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Michigan's Calvinist Schools
| Article
# : |
12060 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
12 / 1987 |
4,242 Words |
| Author
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Kathleen Raterink
Kathleen Raterink, the granddaughter of Dutch immigrants, grew
up in western Michigan. She is currently an editorial
administrator at THE WORLD & I. |
Dotted throughout the countryside of western Michigan are towns with names reminiscent of old-world charm--Zeeland, Vriesland, Drenthe, Overisel, Holland. In mid-May, the people of Holland scrub their streets clean, dress in copies of traditional Dutch provincial costumes, and stage the Klompen (Wooden Shoe) Dance as part of a weeklong festival. Colorful tulips are everywhere and the authentic Dutch windmill is set in motion. These people are serious about their display of Dutch heritage, because western Michigan is the center of a cultural and educational system with deep roots in the Netherlands.
A wave of Dutch emigrants came to the New World after crop devastation due to blight in 1845 and 1846 brought severe economic stagnation to the Netherlands. Unemployment was rampant, taxes were high, and there was a sense of urban unrest. The Dutch called this period de zwarte jaren (the black years), and it gave impetus to the Landverhuizing (Nation-move), in which over seven thousand people emigrated to the United States. But prevailing religious conditions also contributed to the Dutch migration. Many of these emigrants were members of the Seceders, a group that had broken with the state-supported Reformed Church in 1834, and since had faced employment and social discrimination. Some Seceder clergymen, seeking greater freedom of worship and education, led groups of their followers out of the Netherlands during the Landverhuizing.
During the winter of 1847, the Reverend Albertus C. Van Raalte and a small band of followers from the Netherlands settled into a new Kolonie (settlement) near the shores of Lake Michigan. Van Raalte was a man of strong spiritual fortitude and the care of the entire company rested on his shoulders.
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