Gerry Segger Heritage Collection Resources: Reading Room Materials

Published by the Dutch Canadian Association of PEI

HarmJan met Jelske in their native country of The Netherlands. After dating in secret, they married in 1929. On that same day, they left their homeland to settle in Canada.

Francis Ruiter, who came to Canada in 1948, is the author of Journal of a Dutch immigrant. In his second book Francis continues to recount stories of his past.

Translation of: Schrijf spoedig terug

Includes Chapter: The Religious Ethic and Spirit of Immigration: The Dutch in Alberta

Introduction / Jacob E. Nyenhuis and Suzanne M. Sinke Identities in fragments? Growing up at the borderlands of religion, ethnicity, and nation / William H. Katerberg -- Churches reach across borders: "Emigration culture" as a concept to analyze religious aspects of emigration / Enne Koops -- The role of emigration deputies and immigration committees in the transfer of CRC membership papers from 1946 to 1960 / Janet Sjaarda Sheeres -- The Catholic Church and the settlement of Dutch Catholic farmers in the diocese of Antigonish, Eastern Nova Scotia in the 1950s / Gerrit H. Gerrits -- Seeing small-town Ontario through the eyes of a Dutch immigrant in 1910 / Gerrit Sheeres -- American influence on the first Dutch settlement in Alberta / Donald Sinnema -- Examining the early works of three Dutch-Canadian writers: John Terpstra, Hugh Cook, and Aritha Van Herk / Alida De Peuter and Joanne van Dijk -- Tilling the occupied garden / Kristen den Hartog -- Emigration to North America in Dutch juvenile literature / Hans Krabbendam -- D.J. Doornink and the early years of the Dutch-American book selling trade (1860 to 1880) / George Harinck -- Yankee Dutch : later developments / Jaap van Marle -- Religion, ethnicity, and generation: a study of older Dutch-Americans in Holland, Michigan / Peter Ester and Jacob E. Nyenhuis -- Dutch immigrant murderers go to the gallows / Robert P. Swierenga -- Jan Vogel and the Dutch settlement of Missaukee County / Huug van den Dool -- Fighting at the borders: Dutch Americans and the Paterson Silk Strike of 1913 / Robert Schoone-Jongen -- "We cannot create a little Holland in America": the difficult bonds between the Christian Labour Organizations of the Netherlands, the U.S.A. and Canada in the first half of the Twentieth Century / Paul Werkman -- "Dutch Australians at a glance" (DAAAG) Virtual Centre and Portal: acknowledging the past and sustaining the present and future / Nonja Peters -- "Ik vertrek": some trends in recent emigration from the Netherlands / Mari Smits.

"I was inspired to write by the curiosity of my Canadian children and grandchildren." Jakob Hendrik Kits

King's copy contains personal note on the title page to the editor Michael Vander Weele from the authors, signed John & Agnes De Groot. The note is dated July 29' 95.

"Number one in the series, Dutch Pioneers in the Canadian West"

Review from Amazon.ca

This collection of postcards from Dutch immigrants to their homeland helps preserve and bring to light the previously untold stories of people from various walks of life that ventured to Canada from the Netherlands in the late 1800s and early 1900s. These mini-diaries are historically and socially significant as tangible evidence of the legacy of Dutch immigrants and are seldom found in the official records and statistics that serve as the main source of information about the broader immigrant experience. The postcards include snippets of immigrants' working lives, celebrations of milestones and poignant longing for a few words from home. These personal notes reveal the aspects of their everyday experiences in the new country that they share with those they left behind.

As a girl of 13 Maria Jakobs was active in the concealment and care of Jews sought by the Germans in occupied Holland. The experience made a lasting impression and stayed with her throughout married life in Canada.

In An Immigrant's Story: Memoirs of a Dutch Canadian, Matthew Gaasenbeek III takes us from the Second World war Nazi occupation of Holland to his emigration and life in Canada. He shares the influences of those years in shaping the person he is today. His career as a financial entrepreneur has contributed to the growth and development of many well-known Canadian corporations. He also travelled in a very senior capacity to many countries on behalf of the Canadian government. Matthew is a prodigious reader and student of the effects of history, politics, culture, and even religion on the growth of Canada and its role in International affairs. In countless ways, as a business man, a financial entrepreneur, a volunteer, an environmentalist and as a concerned citizen, Matthew Gaasenbeek III has contributed greatly to his adopted country and to humanity. This is his story.

This is the 2013 reprint of the 1990 edition. This edition have a greatly improved record of immigrants and includes new articles on the various settlements.

The story of Nobleford-Monarch-Granum district of Alberta.

Review by William Kendall - Published on Amazon.com

An examination of the Dutch immigration experience in the post World War Two years from the perspective of children and teens at the time. Author Anne Van Arragon Hutten delves into social, cultural, religious, language, economic, and geographic issues throughout. There are the odd errors here and there in the text, but the primary material more than compensates for that. The author used first person accounts gathered over several years, weaving her own family history with the experiences of others who immigrated in this era, showing through these examples the sort of responses, both at the time and in the long term, Dutch children had to coming into Canada. The writing style has a very personal feel to it, drawing in the reader, and there are moments of humour to be found; admittedly, I laughed at the reference to a personal version of hell being a cucumber field. For those of us who have had family who came over from the Netherlands during this era, there's a tremendous amount here that explains a lot.

From the Foreword: "It has often occurred to me that many of the children born of immigrant children have a very limited understanding of the place and circumstances under which their parents grew up. It seems to me that many of them, if not all, will consider this a void in their lives."

Henk Van Andel was King's longest serviing President and wrote this account to help celebrate the university's 40th anniversary.