In June of 1906 the newly-created Goshen College Alumni Board
took action to establish a special set of shelves in the college
library devoted to Anabaptist-Mennonite history. Although it was
the work of Harold S. Bender in the 1920s that launched the Mennonite
Historical Library (MHL) as a special collection library, the
1906 date represents the birth of the MHL. Thus, we mark our
100th year in 2006.
As part of the MHL centennial celebration, we invite you to join us for
a conference on "Future Directions in Anabaptist-Mennonite
Scholarship" on May 5-6, 2006. This event is planned as an
opportunity for conversation about the past, present and future of
Anabaptist-Mennonite studies, and to inform MHL future collection
development.
Among the questions we hope to address are the following:
What is Anabaptist-Mennonite studies?
What have been strengths of this scholarly tradition both in
terms of its academic impact and its contribution to the life and
faithfulness of the church?
How has the landscape of Anabaptist-Mennonite studies changed in the recent years?
What does it mean to "do scholarship for the church"?
What are some of the most important research directions for the future?
How might Mennonite libraries and archives better support those new directions?
Please join us in this important occasion for celebration and conversation!
Gerald J. Biesecker-Mast
Theron F. Schlabach
John A. Lapp
Gayle Gerber Koontz
Ervin Beck