Dutch American Voices : Letters from the United States, 1850-1930 / edited by Herbert J. Brinks.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Brinks, Herbert J., 1935- editor.

Series:

Documents in American social history.

Documents in American Social History Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Dutch Americans--Correspondence.

Dutch Americans.

Dutch Americans--History--Sources.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (520 p.) : 28 b&w photographs, 8 facsimiles, 2 maps

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca : Cornell University Press, [1995]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Brother I cannot tell you what is best for you-staying there or coming here. If it only concerned yourself! would say, stay. But if you are concerned about your descendents I would say, come." Writing from his Michigan farm to relatives back in Overijssel, Jacob Dunnink voiced a perspective at once uniquely his own and typical of his immigrant community in 1856. Dutch American Voices brings together a full spectrum of such perspectives, as expressed in immigrants' letters to their families and friends in the Netherlands. From the terse notes of first-time writers to the polished chronicles of skilled correspondents, the letters are presented in engaging English translations that capture the diversity of their authors' personalities.Herbert J. Brinks has included twenty-three series of letters from the Dutch Immigrant Letter Collection at Calvin College, covering periods of correspondence from three to fifty-seven years. In addition to an introduction to Dutch immigration history, the book provides abundant illustrations and brief biographies of the correspondents. Most write from Dutch American agricultural communities in Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa, but some describe life in cities as far-flung as Paterson, New Jersey; Tampa, Florida; and Oak Harbor, Washington. Rural and urban, Protestant and Catholic, male and female, the letter writers capture moments from their arrival through decades of life in the New World.Affording glimpses into the daily experiences of becoming American, the letters describe the weather, the food, the price of crops, the economics of farm and factory, the peculiarities of neighbors, and the drama of politics. As they bring news of marriages, births, and deaths, sustain family members in faith, or squabble over money, they also offer an intimate view of the strength-and the frailty-of family ties over distance.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

I. Rural to Rural: Sand-Soil Emigrants

II. Rural to Rural: Clay-Soil Emigrants

III. Rural to Urban

IV. Urban to Urban

V. Detached Immigrants

APPENDIXES

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX OF PERSONAL NAMES

INDEX OF PLACE-NAMES

TOPICAL INDEX

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 26. Nov 2019)

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781501735707

1501735705

OCLC:

1129182953