DAHC History
In 1963 five institutions, Calvin College and Seminary (now Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary), Holland Museum, Hope College, and Western Theological Seminary, began discussions as to how they could make their archival material accessible to scholars. Their initial task was to catalog their documents which were made available in a common Guide. This archival concern developed into the employment of professional staff, as well as a concerted effort to locate further archival material.
The next endeavor was the republication of two works on the 19th century Dutch immigrants by Henry S. Lucas, Dutch Immigrant Memoirs and Related Writings, and Netherlanders in America. Next the DAHC turned to the translation of a series of reciprocal letters between Amsterdam and the American frontier, published as Iowa Letters. The desire for an objective translation of the Minutes of Classis Holland, in the hands of the indefatigable researcher, Earl W. Kennedy, grew into the three volume A Commentary on the Minutes of the Classis of Holland, 1848-1876, A Detailed Record of Persons and Issues, Civil and Religious, in the Dutch Colony of Holland, Michigan.
The cooperation of the above institutions has involved numerous other monographs and over one hundred books by Heritage Hall, the Historical Series of the Reformed Church in America, Origins, the Van Raalte Institute, and the Van Raalte Press. The holdings of all institutions are now on the web for the assistance of all scholarly research.
-Donald J. Bruggink 12/18/2020