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Featured Article: "Hochstedler, Eli (1942-1975)" (Read full article) Eli Hochstedler, 1 September 1966. Photo: Courtesy of Mennonite Historical Library (Goshen, Indiana). Eli Hochstedler: activist and Paxman; born 29 December 1942 near Kokomo, Indiana to Milo Hochstedler and Mary Miller Hochstedler. He was the oldest of six children in a family of five sons and one daughter. In 1972 he married Ruth Reber. Eli died 20 April 1975 in New Hope, Pennsylvania. Eli’s parents were Amish and became Mennonite when Eli was born. His family moved to Brown County when he was nine years old, where he received his education. His early education was completed at a small one-room school, which he attended up until seventh grade when he transferred to a 300-person school. Eli attended Nashville High School, and was very active in extracurriculars. These included editing the school newspaper, managing the yearbook, being the president of his school’s choir and Youth-for-Christ group, as well as participating in track and field and drama. He graduated from Nashville High School as valedictorian in the spring of 1961. Eli attended Goshen College (Goshen, Indiana) from 1961 to 1965, studying chemistry and biology. During his junior year, he transferred to Tougaloo Southern Christian College in Mississippi as part of an exchange program between the two schools. At Tougaloo Eli gradually became more involved with the civil rights movement. In a brief autobiography, Eli stated that he “wanted to see the ‘closed society’ close at hand,” however his observation quickly led to his direct participation in the Civil Rights Movement after three peers at Tougaloo–Ida Hannah, Bettie Poole, and Julie Zaugg–were arrested at a pray-in. Eli also attended the pray-ins and was himself arrested on 16 April 1964 while trying to desegregate an event at the Jackson Municipal Auditorium. Eli was severely beaten by other inmates while in custody; he was released on bail after over four days.

Our Mission The Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online provides reliable, freely-available English-language information on Anabaptist-related congregations, denominations, conferences, institutions and significant individuals, as well as historical and theological topics. Secular subject articles from an Anabaptist perspective and full-text source documents are also included. See our About page to learn more about GAMEO's history, management and vision. Corrections and Suggestions Article corrections or suggestions for new content should be emailed to admin@gameo.org. As a volunteer organization we are unable to respond to questions on Mennonite history or genealogical questions of any kind. For questions of that type, please contact a local genealogical society, or check with a Mennonite historical library or archives. US $ Cdn $ Donate We welcome donations to GAMEO via Mennonite World Conference, in either USD or CAD. Enter the amount in the box labeled “Other” and write GAMEO in the “Designate by Donation” field. Your support helps to sustain GAMEO’s mission–thank you! Other Mennonite Encyclopedias GAMEO works together with the editors of other Mennonite encyclopedias to make their content available in the English language. These encyclopedias include: Lexikon der Mennoniten in Paraguay Mennonitisches Lexikon (MennLex) GAMEO falls under the umbrella of the Mennonite World Conference Faith and Life Commission. Members of the Management Board include: Mennonite Historical Society of Canada, Mennonite Church USA Archives, Mennonite Brethren Historical Commission, Mennonite Central Committee, Mennonite World Conference, Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism, and the D. F. Plett Historical Research Foundation.