James Henry Van Alen, a wealthy New Yorker, financed and equipped the Third New York Cavalry, earning appointment as colonel while the unit defended Washington in 1861.
James John Van Alen, heir to Civil War officer James Henry Van Alen, funded Cleveland’s campaign but twice declined ambassadorships to Italy and Great Britain.
Theodorus Bailey joined the U.S. Navy at 13, rose to Rear Admiral, captured New Orleans in 1862, served 48 years, and was later honored with three Navy ships named for him.
Nicolaas Bloembergen was a Dutch-American physicist and longtime Harvard professor, awarded the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physics for pioneering contributions to laser and electron spectroscopy.
Abraham Ten Broeck (1734–1810), prominent Albany merchant, militia general, and mayor, managed the Van Rensselaer estate, served in colonial government, and led local forces during the Revolutionary era.
Tom Brokaw, longtime NBC Nightly News anchor, became one of America’s most trusted journalists, covering major events from Watergate to the fall of the Berlin Wall and authoring The Greatest Generation.
Van Wyck Brooks was an American literary critic and historian known for chronicling nineteenth-century American literature. His Makers and Finders series, including The Flowering of New England, helped revive interest in major American authors.
John Lesesne DeWitt was a United States Army officer who served nearly fifty years, reaching the rank of lieutenant general. During World War II he commanded the Western Defense Command and recommended the evacuation and internment of Japanese Americans from the West Coast.
Gerrit Diekema was a Dutch American lawyer and politician from Michigan. He served as mayor of Holland, a U.S. Representative, and later United States ambassador to the Netherlands, where his Dutch heritage and language proved valuable.
General James A. Van Fleet (1892–1992) was a U.S. Army officer who served in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. A West Point graduate and classmate of Eisenhower, he later commanded the Eighth Army and U.N. forces in Korea.
