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SHEBOYGAN, Wisconsin — The Sheboygan County Historical Research Center will be hosting a conference titled "The Dutch-American Experience in Wisconsin: 1840-Present" on September 25 through 27. The Dutch immigrant experience in the state originates with those from in and around the province of Gelderland, near the border with Germany. Dutch passengers on the ill-fated ship Phoenix, of whom the majority perished in the 1847 disastrous fire near the vessel’s destination, had emigrated from that region as well. The state also attracted many immigrants from North Brabant who mostly joined the Roman Catholic settlement of Little Chute.

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LANGLEY, British Columbia - The great majority of the tens of thousands of post-WWII Dutch immigrants readily can identify the ship they or their family arrived on in North America, a sampling of Windmill Archives’ material reveals. Many are not as certain where their ship first docked or on what date however. More confusion exists over the correct spelling of the ships. There is, for eample, no unanimity on the spelling of the name of the ship which carried the largest number of immigrants, the Groote Beer often is cheated out of its second o, a reminder of earlier spelling rules. Hardly anyone today is aware of the actual fare charged by the liners. Over 250,000 people trekked to North America in the period of 1946-1956.

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Of the all passenger ships that took immigrants from the Netherlands to Canada and the U.S.A., the ss Maasdam is one of the very few that still sailed the Atlantic Ocean as a passenger ship in the late 1970s. The Polish Ocean Lines operated the ship as a cruise ship then known as the Stafan Batory until approximately 1980.

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A great number of Dutch immigrants have fond memories of one of the three Victory ships which were home to them for ten days in the late 1940s and the 1950s while crossing the Atlantic Ocean to a new future in North America. The ships - named after stars and constellations - Groote Beer, Waterman and Zuiderkruis are three of the better-known post- WWII Dutch immigrant ships. Particularly the Groote Beer took numerous Dutch immigrants to Canada and the U.S.A.

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Dutch ocean liner Volendam II which gave North America-destined passage to numerous Dutch immigrants in her thirty years of service, survived storms, experienced both peace and war. She survived a torpedo hit and managed to stay afloat long enough to make the ship into a safe harbour during World War II.

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This Fall, The Dutch-American communities of Holland (Michigan) and Pella (Iowa) are planning to celebrate their Sesquicentennial on a happy note, and with many activities. A highlight at the 150th anniversary is the visit by Dutch Princess Margriet, one of Queen Beatrix' younger sisters. A community across the lake from Holland has a distinctly different commemoration. Sheboygan, Wisconsin, will remember one of the Great Lakes' most tragic shipping disasters which caused the death of at least 132 Dutch immigrants. Indeed, a stark reminder that the process of emigration then was fraught with danger.  

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Every ship has its own unique characteristics and history. The Veendam II is no exception. The Holland America Line ship, named after a town in the northern Dutch province of Groningen, served for about 30 years, six of which under German flag. The ship had been launched on November 18, 1922, a few months after her sister ship, the ‘Volendam’. She was built in the shipyards (dockyard 650) of Harland and Wolff in England.

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The M.S. Sibajak may well have the most varied service of all the post-WWII Dutch immigrant ships. She had ties with the Dutch East Indies before and after the declaration of independence; she served the Allies as a troop transport ship while under the management of the widely-known British shipping company P. & O. As an immigrant ship plying the Atlantic, the Sibajak had as docking points Rotterdam, Quebec and New York. She rounded out her service back in Indonesia before being scrapped in Hong Kong.

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The M.S. Johan van Oldenbarnevelt - named after a 17th century Dutch statesman who, having been accused of treason died on the scaffold - died an unnatural death as well. The ship - just months earlier it had been renamed 'Lakonia' - was destroyed by fire at sea about 200 miles off Madeira, Spain on December 22, 1963. She had over 1,000 people on board of whom 128 perished in the quick-spreading blaze. The survivors all took to the life boats. Affectionately referred to by many as (just) "the Oldenbarnevelt", the ship sank a week later while it was towed to Gibraltar by the Norwegian salvage tug Herkulus.

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Betreft de reportage over de “Groote Beer” van 23 juni j.l. (pagina B1) en onze reis van 17 tot 26 september 1962 van Rotterdam naar New York.

Helaas hebben wij niet zulke goede herinneringen aan die reis, want we hadden binnen een week drie stormen te verduren, één op 20 sept, de volgens op 22 sept, en de laatste op 24 sept. Deze laatste was een storm van windkracht 10 en is mij bijgebleven als werkelijk angstwek-kend. Die angst werd niet veroorzaakt door onervarenheid: ik had voor die tijd al verschillende zeereizen gemaakt tussen Nederland en het voormalig N.O. Indië. Wij hadden een hut in het voorschip en het leek wel of het schip doormidden zou breken bij elke klap, waarmee ze in een golfdal belandde. Ik was er zeker van dat we New York niet zouden halen. Gelukkig had ik ongelijk!

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A great number of Dutch immigrants have fond memories of one of the three Victory ships which were home to them for ten days in the late 1940s and the 1950s while crossing the Atlantic Ocean to a new future in North America. The ships - named after stars and constellations - Groote Beer, Waterman and Zuiderkruis are three of the better-known post- WWII Dutch immigrant ships. Particularly the Groote Beer took numerous Dutch immigrants to Canada and the U.S.A.

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HALIFAX, Nova Scotia - Dutch people have been coming to Canada for centuries. Later this month, it will be the first time for many 1950s immigrants that they return to their point of entry at Pier 21 in Halifax. The Canadian version of New York’s Ellis Island in its opening year 1928, processed over 2,000 Dutch people entering the country. A Dutch 50th anniversary has been attached to the facility’s official 75th ‘birthday’, to ensure that memories of the arrival will be engraved in the community’s collective history a few decades longer. Dutch immigrants at Pier 21 were a significant factor, they were the fourth-largest group of civilians. The facility also handled returning Canadian soldiers after 1945.

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For a ten year-old boy moving to Canada in 1947 was a very welcome adventure. As oldest of the Koos and Nell VanHemert family, I could not wait for June 17 to arrive. When the Waterman would depart from Rotterdam, my mother and her brothers, Gerrit and Arie VanderKooi and their families were also to leave for the 'promised land'; 23 people in all. The story has been well-documented in the book To All Our Children by popular Dutch immigration writer Albert VanderMey (Paideia, 1983).

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