Wagenaar, Larry J.

Wright, Craig

English

Digital Commons@Hope College

Hope CollegeDigital Commons @ Hope CollegeThe Joint Archives Quarterly College PublicationsFall 1990The Joint Archives Quarterly, Volume 02.03: Fall1990Larry J. WagenaarCraig WrightFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.hope.edu/jaquarterlyPart of the Archival Science CommonsThis Newsletter is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at Digital Commons @ Hope College. It has been accepted forinclusion in The Joint Archives Quarterly by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Hope College. For more information, please contactdigitalcommons@hope.edu.Recommended CitationRepository citation: Wagenaar, Larry J. and Wright, Craig, "The Joint Archives Quarterly, Volume 02.03: Fall 1990" (1990). The JointArchives Quarterly. Paper 4.http://digitalcommons.hope.edu/jaquarterly/4Published in: Joint Archives Quarterly, Volume 02, Issue 03, Fall October 1, 1990. Copyright © 1990 Hope College, Holland,Michigan.Fall 1900Number 3Volume 2The ointArcThe Civil War and Our Hometown IN THIS ISSUEDear Father:Ben Van Raalte - A letter home 1864Camp near Punkinvine Creek, Paldon Co. Ga.May31,l864I am happy to raport that I am in good health and hope you are also well. Sundayevening we left the front and were sent to the rear to get some rest. II was Impossibleto get any atlha front either day or nighl. We were relieved by the 1st Division whichhas not been at the front as yet. They are all new recruits. Now we are about fourmiles to the rear and are guarding the trains. Last week we fought nearly all week butour company was lucky and didn't lose a man to the bullets. One evening we wereshelled very heavily and a place of shell hit Wllterdlnk In his side but fortunately hehad a Testament in his pocket which saved his life. It hurt him a lot but he stayed withthe company. Another was hit but his knapsack saved him. several others were hit- too many to tell about. One day our company was ordered to clear a ridge andafter a couple of hours 01 sharp fighting we did so. That day I had plenty 01 chances10 shoot at Rebs but they also had shots at me. I gala bullet through my blouse al thebelt line. It was quite a light but we made a charge and they retreated and are in theirbreastworks again. II appears they wish us 10 besiege them because they make nogeneral attacks. Our rifle pits are opposite their works. They have the habit of mak-ing charges at night but so far they have always been repulsed with heavy losses. Ithink they will get tired 01 that after a while. My opinion is lhat much will have to hap.pen before this campaign is concluded. Whoever lives through it will have much totell.Morning 01 June 1.It is v9f)' warm today. Cannonading is going on conlinuously and reinforcements arerQfllng in daily. We haven't been sent back 10 the front as yet but expect to be sentback any moment. The Rebs are finding themselves in a tight spot. Lasl night I golyour letter in which you said that you know the news almost as well as we, it not bet-ter. Yes, al the front where you would expecl to know it, one hears nothing but themusic 01 bullets.We get very lillie mail. I am alraid thai it doesn't Iravel regUlarly. Please send me aday book. Lost the one you sent before. Now I must close.Best regards to all.Your lovingB. Van Raatte- Exciling programmingfor 1991- Senlinel donates photographicnegatives- Time Capsule• New staff at the Joint Archives• Recent research...Iu-.The Civil War. Just mentioning thename of this great conflict raisescuriosity, horror and memories.More than 620,000 men - two per-cent of the population of the UnitedSlates at that time - died in il.The Holland/Zeeland area played apart in this break of lhe union. TheJoint Archives of Holland is sponsor-ing a program in January that willfocus on the community's contribu-tion and its loss.AI McGeehan and John Noe willpresent a multi-media programJanuary 19 which will include ar-tifacts from the Civil War such as a ri·fle used by the Michigan 25th Inran·try. Mr. Noe will show slides blend-ing photos of the period with those ofthe baUlcfields today.The recent PBS miniseries TI,eCivil War has underscored lhe impor·lanl role this connict has had on theformal ion of our country. The Ar-chives has numerous letters anddiaries which speak 10 our ancestors'efforts in personal ways. The diariestell of excitement and despair. Ihedestruction of war and the spirit ofvalor.Through the efforls of Mr.McGeehan and Mr. Noe we will hearthe story of lhe local troops, how theylert their hometown and how theyfought. The documents are striking,the stories still seem fresh arter morethan a century.In addition the Joint Archives willhave various materials from its collec-lion on display in the reading room.Plan to join us for this fascinatingprogram at 3 p.m. Saturday, January19 in Graves Hall across from the VanWylen library.The Joint Archives QuarterlyFrom the ArchivistJoint Archives of HoUandEducational Programming1990-1991W hal a fall! It has beenhard to keep