .7 2 .3 5 .0 3 .7 li.2 j TOTAL A B C D 6.U 3 .0 lw9 3 .7 L.2
P a rt E Following Directions 5 .8 2.h b<6 3 .1 3 .7
P a rt F Reference Skills 7.7 3 .0 5.3 U.O 'U.U
P a rt G Interpretations 6.6 3.5 5.6 U.3 5 .0
TOTAL E F G 5.5 3 .7 . 5 .1 U.2 U.2 GO . TOTAL READING vn 3.6 5 .0 U. o U.5
Grade placements are expressed In years and months as decimals, with ten months in each school year. For example, 5.8 indicates the eighth month of the fifth grade. 125
TABLE IT (continued)
ARITHMETIC • i Range P e rc e n tile T est High Low 75 th 25 th Median A. Number Concept 7 .0 2 .9 U.8 3 .7 V 1 B. Signs and Symbols 9.0 3 .1 6 .8 U.5 it.8
C. Problems 6 .9 2 .5 5 .3 U.3 5 .0
TOTAL A B C 6 .5 3 .6 5.U it.3 U.8
D. A d d itio n 6 .0 2 .7 5 .5 U .l it.9
] E. Subtraction 5.8 3.5 5.2 it.5 U.8
F. Multiplication 6.6 3 .8 5 .9 5 .0 5.U
G. D iv isio n 7 .0 U.O 6 .3 5.6 5 .9 i TOTAL D E F G 6 .3 3 .8 5 .7 5 .1 5 .6
TOTAL ARITHMETIC 6 .3 3 .8 5 .6 it.8 5.3
i i LANGUAGE
A. Capitalization 7.8 3.6 6.0 5.0 5*U
B. Punctuation 7.7 2.0 6.0 u.u 5.3
C. Words and Sentences 9.0 2.8 5.7 3.9 U.7
TOTAL A B C 7.5 3.5 5.7 U.7 5.U
TOTAL SPELLING 7*3 U.3 5.8 U.8 5.U
TOTAL LANGUAGE 6.5 u.u 5*? U.7 5.U
i
i
TOTAL TEST 5.9 5.5 U.6 U.9 | . / 1 126
TABLE I II
A SUMMARY OF GRADE PLACEMENTS MADE IN COMPONENT TESTS OF THE CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT BATTERY BY GRADE FIVE STUDENTS OF THE HUTTERIAN SCHOOLS- OF WARNER COUNTY NO. 5 , MARCH, 19!? 8 ; ------READING 1! Range P e r c e n tile T est High Low 75th 2 5 th Median
1 P a rt A Word Form 7.0 2.6 U.8 2 .9 3 .8
P a rt B Word R ecognition 7.0 2.3 6 .0 U.8 5 .2
P a rt C Meaning of Opposites 7.7 2 .8 5.U 3 .9 U.3
P a r t D Meaning of Sim ilarities 7 .9 2 .6 U«9 3.9 u.u
TOTAL A B C D 6 .9 3.U U.8 3 .9 U.2
P a rt E Following Directions 5.8 2.0 U.2 2 .7 3 .3
P a rt F Reference Skills 9 .0 3 .0 5.U U .l U.8
P a rt G In t e rp re t at io ns 8.6 3 .8 5 .8 U.2 5 .3
TOTAL E F G 7.5 3.U 1 5.1 u.u U.7
TOTAL READING 6 .8 3 .8 5 .0 U.2 U.5 127
TABLE III (continued)
ARITHMETIC . Range P e rc e n tile T est High Low 75th 25th Median
; A. Number Concept 8 .2 2 .9 5 .5 U.3 U.7 '
B. Signs and Symbols 8 .0 3.9 6 .5 U.5 5 .1
C. Problems 7 .8 3 .5 6.2 U.6 5 .2
TOTAL A B C 7.U U.l 5 .6 U.6 5 .1
D. A d d itio n 6.7 2 .7 5 .6 U.6 5 .2
E. Subtraction 6.U U.o 5 .7 U.9
F. Multiplication 7 .0 u.u 6.1 5 .1 5 .7
G. D iv isio n 6 .8 5 .3 6 .5 5 .6 6.1
TOTAL D E F G 6 .3 5 .0 6.0 5.U ' 5 .7
TOTAL ARITHMETIC 6 .5 U.7 6.0 5 .2 5*5
LANGUAGE
A. C a p ita liz a tio n 9 .0 2.1 5 .8 5 .0 5 .5
B. Punctuation 8 .3 3 .5 6.3 U.o 5 .0
C. Words and Sentences 9 .0 3.1* 6 .5 U-3 5 .5
TOTAL A B C 8 .8 3.2 5 .7 U.9 5 .5
■TOTAL SPELLING • 7 .0 3 .3 6.1 U.8 5 .8
TOTAL LANGUAGE 7.5 3.1* 5*9 5 .1
TOTAL TEST 6 .8 U-3 5 .7 U.8 5.2 m
TABLE IV
A SUMMARY OF GRADE PLACEMENTS MADE IN COMPONENT TESTS OF THE CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT BATTERY BY GRADE SIX STUDENTS OF THE HUTTERIAN SCHOOLS OF WARNER COUNTY NO. 5, MARCH, 1958
HEADING
Range P ercen tile Test High Low 75th 25th Median
Part A Word Form 7*0 2*2 5 .U 2*9 L*1 Part B Word Recognition 7.0 L»5 6,1 5*2 5.6 P art C Moaning of Opposites 9 ,0 .3*3 6,0 I4, 1 5*L Part D Meaning of S im ila ritie s 7*9 3*2 6,0 • L,2 5*2 ! « TO TOTAL A B 0 D 6*9 2,9 5*5 L .6 vn
Part I Following Directions 9*0 2,0 5*5 3*3 U.U Part F Referenoe Skills 9*0 3*0 6.5 L*! 5*6
Part G Interpretations 8»a 3*8 6,1 5*1 5*U total i n 8*8 ■ 3*8 5*7 M 5*1 total READING 6*6 3*2 5*7 L*6 5*3 129
TABLE IV (continued)
ARITHMETIC
Range Percentile T est High Low 75th 25th Median
A. Number Concept 8.2 3 .9 5.U U.U U.7
B. Signs and Symbols 9 .0 U.6 7.U 5.8 6 .5
C. Problems 8.5 3 .5 6 .6 5.3 5 .8
TOTAL A B C 8 .1 u.u 6 .1 5 .0 5 .7
D. Addition 7.U 3 .8 6 .5 U.7 6 .2
E. Subtraction 7.0 U.U 6 .2 5 .1 5 .8
F. Multiplication 7.8 5-3 6 .6 5 .6 6 .1
G. Division 8.2 5 .2 6.9 6 .3 6 .5
TOTAL. D E F G 7.5 5 .2 6.U 5 .8 6 .3
TOTAL. ARITHMETIC 7.7 5 .0 6.U 5.6 6 .1
LANGUAGE
A. C a p ita liz a tio n 9 .0 U.o 6 .3 5.U 5 .8
B. Punctuation 9 .0 2 .0 6 .3 U.8 5 .3
C. Words and Sentences 9 .0 3 .1 8 .1 U.8 6 .5
TOTAL A B C 9-5 3 .7 6 .6 5 .1 6 .0
TOTAL SPELLING 7.5 U.5 6 .5 5 .8 6 .3
TOTAL LANGUAGE 7.14 U .l 6 .8 5.U 6 .2
TOTAL TEST 7.3 U*3 6 .2 5 .6 5 .8 130 scores of. all three grades are considered jointly. The grade four Hut terian students exceed the national norm by six months; the grade five
Hutterian students fall below the national norm by two months; the grade six Hutterian students fall below the national norm by six months. Once again, as in Reading, the Hutterian student tends to decelerate as he progresses from grade four to grade six.
Once again the grades appear to be consistently high in one area and consistently low in another. All three grades have the highest median score in Division and the lowest median score in Number Concept.
Language
Grade four language. A comparative graph illustrating the rela tive grade placements of grade four Hutterian students in the sub-tests of Language appears in Figure 7. Score data used for this figure are found in Table II. The highest median score is in Capitalization. The score is seven months above the national norm. The second highest median score is found in Punctuation. The score is six months above the national norm. The lowest median score is in Words and Sentences. This score is the same as the national norm. The grade four Spelling median is seven months above the norm, and the Total Language Test median is seven months above the national norm.
Grade five language. A comparative graph illustrating the rela tive grade placement of grade five Hutterian students in the sub-tests of Language appears in Figure 8. Score data used for this figure are found in Table III. The highest median scores are found in Capitaliza tion and Words and Sentences* Both scores are two months below the 131
a
E-< S W 6' a M o pi 5 PU
W a 4
« Legends Vertical line is Total Range Vertical bar is Interquartile Range ——- California T est norm — Median s* *rj a *c •floifd'flfu tej ^ txf t-3 §• &> w P> o S 3 p X ® P. . * ‘.s* * o CD O' Cd <-»- P H •i H- Hj a H- c+-- ►x] C + c+ p, c* CD H H ® C+ O; CD 3- 1 p> P p Q & O O' H . a a Q H H* H c+ ^ a CO co ►aj CO " O Q H- P* 3 a JS o CD §<£ CD c+ CO I
FIGURE 1
A COMPARISON OF SCORES EXPRESSED AS GRADE PLACEMENTS MADE IN THE READING TEST OF THE CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT BATTERY BY GRADE FOUR HUTTERIAN STUDENTS IN WARNER COUNTY NO. 5, MARCH, 1953 132
a ' H ^ S o
Om
W I a k
td ag TJ O S 0> K W tel t-3 t-3 p $ I ■ 8? O ©o ay p ’o ® p t s» " H* w > *1 H ha §■ c*- O p . c r o3 c*- (D H a B. P> a a-. (0 P* O o"3-P CP P H W H* 0 tel w 1 Q E3 O c+ (W TO c+ © H* co O § & O H> w P
FIGURE 2
A COMPARISON OF SCORES EXPRESSED AS GRADE PLACEMENTS MADE IN THE READING TEST OF THE CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT BATTERY BY GRADE FIVE HUTTERIAN STUDENTS IN WARNER COUNTY NO. 5 , MARCH, 195S 133
a
H 3 a w o
^ 5 a, w ca 4 -=«! Legend: CiJ Vertical line is Total Range Vertical Bar is Interquartile Range California T est norm Median
*T> 01 S V feJ t-3 W H§ 8? f 9 § 9 pj 8* CD o o o * §r 3.3- Cfl H w tL* 3 O E ex 0<3 c+ CD H* CO O 3
FIGURE 3
A COMPARISON OF SCORES EXPRESSED AS GRADE PLACEMENTS MADE IN THE READING TEST OF THE CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT BATTERY BY GRADE SIX HUTTERIAN STUDENTS IN WARNER COUNTY NO. 5 , MARCH, 195S 13U national norm. The lowest median score is in Punctuation. This score is seven months below the national norm. The grade five Spelling median is above the national norm by one month, and the Total Language Test median is two months below the national norm.
