Two landmark histories published about Holland and the lasting impact of community founder Albertus C. Van Raalte were celebrated during a book-signing on Monday, June 30.
The event featured the three-volume history “Holland Michigan: From Dutch Colony to Dynamic City,” written by Dr. Robert P. Swierenga, and “The Enduring Legacy of Albertus C. Van Raalte as Leader and Liaison,” edited by Dr. Jacob E. Nyenhuis and Dr. George Harinck.
Both books were published jointly by the Van Raalte Press of the Van Raalte Institute and the Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. of Grand Rapids/Cambridge through the Historical Series of the Reformed Church in America. The celebration will include remarks by Nyenhuis, who is the director of the Van Raalte Institute and provost emeritus and professor of Classics emeritus at Hope; Swierenga, who is the Albertus C. Van Raalte Research Professor at the Van Raalte Institute; William B. Eerdmans Jr., who is owner and president of Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.; and Dr. Donald J. Bruggink, who is a senior research fellow with the Van Raalte Institute and founding general editor of the Historical Series of the Reformed Church in America.
“Holland Michigan: From Dutch Colony to Dynamic City” chronicles the entire sweep of the city’s history since 1847, when the initial band of Dutch settlers founded the community. The book is a three-volume set totaling more than 2,600 pages with nearly 900 photographs. Swierenga spent more than 10 years conducting research for and writing the history. The index alone, some 200 pages long, required several months to create.
Swierenga begins with the Native Americans and Old Wing Mission that preceded the Dutch settlers, and continues the story through 34 chapters focused on topics such as the founding of the community; religion; education; transportation; industry and retail businesses; national events including the First and Second World Wars and the Great Depression; politics; public services; the arts; social services; the press; downtown renewal; and the community “After the Dutch.” Nearly 100 pages of appendices provide population statistics and lists of churches, schools, businesses, city and township officials, and police and fire chiefs from the beginning through 2012.
The photographs in the book were drawn from a mix of formal archives, private collections and other published sources, and range from an image of one of the 1847 log cabins and an 1879 “Market Day” with cattle lined up on Eighth Street for auction, to the now-defunct Szekely Airfield at 136th and Riley and the dedication of Evergreen Commons. Maps developed for the book include the city’s voting wards, derived from city charters.
“The Enduring Legacy of Albertus C. Van Raalte as Leader and Liaison” features essays originally presented during the international conference “Albertus C. Van Raalte: Leader and Liaison,” which was held at Hope College and in the city of Ommen, Overijssel, in the Netherlands in the fall of 2011. The conference was scheduled in conjunction with the bicentennial of Van Raalte’s birth in October 1811, as a celebration of the lasting difference that he made when he brought his group of Dutch religious separatists to West Michigan in 1847 and continued to play a leadership role for nearly 30 years more. The conference was co-chaired by Nyenhuis and Harinck, who is a professor of the history of Neo-Calvinism at the Free University of Amsterdam and a special professor in church history at the Theological Seminary of the Reformed Churches (liberated) at Kampen, the Netherlands.
The essays, by both Dutch and American scholars, are grouped within three general sections: biographical, thematic and reception studies. Topics range from Van Raalte’s education as preparation for his role as a social reformer, to the life of his wife Christina, to Van Raalte’s role as a community leader, to religious division in Holland in the 1850s, to the way that the view of Van Raalte has changed across time, to international vision of the institute bearing his name.
The book’s six appendices include an extensive bibliography of other works about Van Raalte; the program of the conference in both Holland and Ommen; the text of the welcoming addresses presented at the conference; an overview of the five-day, community-wide Founder’s Festival held in October 2011; the program and text from the bicentennial community worship service held at Pillar Church on Oct. 23, 2011; and an overview of media coverage. The appendices featuring the events include multiple photographs.
The Midtown Center is located at 96 W. 15th St., near Pine Avenue between 15th and 16th streets.
Two landmark histories published earlier this year about Holland and the lasting impact of community founder Albertus C. Van Raalte will be celebrated through a book-signing on Monday, June 30, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Midtown Center in Holland.