up withall the exciting happeningshere at the Joint Archives thisseason. So many things havetaken place. Our new assis~tant archivist has started andhas been feverishly process-ing collections and producingin·dcpth collection sum-maries. Our program on theS. S. South American was anoutstanding success. Nearly 40 years of negatives taken byHolland Sentinel photographers have been add 10 the collec-tion. And the list goes on.What I like most about the Joint Archives is the excite-ment that the staff and our patrons have shown in the workwe do - in our COllecting, in OUT efforts to advance the useand the cause of historical preservation of archival materialsin the area. In the coming months we have scheduledspeakers to discuss the role of Holland in the Civil War(January 19) and a workshop on the care of photographs(March 2) designed for lhose in historical, museum and ar-chival work and also the general public. In April we willhost our annual spring speaker.Along the way there will be exhibits of archival materialsat the Joint Archives reading room, much like the currentdisplays on Holland's cruise ships and the time capsulewhich I encourage you to see. (See separate articles).The addition of more than 30 years of the Holland Sen-tillel negatives to the Historical Trust collection of the JointArchives is very noteworthy. This gift tills in a large gap inthe photo history of the Holland area at the Archives. It alsorepresents a challenge to us to organize, identify, makeprints for people to see and, most of all, make an inventorythat will make these 30,000+ images accessible. If youwould like to help in this task please contact me.If you have suggestions regarding the Joint Archives or aquestion about some aspect of history, please call. Ournumber is 394-7798.Nov. 3, 1990lan. 19, 1991March 2, 1991April, 1991June, 1991"The 5.5. South American:Queen of the Great Lakes. "The history of the Holland-based cruise ships on the GreatLakes. Presenter: Jack Gruber."The Civil War and OurHometown" will focus on therole of Holland/Zeeland in theCivil War and the soldiers thatfought. Presenters:AI McGeehan and 10hn Nac.Workshop on the care ofhjstoric photographs by MarcChoir. Marc is Director ofArchives and HistoricalCollections at the CranbrookEducational Community nearDetroit.Annual Spring Speaker. (To beannounced). This is our "bigevent. ..Archival skills workshop forchurch librarians, businesses,historical societies and others.Larry J. WagenaarChristmas Hours(December to-January S)Monday-Friday I-5 pmClosed Dec. 24, 25 and 31Jan. I2Sept. 20-21, 1991 Conference host of theAssociation for theAdvancement of DutchAmerican Studies. It will focuson the ethnic identity of theRCA and CRC churches.The Joint Archives QuarterlySentinel Photo Negatives Donated to Joint ArchivesPhotographic negatives spanningmore than 30 years, from 1954-1986.have been donated by the HollandSentinel to the Joint Archives ofHolland.In this rich collection are thousandsof images from the Holland communi-ty including down!own scenes,notable public and private events, in-dustrial areas, accidents and local in-dividuals.The collection of 30,000 imagesfully documents the activities of theHolland community for a significantportion of ils history and will be avaluable resource for illustrations ofarea sites and people.Director Larry Wagenaar COI11-mented "this collection is significantfor what it will tell us about the past.Up to this point we had goodphotographic collections through the19305 but very little from lateryears.Renecting on the work ahead forthe Archives staff, Wagenaar said"the fact that so many images are in-cluded means that it will be a numberof years before we have full control ofGIYl LIFtAIlD LOY! JOt.IWltIl or DIIIlS- .An image from the HoHand Sentinel collection.all of these negatives:' The Sentinel also donated anThe Archives most likely will look enlarger which will allow the Jointto grants and private support as well Archives staff to copy prints from theas its own institutional sponsors to negatives in-house, reducing the costprocess the collection and make it of making prints for patrons.available for research use. People in- The negatives will become part ofterested in volunteering to help the the Holland Historical Trust archivalArchives document and identify collection housed at the Joint Ar-photographs are encouraged to call us chives.at 394-7798.New Staffat the Joint ArchivesThree individuals have joined thestaff at the Joint Archives. They areLaura Bachelder, David Kniaz andGwen Palmer.Laura comes to Holland after work-ing at the Grand Rapids PublicLibrary's Michigan Room where sheorganized parts of the Robinson col-lection of photographs and negativesdonated to the library. With thisbackground in archival techniqueLaura is well suited for her work atthe Joint Archives.With an interest in political scienceand work in history, David has beenworking on keeping various verticalfiles up to date. In addition, he is incharge of assisting the HollandHistorical Society in keepingmembership information