From the Director's Desk

Dear Friends,

On April 2, Charly Gehring officially retired after 50 years of translation work.  Read Paul Grondahl's tribute to Charly in the April 9th Albany Times Union here.  In May, Marilyn Douglas completed her term as Chair of the New Netherland Institute's Board of Trustees.  We thank her for her many years of service to NNI.  Mike Vande Woude has begun his term as Chair of our board of trustees, and Tom Ruller, former New York State Archivist, has stepped into the role of Vice Chair.

Save the Date! Our fall conference will be in New York City at the New York Historical on Saturday, November 15th.  "Tolerance and Tension: New York and Amsterdam in the 17th Century" will gather scholars from the United States and The Netherlands to speak about the intertwined histories of diversity, migration, tolerance, and intolerance in these two linked cities.  The registration website is not yet open.  We will send out more information as soon as it is available. We hope to see you then.

Warmly,

Deborah Hamer, Executive Director

The third season of Live From New Amsterdam will begin on Thursday, October 30, 2025 when Russell Shorto speaks to Dr. Elisabeth Paling Funk about her new book, The Dutch World of Washington Irving, out now with Cornell University Press and part of our New Netherland Institute book series.  The series will continue on November 20th when Deborah Hamer interviews Melissa Kiewiet, the executive director of the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum Alliance.  On December 11, Russell Shorto will speak with Dr. David Voorhees, director and founder of the Jacob Leisler Institute, and on January 22, Deborah Hamer will talk to Dr. Danny Noorlander about the sounds of the Dutch empire.  We will send out registration links as soon as they are available.

From October 26th to 28th, the West Indies House in Amsterdam, the former headquarters of the Dutch West India Company, will display "Flows of Capital," from the artist Kenneth Geurts.  Flows of Capital is a 3-channel film installation that explores the relationship between 17th century Amsterdam and contemporary New York.  This exhibition is part of a group of events celebrating the 750th anniversary of the city of Amsterdam.  For more information, click here.

The National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC has opened the exhibition Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam, 1600-1750.  On display through January 11, 2026, the exhibition showcases over forty different Dutch and Flemish female artists, who worked in a variety of media.

For our supporters in Michigan, the Holland Society's Midwest Branch presents "Helping Hands: Old Dutch Aid Young Dutch" on Saturday November 1st at the Haworth Hotel in Holland, Michigan. Dr. Robert Swierenga will speak about the role of the Dutch in New York and New Jersey in supporting the Dutch migration to Michigan in the 19th century.  For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.

A Tour of Netherlandic Sites in New York State highlights surviving structures in New York State that demonstrate Dutch features.  Visit this new digital tool on the New Netherland Institute's website by clicking here.

Janny Venema's Correspondence, 1659-1660 (Vol. 13 of our New Netherland Document Series, published in 2022) is now available on the New Netherland Institute's website.  Click here to read it for free in pdf format.

Applications for NNI's Fulbright Award are due on November 1.  Applicants must be Dutch citizens enrolled in PhD program at a Dutch university, and the award supports research in sources related to New Netherland in the United States.

The Women's History Institute of Historic Hudson Valley Summer Research Fellowship provides a stipend of $3,000 to undergraduate or graduate students to support work in Historic Hudson Valley's library, archives, and collections in Tarrytown, NY.  Applications are due on November 28.

The Larry J. Hackman Research Residency at the New York State Archives provides funding for research at the New York State Archives.  This year the committee is particularly interested in applications that deal with marginalized communities or the American Revolution.  Applications are due on January 15, 2026.

Fellowships at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Brunswick, New Jersey provide $500 for a two week residency.  The Reformed Church of America Archives contain a rich collection of materials related to the Dutch Reformed Church. For more information on the fellowships, click here.  Applications are due on April 15.