Education

1978-1982: Fresno Pacific College, B.A. in History, 1982. Graduated Magna cum Laude and with Highest Honors in the Social Science Division.

1982-1984: University of California, Riverside, M.A. in History, Program in Historic Resources Management, 1984. Thesis: “Paul Erb: Mennonite Diplomat” (Winner, John Horsch Mennonite History Essay Contest, 1985).

Employment

1984-present: Archivist, Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies, Fresno Pacific University, Fresno, California.

1993-present: Instructor in U.S. History, Fresno Pacific University, Fresno, California.

Description of work responsibilities and experience

As archivist at the Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies, I am responsible for all aspects of its archival program, including appraisal and acquisition of archival and historical library materials, processing and arrangement of archival collections, cataloging and preparation of finding aids for archival collections, and providing reference services for researchers.

My teaching at FPU has included the courses American Civilization, 20th-Century American History, American Intellectual History, Introduction to Public History and Introduction to Historic Preservation.

Other professional involvement    

1986-present: Member of Executive Committee, California Mennonite Historical Society and editor of the California Mennonite Historical Society Bulletin (1986-1999).

2005-present: Member of U.S. Editorial Board, Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online.

2006-present: Member of Local Planning Committee for the Vernacular Architecture Forum 2008 Conference.

Publications

Edited Volumes

For Everything a Season: Mennonite Brethren in North America, 1874-2002. (Winnipeg: Kindred Productions, 2002). (Co-edited with Paul Toews).

Articles

“A Conference Is Born: The Origins of the Pacific District Conference” and “A New Life in the West: Settlement and Colonization on the Pacific Coast” in 75 Years of Fellowship: Pacific District Conference of The Mennonite Brethren Churches, 1912-1987. (Fresno: Pacific District Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, 1987). 

“The Martyr's Mirror: A Message for all Time,” Mennonite Historians of Eastern Pennsylvania Newsletter (March 1988). 

“Pacific Bible Institute Once Owned an Architectural Treasure,” Mennonite Brethren Historical Society of the West Coast Bulletin no. 20 (April 1989).

“The Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches and the Quest for Religious Identity,” Mennonite Quarterly Review 63 (July 1989). 

“The Giffen Mansion: Home of the Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary,” Mennonite Brethren Historical Society of the West Coast Bulletin no. 21 (December 1989). 

“Brenneman, John M.,” “Coffman, John S.,” “Erb, Paul,” “Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches,” “General Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches,” and “Plockhoy, Pieter Cornelisz,” in Dictionary of Christianity in America (Inter Varsity Press, 1990)

“Dick, John R.” and “Pacific District Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches,” in The Mennonite Encyclopedia V (Herald Press, 1990). 

“Interpretations of Evangelicalism: An Annotated Bibliography,” Direction 20 (Spring 1991): 67-71. 

“Many Roads to the San Joaquin Valley: Sources of Mennonite Settlement in the Reedley/Dinuba Area,” California Mennonite Historical Society Bulletin no. 24 (April 1991): 1-5. 

“The Mennonite Sanitarium at Alta Loma, California: 1914-1923,” California Mennonite Historical Society Bulletin no. 25 (November 1991): 1-2, 7-11. 

“In Search of the ‘Greatest Mennonite Settlement’: The Career of Julius Siemens,” California Mennonite Historical Society Bulletin no. 26 (April 1992): 1-2, 6-10. 

“From Russia With Pedagogy: The Origins of a Mennonite Educational Program in Reedley,” California Mennonite Historical Society Bulletin no. 27 (November 1992): 1-2, 6-10. 

“A Merger That Never Was: The Conference of Evangelical Mennonites, 1953-1962,” Mennonite Life 48, no. 2 (1993): 16-21. 

“The Henry J. Martens Land Scheme,” in Anabaptist/Mennonite Faith and Economics, ed. Calvin Redekop, Victor A. Krahn and Samuel J. Steiner (Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1993), 199-222. (Co-authored with Leland Harder). 

“Making a Home in the City: Mennonite Brethren Urbanization in California,” in Bridging Troubled Waters: The Mennonite Brethren at Mid-Twentieth Century, ed. Paul Toews, Perspectives on Mennonite Life and Thought, no. 9 (Winnipeg: Kindred Productions, 1995), 213-226. 

