Slagel, Arthur W. (1891-1943)
Arthur W. Slagel was an early Mennonite relief worker. He served in famine-stricken southern Russia under the auspices of the fledgling Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). In September 1920, Slagel, Orie Miller, and Clayton Kratz reached Constantinople, where Slagel assembled relief shipments bound for Russia. Eighteen months later, American Mennonite Relief, the Russia-based arm of MCC, established kitchens in the Ukraine. From 1922 to 1923 Slagel supervised a feeding program for 75,000 people, including 60,000 Mennonites.
Slagel was born at Flanagan, Illinois on 13 January 1891. In 1919-1920, upon graduating from Goshen College, he taught at Hesston College, Hesston, Kansas. In 1925, two years after returning from Russia, Slagel married former MCC worker Vesta Zook. He joined a printing firm in Chicago. In 1932 the family moved to a farm near Topeka, Indiana. He died there 22 April 1943.
Bibliography
Harder, Geraldine Gross. When Apples Are Ripe: The Story of Clayton Kratz. Scottdale, 1971: 153-57.
Hiebert, P. C. and Orie O. Miller. Feeding the Hungry: Russia Famine 1919-1925. Scottdale: MCC, 1929.
Files of Arthur Slagel at Archives of Mennonite Church USA (Goshen).
The Mennonite Central Committee Story, vol. 5: Hungry, Thirsty, a Stranger. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1988: Vol. 5, ch 2.
Unruh, John D. In the Name of Christ: A History of the Mennonite Central Committee and Its Service 1920-1951. Scottdale, 1952: 16-22.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, p. 829. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.
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MLA style: Goossen, Rachel Waltner. "Slagel, Arthur W. (1891-1943)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1989. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 20 July 2008 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/S578.html>
APA style: Goossen, Rachel Waltner. (1989). "Slagel, Arthur W. (1891-1943)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 20 July 2008 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/S578.html>
