Exploring Dutch Heritage Through Research 

Exploring Dutch Heritage Through Research 

This issue’s opening piece grows out of a talk by historical artist Len Tantillo and author Russell Shorto for the 2019 Peter Gansevoort Ten Eyck Lecture Series. In “In Search of Stuyvesant’s Bowery,” they guide the reader through the unexpected complications and contradictions they encountered while trying to pinpoint the exact location of Petrus Stuyvesant’s seventeenth-century farmhouse.

In the Dutch Atlantic world, the world order and groups within it were visualized hierarchically. This started with the foundation of the colonial trading companies in the early 17th century, and continued until well after the abolition of slavery in 1863.

In October 1657 a meeting of specially-appointed commissioners was held in New Amsterdam, likely in the City Hall. The commissioners were appointed by Director-General Peter Stuyvesant to hear a complaint by a Spanish merchant against Stuyvesant and the council of New Netherland.

Enslaved in New York, Pieter Christiaan built a family, challenged authority, and disrupted village life, leaving a rare and vivid record of power, conflict, and resilience.

In recent years, the enslavement of Indigenous people by Europeans across the Americas has received renewed attention from scholars. However, when it comes to the Dutch colonies, only in studies of the Guiana region does Dutch Indigenous slavery appear as a significant factor.

A closer look at Dutch life in St. Thomas reveals surprising parallels in language, religion, and daily life, offering new insight into the enslaved community of New Netherland.

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An unmatched expert in the language of New Netherland, Gehring is retiring after 50 year interpreting colonial Dutch to explain the lives of New York’s earliest European settlers.

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The credit for golf in its modern form is generally given to the Scots, but they certainly did not invent it from scratch.

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The credit for golf in its modern form is generally given to the Scots, but they certainly did not invent it from scratch.

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When Kiliaen van Rensselaer purchased the land for his patroonship on the upper Hudson in 1631, Fort Orange--the Dutch West India Company's permanent trading post in the region--was seven years old.

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Perhaps the most peculiar name of a neighborhood in the Bronx—thee northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City— is Spuyten Duyvil.

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One the many myths that blur the story of the Dutch “purchase” of Manhattan—one that is firmly cemented in the popular psyche—says that the price was mere “beads and baubles.”

About New Netherland Institute

For over three decades, NNI has helped cast light on America's Dutch roots. In 2010, it partnered with the New York State Office of Cultural Education to establish the New Netherland Research Center, with matching funds from the State of the Netherlands. NNI is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

About New Netherland Institute

For over three decades, NNI has helped cast light on America's Dutch roots. In 2010, it partnered with the New York State Office of Cultural Education to establish the New Netherland Research Center, with matching funds from the State of the Netherlands. NNI is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.