Grade six language. A comparative graph illustrating the rela tive grade placement of grade six Hutterian students in the sub-tests of
Language appears in Figure 9. Score data used for this figure are found in Table IV. The highest median score is found in Words and Sentences.
The score is two months below the national norm. The second highest median score is found in Capitalization. The score is nine months below the national norm. The lowest median score is found in Punctuation.
The score is fourteen months below the national norm. The grade six
Spelling median is four months below,the national norm, and the Total
Language Test median is five months below the national norm.
Generalizations. In the Language Test the three grades did not score highest in the same sub-test, such as they did in the preceding tests, although grade five'and six both received the lowest median score in Punctuation.
The same pattern of achievement is illustrated in the Language
Test as is found in the preceding tests. The grade four students have a median score three months above the norm; the grade five students have a median score two months below the norm;.the grade six students have a median score five months below the norm. Once again the Hutterian stu dent appears to lose ground in Language as he progresses from grade four to grade six. 135
ft
EH 53 W 6 s M o
CU w Q 4 «aj Legend: Pi Vertical line C5 is Total Range 3 Vertical Bar is • Interquartile Range ———California T est norm Median
CO CO *Tj a •r) CO CH I'
FIGURE 4
A COMPARISON OF SCORES EXPRESSED AS GRADE PLACEMENTS MADE IN THE ARITHMETIC,TEST OF THE CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT BATTERY BY GRADE FOUR.HUTTERIAN STUDENTS IN WARNER COUNTY NO. 5 , MARCH, 195S 136
8
H
« . W / s w o «*! ^ 5 & w Legend : a 4' Vertical line .< is Total Range « Vertical Bar is c!3 interquartile range * California T e st norm , Median
V *1 H- Q
1
FIGURE 5
A COMPARISON OF SCORES EXPRESSED AS GRADE PLACEMENTS MADE IN THE ARITHMETIC TEST OF THE CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT BATTERY BY GRADE FIVE HUTTERIAN STUDENTS IN WARNER COUNTY NO. 5> MARCH, 195& 137
8
H S3 W s 6 w o • <4 . :
CL.^ 5 Legend: Vertical line M is Total Range a Vertical bar is . < interquartile range —— California a T e s t norm Median
CO CO
FIGURE 6
A COMPARISON OF SCORES EXPRESSED AS GRADE PLACEMENTS MADE IN THE ARITHMETIC TEST OF THE CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT BATTERY BY GRADE SIX HUTTERIAN STUDENTS IN WARNER COUNTY NO. 5 , MARCH, 1958 138
A Comparison of Achievement
The test results of the Hutterian students are compared with the
results obtained from 223 unselected students from the centralized
schools of Warner County representing 39*5% of the total enrolment in
these grades. This number had the complete California Achievement Tests
Battery administered the previous school year of 1957 in the month of
Jan u ary .
Total battery score and total scores for each of the three tests are used. Total range, 75th percentile, 25th percentile, and median scores are calculated. To compare the median scores of each group, the deviation from each grade's national norm is first calculated. This corrects for the difference of two months between the time the tests were administered to the two groups. Then the advancement of the stu dents of the centralized schools over the Hutterian students is calcu lated by subtraction.
The validity of this comparison may be questioned on the follow ing grounds: (1) The Hutterian students were tested by the writer; the centralized school students were tested by the principal of their own school. (2) There was a lapse of one year two months between the time the two groups were tested. (3) The results of the Hutterian school testing program are complete and are based on: the total population of grades four, five, and six, whereas the results from the centralized school testing program are based on 39.5$ of the students in grades four, five, and six in the centralized schools. No sampling procedure was used; a ir scores of tests completed during the fifth school month are j used . 139
8
Eh a
» w 6 o < ft.
«d 4 Legend j Vertical line cb is Total Eange Vertical bar is Interquartile Eange — California T e s t norm M edian
H* O *0 * 5 he> co < > >-3 CO *-3 f* *-3 NOP a © to _ o * 0 O to O & X) 1 c+ H- c+ 1 » fisr 00 $ H* c+ <0 (0 C 3 H M H O fO > S' Cd sj; o % K o g S’ 00 63 r FIGURE 7 A COMPARISON OF SCORES EXPRESSED AS GRADE PLACEMENTS MADE IN THE LANGUAGE TEST OF THE CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT BATTERY BY GRADE FOUR HUTTERIAN STUDENTS IN WARNER COUNTY NO. 5 , MARCH, 1958 mo o Q k Vertical line is Total Range Vertical bar is Range - California T est norm 1 Median FIGURE 6 COMPARISON OF SCORES EXPRESSED AS GRADE PLACEMENTS MADE IN THE LANGUAGE TEST OF THE CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT BATTERY BY GRADE FIVE HUTTERIAN STUDENTS IN WARNER COUNTY NO. 5, MARCH, 195B 9 llti 8 E-t 13! W6 a a o cu a q 4 Legends << Vertical line w is Total Range G3 Vertical bar is Interquartile Range California T est norm Median H* p *T( CO JEj JTJ . (*» ^ r t-3 N P P> ( i a P o M O'H tu *® ">1 s tJ *1 FIGURE $ A COMPARISON OF SCORES EXPRESSED AS GRADE PLACEMENTS MADE IN THE LANGUAGE TEST OF THE CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT BATTERY BY GRADE SIX HUTTERIAN. STUDENTS IN WARNER COUNTY NO. 5 , MARCH, 1958 ill 2 A comparison of grade four achievement. Table V presents a com parison of the median scores of twenty-nine Hutterian students and eighty-six students of centralized schools. Figure 10 illustrates this comparison but includes the total range, 75th percentile, and 25th per centile. The national norm for each group is indicated by a dotted line. In each test the students of centralized schools have higher median scores. In Reading they surpass the Hutterian students by seven months, in Arithmetic by one month, and in Language by eight months. In the total battery they surpass the Hutterian students by seven months. As indicated previously, the grade four Hutterian students' medians surpass the national norm in all but the Reading Test. A comparison of grade five achievement. Table V presents a com parison of the median scores of twenty-eight grade five Hutterian stu dents and sixty grade five students of centralized schools. Figure 11 illustrates' this comparison but includes the total range, 75th percen tile , and the 25th percentile. The national norm for each group is indicated by a dotted line. In each case the students of centralized schools have higher median scores, and. in each group there is a greater dispersal than found between the grade four medians. The students.of centralized schools surpassed the Hutterian students in Reading by fourteen months, in Arithmetic by five months, and in Language by eleven months. In the total battery they exceed the Hutterian students by one school year. A comparison of grade six achievement. Table V presents a com parison of the median scores of twenty-two grade six Hutterian students with seventy-seven grade six students of centralized schools. Figure 12 TABLE V A COMPARISON OF MEDIAN GRADE PLACEMENTS MADE IN THE CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT BATTERY OF HUTTERIAN STUDENTS AND UNSELECTED CENTRALIZED SCHOOL STUDENTS IN WARNER COUNTY NO. 5 ' HUTTERIAN STUDENTS® CENTRALIZED STUDENTSb n 1 Centralized D ev iatio n D ev iatio n Grade Grade S tu d en t From th e From the Grade & Test Placem ent Placem ent Gain Over N atio n al N atio n al (Median) (Median) H u tte ria n Norm Norm S tu d en ts IV Reading U.5 - *2 . 5.0 + .9 + .7 IV A rith m etic 5 .3 + *6 5.2 + .7 + .1 IV Language 5.U + .7 6 .0 + 1.5 + .8 IV T o ta l T est h'9 + .2 + .9 + .7 V Reading U.5 -1 .2 5.7 + .2 +1.U • V A rith m etic 5.5 - .2 5.8 + .3 + .5 V Language 5.5 - .2 6.1: + .9 + 1 .1 V T o tal T est 5.2 - .5 6 .0 + *5 + 1 .0 • VI Reading 5.3 - l .l i 6 .7 + .2 + 1 .6 VI Arithmetic 6.1 - .6 6.5 .0 +• .6 VI Language 6.2 - .5 6.7 + .2 + .7 VI T o tal T est 5.8 - .9 6.7 + .2 + 1 .1 Q Test administered to seventy-nine Hutterian students March, 1958. The national norm is: Grade IV, l*.7j Grade V, 5.7; Grade VI, 6.7. Test administered to 223 centralized schools January, 1957* The national norm is: Grade IV, k»$i Grade V, 5»5j Grade VI, 6.£. 1UU illustrates this comparison but includes total range, 75>th percentile, and 2$th percentile. The national norm for each group is indicated by a dotted line. The median scores of the students in centralized schools exceed the median scores of the Hutterian students in each test. In the cases of Arithmetic and Reading, there is a greater range than is found for grade four or .grade five. The Hutterian students are surpassed in Read ing by sixteen months, in Arithmetic by six months, and in language by seven months. In the total battery they are exceeded by the students of the centralized schools by eleven months. Generalizations. The data show the Hutterian students dropping behind in achievement when compared with student achievement in the cen tralized schools. It may also be observed that student achievement in the centralized schools decreases from grade four to grade six when com pared with the national norms. However, this decrease is s till not as rapid as it is for the Hutterian students. Another generalization that can be made from these data; The achievement of Hutterian students in Language and Reading is less than their achievement in Arithmetic. I I I . CONCLUSIONS From the data obtained, a tentative inference may be made that grade four Hutterian students exceeded the national norm in this partic ular test in 1958. Grade five and six Hutterian students did not attain the standards set by the national norm. No test for the significant difference between Hutterian and centralized school students was made. 8 EH w 6 ss C3 «aj CL. Q L egend: ■= HUTTERIAN STUDENTS CENTRALIZED STUDENTS P3 HI H fd 1-3 i-3 i-3 i-3 i-3 < b © ©;• © O O © O pj c+- ca C+1 p> C** «+• I e+ 0) c+ £L p e* P> e+- Pi & H H* H & Pi Cu & fi & cl- FIGURE 10 A COMPARISON OF TOTAL SCORES EXPRESSED AS GRADE PLACEMENTS MADE IN THE CALIFORNIA.ACHIEVEMENT BATTERY BETWEEN GRADE FOUR HUTTERIAN STUDENTS AND EIGHTY-SIX UNSELECTED GRADE