The event will feature the three-volume history “Holland Michigan: From Dutch Colony to Dynamic City,” written by Dr. Robert P. Swierenga, and “The Enduring Legacy of Albertus C. Van Raalte as Leader and Liaison,” edited by Dr. Jacob E. Nyenhuis and Dr. George Harinck. Both Nyenhuis and Swierenga will be available to sign copies of the books, which will be available to purchase at a discounted rate, for $99 and $30 respectively.
Because space is limited, those wishing to attend are asked to RSVP through the Van Raalte Institute at Hope College by calling (616) 395-7678 or by email at ADDRESS.
Both books were published by the Van Raalte Press of the Van Raalte Institute and by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. of Grand Rapids/Cambridge through the Historical Series of the Reformed Church in America. The celebration will include remarks by Nyenhuis, who is the director of the Van Raalte Institute and provost emeritus and professor of Classics emeritus at Hope; Swierenga, who is the Albertus C. Van Raalte Research Professor at the Van Raalte Institute; William B. Eerdmans Jr., who is owner and president of Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.; and Dr. Donald J. Bruggink, who is a senior research fellow with the Van Raalte Institute and founding general editor of the Historical Series of the Reformed Church in America.
“Holland Michigan: From Dutch Colony to Dynamic City” chronicles the entire sweep of the city’s history since 1847, when the initial band of Dutch settlers founded the community. The book is a three-volume set totaling more than 2,600 pages with nearly 900 photographs. Swierenga spent more than 10 years conducting research for and writing the history. The index alone, some 200 pages long, required several months to create.
Swierenga begins with the Native Americans and Old Wing Mission that preceded the Dutch settlers, and continues the story through 34 chapters focused on topics such as the founding of the community; religion; education; transportation; industry and retail businesses; national events including the First and Second World Wars and the Great Depression; politics; public services; the arts; social services; the press; downtown renewal; and the community “After the Dutch.” Nearly 100 pages of appendices provide population statistics and lists of churches, schools, businesses, city and township officials, and police and fire chiefs from the beginning through 2012.
The photographs in the book were drawn from a mix of formal archives, private collections and other published sources, and range from an image of one of the 1847 log cabins and an 1879 “Market Day” with cattle lined up on Eighth Street for auction, to the now-defunct Szekely Airfield at 136th and Riley and the dedication of Evergreen Commons. Maps developed for the book include the city’s voting wards, derived from city charters.
“The Enduring Legacy of Albertus C. Van Raalte as Leader and Liaison” features essays originally presented during the international conference “Albertus C. Van Raalte: Leader and Liaison,” which was held at Hope College and in the city of Ommen in the Netherlands in the fall of 2011. The conference was scheduled in conjunction with the bicentennial of Van Raalte’s birth in October 1811, as a celebration of the lasting difference that he made when he brought his group of Dutch religious separatists to West Michigan in 1847 and continued to play a leadership role for nearly 30 years more. The conference was co-chaired by Nyenhuis and Harinck, who is a professor of the history of Neo-Calvinism at the Free University of Amsterdam and a special professor in church history at the Theological Seminary of the Reformed Churches (liberated) at Kampen, the Netherlands.
The essays, by several scholars, are grouped within three general sections: biographical, thematic and reception studies. Topics range from Van Raalte’s education as preparation for his role as a social reformer, to the life of his wife Christina, to Van Raalte’s role as a community leader, to religious division in Holland in the 1850s, to the way that the view of Van Raalte has changed across time, to an overview of the institute bearing his name.
The book’s six appendices include an extensive bibliography of other works about Van Raalte; the program of the conference in both Holland and Ommen; the text of the welcoming addresses presented at the conference; an overview of the five-day, community-wide Founder’s Festival held in October 2011; the program and text from the bicentennial community worship service held at Pillar Church on Oct. 23, 2011; and an overview of media coverage. The appendices featuring the events include multiple photographs.
The Midtown Center is located at 96 W. 15th St., near Pine Avenue between 15th and 16th streets.