Robert P. Swierenga

A detailed history of the immigration of Dutch Jews to the United States and to the whole American diaspora.

Dutch Jewry in the North American Diaspora

The Forerunners

Hans Krabbendam

Larry J. Wagenaar

Essays in Honor of Robert P. Swierenga

The Dutch-American Experience

Now at least 250,000 strong, the Dutch in greater Chicago have lived for 150 years "below the radar screens" of historians and the general public. Indeed, with their strong entrepreneurial spirit and isolationist streak, they have flourished in modern American society while managing to maintain much of their distinctive heritage. Here their story is told for the first time, as internationally renowned immigration historian Robert Swierenga presents a colorful, comprehensive history of the Dutch Americans who have made their home in the Windy City since the mid-1800s. Dutch Chicago is the first serious work on its subject, and it promises to be the definitive history. Swierenga's engaging narrative, replete with historical detail and anecdotes, is accompanied by more than 250 photographs and illustrations. Substantial appendixes list Dutch-owned garbage and cartage companies and Reformed churches and schools in greater Chicago. This book will be enjoyed by readers with Dutch roots as well as by anyone interested in America's rich ethnic diversity.

A History of the Hollanders in the Windy City

Dutch Chicago

Robert P.. Swierenga

The Forerunners offers the first detailed history of the immigration of Dutch Jews to the United States and to the whole American diaspora. Robert Swierenga describes the life of Jews in Holland during the Napoleonic era and examines the factors that caused them to emigrate, first to the major eastern seaboard cities of the United States, then to the frontier cities of the Midwest, and finally to San Francisco. He provides a detailed look at life among the Dutch Jews in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New Orleans. Swierenga gathered materials from published local community histories, Jewish archival records and periodicals, synagogue records, and particularly, the Federal Population Census manuscripts from 1820 through 1900. He details the contributions and the leadership provided by the Dutch Jews and relates how they lost their "Dutchness" and their Orthodoxy within several generations of their arrival here and were absorbed into broader American Judaism.

Robert P. Swierenga

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