FOUR STUDENTS OF CENTRALIZED SCHOOLS IN WARNER COUNTY NO. 5 146 8 fH S W. 6 S w o *■3** 5 Oh Legends w 4 Vertical line Q ‘is Total Range HUTTERIAN STUDENTS CENTRALIZED STUDENTS PO t-3 > *-3 *-3 i-3 *-3 (0 O 3 O P> O (C G f» c+ H- d- c* ca c + 3 pj. C+- Q> p . to c+ P Q3 c+- p> H* P M !? H 3 P OS a> OQ c+ a> oH* FIGURE 11 A COMPARISON OF TOTAL SCORES EXPRESSED AS GRADE PLACEMENTS MADE IN THE CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT BATTERY BETWEEN GRADE FIVE HUTTER IAN STUDENTS AND SIXTY UNSELECTED GRADE FIVE STUDENTS OF CENTRALIZED SCHOOLS IN WARNER COUNTY NO. 5 1U7 8 Sh s M S (xj O *«!' Q Legends ■=Ji Vertical line is Total Range C*5 Vertical bar is Interquartile Range _____ California T est norm t Median FO t-3 *-a •-a i-3 >-3 CD O p o P o , CD q P c+ 3 cH ■3 d- KB c+ P C+- 0, p P P d - p fa, p H- H $ H H H H* H 3 P P op OP OP CD CD FIGURE 12 A COMPARISON OF TOTAL SCORES EXPRESSED AS GRADE PLACEMENTS MADE IN THE CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT BATTERY BETWEEN GRADE SIX HUTTERIAN STUDENTS AND SEVENTY-SEVEN UNSELECTED GRADE SIX STUDENTS OF CENTRALIZED SCHOOLS IN WARNER COUNTY HO. 5 1U8 Data from this particular testing program appears to indicate that the Hutterian students in grades four, five, and six do not attain the stan dards set by the students of grades four, five, and six in the central ized schools. Other conclusions, of a conjectural nature, may be drawn from the foregoing test data. One may speculate on what factors may contribute to the lower achievement level of Hutterian students, but this survey made no allowance for locating or assessing these factors. An evalua tion would require measuring instruments and criteria which could give an objective measurement of the classroom teacher's ability, the effect of the language barrier on learning, the influence of a second school system devoted to religious indoctrination, the consequences of a lack of instructional equipment, and the effect of cultural influences on the student. Suitable instruments have yet to be constructed to measure all these factors. The results obtained from the tests given to grades four, five, and six raise further questions regarding achievement in the primary grades and grades seven and eight. The data indicate that the grade four, students surpass the national norm. How the children reach this position within the first three years of school poses a problem for future investigation. The Hutterian child enters grade one with no knowledge of the English language and no formal instruction in number work. However, it appears that he surges ahead faster than children in other schools within the first three or four years of schooling. Cer tain factors may contribute to this rapid progress the young Hutterian student makes. He has the advantage of being seven years of age, and he Hi? has had a year of instruction in reading and writing the German language. He associates with the older students in the ungraded school .and listens to class lessons being taught to the senior grades,. His teacher may devote more time to the primary grades, thus he get more instruction than the senior grades. However, after grade four the Hutterian■student appears to fall back in his achievement, if the consistency of Hutterian students makes it possible to interpret the test data longitudinally. The degree of retardation by the time the student leaves school at the age of fifteen may be as much as one year three months.^ The test survey produced data regarding student achievement in the fundamental skill subjects only. A field well worth investigating would be relative achievement in such areas as science, social studies, art, and music. C The Hutterian school offers an isolated laboratory for experi mental purposes. Probably in no other school system could an experiment in education be carried out with so few external and extraneous elements influencing the experimental factors. The stability of the school popu lation in any one colony would provide an ideal basis for any longitudi nal experiment requiring more than one school term to complete. In this respect the isolated one-room ungraded schools of the Hutterian communes may make a contribution to educational research. 11 This estimate is based on the data given in Table V, and would be the median retardation. Fifty percent of the students would be less retarded; fifty percent would be more retarded. CHAPTER VIII SUMMARY'AND CONCLUSIONS Hutterian history. As a people "in the world but not of the world” who refuse to conform to the larger society in which they live, the Hutterian Brethren trace their history as a series of persecutions. This ethnic group maintains its entity in spite of oppression and, in fact, uses this same persecution to weld its members into firmer, more cohesive communities. A study of their history indicates that any form of intolerance, including restrictive legislation, will not destroy the Hutterian communes; it w ill only strengthen and unify this determined congregation of Christians. Hutterian culture. A greater threat to the continuation of the Hutterian movement lies in the temptation of our twentieth century cul ture with its modern technological devices which entice the Brethren to ”go along with the world.” The technique of controlled acculturation has worked successfully for the Brethren, but the ultimate end of this process is assimilation into the larger culture. Hutterian education versus the Public School. The greatest threat to the perpetuation of the Hutterian way of life may well be in the public school system. The Brethren fled from Transylvania in 1767 just before their children were to be taken away and placed in Jesuit orphanages. They migrated from Russia in the 1880's when they were ordered to accept military service and to commence instructing their , school children in the Russian language.'" They would probably not hesi- 150 151 tate to migrate again if their methods of child training were imperiled. An educational program proving more powerful than the Hutterian program, or a public school system requiring the Hutterian youth to leave the colony for their education, would be an attack on the central core of Hutterian beliefs. The Hutterian educational system evolved early in the history of the movement. What was considered a highly superior system in the six teenth and seventeenth centuries became a rigid method of indoctrination that is still practiced today. Child-rearing, like Hutterian mores of > dress and deportment, has inflexible rules designed to maintain the status quo. The effectiveness of Hutterian education in producing faithful adherents of the Hutterian Church cannot be questioned. The effectiveness of the public school system is not so easy to assess. Up to the present it appears that the Hutterian system has suc cessfully stifled any "worldly" effect this education may have on the Hutterian children. In the past quarter century no Hutterian child has had his appetite for knowledge whetted to the extent of going on to higher education in the "outside” schools. Hutterian student achievement in the Public School. The achieve ment of the Hutterian children of Warner County who were in grades four, five and six at the time of this study can be assessed in quantitative terms. Grade four Hutterian students exceed the American national norms established by the California Achievement Tests Battery, but the grade five and six students do not meet this standard. The median score for grade four students exceeds the national norm by two months, the grade five students' median is exceeded by the national norm by five months, l£2 and the grade six students' median score is exceeded by the national norm by nine months. A comparison of median scores of these Hutterian students with the median scores of' the same grades in the centralized schools of Warner County shows the latter group more advanced. The grade four stu dents' median score is exceeded by seven monthsj the grade five students' median score is exceeded by ten months; the grade six students' median score is exceeded by eleven months. No test for a significant differ ence was made with the test data. The Hutterian students of all three grades are consistent in attaining their highest scores in the same sub-tests of these subjects: (1) Reading: Word Recognition and Interpretations; (2) Arithmetic: Division. The Hutterian students of all three grades are consistent in obtaining their lowest scores in the same sub-tests of these subjects: (1) Reading: Word Form and Following Directions; (2) Arithmetic: Num ber Concept. A further study of test data leads to the conclusion that the Hutterian students fall behind in their achievement between grades four and six. The median achievement level drops seven months between grades four and five, and it drops four months between grades five and Six. Why these phenomena appear in the Hutterian schools must, for the present, be left to conjecture. However, cognizance of the cultural factors and not the educational factors which may account for lower Hutterian student achievement must be made. Future studies. Many areas for future investigation have been indicated by this report. A longitudinal study of Hutterian student 153 achievement, which this w riter was unable to implement because of the time element, would be of interest. The psychological impact of the Hutterian culture on the adolescent or the inter-group dynamics of a colony would be two other areas for research. If this survey gives any impetus, direction, or aid to a future investigator interested in using the Hutterian communities as a laboratory, then it has not been in vain. BIBLIOGRAPHY BIBLIOGRAPHY A. BOOKS Anastasi, Anne. Psychological Testing. New York: The Macmillan Company, 195k* • ■ • Arnold, Eberhard. The Hutterian Brothers. Ashton Keynes, W ilts, England: The Plough Publishing-House, 19h0. Bach, Marcus. The Dream Gate. New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 191:9. Biblische Geschichten des Alten und Neuen Testaments. Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada: den Hutterischen Brudern in Canada, 1951* Buros, Oscar K. The Fourth Mental Measurement Yearbook. Highland Park, New Jersey: The Gryphon Press, 1953• ______The Third Mental Measurement Yearbook. