In 1992 President George Bush Sr. proclaimed November 16 to be Dutch American Heritage Day, a day to celebrate the historic ties and mutual friendship between the Netherlands and the United States. On that day in 1776 the Governor of St. Eustatius ordered a salute to a warship of the United States, making the Netherlands the first foreign power to officially salute the flag of the newly-independent United States.

In 2009 there are many celebrations, big and small, throughout the U.S. and in Holland. We have a complete overview on our site; here are some highlights this year.

The Netherland-America Foundation organizes an elaborate gala in the California Club in Los Angeles, honoring internationally renowned actor, director and painter, Jeroen Krabbé (this event is black tie). The Zwaanendael Museum in Delaware organizes an educational afternoon for young & old: "Discover when and where Delaware’s relationship with the Dutch began, and make an origami windmill or tulip.".

There is a Dutch Day in Winchester, California with live performances and there are "5 Dutch Days" in New York City. One of the events worth looking out for is an Historic Worship Service followed by a "New Netherland Dinner" at the Old First Reformed Church in Brooklyn, NY. The meal that is served is based on 400 year old recipes and includes metworst with cabbage, a boterletter and oliebollen (reservations are required, as is the case for many of these events).

In the Netherlands there is a celebration at the ESA campus/Space Expo in Noordwijk. The U.S. Consulate in Amsterdam has the text of the proclamation by President Bush Sr.

Dutch-American Heritage Day
November 16, 2009 (not all events are on the 16th)
Events, places and organizations

We had a great weekend together. We went out together on Friday, saw friends on Saturday evening and had no major activities.

Tonight after the gym we cooked a Dutch soup, groentesoep met balletjes. The "Dutch" in the recipe is mainly the use of small meat balls (pork/beef mixture) that are boiled with the bouillon before you add the vegetables.

Nothing beats the taste and smell and warmth of a home made soup.

Last night we went for dinner and later saw "This Is It", a documentary about the shows Michael Jackson planned to do in London.

Very impressive dancing and music. The dancers absolutely adored Michael Jackson, 'worshiping' may be a better word even. Good movie.

Sunday night we traveled back home together. The flight was overbooked but after some exciting moments we managed to both get seats, even next to each other.

I spent a day at work in Raleigh and left for Somerset this morning. The flight went smooth and I arrived in the office around 11.30 am.

The Dutch Van Wickle House in Somerset, New Jersey was built in 1722 by Symen Van Wickle. His father Evert emigrated from the Netherlands to New Amersfoort in the late 1600's and became a successful carpenter. The house, designed with Dutch, Flemish and English influences, is well preserved and it is now maintained by The Meadows Foundation.

Your correspondent attended a Board meeting of the Foundation in the Van Wickle House last week and got a tour of the Van Wickle House.

The Meadows Foundation

The treasurer reported on the results of a recent fundraiser and the general financial state of the The Meadows Foundation. The finances are somewhat troublesome because the State Historic Committee was unable to provide the customary GOS grant in 2009 due to the economic situation. This was one of the reasons a due increase was voted on during the board meeting.

The Meadows Foundation has almost 200 members and organizes frequent events in and around the houses. This includes the Colonial Weekend, which attracted more than 200 visitors, and the upcoming Halloween attraction "Enchanted Forest" for which "body part sellers" and "gravediggers" were being recruited. There is a clear Dutch influence in the events and celebrations that the Foundation organizes. For example during the board meeting the date for the Koninginnedag celebration was set to be May 1, and the Sinterklaas celebration was discussed. Sinterklaas will visit the Van Wickle House in full costume, even with a white horse if the roads aren't icy.

There were about 15 people attending the board meeting. At least three of them had historic ties with the Netherlands. Jan ten Broeke immigrated from Overijssel, the Netherlands over 50 years ago. Ellen Hamilton's mother grew up speaking Dutch in Pella, Iowa and John Mullen discovered through genealogical research that he is a descendant of Pieter Claessen Wyckoff, an emigrant from the Netherlands who arrived in New Netherlands in 1637.

Historic manure

The executive director reported on projects in the various houses. In the Hageman Barn, one of the historic houses that the Foundation maintains, a pole was threatening to fall over during the renovation. Apparently the dirt around it wasn't packed very solid. "That's because it's not dirt, but cow-poop. It's 100 year old manure!".

