One of the world’s most comprehensive collections related to Anabaptist and Mennonite history
On June 13, 1906, the Alumni Association of Goshen College passed a resolution to establish a Mennonite Historical Library (MHL). The collection grew slowly, occupying only three shelves in the college library by 1927. About this time Harold S. Bender and Ernst Correll revived the Mennonite Historical Society and through it began a campaign to collect Anabaptist-Mennonite historical materials. The acquisition of the John F. Funk library in 1930 and the major part of the historical collection from the Mennonite Publishing House at Scottdale, Pennsylvania, in the 1940s greatly enriched the collection. The latter, maintained as a memorial to the Mennonite historian John Horsch, is particularly rich in Reformation materials.
The library includes bibliographies, texts and images on topics related to the Radical Reformation, the Anabaptists, Hutterites, Mennonites, Amish and various related groups.
Regular hours
Monday-Friday: 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
The Library Gallery is open whenever the main college library building is open. See here for library building hours. If the Good Library is closed and the MHL is open, please use a cell phone to call in to 574-535-7418 for access.
We encourage off-campus researchers to contact us in advance of visits. Additional hours may be available for researchers. Additional information on special hours, facilities, fee structures, and access policies is posted here.
This year our “first Saturday of the month” hours will be available by appointment only. Please contact Joe Springer (joeas@goshen.edu/574-535-7421) no later than the Thursday before the Saturday you hope to visit to determine availability.
Location
We are located on the 3rd floor of the Good Library on the campus of Goshen College (Goshen, Indiana).
Contact information
Staff Directory
Phone: (574) 535-7418
Fax: (574) 535-7438
Email: mhl@goshen.edu
See the Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism to read about our current program initiatives.