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1914-9 • Deets, Lee Emerson. The H utterites, A Study in Social Cohesion. c Gettysburg: Time and News Publishing Coi, 1 9 W - The Defence Against the Prozess of Worms on the Rhine in the Year 1557- Trans. P. S. Gross. Lethbridge, Alberta: The Lethbridge Herald [ h . d , ] • Eaton, Joseph W., and Robert J.- Weil. Culture and Mental Disorders ♦ Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press, 1955* Ehrenpreis, Andreas. Ein Sendbrief. Wilson, Alberta: The Hutterian Brethren of Wilson, 1953* Fischer, Hans. Jakob Huter. Newton, Kansas: The Mennonite Publications Office, 1956. Hershberger, Guy Franklin (ed.). The Recovery of the Anabaptist Vision. a - Scottdale, Pennsylvania: The Herald Press, 1957* . War, Peace, and Nonresistance. ; Scottdale, Pennsylvania: The i— Herald Press, 19h6. 1 Hofer, Peter. The Hutterian Brethren and Their Beliefs. R. R. 1, Starbuck, Manitoba: The Hutterian Brethren of Manitoba, 1955* 155 0 156 Horsch, John. The Hutterian Brethren. Goshen, Indiana: The Mennonite ^ Historical Society, 1931. _ . The Principle of Nonresistance as Held by the Mennonite Church. Scottdale, Pennsylvania; The Mennonite Publishing House, 1951* Kaplan, Bert, and Thomas F. A. Plaut. Personality in a Communal Society. Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Publications, 1956. Mayo, H. B. Democracy and Marxism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1955. Rideman, Peter. Confession of Faith. Ashton Keynes, W ilts, England: The Plough Publishing House, 1950* Sappenfields Bert R. Personality Dynamics. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 195U. -Witter *s German-English Primer, F irst German Reader and Song Book. Prepared by Teachers of the St. Louis Public Schools. St. Louis, Missouri: C. W itter, Publisher, Bookseller and Importer, 1929. Wolkan, Rudolf. Geschicht-Buch der Hutterischen Brueder. Macleod, /- Alberta, Canada: Standoff Colony, 1923. Yoder, Sanford Calvin. For Conscience Sake. Scottdale, Pennsylvania: The Herald Press, 19i|5• Zieglschmid, A. J. F. Das Klein-Geschichtsbuch der Hutterischen Brueder. Philadelphia: The Carl Schurz Memorial Foundation, Inc., 19li7. B. PUBLICATIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT, LEARNED SOCIETIES, AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS * The Alberta Department of Education. Foundations of Education. An’ Introduction to the Program of Studies for the Elementary and Secon dary Schools. Bulletin One. Edmonton, Alberta: The Queen's Printer, 19li9. . The School Act. Edmonton, Alberta: The Queen's Printer, 1952. Report of The Legislative Committee regarding The Land Sales Prohibition Act~19HU, as amended. Edmonton, Alberta: The Queen's Printer, 19147- * Report to The Honourable the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba of the Select Special Committee appointed to obtain information regarding coloniel or societies of Hutterites or Hutterian Brethren and to report and make recommendations upon the same. Winnipeg, Manitoba: The Q ueen's P r in te r , 19U8. Tiegs, Ernest W., and W illis W. Clark. California Achievement Tests Complete Battery. 5916 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles 28~ California: California Test Bureau, 1951* C. ESSAYS AND ARTICLES IN COLLECTIONS ^ Bainton, Roland H. "The Anabaptist Contribution to History," The Recovery of the Anabaptist Vision, Guy Franklin Hershberger, editor. Scottdale, Pennsylvania: The Herald Press, 1957* Friedmann, Robert. "The Hutterian Brethren and Community of Goods," The Recovery of the Anabaptist Vision, Guy Franklin Hershberger, editor. Scottdale, Pennsylvania: The Herald Press, 1957* Walpot, Peter. "True Surrender and Christian Community of Goods," Article Three in The Great Article Book, 1577. Trans. Kathleen Hasenberg. Bromdom, Bridgnorth, Shropshire, England: The Plough Publishing House, 1957. D. ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLES ^ Friedmann, Robert. "Hutterian Brethren," The Mennonite Encyclopedia. First edition, II, 85U-861. Scottdale, Pennsylvania: Mennonite Publishing House, 1956- "Hutterite Education," The Mennonite Encyclopedia. First edition, II, 1U9-150. Scottdale, Pennsylvania; Mennonite Publishing House, 1956- E. PERIODICALS Bach, Marcus. "Experiment in Contentment," Coronet, [_' ]:135, June, 19U6. Bender, Harold S. "A Hutterite School Discipline of 1578 and Peter Scherer's Address of 1568 to the Schoolmasters," The Mennonite Quarterly Review, 5i231—UU, October, 1931. . . Clark, Bertha W. "The Huterian Communities," The Journal of Political Economy, 32: 357-71*; 32:1*68-86, June, 1921*. Eaton, Joseph W. "Canada's Scapegoats," The Nation, September 10, 191$. (R e p rin t.) "Controlled Acculturation: A Survival Technique of the Hutter- itesA m erican Sociological Review, 17:331-31*0, June, 1952. 158 Eaton, Joseph W., and Albert J. Mayer. "The Social 'Biology of Very High F ertility Among the H utterites. The Demography of a Unique Popula tion," Human Biology, 25:206-614, September, 1953* , and Robert J. Weil. "The Mental Health of the Hutterites," Scientific American, 189:31-37, December, 1953. ______, Robert J. Weil, and Bert Kaplan. "The Hutterite Mental Health Study," The Mennonite Quarterly Review, .25:3-19, Ja n u a ry , 1951* (R e p rin t.) "The Fertile Farmers," Time Magazine (Canadian Edition), 6 U;25, December 20, 1951. Friedmann, Robert. "Christian Life in Action—The H utterites," Mennonite L ife, 1:38, J u ly , I 9I46 .' "Comprehensive Review of Research on the H utterites, 1880- A~~ 19^0," The Mennonite Quarterly Review, 2U:353-63, October, 1950. ______. "Economic Aspects of Early Hutterite Life," The Mennonite Quarterly Review, 30:259-66, October, 1956. Giffen, Dorothy. "The Hutterites and Civil Liberties," The Canadian Forum, 27:55-57, June, 19U7. Goerz, H. "A Day with the H utterites," Mennonite Life, 8:26, January, 1953. Heimann, Franz. "The H utterite Doctrine of Church and Common Life, A Study of Peter Riedemann’s Confession of Faith of 15I4O," The Mennonite Quarterly Review, 26:1142-60, January, 1952. . "The Promised Land," Time Magazine, 68:21;, August 13, 1956. F. NEWSPAPERS Claresholm Local Press, March 27, 1958. The F in a n c ia l P o s t, June 16, 1956. Harrington, Lyn. "We Found Serenity at Sunnyside," The Family Herald and Weekly Star, January 22, 1953. The Lethbridge Herald, November, 1957-June, 1958. Lunny, Vince. "The H utterites," The Montreal Standard, June 11;, 19U7. G. UNPUBLISHED MALE RIALS ^ The Canadian Mental Health Association (Saskatchewan Division). "The> H utterites and Saskatchewan.11 Regina, Saskatchewan: The Canadian Mental Health.Association, 1953. (Mimeographed.) Constitution of the Hutterian Brethren Church. Draft of Articles of Association. Magrath, Alberta: Rockport Hutterian Colony, January Ehrenpreis, Andreas. Ein Sendbrief (A.D. 1652). Trans. John P. IAebe Poplar Point, Manitoba: Poplar Point Hutterian Community j~ n .d .j. (Mimeographed.) Liebe, John P. "The Story of the H utterites." Unpublished manuscript Lethbridge, Alberta, 19li7. APPENDIXES 160 APPENDIX A APPENDIX A A TESTIMONIAL LETTER1 1108-7th Ave., S ., LETHBRIDGE, A lta . J a n . 12, 193k' The Hon. J . E. Brow nlee, EDMONTON, A lb e rta . S ir : At the request of the Hutterite Brethren of Southern Alberta I am testifying to the efficiency of the schools in the Colonies where public school districts have been organized. , As the Official Trustee of these D istricts I have been responsi ble for the selection of teachers and for the maintenance of their schools during the year. The leaders of these Colonies have always co operated with the Department of Education in the schools and have inva riably supported their teachers. When the isolation of the children in these schools is considered their attainments in the English branches is [sic] all the more remark a b le . Incidentally it should be mentioned that in one of the Colonies all unemployed boys and girls must attend school during the winter months—this by order of the Manager of the said Colony. AH of these Districts are sound financially. They pay their taxes promptly. In the Hutterite District of the Lethbridge Inspector ate, all obligations to banks, teachers and school supply houses are regularly made at the end of each month. During the inspection of these schools I have never witnessed mentally deficient children. In fact the Hutterites have the proud boast that since their arrival on this continent only one instance of such is on record. I believe that if the present system of Official Trusteeship is maintained over the Colony schools, we shall secure as good results for them as in the ordinary ungraded schools of the Province. Your obedient servant, Owen W illiams, OWsLB Inspector of Schools. ^A. J. F. Zieglschmid, Das Klein-Geschichtsbuch der Hutterischen Brueder (Philadelphia: The Carl Schurz Memorial Foundation, Inc., 19L7), pTSErr 162 APPENDIX B 163 APPENDIX B WARNER COUNTY NO. 5 POLICY FOR HUTTERIAN SCHOOLS Meeting of July 27th, 195k Between Hutterian Representatives and County Officials The following are the important points agreed upon at a meeting held in the County Office on July 27th, 195k» at 2:30 P.M. between the County Officials and Representatives of the following six Hutterite Colonies: Miami, Wolf Creek, O.K., Elmspring, Milford and New Rockport. Chairman Pittman stated that the purpose of the meeting was to set up a uniform policy between the County Council and the Hutterian Brethren. The representatives of the Hutterian Brethren stated the policy which they had been operating under in the Lethbridge and St. Mary's Divisions. It was noted that in every.case the school is also used as a church. The following points were set out: 1. It was decided to pay each Colony in the County $165.00 annually as the County's portion of the costs of operating the Hutterite Schools, the payments to be made semi-annually on June 30th and December 31st. 2. The Colonies w ill be responsible for the care and maintenance of the teacherages and schools. 3. The Colonies will collect the rent from the teacher and the rent (including fuel) w ill not be more than $10.00 per month. 