up to date.Gwen's efforts have been concen-trated on compiling information fromalumni files of Hope College. Thiswill be useful in locating informationon graduates after 1916.Reba O'Shesky has been a memberof the staff for more than two yearsand is in charge of major ongoing pro-jects at the Archives.Each of the new staff members andReba works regularly with patrons inthe reading room - say hello nexttime you are there.Robert Swart MissionaryPapers OpenedJohn Robert Swart was born inRockford, Illinois, in 1919 andbecame one of the first ReformedChurch in America missionaries 10work in Africa. The first mission wasestablished in the South Sudan in con-junction with the Presbyterian church.An impending civil war caused themission to move to Ethiopia wherefurther strife forced it to move againin 1977. this time to Kenya.Robert Swart became coordinatorof the American Missions Medical-Educational-Agricultural Develop-ment Program, initiated the use ofwindmills for irrigation anddeveloped an effective cassette tapeministry. His wife Morrell was editorof Elhj()-Echo, a missionary newslet-ter, and together they had sixchildren.The Joint Archives of Holland hasopened the Swart papers consisting ofmaterials from 1948 to 1988documenting their missionary ac-tivities in Africa. Papers such as thesearc crilicalto telling the story of thosewho have gone before. The Swart(Continued on page 5)3The Joint Archives QuarterlyThe Processor's Table _byCraig WrightAssistant ArchivistOne of the most interesting aspectsof working with collections ofhistorical materials is the number ofobscure and fascinating items that onediscovers. During my first month ofprocessing al the archives, I was in-troduced to two important figures inthe history of Holland - Gerrit VanSchelven and P. Theodore Moerdyk.Van Schclven was postmaster ofHolland for many years and workedfor the Hol/alld City News. De Hope,and De Gro"dwet newspapers.Through his passion for local history.he was instrumental in acquiringhistorical information and oralhistories from many of the Dutchpioneers of the area.Mocrdyk worked for theNetherlands Museum for well over 20years and did extensive research intolocal hislory and Dutch immigration,as well as many other subjects. Hisresearch files provide access to awealth of information by subjectheadings. Here is some of the infor-mation I found while working with thepapers of Ihese important men.While examining the Moerdykpapers I discovered that the electionfor Ottawa County Treasurer in 1860resulted in a tie. Even though bothmen received the same number ofvotes the incumbent, George Parks,claimed that John Roost was not legal-ly elected. So for several months bothmen occupied offices at the CourtHouse, each claiming to be the legaloffice holder.In February of 1861 a posse over-whelmed Mr. Parks in his officewhile he stood on the safe trying 10fight them off with a club. After thelock was drilled off the safe, nothingwas found inside. Mr. Parks thenwent into custody of the sheriff, whorefused to retain him, and an injunc-tion was issued to keep Mr. Roost outof the office.4Craig WrightFrom the information I have foundit seems that Mr. Parks finally emerg-ed triumphant in the struggle forCounty Treasurer.An interesting story I came acrossin the Van Schelven collection is fullof mystery and drama. One Februarynight in 1843 an Indian family foundshelter and warmth in the camp of Ed-win Miller and William Hovey. Whenthe father and daughter awoke in themorning they found. that the mother,Nega, had been murdered and the twowhite men were no where to be fOUnd.The Indians unsuccessfully huntedthe men for days and eventually thestory reached the ears of ThomasGilbert. No tracks were visible in theicy weather but Mr. Gilbertdiscovered a trail of tobacco juice onthe shore of Lake Michigan.Since the Indians had not yetdeveloped the habit of chewing tobac-co, Gilbert correctly assumed the trailwas of a white man, probably on therun. The trail led south to thelighthouse at the mouth of theKalamazoo River where Miller wasapprehended. Mr. Hovey was even-tually caught as well.Miller was tried, convicted andsentenced to be hanged, largely due tothe testimony of Hovey. As Millerawaited death, Hovey became ill withtyphoid fever and confessed that itwas he who had killed the squaw, andthat Miller was in fact innocent.Hovey died the next day, Miller waspardoned and went home to Vermont.Did you know that Michigan had a"King" of Beaver Island? Do youwant to know the rules and regula-tions regarding the life of a Hope Col-lege student in 1889? Or how aboutthe history of Hollanders in theDakota Territory? The answers tothese questions and many more willbe found in the interesting informa-tion and stories contained in the VanSchelven and Moerdyk collections.Recent ResearchTo give you an idea of who uses theJoint Archives and why, we've listeda few of the recent projects ofpatrons:The history of the De Zwaanwindmill (Windmill Island)History of Dutch Dancing inHollandMissionary work in AfricaEnvironmental impact of