Opened to the public in November 2010, the New Netherland Research Center is located in the New York State Research Library. It provides a permanent location where students, educators, scholars, and researchers worldwide can access translations of early Dutch colonial manuscripts and a vast library of early documents, books, and reference works that tell the fascinating story of the Dutch global reach during the American colonial period and its lasting impact on today’s world.

Guided by Director Charles Gehring and Associate Director Janny Venema, the NNRC continues the work of the New Netherland Project. Founded in 1974 to translate and publish the original 17th-century Dutch documents of New Netherland, the Project is one of the most ambitious translation projects ever conceived.

With more than 7,000 pages translated to date, the Project has produced groundbreaking insight into the colony of New Netherland and the Dutch in colonial America. The work of the Project gained international acclaim as the inspiration and foundation of Russell Shorto’s 2004 bestseller, The Island at the Center of the World. Through the NNRC, work begun by the Project is being expanded to encompass materials in collections around the globe.