1;. The School Committee of the County Council reserves the right and privilege of making an inspection of the school and teacherage at any time to insure that they are being kept in suitable .repair. 5. Superintendent Kimmitt recommended that Tack Board, U' x 10', be provided with a cover which can be pulled down when the school is being used for a church. 6. The Hutterian representatives stated that they will not interfere in any way with work which the teacher puts on the blackboard and she is free to go into the school in the evenings to put the next day's work on the board. 7. It was agreed upon that all school hours w ill be from 9 A.M. to 11:145 A.M. with morning recess and 1 to 3:30 P.M. with afternoon r e c e s s . 161; 165 8. School will be ready on school mornings not later than 8:U5 A.M. for the teacher to take over. 9. All schools are to be treated the same and no special levy on schools where a district has not been organized. 10. The teacherage is to be a separate building used entirely for a teacherage. The teacherages should be modernized as soon as p o s s ib le . 11. Where blackboard space is not sufficient for the school and the church, extra board should be added or a portable or roll-up board used by the church. 12. Cupboards should be provided in the school for school supplies, readers, free reading books, reference books. (School books should be on open shelves and school supplies in a locked cupboard.) The above rules were agreed upon unanimously by the Council and the Hutterian Representatives. APPENDIX C 166 APPENDIX C A PETITION PRESENTED TO THE WARNER COUNT! NO. 5 SCHOOL COMMITTEE April 9, 1956 To the School Committee of the County Council of Warner: Dear Gentlemen: We, the Hutterian Brethren, wish to advise you regarding the centralization of the Hutterite schools in the County of Warner as sub mitted to our representatives at your meeting of February 7th, 1956, for consideration. This matter was submitted to all Ministers of the Teachers group at their meeting on the lUth of March, 1956, and was duly discussed. It was unanimously agreed that this was a matter pertaining and concerning all Hutterite Colonies In the Province, and very significant to our faith and religion in the future. It was also agreed that this was a matter with several different aspects, religious, financial and public sentiment, etc., which could not be treated lightly as this would seriously affect the Hutterite Church and faith if put in effect and could raise considerable public sentiment against us. It was the opinion of all present that we could not agree to centralizing of our schools for the following reasons of which, religion to us is of the greatest importance. 1. Centralizing, we believe, would bring the ultimate abolition of the Hutterite faith, if radios, television, pianos, movies, etc., were implemented in our schools, which could well happen in such a school completely controlled by non-Hutterites. 2. We would be deprived of most of the time seriously needed for our religious instructions through transportation, which at present is not sufficient for the amount of time required for instructing, and to learn reading and writing the German language in which our faith i s ta u g h t. 3. Isolated colonies in other parts of the province would possibly have to take their children to town for schooling, if such a course was adopted which would further bring our children in contact with many things that, we believe, (through the Word of God) should be shunned 167 168 and left as they lead to desertion of what we firmly believe to be the Will of the Lord, to live in community spirit, soul, heart, and body. Acts Chapt. 2-h. Ij.. Discipline (a matter of prime importance and great concern at present due to modernization as well as many other factors) would be seri ously affected with our children away from the community and parents most of the day and grouped together in greater numbers. 5. These and many other grave concerns, yes fears, prohibit us to accept now or in the future, the idea of centralizing our schools in the religious aspects of this matter. We prayfully ask all who this may concern, to kindly and conscientiously consider our stand in this matter. To force us into such a situation could well be acting against God's W ill, and, we believe, hope and pray that no one con cerned would be thus minded and willing to deprive us of the privi lege accorded us through the Grace of God and the Government to have a private school for our children and the opportunity to teach the essentials of our faith away from conflicting influences. We deeply appreciate this privilege and w ill continue to be most grateful in our prayers as in the past, towards Him who affords us this privilege including the Government. Regarding the other aspects in this matter we would like to point out that we are well aware of the teacher shortage and the difficulties to acquire teachers for isolated country schools, however, it should not be, a ll - together impossible with more teachers graduating each year., The teacher shortage and country or ,isolated schools is also something not all-together confined to the County of Warner, but other districts as well and we feel it should not be considered as a Hutterite problem only. We notice in the County Report for 1955 that Superintendent R. Kimmitt reports ten students attending University in the Faculty of Education this year from the County of Warner and that all of them w ill be teaching in the County. This seems gratifying and should help con s id e r a b ly . The objective of overcoming the teacher shortage would not be helped in a centralized school as it would require at least as many teachers as at present due' to the average enroll-ment now in each colony. Also a centralized school as proposed would still be a country or iso lated school and, from a teacher's point of view, not unlike the present colony school. The centralized school with only Hutterite pupils would not improve such subjects as language, history, geography, etc. with the same or present conditions existing and without contact with things or influences that do improve these subjects at other schools through 169 radios, movies, television>^etc., to which we conscientiously object on religious grounds and we feeSwe are confident you w ill not disprove as gentlemen who believe in freedom of religion. From the financial point of view we would like to point out that a centralized school would add a considerable burden on the ratepayers of the County and could well raise resentment and ill-w ill against us which we would gladly avoid; we would not like to burden the ratepayers on our account. The cost of building this school over and above the Government Grant would be considerable plus vans and transportation, fuel and janitor service and general up-keep which is shared in the present colony schools.on a 50-50 basis because the schools are used by us for religious purposes. Feeding our children away from home would also be quite a problem to contend with as we all eat in a community. Here we also have some religious implications and would be no triv ial matter as may appear on the surface. » i'? ’The older boys and girls needed on the farm and home to help with chores in spring and summer after school hours would warrant some con sideration for we would suffer a serious loss of time through a central ized school. In concluding, we would like to convey to your Committee and those concerned, that some of the points mentioned may seem triv ial but, you may be assured, they are quite essential to us. We have given all of these things serious thought and have only mentioned them because, we believe, they are serious enough to affect the Hutterite way of life and faith in the future. We are quite willing to discuss all this further at any time your Committee deems convenient. Prayfully and sincerely yours, New Rockport Colony, New Dayton, per Rev. John Wipf Miami Colony, New Dayton, per Rev. Peter Hofer Elmspring Colony, Warner, per Rev. Mike Mandel Sunnysite Colony, per Rev. Jacob Hofer M ilford Colony, Raymond, per Rev. John Wipf Wolfe reek Colony, Stirling, per Bey. Peter Hofer O.K. Colony, Raymond, per Rev. Jacob Waldner APPENDIX D 170. APPENDIX D A LETTER FRCM THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION, THE HONOURABLE MR. PARREN BAKER Edmonton, Alberta, July 8, 1925. To the Hutterian Brethren Church, I have given consideration to the representation made to me on your behalf by Rev. John P. Entz, Rev. John M. Wurz, Rev. Christian Waldner, and Rev. David Hofer on June 30th, and to the memorandum which they presented setting forth the attitude of your church toward the state and education, and making certain requests. Your petition that the wishes of the various Hutterian communi ties be given consideration in the appointment of teachers is one which can be readily granted. As a means of doing so, I would suggest that in each community there be appointed a school committee of three, with one of the members acting as chairman, and that you send to me the names and addresses of’ the various chairmen of these committees. When this is done, I w ill send the names to School Inspector J. Morgan, B. A. your O fficial Trustee, instructing him in the appointment of teachers to carry out as far as possible the wishes of' the communi ties as expressed through their school committees. In the Province of Alberta the principle of the complete separa tion of the church and state is accepted. No religious instruction is permitted in the schools except that provided for under Section 185 of the School Act, and every teacher should be very careful about rousing doubts in the minds of his pupils concerning the validity of the relig ious belief in which they have been reared. I have no doubt that by a frank discussion between the Inspector and your school committee of any difficulties which may arise, your schools can be carried on in conform ity with the school law of the province, and at the same time in a manner quite satisfactory to yourselves. lours truly, Parren Baker, M inister of Education 171 » APPENDIX E 172 APPENDIX E ALBERTA HUTTERIAN COLONIES: ADDRESS, LOCATION, AND SCHOOL