“Coming to North America: The Immigrants of the 1870s,” in For Everything a Season: Mennonite Brethren in North America, 1874-2002, edited by Paul Toews and Kevin Enns-Rempel (Winnipeg: Kindred Productions, 2002), 15-28. 

“Always a Greener Pasture: Mennonite Settlement in Western North America, 1885-1940,” Journal of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia 27 (Fall 2004), 28-36. 

“Fresno Historic Overview,” in the Program for the Joint Meeting of the Northern and Southern California Chapters of the Society of Architectural Historians, Fresno, California, 23 October 2004.

"Health, Wealth, and Ministry: An Overview of Mennonites' Presence in California," Mennonite Historical Bulletin 68 (July 2007): 3-9.

Book reviews 

Review of Where We Stand: Statements by Mennonites and Brethren in Christ in Canada, 1787-1982, ed. by Bert Friesen, Direction 16 (Fall 1987): 77-78. 

Review of The Black Mennonite Church in North America: 1886-1986, by Le Roy Bechler and The Hispanic Mennonite Church in North America: 1932-1982, by Rafael Falcón, in Mennonite Life 42 (December 1987): 30-31. 

Review of Hungry, Thirsty, a Stranger: The MCC Experience, by Robert S. Kreider and Rachel Waltner Goossen, in Mennonite Life 44 (December 1989): 29-30.

Review of Apart & Together: Mennonites in Oregon and Neighboring States, 1876-1976, by Hope Kauffman Lind, in Mennonite Quarterly Review 65 (1991): 359-361. 

Review of American Mennonites and the Great War: 1914-1918, by Gerlof D. Homan, in Mennonite Life 51 (1996): 61-62. 

Review of Leaving Anabaptism: From Evangelical Mennonite Brethren to Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches, by Calvin W. Redekop, in Mennonite Life 55 (2000): (http://www.bethelks.edu/mennonitelife/2000mar/reviews.html) 

Review of Saints and Sinners: The Kleine Gemeinde in Imperial Russia, 1812 to 1875, by Delbert F. Plett, in Mennonite Life 56 (2001): (http://www.bethelks.edu/mennonitelife/2001june/reviews.php)

Papers presented: 

“The Mennonite Land Company: Benevolent Resettlement, Free Enterprise or Malicious Fraud?,” paper presented at the conference “Mennonites and Economics: Breaking the Silence,” Waterloo, Ont., May 1990. Co-authored with Leland Harder. 

“In Search of Health and Land: Mennonite Settlement in California, 1887-1940,” paper presented at the annual meeting of the California Historical Society, Sacramento, Calif., 17-19 September 1992. Revised versions of this paper were presented to the Fresno Corral of Westerners, Fresno, Calif., 16 April 2003, and PEO International, Fresno, Calif., 23 January 2004. 

“Making a Home in the City: Mennonite Brethren Urbanization in California, 1895-1960,” paper presented at the symposium “North American Mennonite Brethren at Mid-Century (1940-1960),” Fresno, Calif., 4-6 February 1993. 

“Always a Greener Pasture: Mennonite Settlement in Western North America, 1885-1940,” paper presented to the Oregon Mennonite Historical Society, Albany, Ore., 10 August 1995. Revised versions of this paper was presented to The Conference on Faith and History (Far West Chapter), Fresno, Calif., 6 March 2000, and the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia Annual Convention, Modesto, Calif., 8 July 2004. 

“The California Bungalow: More Than Just a House Style,” presentation to the Fresno City & County Historical Society Home Tour, Fresno, Calif., 15 May 2004.

"The Architecture of Fig Garden: Where Tradition Meets the Modern," presentation to the Fresno City & County Historical Society Home Tour, Fresno, Calif., 19 May 2007.

Professional Affiliations 

Society of American Archivists (1984-present)

Society of California Archivists (1984-present

Vernacular Architecture Forum (2007-present)

Civic involvement

Member, Beth Anne Harnish Memorial Lecture Committee (1990-1992)

Member, Jackson Neighborhood Association Executive Committee (1993-1995)

Member, City of Fresno Historic Preservation Commission (1996-present)

Member, Fresno Audubon Society Board of Directors (1999-present)

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