Dietrich H. Epp Fonds. - 1923-1954, predominantly, 1943-1954. -- 8 cm of textual records.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Dietrich H. Epp was born on March 29, 1875 in Chortitza, Russia to minister Heinrich Epp and his wife Elizabeth. Epp attended the village school in Chortitza from 1881 to1892 and the St. Petersburg Teacher's Institute from 1892 to1895.

He was married to Marie Thiessen on June 27, 1898, but the marriage was short lived as Marie died in May 1906. Epp married Marie's sister, Malvine, on July 27, 1909. No children were born in either marriage, however Dietrich and Malvine adopted John Heese as their son.

D.H. Epp was a teacher at the Chortitza Zentralschule (high school). He was also instrumental in the development of the library in Chortitza. He was also involved in the Chortitza mutual aid organization and the Chortitza girl's school.

He immigrated to Canada in 1923 and settled in Rosthern, Saskatchewan. Here he began his work as a printer and editor. He was a driving force behind the founding of Der Bote and served as its editor from 1923 to his death in 1955. This publication helped keep family and friends connected over counties and continents. Along with Der Bote, he also published and edited the Saskatchewan Valley News. He was also elected chairman of Echo-Verlag, a society that was made up of past students of the Chortitza Zentralschule, who sought to publish books relating to Mennonite life in Russia.

Dietrich H. Epp died on March 31, 1955. He was predeceased by his wife, who died on March 4, 1942.

CUSTODIAL HISTORY:

Lena Heese, daughter-in-law of D.H. Epp, donated the material in this collection. It is unclear when the material came to the Centre, but a probably date would be 1976 or 1977.

SCOPE AND CONTENT:

This collection contains material, predominantly dealing with the founding of the Echo-Verlag (book publishing society) by former students of the Chortitza Zentralschule. There is an extensive file of correspondence with Arnold Dyck of Steinbach, Manitoba, a lists of former Zentralschule students and financial records of the society. Other material includes a photocopy of the minutes of a meeting of immigrants in 1923 where it was decided to establish a newspaper for the recent Mennonite immigrants which led to the founding of Der Bote. There is also one manuscript consisting of the biography of Jacob J. Martens (1861-1922) which D.H. Epp published in Der Bote in 1938

NOTES:

Described by Conrad Stoesz, July 16, 1999 and edited by Alf Redekopp, April 20, 2000.

Language: Mostly German, some Russian.

Location: Volume 1106

Finding aid: Inventory file list.
Related material:

Der Bote, 1923-1955

Berg, Abram, Dietrich Heinrich Epp: 1875-1955, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: Heese House of

Printing, 1973.

Krahn, Cornelius, "Epp, Dietrich H.", in Mennonite Encyclopedia, Scottdale, Pennsylvania:

Mennonite Publishing House, 1972.

Dietrich H. Epp fonds file inventory list:

Dietrich H. Epp

1. Correspondence primarily with Arnold Dyck regarding Echo-Verlag. - 1930-1955.
2. Lists of former students of the Chortitza Zentralschule
3. Miscellaneous documents on the Chortitza volost including an inventory of destruction and property (1920), a list of Oberschulzen, etc.
4. List of Echo-Verlag founders. - 1944-1945 and "Buecherrechnung"
5. List of Echo-Verlag members. - 1946-1947.
6. Echo Verlag financial record book. - 1945-1946.
7. Manuscript of biography of Jacob J. Martens (1861-1922) (original) (See Der Bote Volume 15 no. 28, 30.
8. Protokoll der Sitzung des Immigrantenkommitees. - 11 Dec. 1923. (Photocopy of the minutes of the meeting where it was decided to publish a newspaper for the immigrants which later was named "Der Bote".)