DISTRICT1 Lehrerleut (Teacher Group) Colonies Location School District Colony Address T. - R. - w. or Division Big Bend Woolford 2 - 2h-- h St. Mary's No. 2 Crystal Spring M agrath 2 - 21 - h S t. M ary's No. 2 Elm spring Warner U - 16 - k Elm spring S. D. k5l% Hutterville Magrath 5 - 21 - h P riv a te Macmillan Cayley 17 - 1 - 5 F o o th ills No. 38 Miami New Dayton 3 - 19 - h Warner County No. 5 M ilfo rd Raymond $ - 20 - h Foch S. D. 373it New'Elm Magrath h - 21 - h New Elm S. D. 37h9 New Roekpojrt New Dayton 6 - 18 - h Warner County No. $ 0. K. Raymond h - 20 - h W arner County No. 5 Old Elm M agrath 2 - 22 - h Old Elm S. D. 37U8 New Dale Queenstown 19 - 20 - h County of Vulcan No. Rock Lake Wrentham 7 —17 - it T aber No. 6 The Alberta Department of Education does not classify Hutterian schools or districts separately. Therefore it is not possible to asso ciate every colony with the school district in which the colony is lo c a te d . The Department of Education continues to classify three excommu nicated colonies as Hutterian: Monarch Monarch 9-23-1: L ethbridge No. 7 Felger Lethbridge 7 - 21 - U Private Brocket Brocket 6 - 29 - U Fincher Creek No. 29 173 Uh Location School District Colony Address T. - R. - w. or Division Rockport M agrath li - 21 - h S t. M ary's No. 2 S unnysite Warner li - 18 - h In Dunbar S. D. I 4O68 § Acadia Valley Qyen 26 - 3 - h A cadia No. 8 New M ilford W innifred 11 - 8 - k In Rocky Lake S. D. 281il Rosedale Etzikom I* - 7 - h In Four Nine S. D. 3697 Springside Duchess 21 - 13 - h Medicine Hat No. li Handhills Hanna 28 - 15 - h B erry Creek No. 1 Dariusleut (Darius Group) Colonies L ocation School D istrict’ Colony Address T. - R. - w. or Division Camrose Camrose li7 - 20 - li P riv a te C ayley Cayley 17 - 29 - U Foothills No. 38 East Cardston C ardston 3 - 2U - h East Cardston S. D. 3756 Ewelme Fort Macleod - 26 - li P riv a te F airv iew Ponoka U3 - 27 - li Ponoka County No. 3 Granum Granum 10 - 27 - li Macleod No. 28 H olt Irma U6 - 9 - li C rescen t H ills U375 T s c h e tte r I r r ic a n a 27 - 25 - li C algary No. U1 i - New Rosebud C ro s s fie ld 28 - 27 - li Wheatland No. -U0 Lakeside C ranford 8 - 18 - li Taber No. 6 B eisek er B eisek er 28 - 26 - li Calgary No. iil New York M aybutt 7 - 18 - li L ethbridge No. 7 Pincher Creek Pincher Creek 6 - 1 - 5 P in ch er Creek No. 29 Pine H ill Penhold 36 - 1 - 5 Red Deer No. 35 175 L ocation School D istrict Colony Address T. - R. - W. or Division R iv e rsid e Fort Macleod 5 - 25 - h Macleod No. 28 Rosebud Rockyford 27 - 22 - h Sayre S. D. 3768 S a n d h ill B eisek er 27 - 2l* - h In New Springvale 1*735 S p rin g v ale Rockyford 21 - 23 - h Rosebud River S. D. 3769 S ta h lv ille Rockyford 27 - 23 - 1* Hines S. D. 3789 S tan d o ff Fort Macleod 6 - 25 - h S ta n d o ff S. D. 3755 Thompson Glenwood 5 - 27 - h P riv a te West Raley C ardston 1* - 2k - 1* West Raley S. D. 3757 Willow Creek Red Willow 1*0 - 17 - k S tettler County No. 6 Wilson Siding L ethbridge 8 - 19 - h In A llenby S. D. 3733 Wolf Creek S t i r l i n g h - 19 - h In Troy S. D. 2183 P ibroch P ibroch 61 - 26 - h In Hillman S. D. 3077 S co tfo rd Ft. Saskatchewan 55 - 21 - h C lover Bar No. 13 V eteran V eteran 37 - 8 - h C asto r No. 27 B. 0. Marwayne 5U - 2 - u V erm ilion No. 25 Spring Creek Walsh 10 _ 1 - li M edicine Hat No. 1* APPENDIX F 176 APPENDIX F EXTRACTS FROM ANNUAL REPORTS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 1918 - 1919 - 1920 Extract From the Annual Report of the Department of Education 1918 Mennonite (Hutterite) Schools Early in the fall of 1918, five colonies of Mennonites (Hutter- ites) from South Dakota settled in my inspectorate. They have the com munity system of living and holding property. They speak German and they believe that allegiance to any Sovereign or Government is contrary to the principles of Christianity. When you formed these colonies into school districts and appointed me O fficial Trustee I proceeded to erect teachers' residences and school buildings and these are practically completed now and ready for occupation and operation. These districts were: 1. Foch , 1 2. Allenby, 3. East Elm, I 4. Old Elm, 3. New Elm. J . Morgan Inspector of Schools Extract From the Annual Report of the Department of Education 1919 Mennonite (Hutterite) Schools In September 1918 three colonies or communities of Mennonites purchased lands about 6 miles north of Rockyford. In accordance with the policy of the Department these lands were organized into three school districts and in each case I was appointed Official Trustee. Practically as soon as the children arrived schools were opened. In two of these districts the schools are just 1§ miles apart and a house ■*"Now M ilford Colony, 8 miles south and 1 mile west of Raymond, A lb e rta . 177 178 to accommodate the teachers has been built midway between them. These schools were S a y r e , ^ Rosebud River,^ and Stahlville. J. A. MacGregor Inspector of Schools Extract From the Annual Report of the Department of Education 1919 Mennonite (H utterite) Schools During the year I have had charge as official trustee of four schools situated in communities of Hutterites. In all these districts schools have been erected, and in three, teachers’ residences have been built and equipped. The schools have been administered and operated in the same manner as other schools in the province. The teachers who were in charge were men who held certificates of qualification and who had had previous teaching experience. In addition these teachers had served in the Canadian arny and three of the four had seen service in France. The attendance was very satisfactory, the percentage for the school term slightly exceeding 93 per cent. These Hutterite settlers have shown a disposition to support the schools established in their districts and are anxious to observe the laws pertaining to education. During the fall I was relieved of three of these schools, which were handed over to the inspectors of schools at Macleod and Cardston, and on December 31st, I was official trustee of only one school among these people. Inspector Roberts, Lethbridge I began work here on September 1st. Since that time I have been official trustee of six school districts. In four of these, new schools were built in the early summer and since the date of their completion they were kept in regular operation until the end of December. One of these four schools .is in a Mennonite colony, where thirty-two Mennonite children are now in attendance. Their attendance record has been very creditable, as in one month their percentage reached 99*23 while the lowest for any month is over 97 p e r c e n t. Six schools situated in the Mennonite colonies at East Cardston, West Rayley, Old Elm, New Elm, East Elm and Foch, are administered by . the inspector as official trustee, who also acts as secretary. The people in these colonies appreciate the efforts of the department, in extending educational advantages to their children. They are very ^The Rosebud Colony. ^The Springvale Colony. 179 prompt in the payment of their taxes, and exert themselves in making comfortable the teacher who serves them. The teachers in these schools are well remunerated; in addition to a yearly stipend of $1,100, a well furnished cottage is supplied for the use of the teacher. Consequently a.high standard of service is expected as well as of usefulness. The teachers in these communities are consistent in their efforts to further the knowledge of the English language; for this purpose they have availed themselves of the splendid assortment of books supplied by the Library Branch, and it has been the policy of the official trustee to -keep the schools well supplied. During the winter evenings the teacher's residence is the meeting place of the younger men of the col ony. With the teacher's help they read current magazines dealing with Agriculture and scientific problems. , Encouragement has been given the teachers to foster these meetings, and make them of real value. Inspector Williams, Cardston Extract From the Annual Report of the Department-of Education 1920 Mennonite Schools There is only one Mennonite (or, rather, Hutterite) district within the inspectorate. This is the Stand Off D istrict,.situated about 20 miles south of Macleod. This school is in charge of a married man who resided in the teacher's residence within the district. He has first class professional standing, is a faithful, careful instructor, with a good knowledge of the best methods to adopt in the instruction of foreign children. These Hutterites appear to be quiet, industrious, inoffensive people. They gave no evidence whatsoever of being in any way opposed to our system of education. On the contrary, their leader displayed a deep interest- in the school and inquired closely into the progress the children were making in school, especially in the learning of English. He volunteered his heartiest co-operation in anything he could do In making the school a success, in seeing that the children attended regularly, in making conditions favorable for the teacher to live there and do his work. When it comes to the paying of taxes in order to support the school, we find in the Hutterites a people who pay, and who pay without evasion, murmur or complaint. During the present school year the English-speaking ratepayers, among whom were those who had sold certain of their lands to these Hutterites at high prices, strenuously objected to paying taxes to support a school designed for the education of foreigners. They succeeded in their efforts to have their lands withdrawn from the district. This reduced considerably the area of the district and threw an added burden of taxation upon the Hut terites, yet no complaint was heard from these people. They assumed the additional obligation as though it were the inevitable and went on pay- 180 ing their taxes as quietly and complacently as before. Had a similar thing happened in the English d istrict, what a storm we would have had to fa c e 1 4 Inspector Hutchinson, Macleod APPENDIX G 181 APPENDIX G COPY OF TYPE OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN A DIVISIONAL BOARD AND HUTTERITE COLONY Memorandum o f agreem ent made a t A lb e rta , t h i s .... day o f ...... 