Each of the houses has a few rooms that are rented out to a 'care-taker', someone who lives in the house and takes care of basic maintenance.

Van Wickle House

The Van Wickle House is constructed from wood and is in good shape for a building nearly 300 years old. The floor in the main room is original and made of dark wooden beams. The front door of the house is typically Dutch with its two panels that can be opened separately. The name in American English for such a horizontally divided door is telling: a Dutch door. From much later date are the Delft Blue ceramics in the kitchen, popular souvenirs from contemporary Holland.

In the kitchen a nice 'tea table' was arranged for the board meeting with tea, hot chocolate and lots of different cookies including speculaas. On the board in the kitchen there were newspaper articles about Sinterklaas celebrations in previous years. In one of the room was a display with historic Dutch costumes from places like Marken, Zuid-Beveland and Walcheren.

The Van Wickle House, Somerset NJ
http://www.themeadowsfoundation.org/van-wickle.html
The house is open to the public during events. Dates can be found on the website of the Meadows Foundation.

Interior of the Van Wickle House.

Kitchen.

Newspaper articles about Sinterklaas.

Dutch costumes.

A nice benefit from traveling to our headquarters in Somerset is that it's easier to see Jonathan and Irena and the kids. Secaucus is not far from the Newark airport and about 45 minutes from Somerset.

Sasha was in New York for (successful) meetings Thursday and Friday so we're spending the weekend together. This afternoon we made a trip to Somerset.

I saved a deer's life tonight by not hitting it with my car.

After a fun dinner I was driving home and all of a sudden I saw a deer in my headlights. I was doing 40 miles per hour but could stop just in time.

It jumped out of the way into the bushes.

I'm in Somerset this week. I took an early flight this morning (woke up at 5.45 am) and I parked the rental car in Secaucus at 10.00 am. Pretty smooth connections every where.

I took the train from Secaucus to downtown Manhattan, where I had a nice lunch and visited an exhibition in the New York Public Library. I arrived in Somerset around 5.00 pm.

An American eagle doll on a renovation project in the city.

I had a great 'Durham morning'. After spending some time on my new hobby I went for a run over the Duke campuses, East and West. Then I went for a haircut in 9th Street, had coffee at Francesca's and shopping at Whole Foods.

I visited the library and was pleasantly surprises to see they had their book sale. I constraint myself and bought only 1 book, a beautiful version of Rip Van Winkle for $3. Then I visited the Durham Scrap Exchange because I was curious about it. A nice store.

An exhibition with biblical engravings and woodcuts by Dutch and Flemish artists opens today in Atlanta, Georgia after a successful display in the Museum of Biblical Art in New York.

The Michael C. Carlos Museum of Emory University presents Scripture for the Eyes: Bible Illustration in Netherlandish Prints of the Sixteenth Century, a collection of approximately 80 works. The exhibition explores the ways in which printed illustrations of Biblical and other religious themes supplemented and magnified the texts they accompanied during a period of dramatic religious and political upheaval. Featured artists include Lucas van Leyden, Maarten van Heemskerck, Dirck Volkertszoon Coornhert, and Hieronymus Wierix.

Illustrations are on loan from 13 institutions including the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Antwerp’s Plantin Museum, and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The exhibition was earlier on display in the Museum of Biblical Art in New York and the New York Times wrote a glowing review about it:

"What remains undeniable [...] is the ability of Dutch printmakers to measure the heights and plumb the depths of the European soul."

Art in the 16th century helped the faithful to visualize and remember Bible stories but it also served to interpret these stories and to affirm church doctrine. The exhibition and catalog essays discuss the various aspects of this relationship between church and art. The New York Times:

"While some viewers may be fascinated by the scholarly issues and biblical themes that the exhibition so adroitly frames, the pictorial and narrative excitement will captivate many others. Among a series of dramatic scenes engraved by Philips Galle in 1565 is one showing soldiers tossing the accusers of Daniel into the lions’ den, a rocky hole in the ground. The hyperactive choreography of writhing, half-naked men and ravenous beasts — vivified by the syncopating play of light and shadow and the Michelangeloesque draftsmanship — is almost comically horrifying."

Michael C. Carlos Museum, Scripture for the Eyes: Bible Illustration in Netherlandish Prints of the Sixteenth Century
http://www.carlos.emory.edu/scripture
Through January 24, 2010