Welcome to the eMarcurius, NNI's monthly e-newsletter edited by NNI director Stephen McErleane and brought to you in part by the generous sponsors featured below. 

Something to share? Interested in becoming a sponsor? Reach us at nni@newnetherlandinstitute.org.

As we come to the end of a difficult year for all of us, I sincerely thank you for your continued interest in and support of the New Netherland Institute. Entering this year’s “giving” season, I have been thinking about why I give money to support NNI. For one, I have known Charly Gehring for many years. We worked together at the New York State Library and have been friends ever since. The translation project started it all, but above and beyond that, Charly has been responsible for much of what NNI now does. More than the translations, I admire what Charly has done to bring the story of New Netherland to its rightful place in the history of colonial America. Still, the translations remain an important part of our mission. Of the more than 12,000 pages of the administrative records of New Netherland at the New York State Archives, a few thousand remain to be translated—mind you, that will still take years to complete.

Charly, now the director of the New Netherland Research Center, is there to give us guidance and assistance as NNI provides academic resources, encourages the writing of books and articles, supports new research, offers teachers tools to inspire young students, organizes lectures, produces podcasts and other learning tools, and engages our emerging scholars in the development of new research tools, such as Julie van den Hout’s recent “Voyages of New Netherland,” the product of our first Charles W. Wendell Research Grant. NNI confidently expects such collaborations to continue.

Everything that NNI does takes money. None of it just happens. It takes the hard work of a dedicated director and staff and a committed board. So, please open your wallet and join me in ensuring that NNI continues to have a stable, sustainable, and long-lasting future.

Marilyn E. Douglas, President

Nearly 300 of you tuned in on November 17th for the launch of Julie van den Hout's “Voyages of New Netherland” project, a searchable, primary source-based directory of more than 250 ship voyages to New Netherland (1609–1664). We thank all the viewers and the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society for co-hosting the event.

The ship database and digital exhibit are now live on our website. Good luck with your research.

The replay of the presentation will eventually be available online. Stay tuned for details. 

Dutch Ships in a Calm Sea, Willem van de Velde (II), c. 1665. Rijksmuseum.

This talk by Stephen McErleane on the creation of the purchase of Manhattan myth will be followed by a conversation between McErleane and Skidmore College professor Dr. Gregory Pfitzer, the author of the book Picturing the Past: Illustrated Histories and the American Imagination, 1840–1900, on the influence of images in history books in the second half of the nineteenth century.

Talk summary: Though it is now known as a fundamental piece of the early history of the city, it was not until 217 years after the event that New Yorkers first learned of the now infamous 1626 purchase of the island of Manhattan by the Dutch from the Indians for twenty-four dollars. This talk follows the construction of that story from its first appearance in the 1840s and focuses on an important and overlooked piece: an 1853 painting of the purchase by the American artist William Ranney. Ranney has been dubbed a myth-maker for his influential depictions of the American Revolution and of life in the American West. His role in the creation of the Manhattan purchase myth, however, has gone largely ignored.

Registration details will be posted shortly.