previoustenants on industrial propenyPhotographs for a national adcampaignThe Reformed Church andLiberation TheologyBackground on the Knicker·backer TheaterThe Georgian Bay Line cruiseshipsHistory of Hope College athleticsRCA missions to IndiaArchitecture in HollandDutch in the Civil WarHope College's Nykerk and thePullGreat Lakes navigationPhotographs for display indowntown shopAs you can see from this partial listof research we have quite a cross-section of users. All the researchlisted above was undertaken betweenNovember I and November 20, 1990and is a partial list. In those 20 days41 people researched in materials andnumerous others came to see our ex-hibits on the Georgian Bay ships andthe railroad time capsule.The Joint: Archives QuarterlyTime Capsule Showed Importance ofRailroadsI invite you to come and see thisdisplay as well as our current exhibiton the cruise ships of the GeorgianBay Line.Finds such as this one and the op-portunity to preserve history as wellas tell its story are exciting. Pleasecome and experience this excitementwith us.(Reprinted from the Holla"d Sellti"el)Ship Program Big Success5Swart Papers Opened(Continued from page 3)papers include 1.5 linear feet of cor-respondence, letters and articles.This material will be a rich resourceas we work to document the mis·sionary heritage of the ReformedChurch through the WesternTheological Seminary Collectionhoused at the Joint Archives ofHolland.More than 160 people attended ourfirst educational program of 1990-91at Graves Hall. Jack Gruber and hisassistant were able to tell the story ofthe 5.5. South American and werejoined at times by fomlcr crewmembers Ron Rosie and JuliusBright. Stories about the ship'scruises to Duluth, her participation inthe dedication of Isle Royal NationalPark and sailing through the 51.Lawrence Seaway were fascinating.Following the presentation a largeportion of the audience joined thepresenters and fonner crew membersin the Archive reading room wherespecial exhibits were staged. Items in-cluded a life saving ring and jacket,photo albums, ship's logs, andmemorabilia. Many of these itemswill be on display at the Archivesthrough January II.The ncxt Joint Archives program is. 'The Civil War and our Hometown"scheduled at Graves Hall across fromthe Van Wylen library Saturday,January 19 at 3 p.m. A $1 donation atthe door is requested.listed on the inside cover of oneschedule. Also included were amagazine and an almanac which werepublished by the railroad.The Pere Marquette Railway wasquite a business in its day as the frontof the almanac trumpets "its 350 oddstations, towns and cities that it servesin Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Il-linois, Ontario and the Niagara Fron·tier. " Holland was a point at whichtravelers could continue north toMuskegon. The schedule revealsnumerous passenger trains whichstopped enroute to Chicago or back toGrand Rapids. Quite a change fromour once a day train of today. Youcould even get a full meal, not just asnack bar on these trips.Local groups also helped out E.B.Rich who undertook the time capsuleproject at the last minute. Member-ship rosters of the Chamber of Com·merce, Rotary, Exchange Club andteachers groups were included.Copies of the local paper give a uni-que look at the day the jar was filled,too.AIl of these documents, as well asothers found in the jars, are now ondisplay at the Joint Archives ofHolland on the lower level of the VanWylen Library at Tenth and College.----Opening the time capsule at the railroad depot.The experience we had Nov. 2 wasnothing short of remarkable. Thatwarm and sunny morning at about9:30 Soren Wolf, Holland citymanager, called to alert me to a sur-prise at the old train depot - and to bethere by 10 a.m.When I arrived a number of usstood outside the dismantled frame ofthe old building and soon surmisedthat the surprise was the time capsule.The search to find two pickle jarsrumored to be in the building hadbeen all but given up as reconstructionwork was about to begin.After 20 minutes of prying the glassjars from the wall (they had beencemented in) we undertook thedelicate job of removing the curled updocuments. They were in remarkableshape as they had been literally air-tight in the jars for 65 years.Inside we found a number of ex-citing things, some which we did nothave in the research collections of theJoint Archives. Probably the most in-teresting items were the railroadschedules which demonstrated howmuch traffic went through Holland in1925. At thai time the train was stillthe primary mode of transportation asthe automobile was just beginning itsascendacy. Workers at the station areThe Joint Archives of HollandHolland Historical TrustHope CollegeWestern Theological SeminaryHope College' Holland, MI 49423Address Correction Requested6Non-ProfitOrganizationU.S. POSTAGEPAIDHope College

The Joint Archives Quarterly, Volume 02.03: Fall 1990

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The Joint Archives Quarterly, Volume 02.03: Fall 1990

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