Historian and archivist John D. Thiesen will present the next in a series of special programs associated with Kauffman Museum’s current special exhibit.
Thiesen, co-director of libraries and archivist at the Mennonite Library and Archives at Bethel College, will give a Sunday-Afternoon-at-the-Museum talk, “Re-Membering the 1870s Migration,” April 13 at 3 p.m. in the museum auditorium on the Bethel campus.
This program was planned in conjunction with “Unlocking the Past: Immigrant Artifacts & the Stories They Tell,” at the museum through June 1, 2025.
The popular understanding of the 1870s immigration of Mennonites from the Russian Empire to the Plains states of North America has a rather weak relationship to the actual events of the time period, Thiesen says.
“It is only natural that a popularized explanation of the story would be very abbreviated and rather formulaic, compared to a more in-depth examination. Many of the themes that usually appear in popular accounts are at best half-truths.”
The story of Mennonites bringing the now ubiquitous Turkey red winter wheat is probably the most widely known. Others might be an exaggerated sense that the immigration process was unified and well-organized, and the lack a sense of the context into which migration entered.
“Unpacking some of these stereotypes can broaden our understanding of the 1870s migration and identify other unexplored aspects of the story,” he says.
Thiesen has been the archivist at the MLA since 1990 and co-director of libraries at Bethel since 1993. He began his career in the archives when he was employed there as a student in the late ’70s and early ’80s. He has also worked in computer software as an independent consultant.
He is a graduate of Bethel College with a degree in mathematics and holds a master’s degree in history from Wichita State University. He has done additional coursework in history at the University of Kansas.
Thiesen has been involved in three book projects: as the author of Mennonite & Nazi? (Pandora Press, 1999) and as an editor of European Mennonites and the Challenge of Modernity over Five Centuries (Bethel College, 2016) and European Mennonites and the Holocaust (University of Toronto Press, 2020).
His most recent publication is “A Quantitative Study of Collaboration: Mennonites in Nazi-Occupied Ukraine” in the October 2024 issue of Mennonite Quarterly Review.
There are two upcoming programs associated with the special exhibit. The first is Valerie Mendoza, Washburn University, on Mexican migration to Kansas, May 11.
In addition, Kauffman Museum has been selected to host the American premier of the Canadian film Where the Cottonwoods Grow on June 1.
The film commemorates the extraordinary 125,000-mile migration journey of Mennonites from South Russia (present-day Ukraine) to Manitoba in the 1870s, highlighting unthinkable trials, unforgiving nature and the profound complexities of colonization.
Information about purchasing tickets for Where the Cottonwoods Grow will be available soon.
Regular Kauffman Museum hours are Tues.-Fri. 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Sat.-Sun. 1:30-4:30 p.m., closed Mondays and major holidays. Admission to the special exhibit, “Unlocking the Past: Immigrant Artifacts & the Stories They Tell,” and permanent exhibits – “Of Land and People,” “Mirror of the Martyrs” and “Mennonite Immigrant Furniture” – is $5 for adults, $3 for children ages 6-16, and free to Kauffman Museum members and children under 6. The museum store is open during regular museum hours. See kauffmanmuseum.org or the museum Facebook page for more information.