1 9 , between the Board of ...... D iv isio n No. . . and the Hutterite Colony located in the ...... School Dis t r i c t No. .... Subject to approval by the Minister of Education, it is hereby agreed as follows: (1) Since the Colony has been established in a School D istrict the pupils of which are now provided for by the Division and the mem bers of the Colony insist that they shall have their own school apart from the schools for the Division, the other ratepayers of the Division should not be asked to bear any of the cost of the school in the Hutterite Colony. (2) The colony is to provide a school site of at least three acres. This is to be fenced to prevent the running of stock, pigs, and poultry through the school grounds. (3) The Colony is to provide a school building approved by the Depart ment of Education. (U) The Colony is to provide a teacher's residence of at least three rooms with basement to be built at a suitable place in the school grounds. (5) Toilets for the school and residence are to be provided by the Colony. (6) The Colony is not to build any other buildings within one hundred and fifty feet of the school building. (7) The Colony is to provide fuel and janitor service for the school. (8) The teacher is to be appointed and paid by the Division. (9) Furniture and school equipment are to be provided by the Division. (10) The pupils of the Colony may buy their school supplies from the D iv isio n . 182 183 (11) The pupils may rent their text-books from the Division, or the text-books may be bought outright by the Colony. (12) Any alternate school site or school building provided in future by the Colony shall be subject to approval by the Division and by the Department of Education. (13) Should the enrolment of pupils in the Colony reach forty, the Col ony is to provide an additional school room, approved by the Department of Education, on the school site. The Division w ill then provide additional equipment and a second teacher. (lit) The Colony is free to use the school building for church purposes providing such use does not interfere with the use of the building for school purposes. (l£) The Minister of Education w ill be requested to declare the quarter section(s) occupied by the Colony buildings, to be a Hamlet under S e c tio n 2(f)(ii) o f The School A ct. (16) The Minister of Education w ill be requested to approve an addi tional levy upon the Hamlet as provided in Section 290 of The School Act; provided that the amount of the additional levy which the Minister w ill be asked to approve for ...... s h a ll not exceed ...... D o lla rs . (17) This agreement may be terminated by either party thereto giving notice to the other on or before the fifteenth day of May in any year, and, upon notice being given, the agreement shall cease and determine on the last day of the month of June of the following y e a r. Signed on behalf of Signed on behalf of the Hutterite School Division No Colony of Chairman P re s id e n t Secretary-Treasurer S e c re ta ry Approved this day o f 19 M inister of Education APPENDIX H 18U APPENDIX H WHAT THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IS AND HOW ONE MAI JOIN IT 1 1. The Church of Christ is the Community of the believing and the pious, the people of God, who do and have abstained from sinful life. Into this community we are brought through true submission: That is, into the spiritual ark of Noah, in which we can be preserved. 2. It is not a human deed, but an act of God. Just as Mary through faith and the holy spirit conceived Christ when she placed her will in God's and said: Here am I, a servant of the Lord: be unto me according to thy words. Thus we must also receive Christ in faith; then he w ill begin and complete his work in us. 3. (let each be mindful) That the Church has the key and power to loose and to bind, even as'Christ has commanded to put away the vicious and to receive the contrite, that it should also be binding in Heaven according to the words of Christ. Math. XVI. li. That each should count the cost first that w ill come, but one is not to counsel with flesh and blood. For they that would enter the service of God must be prepared for tribulation for the sake of the truth and the faith, and to die for Christ's sake, if it be the will of God, be it by fire, water or the sword. For now we have house and shel ter, but we know not what w ill be on the morrow. Therefore no one should join for the sake of prosperous days. He who will not be steadfast with all the Godly, to suffer the evil as well as the good, and accept all as good however the Lord may direct, let him remain away. Whoever does not act voluntarily will not be forced. We desire to persuade no man with smooth words. It is not. a matter of human compulsion or necessity, for God wants voluntary service. Whoever cannot render that cheerfully and with hearty pleasure, let him remain in his former station. 5. Let no one undertake to join the Church for the sake of another; the wife for the sake of the husband, or the husband for the wife, or the children for the sake of their parents, that would be vain and building upon the sand, having no permanency; but one who should build upon the rock tries to please God alone. For each must bear his own burden upon that day. 6. One must submit to and follow brotherly admonition, address, Also known as "The Ten Points of the Hutterian Church" and con sidered to be the basic tenets of their religion. These points were published as a small religious tract by the Hutterian Brethren in 1906. 185 186 and punishment; also practice and apply the same with respect to others in the house of God, so that no one may fall into strange sins. 7. One should submit himself in obedience to God and his Church and not be obstinate, or do only his own desire, but permit himself to be guided for the g<£od and necessity of the Church withersoever it be known to be right. ) 8. That no one shall have any private possessions any more; for one who gives and surrenders himself to the Lord and his Church with all that he has and is able to do, as it was in the original apostolic Church, when no one said of his possessions that they were his, but all things were common to them. This we regard as the safest way and the most perfect foundation; of this we are also well assured in our hearts. . •^9'r^T,his we now plainly state to everyone beforehand, so that we may be under np obligations to return anything to anyone afterwards. Therefore if anyone should undertake to join us and later feel it impos sible to remain and wish to have his returned, let him now stay away, keep his own, and leave us in peace. We are not anxious for money and possessions, but desire Godly hearts. 10. Whoever has wrong dealings that are punishable in the world be it that he is owing men or that he has defrauded them; or if anyone has involved himself in matters of marriage or is engaged to be married he should first straighten these matters out. For if anyone should con ceal any of these things from us, and should in the meantime have him self baptized, and we should learn of these matters afterwards, such a one we should be compelled to excommunicate as one who came into the Church improperly and by falsehood. Therefore let each one be truly warned. APPENDIX I 187 APPENDIX I TEACHER QUESTIONNAIRE WARNER COUNTY No. 5 Questionnaire Your co-operation in completing this questionnaire would be greatly appreciated. The results are to be compiled and presented as a status study of the Hutterian schools within Warner County No. 5. I Name of Colony: ...... School D is t. No. s .... II Name of Teacher: ...... Certificate held: ...... Total teaching experience: .....yrs. In Hutterite schools . ...yrs. Ill Enrollment by Grades: K ^ §tn..*. lo.« 2««. 3 * * * 1:»•« 5 ® ® ® 6o«. 7 * •# 0... 5 ° ® • ° No. of correspondence students: .....\ IV Please estimate the number of minutes per week devoted to the fo llo w in g : Art: minutes Music: ...... m inutes Phys. ed.: .... m inutes V Please calculate the number of minutes per week the teacher spends on the average teaching the following subjects or areas of study: Reading ...... S p e llin g ...... W ritin g ...... Enterprise ...... Number Work ...... Social Studies ..... H ealth ...... Lxterature ...... Speech ...... oo..... Science ...... Reading Stories ..... Free Periods ...... (Note: Including recesses there are 1,575 minutes in a school week.) 188 189 VI Please indicate the units or areas of work that you find most difficult to teach Hutterite children: Grade Subject Unit, Section, or Area (Notes Please use the reverse side of this sheet if more space is r e q u ir e d .) VII Please calculate the number of minutes per week the students spend on the following subjects or areas of study: D iv isio n I Division II Division III Reading...... Reading...... Language...... Language...... Language...... Literature...... Enterprise...... Enterprise...... Social Studies..... S c ie n c e ...... S c ie n c e ...... S c 1 enc O.®©®.ooooooo Number Work...... Arithmetic...... Mathematics...... M u sic...... Muslc.o«...... o.oo. MUSlCo.O...009000.0 Art...... Art. . . . . _____ ...... Art o.oa.ooeoeo.o.oo Phys. Ed...... Phys. Ed...... PhyS a Ed ooeo.eo.ooo F ree Reading...... Free Reading...... Free Reading...... Free Work Periods.. Free Work P e rio d s . . . Free Work Periods.. H e a lth ...... H e a lth ...... o...... Health and P.D..... Other O ptions...... To what extent does the teacher feel that the lack of display and instructional material have an effect on her teaching? 