Pacific Northwest Mennonite Historical Society

11/19/2025

We will be closed Wednesday, November 26 for the Thanksgiving holiday.

11/14/2025

Support our work by becoming a supporter. Print and fill out this form to participate in the work of preserving history for future generations.

10/31/2025

Plan now to attend this event to be held at Portland Mennonite Church.
Anabaptism @ 501 Symposium, Nov. 7-9

On the weekend of Friday, Nov. 7 to Sunday, Nov. 9, PMC will be hosting special guests from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (Elkhart, IN) for a conference-like event called “Anabaptism @ 501: Practicing Faith – Weaving the Work of Justice.” Nekeisha Alayna Alexis is the Intercultural Competence and Undoing Racism Coordinator (ICUR Coordinator) and Jamie Pitts is Professor of Anabaptist History, Theology, and Ethics at AMBS. Jamie and Nekeisha will help us examine critically how the stories we tell ourselves shape the present and the ongoing life of Anabaptism, with an eye to how we remain open to those who are different from us and to the work of the Holy Spirit. We hope that folks from our regional conference and local peace churches will join us. More information and registration here: https://www.portlandmennonite.org/anabaptism501.html. Questions? Contact Pastor Kristen (kristen@portlandmennonite.org).

10/23/2025

We need your help identifying the person in another photo. Can you help us identify the person in this photo.

10/16/2025

After a 10-year hiatus, we have reintroduced our newsletter. You can read the current issue here.https://www.pnmhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/PNMHS-Newsletter-v29-i1-Fall-2025-Digital.pdf
We'd like to invite you to become a member, allowing us to continue sharing stories from our archives. A membership form is under the "About" tab on our website at pnmhs.org

10/01/2025

Can you help us identify the school year in which this Whiskey Hill School picture was taken?

09/09/2025

We are looking forward to the MCC Relief Sale on October 11 in Albany, Oregon. The Historical Society will have a display table there. Please stop by and visit with us. More info on the sale at

The official website for the Oregon Mennonite Festival for World Relief Auction & Sale.

07/31/2025

Our historical Archives was a stop along the way of the first Peace Pilgrimage Bus Tour on July 19. Fifty-five persons from the Historic Peace Church tradition, (Reedwood Friends Church, Portland Mennonite Church, and Peace Church of The Brethern,) boarded a bus at Redwood Friends Church in Portland at 9:15 AM and spent the day getting acquainted and visiting Brigitinne Monastery (near Amity), the Old Colony Museum in Aurora and wrapped
up the day with visits to our Historical Archives, “the MCC Barn” and ended with dinner in the portico at Zion Mennonite where Jerry Barkman talked about the history of Anabaptism and how
Mennonites got to Oregon. There is more information about this tour in the files here at the Center.

06/13/2025

San Antonio Mennonite Church feels the impact of ICE deportation activities. From Anabaptist World

Members of a Mennonite church in San Antonio, Texas, face increased fear and uncertainty after a member — a mother of four who entered the United States legally — was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in late May.

06/10/2025

The estimated 3,500 Anabaptists who gathered in Zurich, Switzerland, on May 29 did more than praise the Radical Reformation and the global church it birthed. Along with the leaders of churches that once tried to crush the Anabaptist movement, they affirmed that faith in Jesus Christ now unites the spiritual heirs of former enemies. Credit to Anabaptist World.

They affirmed that faith in Jesus Christ now unites the spiritual heirs of former enemies.

06/05/2025

Pope Leo shares a message with Mennonites on the occasion of the 500-year commemoration of Anabaptist beginnings.
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-05/pope-leo-xiv-message-anabaptists-mennonites-500-anniversary.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawKt9BhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFIMFE5SlA1bHhJUVU2OWpBAR5YkBPHccW5VXs7FBvaG__oTS8c8H-B7-AbvDqXJZL_d-M8mN6WXZsDRRs9NQ_aem_rQpzEwPNFk8juo1nifERMg

Pope Leo XIV sends a message to mark the 500th anniversary of the Anabaptist movement, and invites Catholics and Mennonites to employ “honesty and ...

05/21/2025

On May 29, 2025, Mennonite World Conference (MWC) will welcome guests from around the world to The Courage to Love: Anabaptism@500. The day-long celebration will conclude with a worship service with ecumenical participation at the Grossmünster church in Zurich, Switzerland. The event is free of charge, and registration is not required. View the service here at 8:00 AM PDT:

Return here to watch the Zurich livestream 29 May 2025 at 15:00 UTC.