Mennonite Church USA Archives is one of five new partners to join the recently expanded Mennonite Archival Information Database (MAID). The public database now represents 14 partners and features thousands of historic photos and a quickly growing number of entries, including one-of-a-kind letters, diaries, meeting minutes, travel documents, biographies, and audio and video recordings.

Other new members are Mennonite Central Committee (both MCC U.S. and MCC), Bethel College Mennonite Library and Archives, Pacific Northwest Mennonite Historical Society and Goshen College Archives. The four U.S.-based archival collections were featured in the “Mennonite Archival Commons” online project but are migrating their data to MAID. Integration of the MC USA archival records will be completed in a few weeks. Until then, all records will remain searchable at the current MC USA Archives website.

“MAID provides an opportunity to join forces with an established consortium with broad institutional support and a common goal of making information and content from our collections more accessible to the public,” says Jason Kauffman, director of archives and records management for MC USA Archives.

The online archive was founded by Canadian partners in 2015 as a photographic database to help archival institutions manage their collections and provide public access to historic material.

“When MAID was launched, we dreamed about its potential to include more Mennonite partners,” says Laureen Harder-Gissing, MAID site administrator of the Mennonite Archives of Ontario. “We are thrilled that other archives have also seen this and look forward to collaborating to provide an enhanced online service to anyone wanting to explore Mennonite history.”

Visitors to the site can expect to see MAID’s content expand over the next few months.