190 X It would be greatly appreciated if you would care to comment on your personal experiences in teaching Hutterian children , and y o u r impression of colony life. What features do you like best? What aspects of Colony schools do you like least? Please use the reverse side of this sheet for your comments. APPENDIX J 191 APPENDIX J RAW SCORES MADE ON CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT TESTS COMPLETE BATTERY (FORM AA) BY GRADES U, 5, 6 STUDENTS IN THE HUTTERITE SCHOOLS OF WARNER COUNTY NO. 5 , MARCH, 1958 GRADE FOUR Student Total Total Total Total Number Reading Arithmetic Language Test HU— 1 90 71 55 2 16 Hi*- 2 87 , 76 52 215 Hi*- 3 102 60 1*8 210 Hi*- 1* 100 60 50 210 Hi*- 5 79 71 52 202 Hi- 6 89 58 53 200 Hi*- 7 90 56 1*7 193 Hi*- 8 90 51* 1*8 192 HU- 9 95 U8 1*9 192 Hi*-10 81* 61 1*7 192 Hi*-11 85 58 1*9 192 Hi*-12 87 62 37 186 Hi*-13 78 53 1*5 176 HU-U* 78 57 1*0 175 Hi*-15 71* 57 38 169 Hi*-16 86 52 30 168 Hi*-17 81* 36 1*5 165 Hi*-18 70 51 1*1 162 ' Hl*-19 70 1*6 1*5 161 Hi*-20 87 1*0 31* 161 Hl*-21 78 50 33 161 Hi*-2 2 73 39 1*2 15U Hi*-23 73 1*1* 36 153 Hi* -21* 66 50 31* 150 Hi*-25 61* 1*1* 39 U*7 Hi*-26 61 50 31 U*2 Hi*-27 ' 65 37 31* 136 HU-28 61* 33 33 130 Hi*-29 60 21* 30 111* 192 193 GRADE FIVE T o tal T o tal T o tal T o tal Reading A rith m etic Language . Test 113 80 63 238 108 67 7 32 227 9b 73 36 223 99 7b 30 223 91 69 33 213 9$ 68 b8 ' 211 8b 73 b9 208 89 37 33 201 78 70 32 200 88 38 UU 190 86 39 U3 190 81 61 b7 189 83 60 b$ 188 73 6U b9 188 83 61 39 183 78 33 b2 17$ 8b li? bO 171 76 33 bo 1 69 68 38 b3 169 66 32 i;9 167 73 3 i bO 16 U 78 b9 36 163 73 $b 36 163 71 b6 39 136 73 b2 32 1U9 67 31 29 1U7 6* b8 23 138 66 32 19 137 191 GRADE SIX Student Total Total Total Total Number Reading Arithmetic Language Test H6- 1 111 ioU 6 2 277 H6- 2 98 87 61* 2k9 H6- 3 110 79 99 2l*8 h6- U 90 86 62 238 h 6 - 5 97 79 97 233 H6- 6 97 73 6 0 230 H6- 7 103 68 99 230 H6- 8 106 78 19 229 H6- 9 10U 72 9o 226 H6-10 90 77 97 221* H6-11 1 0 8 70 1*2 220 H6-12 9h 6 1 99 210 H6-13 83 79 92 210 H6-li* 82 71* 93 209 H6-19 98 97 1*8 203 H6-16 87 99 96 202 H6-17 92 70 39 201 H6-18 86 61* 1*0 190 H6-19 77 92 1*0 169 H6-20 66 96 1*3 169 H6-21 71 1*7 29 11*7 H6-22 92 98 21* 131* 195 RAW SCORES MADE ON READING SECTION OF CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT TESTS BY GRADES hi 5 , 6 STUDENTS IN THE HUTTERITE SCHOOLS OF WARNER COUNTY NO. 5 , MARCH, 1958 GRADE FOUR Reading Reading Vocabulary Comprehension S tu d en t T o tal T o tal T o tal Number _A_ _B_ _C_ D_ ABC D E - 1 _G_ E F G T est HU- 3 2U 20 17 17 78 6 9 9 2U 102 Hi*- U 2U 19 18 1U 75 5 7 13 25 100 Hi*- 9 25 19 12 16 72 6 8 9 . 23 95 Hi*- 1 20 20 11 13 6U 5 7 IU 26 90 Hi*- 8 2U 20 12 13 69 6 5 10 21 90 Hi*- 7 2U 19 13 15 71 6 5 8 19 90 Hi*- 6 25 19 13 11 68 U 5 12 21 89 Hi*-12 18 18 15 12 63 6 U iU 2U 87 Hi*-20 2U 20 9 16 69 U 2 12 18 87' Hi*- 2 2U 18 1U 9 65 7 5 10 22 87 Hi*-16 2U 19 12 11 66 7 U 9 20 86 Hi*-11 19 18 lU 9 60 7 7 11 25 85 Hi*-17 25 18 1U 2 59 6 7 12 25 8U Hi*-10 22 20 11 8 61 U 8 11 23 8U hu - 5 22 16 13 9 60 3 5 11 19 79 Hi*-21 18 19 9 12 '5 8 U 5 11 20 78 Hi*-13 20 13 11 10 5U 6 8 10 2U 78- Hi*-li* 25 17 10 6 58 5 7 8 20 78 HU-15 23 19 9 8 59 2 6 7 15 7U Hi*-2 3 18 18 12 6 5U 3 U 12 19 * 73 Hi*—22 2U 19 11 8 62 2 5 U 11 73 • Hi*-19 21 18 8 6 53 5 1 11 17 70 Hi*-18 22 17 10 11 60 2 2 6 10 70 Hi*-2l* 17 17 9 11 5U u 1 7 12 66 Hi*-2 7 2U 12 10 U 50 ' u 2 9 15 65 Hi*-28 21 11 13 7 52 u U U 12 6U HU-25 20 10 11 6 U7 2 3 12 17 6U Hi*-26 20 8 10 5 U3 6 ■« 3 9 18 61 Hi*-29 18 iU 8 7 U7 3 U 6 13 60 196 GRADE FIVE . Reading Reading Vocabulary Comprehension S tudent T o tal T o tal T o ta l Number _A_ c_ D ABC D E F G_ E F G T est H5- 1 20 20' 19 19 78 6 10 19 35 113 h 5 - 2 25 20 20 16 81 6 8 13 27 108 H5- h 2h 20 16 lb 7b 7 -6 12 25 99 H5- 6 2b 18 17 . 9 68 6 7 iU 27 95 H5- 3 25 19 15 11 70 6 6 12 2b 9b H5- 5 21 19 11 15 66 5 7 13 25 91 h 5 - 8 25 20 iU 12 71 b 5 9 18 89 H5-10 22 • 19 12 12 65 b 7 12 23 88 H5-11 19 20 10 Hi 63 5 7 11 23 86 H5- 7 22 19 iU 9 6b 3 8 9 20 8b H5-17 25 19 11 9 6b 5 b 11 20 8b H5-15 19 20 11 12 62 6 6 9 21 83 H5-13 2b 18 11 10 63 3 b 13 20 83 H5“12 21 1 8 7 11 57 3 6 15 2b 81 H5-16 20 19 11 11 61 b b 9 17 78 h 5 - 9 23 20 b 8 55 6 5 12 23 78 H5-22 20 17 12 6 55 b 7 12 23 78 h 5 - i 8 23 1 6 11 8 58 2 7 9 18 76 H5-25 16 16 17 10 59 1 5 10 16 75 H 5-ik 19 19 10 8 56 b b 11 19 75 HS-21 16 18 7 lb 55 3 2 13 18 73 H5-23 16 18 8 11 53 5 6 9 20 73 H3-2U 23 iU 9 10 56 U 6 5 15 71 H5-19 20 1 6 11 9 56 2 b 6 12 68 H3-26 22 ' 8 16 8 5U 3 b 6 13 67 H5-28 23 m 7 5 Ii9 b b 9 17 66 H5-20 22 15 9 3 b9 3 6 8 17 66 H5-2? 22 19 ■ 8 8 57 1 1 6 8 65 197 GRADE SIX Reading Reading Vocabulary Comprehension Student Total Total Total lumber A_- B C . p_ ABC D E I G_ E F G Test H6- 1 2k 20 16 19 79 7 8 17 32 111 H6- 3 20 20 lii 18 72 10 10 18 38 110 H6-11 25 19 22 15 81 6 9 12 27 108 H6- 8 25 18 lii 16 73 8 10 15 33 106 H6- 9 2U 19 19 I k 76 8 8 12 28 10li H6- 7 20 19 17 , 16 72 6 10 15 31 103 H6- 2 22 20 16 16 7k 6 8 10 2ii 98 H6-15 2k 19 13 lii 70 7 7 lii 28 98 H6- 5 22 19 18 lii 73 5 6 13 2k 97 H6- 6 23 20 13 16 72 5 7 13 25 97 H6-12 23 19 lii lii 70 6 8 10 2ii 9ii H6-17 22 19 17 . 12 70 5 7 10 22 92 H6- ii 25 19 10 ' 10 6ii 8 8 10 26 90 H6-10 2k 19 13 11 67 7 5 11 23 90 H6-16 22 20 lii 9 65 7 ii 11 22 87 H6-18 22 18 16 lii 70 1 3 12 16 86 H6-13 25 18 11 11 65 5 2 11 18 83 H6-1U 20 19 16 ■ 8 63 3 6 10 19 82 H6-19 21 19 10 7 57 3 8 9 20 77 H6-21 20 20 9 8 57 5 2 7 lii 71 H6-20 111 17 11 9 51 1. 3 11 15 66 H6-22 13 17 6 5 ill 5 1 5 11 52 198 RAW SCORES MADE ON ARITHMETIC SECTION OF CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT TESTS BY GRADES li, 5 , 6 STUDENTS IN THE HUTTERETE SCHOOLS 'OF WARNER COUNTY NO. 5 , MARCH, 1938 GRADE FOUR Arithmetic Arithmetic Reasoning Fundamentals S tudent T o tal T o tal T o ta l Number A_ JB_ C_ A B C D_ E_ _F_ _G_ DEFG T est Hb- 2 7 13 10 32 12 11 10 11 bb 76 Hb- 1 12 13 8 33 11 11 9 7 38 71 Hb- 5 9 12 7 28 11 10 10 12 b3 71 Hb-12 b 12 9 23 12 9 7 9 37 62 Hb-10 9 11 7 27 11 10 6 7 3b 61 Hb- b b 13 6 23 7 11 8 11 37 60 Hb- 3 12 10 9 31 b 8 10 7 29 60 Hb-11 7 lb 6 .27 11 7 7 6 31 38 Hb- 6 3 lb 7 26 11 7 8 6 32 38 Hb-lb 7 11 6 2b 9 7 8 9 33 37 Hb-i3 6 10 b 20 10 11 3 11 37 37 Hb- 7 8 10 3 23 9 7 9 8 33 36 Hb- 8 5 8 b 17 9 6 11 11 37 3b Hb-13 6 13 6 23 9 8 3 6 28 33 Hb-16 11 11 3 27 7 7 3 6 23 32 Hb-18 3 9 3 17 12 7 b 11 3b 31 Hb-21 3 10 b 19 8 9 6 8 31 3o Hb-2b 3 8 3 18 11 7 3 9 32 3o Hb-26 b 9 6 19 9 8 8 6 31 30 Hb- 9 3 10 3 20 9 8 3 6 28 b8 Hb-19 7 11 b 22 6 6 3 7 2b b6 Hb-23 6 10 7 23 6 7 3 3 21 bb Hb-23 b 9 3 18 3 8 3 8 26 bb Hb-20 2 7 6 13 9 9 3 2 23 bo Hb-22 8 8 7 23 9 b 2 1 16 39 Hb-27 3 3 3 11 b 10 7 3 26 37 Hb-17 b 10 3 17 b 6 b 3 19 36 Hb-28 3 b 1 10 10 3 3 3 23 33 Hb-29 b b b 12 2 b 2 b 12 2b 199 GRADE FIVE Arithmetic Arithmetic Reasoning Fundamentals T o tal T o tal _A_ B_ o_ ABC _D_ E_ JL _G_ DEFG lh 13 10 37 13 11 8 11 li3 80 12 • 11 9 32 12 12 9 10 Ii3 75 10 lU 5 29 lii 8 13 10 li5 Ih 13 lii 10 37 11 8 9 8 36 73 9 11 9 29 13 11 7 10 lii 70 8 13 5 26 10 11 11 11 U3 69 11 8 9 28 12 12 10 6 liO 68 11 9 . 12 32 10 8 7 10 35 67 7 12 7 26 10 13 10 5 38 61* 7 13 7 27 10 9 5 10 3li 61 5 11 7 23 11 13 7 7 38 61 6 10 9 25 8 13 8 6 35 60 k lii 7 25 11 9 5 9 3ii 59 9 12 li 25 10 10 6 7 33 58 7 12 6 25 10 11 3 8 32 57 5 11 7 23 10 8 10 5 33 56 8 lii 6 28 8 6 7 6 27 55 a 9 5 18 7 13 8 8 36 5U 7 13 7 27 7 11 3 5 26 53 6 12 6 2li 8 7 5 8 28 52 7 7 6 20 8 11 7 6 32 52 9 6 3 18 9 11 3 10 33 5 i 2 9 9 20 8 10 5 8 31 5 i 5 6 a 15 10 10 9 5 3li li9 9 11 2 22 11 5 6 li 26 U8 6 7 5 18 8 9 6 6 29 h i 8 9 U 21 7 5 6 7 25 li6 3 10 5 18 2 7 5 10 2h U2 200 GRADE SIX Arithmetic Arithmetic Reasoning Fundamentals S tudent T o ta l T o ta l T o tal Number _A_ _B_ JL A B C D_ JL JL _G_ DEFG Test H6- 1 lii 13 13 iiO 16 15 16 17 , 6ii lGii H6- 2 6 13 10 29 ■ 15 13 15 15 ' 58 87 H6- k 8 13 11 32 iU 13 12 15 5L 86 H6- 5 12 12 10 3U lii 11 7 13 ii5 79 H6- 3 11 15 9 35 15 12 9 8 Uii 79 H6- 8 6 lii 8 28 13 13 11 13 5o 78 H6-10 8 13 10 31 13 lii 9 10 L6 77 H6-13 7 13 7 27 lii 13 10 11 L8 75 H6-1U 6 lii 8 28 11 IU 11 10 L6 7li H6- 6 7 15 8 30 lii 8 11 10 L3 73 H6- 9 6 13 9 28 12 13 10 9 LL 72 H6-11 7 lii 8 29 7 11 13 10 iil 70 H6-17 6 IU 10 30 11 10 8 11 iiO 70 h 6 - 7 5 12 6 23 12 13' 6 lii L5 68 H6-18 9 lii 5 28 12 9 8 7 36 6L H6-12 10 11 10 31 5 8 8 9 30 6 l H6-16 9 12 8 29 8 6 7 9 30 59 H6-22 6 9 7 22 8 9 12 7 36 58 H6-15 li 12 7 23 10 10 5 9 3ii 57 H6-20 5 9 U 18 10 11 7 10 38 56 H6-19 5 11 2 18 8 8 8 10 3ii 52 H6-21 7 12 2 21 8 7 7 ii 26 ii7 201 RAW SCORES MADE ON LANGUAGE SECTION OF CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT TESTS BY GRADES U, 6 STUDENTS IN THE HUTTERITE SCHOOLS OF WARNER COUNTY NO. 5 , MARCH, 1958 GRADE FOUR Mechanics of English and Grammar Student Total T o tal Number _A_ _B_ _c_ ABC S p ellj Language Hb- 1 13 7 20 UO 15 55 HU- 6 9 5 18 32 21 53 hU- 5 11 5 19 35 17 52 HU- 2 13 U 11 28 2U 52 HU- U 12 7 lU 33 17 50 Hit-11 lU 2 16 32 17 U9 HU- 9 13 5 16 3U 15 U 9 HU- 3 12 U 19 35 13 U8 HU- 8 10 3 16 29 19 U8 HU- 7 9 5 16 30 17 U7 HU-10 io- 2 16 28 19 h i hU-13 10 7 lU 31 lU U5 HU-17 12 0 18 30 15 U5 HU-19 12 3 lU 29 16 U5 HU-22 12 5 13 30 12 U2 HU-18 9 3 lU 26 15 Ui HU-lU 10 2 13 25 15 Uo HU-25 9 U 13 26 13 39 hU-15 9 U 15 28 10 38 hU-12 9 U 7 20 17 37 HU-23 6 u 15 25 11 36 HU-2U 8 u 11 23 11 3U HU-2? 8 2 12 22 12 3U HU-20 10 5 11 26 8 3U HU-28- 7 3 12 22 11 33 HU-21 9 3 13 25 8 33 HU-26 5 3 8 16 15 31 HU-29 6 2 12 20 10 30 HU-16 U 5 11 20 10 30 202 GRADE FIVE Mechanics.of English and Grammar S tudent Total Total Number _A_ _B_ _C_ ABC Spelling Language h 5 - 1 15 8 20 1*3 22 65 H5- 3 11* 1 18 33 23 56 H5- 8 11 6 19 36 19 55 h 5 - 5 10 8 18 36 17 53 h 5 - 2 12 5 16 33 19 52 h 5 - 9 11 2 17 30 22 52 h 5 - 1* 11 1* 20 35 15 50 H5-20 9 6 1 8 33 16 h9 H5-11* 1 1 3 16 30 19 1*9 H 5- 7 12 2 16 30 19 1*9 h 5 - 6 10 5 16 31 17 1*8 H 5-12 9 8 1 3 30 17 h i h 5 - h 8 6 15 29 16 1*5 H 5-13 9 3 16 28 17 U5 H 5-10 11 2 18 31 13 1*1* h 5 -1 9 8 1* 15 27 1 6 1x3 H 5-16 10 1* 1 0 2h 18 1*2 H 5-17 10 1 17 28 12 1*0 H 5-18 7 1 16 21* 16 1*0 h 5-21 10 5 11 26 11* 1*0 h 5-21* 11 5 11* 30 9 39 h 5 - i 5 13 3 13 29 10 39 H5-23 7 3 13 23 13 36 H5-22 10 2 15 27 9 36 H5-25 5 1* 12 21 11 32 H5-26 9 2 12 23 6 29 H5-27 6 2 11* 22 3 25 H5-28. 1 3 10 11* 5 19 203 GRADE SIX Mechanics of English and Grammar Student Total Total Number A _B_ _c_ ABC Spelling Language H6- 2 15 9 20 1*1* 20 61* h 6 - 1* 1$ 8 20 1*3 19 - 62 H6- 1 13 6 ' 20 39 23 62 H6- 6 12 1 20 39 21 60 H6- 3 11 3 20 31* 25 59 H6 - 7 11 7 18 36 23 59 H 6 -1 0 13 U 20 37 20 57 H 6- 5 12 3 20 35 22 57 H 6-16 11 5 20 36 20 56 H 6-12 10 5 20 35 20 55 H6-1U 11 5 16 32 21 53 H 6-13 13 5 1 6 31* 18 52 H 6- 9 11 5 11* 30 20 50 H 6-15 12 U 11* 30 18 1*8 H 6 - 8 10 2 16 28 17 1*5 H6-20 9 2 12 23 20 1*3 H 6-11 11* 2 16 32 10 1*2 ' H 6 -1 9 10 2 13 25 15 UO H 6 -1 8 6 2 18 26 11* 1*0 H 6-17 8 1 13 22 17 39 H6-21 5 3 11 19 10 29 H6-22 8 0 9 17 9 26