MENNONITE LIFE D ecem ber 1973 MENNONITE D ecem ber 1973, V o l. 28, No. 4 A Quarterly Magazine This Issue Focusing on the Anabaptist-Mennonite Heritage looks back 50 years to 1923—a pivotal time for Mennon- ites—and from that vantage point gives perspective on the & Its Contemporary Expression history of our brotherhood during the past half century. The issue also focuses on John P. Klassen, immigrant from Russia and teacher of art at Bluffton College from 1924 to 1958, whose life and artistic work reflect some of the major motifs of this period. Contents ^ We are grateful to Robert Kreider who served as guest editor of this issue, developing its concept and gathering 1923: The Year of Our Discontent, the material for publication. In the lead article, he deftly The Year of Our Promise draws together salient elements that characterized the by Robert Kreider..................................................... 99 world of 50 years ago and brought about an “ avalanche of 1923: The Beginnings of the Great Migration change.” In the context of the revolutions wrought by Ford by Frank H. E p p ...................................................... 101 and Edison in America and Lenin and Stalin in Russia, the reader glimpses the beginnings of Mennonite Central Sketches From A Chortitza Boyhood Committee, the start of a large immigration to Canada, and A Selection of Drawings by John P. Klassen------- 104 painful stresses among American Mennonites. The Artistic Pilgrimage of John P. Klassen 1 Frank H. Epp draws on his extensive research as by Larry Kehler........................................................ 114 author of Mennonite Exodus to present highlights of the Chortitza Revisited 1923 emigration from Russia—the beginning of a series of by Paul Klassen........................................................ 119 mass escapes from the oppressive Communist regime. He outlines the difficulties in initiating the move and the The Diary of Anna Baerg heartening reception accorded the refugees arriving in by Peter J. D yck....................................................... 121 Rosthern, Saskatchewan. 1 Ten pages of sketches by John P. Klassen reveal his talent while giving a unique statement regarding everyday life in the Mennonite settlements of the Ukraine. The sketches, none ever published before, are reproduced in their original size. E ditor, Robert M. Schräg ^ Larry Kehler’s outstanding short biography of Klassen Consulting E ditor, Cornelius Krahn shows him not only as an artist skilled in several media, but D epartment E ditors: also as “a deeply committed Anabaptist, a dedicated Faith and Life: Walter Klaassen, Chairman; Henry Poct- citizen, a devoted family man ...” tcker (Bible), Leland Harder (Church), Russell Mast (Worship), Heinold Fast (Theology), John Howard Yo­ ^ In “Chortitza Revisited,” Paul and Otto Klassen share der (Theology), Orlando Waltner (Missions), Esko Loe- observations from their recent trip to their father’s native wen (Service). community in the Ukraine. Social and Economic Life: J. Winfield Fretz, Chairman; ^ Through translated excerpts from the Diary of Anna J. Howard Kauffman (Family), Calvin Redekop (Com­ Baerg, Peter J. Dyck introduces us to a perceptive chronicle munity), Eldon Gräber (Education), Howard Raid (Agri­ of perseverance amid extreme privation in Russia, 1917-23. culture), John Sawatzky (Industry), Paul Peachey (Sociol­ ogy). Jacob Loewen (Anthropology). ^ Cover: Horses were a favorite artistic subject for J. P. Klassen. Here a sturdy pair pulls a plow to turn the rich Fine Arts: Paul Friesen, Co-chairman; Elaine Rich, Co- earth of the steppes. chairman; Mary Eleanor Bender (Literature), Warren Kliewer (Drama), Walter Jost (Music), Robert Regier ^ Back Cover: Reproduction of the initial front page of (Art). the Mennonite Weekly Review, “An Inter-Mennonite History and Folklife: Melvin Gingerich, Co-chairman; Newspaper” marking its 50th anniversary in 1973. Dated John F. Schmidt, Co-chairman; Irvin B. Horst (History), August 9, 1923, the first issue carried reports of the death Delbert Gratz (Genealogy), Gerhard Wiens (Folklore), of President Warren G. Harding and of Russian Mennon­ Mary Emma Showalter Eby (Foods). ites arriving in Canada. MENNONITE LIFE Is an Illustrated quarterly magazine published In March. June, September and December by Herald Publishing Co., 129 W. 6th S t., N ew ton, K ansas 67114. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: One year, 53.50; two years, 56.50. Single copies, 90 cents. Second class postage paid at Newton, Kansas. Send change of ad d ress form 3579 to Box 568, N ew ton, K ansas 67114. 