Translation Program

Translation work continues apace at the Institute. It has been an important part of the Institute's program from the beginning when Ellie Dekker, the first translator engaged by the Institute, translated the first Dutch biography of Van Raalte, Levensschets van Rev. A. C. Van Raalte, D.D. It was written by Rev. Henry E. Dosker and published in the Netherlands by C. C. Callenbach in 1893. During this past year, Dr. Henry ten Hoor translated the second biography, In Twee Werelddeelen: Het Leven van Albertus Christiaan van Raalte. It was written by J. A. Wormser and published by E. J. Bosch in 1915. With the completion of this translation, the two Dutch biographies of Van Raalte are now in English and available for research to those not fluent in the Dutch language. The three later biographies of Van Raalte were written in English.

Another area of translation has been the minutes of Reformed classes. In the Dutch Reformed tradition a classis is a governing body made up of congregations in a given geographical area. The first volume of the minutes of the Classis of Holland, 1848-1858, was published in 1950. The minutes of 1858-1876 were translated last year. The minutes of the Classis of Holland are a valuable source of information about all of the Dutch immigrant congregations on the east side of Lake Michigan. Van Raalte is mentioned prominently in these minutes until his retirement in 1867 from Pillar Church. Nella Kennedy, Rev. William Buursma, and his wife Althea Buursma have translated these minutes.

The minutes of the Classis of Wisconsin are equally valuable because they contain information about the Dutch immigrant churches on the west side of Lake Michigan. These minutes include churches in many rural areas, such as Fond du Lac and Sheboygan counties, and also in the cities of Milwaukee and Chicago. Ms. Kennedy has been the translator of these minutes.

Related to the translation project is the work of Dr. E. William Kennedy, who is currently annotating the minutes of the Classis of Holland, 1858-1876. His annotations provide a wealth of information about the ministers and elders mentioned in the classis minutes and will greatly enhance them for readers when these minutes are published at a future date.

This past year the Buursmas finished the translation of the minutes of the First Reformed Church, 1850-1882, and the minutes of the Pillar Christian Reformed Church, 1882-1891. These consistorial minutes include a great amount of informa-tion on the early religious history of Holland. Rev. Van Raalte was the pastor of this church until his retirement in 1867. He was succeeded by Rev. Roelof Pieters, an able pastor. After his death in 1880, the congregation was without a pastor, became heavily involved in the Masonic controversy of the period, and left the Dutch Reformed Church in 1882. It united with the Christian Reformed Church in 1884 and won a court suit by which they acquired ownership of the beautiful Pillar Church building that had been built in 1856. These consistory minutes, and the minutes of the Classis of Holland, are key primary sources for information about the Masonic controversy.

Dr. Henry ten Hoor recently finished translating most of the Dutch documents in the Van Raalte files. These copies of documents, numbering nearly fifteen hundred, were collected by Elton J. Bruins through the years. He also just concluded translating the remembrances of Rev. Cornelius Vander Meulen, founder of Zeeland, Michigan, and first pastor of the Reformed Church there. The Buursmas are currently translating the remembrances of Rev. Roelof Pieters. All translations in the files of the Van Raalte Institute are available to qualified researchers, by appointment, during office hours.