Mennonite Bishop Lewis J. Heatwole wrote an article for the Daily News Record, Harrisonburg, Virginia, in 1921, in which he explained the meaning of the word Massanutten. From his research he concluded that Massanutten is from two Indian words for “ground” and “potato,” which when put together mean “Potato Ground.” Today the old peak still towers over the valley, easily seen from a jumbo jet descending on a Washington, D.C. airport from the south, and visible from about any point in the Shenandoah Valley. The encroachments of civilization have not dimmed the spectacle and grandeur of a mountain that has provided a visual feast for ancient Indians and modern travelers.
On a crisp July Sunday evening after a thunderstorm erupted across the Shenandoah Valley, a group gathered in the Cove schoolhouse at the CrossRoads Heritage center to listen to stories about 19th century Martin Burkholder documents. “Grace is a treasure,” Burkholder wrote in 1853, a fitting description for any era, including ours today.
Historians met at Mennonite Church USA Convention in Phoenix Arizona. It’s clear there’s a new era of regional collaboration among Mennonite historians rather than the former centralization of historical resources in one place. The Historian sat next to Jake Buhler, President of the Mennonite Historical Society of Saskatchewan, Canada. He shared stories about Russian Mennonites and in turn he heard stories of Swiss-South German Mennonites in Virginia. Buhler and others publish the Saskatchewan Mennonite Historian periodical, similar in name and format to the Shenandoah Mennonite Historian of Virginia.
Mennonites met in Phoenix, Arizona, in early July, 2013, for their biennial convention. A sign at a Vietnamese restaurant welcomed visitors from Virginia and beyond to good food, friendly greetings, and sweltering heat in the downtown area. The Historian has several meetings focused on historical studies to attend at the convention.
Laban Peachey served as President of Hesston College from 1968-1980. Today the Historian drove by an educational center at Hesston College named in his honor. Peachey lives in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and has long been involved in productive and positive church activities.
The Historian had a very nice visit in the Archives and Mennonite Library at Bluffton University, Bluffton, Ohio. The librarians were friendly, the archives are well-kept, and books written by Historian Elmer S. Yoder from northeast Ohio were soon located on the shelves.
Menno Simons sports a baseball cap on a bust in a plaza at Bluffton University, Bluffton, Ohio, as seen by the Historian at a one day technology conference. Would Menno have launched his own blog?
Joseph Funk’s Harmonia Sacra, his print shop, and his progressive attitudes towards church music made Singers Glen the genesis of four part singing for Mennonites and good music throughout the United States. Funk deserves this sign.
Jacob Geil only lived in the Shenandoah Valley for 11 years, buying a farm in the Broadway area in 1783, just after the Revolutionary War ended. His descendants in the Valley, though, are numerous. The farm where he is buried is being developed with houses and local historians will need to figure out what to do with Geil’s tombstone. When the Historian visited the site on June 18, 2013, the weeds were tall all around, rabbits scampered away, a groundhog stood to investigate about ten feet away, and the corn was four feet tall. Clearly something needs to be done with this marker. But what?
Sadie Hartzler served as librarian at Eastern Mennonite School and College from 1926-1962. The academic library at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Virginia, is named in her honor.
"Articulating historical perspectives that inform current trends in the church, society and the world," by Elwood E. Yoder