98 M en n o n ite Life 1923: The Year of Our Discontent, The Year of Our Promise By ROBERT KREIDER heCPR train with its party of 408 Russian immigrants • Neither Canada nor the United States was as crowded pulled into Rosthern, Saskatchewan, at 5 o’clock on in 1923 as today. In fact, Canada had only a third the T the afternoon of July 21, 1923. There was great joy in population of 1973, the United States only a half. Rosthern that afternoon. They sang hymns. David Toews Not everyone in Canada and the United States liked spoke words of welcome. Abram Hamm, leader of the immigrants in 1923. That year in Ottawa members of immigrants, responded with gratitude and declared ‘‘that parliament debated for weeks whether it was good for the ambition of the immigrant Mennonites was to adjust Canada to permit foreigners to enter the country. The themselves to Canadian conditions, to adopt Canadian United States Congress was tightening its quotas on customs, and to become, not an alien race with the immigrants. The Ku Klux Klan, a secret nativist organiza­ privileges of Canadians, but Canadians worthy of the tion, had been engaged in a reign of terror against Negroes, name.” Catholics, Jews, and immigrants. One could not help but Could Abram Hamm and his people that July afternoon feel the mood—"Foreigner stay away”—and this from the in 1923 have known that they were setting foot in a land sons and grandsons of foreign born. undergoing revolutionary change? This was not the country William Lyon Mackenzie King was Prime Minister of of Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin but a continent of Henry Ford, Canada. He knew, respected, and helped the Mennonites. Thomas Edison, Cecil B. de Mille. The centers of Warren Gamaliel Harding was President of the United revolutionary change were places like Detroit, Chicago, and States. A handsome, friendly, weak man, Harding could Hollywood. North American society was erupting with not have grasped the needs of Europe’s refugee millions. radical changes in technology, life style and values. The Two weeks after that July 21 afternoon he would be dead immigrants, invited into Canadian Mennonite homes that and would be succeeded by silent Calvin Coolidge, who night, might not sense immediately these new forces of declared the "business of America is business.” He would change. But revolutionary forces were abroad in the land. not have understood. The first issue of The Mennonite in 1923, January 4, did Death mercifully spared President Harding the humil­ not describe these rumblings of change. The editor did iation of public exposure the following year to the scandals report on the plight of the brethren in Russia: of his administration—graft, corruption, fraud, conspir­ acy—centered in the Ohio gang, a group of self-seeking, • An additional $25,000 was needed for the next four pleasure-loving cronies close to the president. The Teapot months “to give one meal a day to the most needy.” The Dome oil scandal of his administration was not isolated. In Secretary of the Emergency Relief Committee asked: “Will Chicago a young man, A1 Capone, was rapidly rising in we let those die for lack of food whom we have fed up to this influence, a man gifted in the administrative skills of time?” operating a network of bootleggers and allied criminals. • Another shipment of 25 tractors was on its way to Seven hundred men worked for Mr. Capone, each adept in Odessa for spring work. the use of sawed-off shot guns and sub-machine guns. “Gangster” was a new word in the vocabulary. • 40 Mennonite refugees in Constantinople needed A1 Capone and his colleagues could not have put it all homes in America—who would help? together in the age of the horse and buggy. These years • A party of the Russian brethren were ready for their were the coming of age of the automobile—both a trip and “it is only a matter of days when they will be on blessing and a monster. In four years the number of their way.” automobile owners had doubled in Canada and the United • The latest shipment of clothing, 18 tons and valued at States. Now one in two Mennonite families owned an $25,000, was on its way. automobile. It was probably an open touring car costing $500—a black Model T Ford or, perhaps, even a Maxwell, an Essex, a Star, or a Studebaker. Robert Kreider is a scholar specializing in history and An avalanche of change came in the wake of the government. He is presently on leavefrom Bluffton College, automobile: filling stations at every corner, traffic lights, where he served as president, 1965-72. billboards and marked highways, and on the edge of D ecem ber 1973 99 MCC relief workers in Russia are pictured in the early 1920s. American personnel (seated, from left): C. E. Krehbiel, repre­ sentative in Molotchna: Alvin J. Miller, director in Russia; P. C. Hiebert, chairman, MCC: Arthur W. Slagel, representative, Alex- androvsk district. Office force at Alexandrovsk {standing): Hein­ rich Epp, Mary Heinrichs, Heinrich Sawatzky, Jacob Suder- man, Heinrich Martens, Mrs. H. Martens, Gerhard Peters. {Photo, Archives of the Mennonite Church) towns—a sprawl of hot dog stands and tourist cabins. Competing with pastors for the attention of their flocks Interurban trolleys were dying as the country was being were movie theaters sprouting up everywhere and showing blanketed with a network of bus lines.