Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1900-1993, predominant 1956-1963 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
22 cm of textual records.
758 photographs.
7 film reels
3 audio reels
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Susan Bernhards Peters, 1899-1992, was born in Schoenfeld, Russia, the daughter of Mennonites Bernhard and Margaretha Peters. The family emigrated to Alberta in 1924, after being dispossessed of home and property after the First World War. Susie completed her high school education in 1934 and studied at the Calgary Normal School, 1934-1935. She then taught in several rural schools while attending summer sessions at the University of Alberta. She received her Professional Teachers Certificate in 1938.
From 1945 to 1946 she worked as a Mennonite Central Committee volunteer in Europe, working with homeless boys and the elderly in England, and refugees in Holland. From late 1946 to 1948 she directed MCC refugee work in Denmark. She returned to Canada and continued her teaching and studies. She received her BEd from the University of Alberta in 1956.
She taught Inuit and Dene children in the NWT at Reindeer Station, a settlement established in 1932 to introduce reindeer farming into northern Canada, from 1956 to 1962, and at Fort McPherson from 1962 to 1963. She subsequently worked with the MCC in Jordan and the middle east. In 1965 she retired to Linden, Alberta.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Gifts of Dorothy Ratzlaff, Rudy Klassen, and Herman Rempel, 1993-1994.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The fonds consists of a biography (1993), family histories of the Peters and Klassen families, education certificates (1934-1956), teacher inspectors' reports (1953-1960), diary (Dec. 1957-June 1958), extensive correspondence (1956-1963), history of Reindeer Station (1957), grocery and car account books (1942, 1958-1960, 1966-1973, 1984), slides of Reindeer Stn. (1956-1960), photographs of family and NWT (1900-1970), films of Reindeer Stn., Gumbo School, Alberta, family gathering, and Rockies trip (1950-1960), and audio recordings of school concerts and activities at Reindeer Stn. and Fort McPherson (1957-1963).
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
No restrictions on access.
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
The material is in English.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Susan B. Peter's records pertaining to her life in Russia and her work with the MCC are held by the Mennonite Archives, Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies in Winnipeg, Manitoba. A variety of native clothing and artifacts collected by S.B. Peters are held in the Glenbow's ethnology collection. The papers of her niece, Dorothy Ratzlaff, are held in the Glenbow Archives.
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents of records.
Note
The photographs and slides are in M 8336.