Hope College Archives and Special Collections

08/19/2024

Hello friends of Hope College Archives and Special Collections! To reach our dedicated community better, we will now be posting solely through the Hope College Library page.

Don't worry, this decision comes with a plan for more consistent sharing of the Archives’ historic collections and exciting events! We urge you to subscribe to Hope College library's Facebook, Instagram and X profiles () and share them with your friends.

The picture below was captured on April 21st, 1988, during the dedication of Van Wylen Library. It includes (left to right) David Jenson (Hope’s Director of Libraries from 1984-2008), John Jacobson (Hope President from 1987–1999), and Gordon J. (Hope President from 1972–1987) and Dr. Margaret D. Van Wylen, for whom the building was named. In 2023, the Archives and Special Collections Department moved to the lower level of the building where we serve you today.

Check out our Hope College Libraries Collection at https://arcspace.hope.edu/repositories/2/resources/1458

05/03/2023

Before Dutch settlers immigrated to West Michigan and established the town of Holland, MI, Ottawa Native Americans and American missionaries called the area their home. In 1839, Chief Wakazoo, Reverend George Smith, and the Black Lake Band of Odawa founded a village near Lake Macatawa and named it Old Wing Mission. Smith and his wife, Arvilla, documented their experiences as settlers in the 1830s and 1840s- including the difficulties of disease and loss. Read about the Smiths and their experiences in the Spring 2023 issue of The Joint Archives Quarterly.

FeaturedThe Ails of the Smiths: The Plight of an Early Pioneer Family Black Lake Region, 1840s (Map Courtesy of Mark Cook) Before Dutch settlers immigrated to West Michigan and established the town of Holland, MI, Ottawa Native Americans and American missionaries called the area their home. In 1839,...

05/03/2023

Zeeland's Most Famous Forgotten Son: Dr. Paul de Kruif and the War on Syphilis

Monday, May 8, 2023
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Herrick Main Library
HBH Auditorium

Dr. Paul de Kruif was perhaps the most famous person to come from Zeeland, yet he is virtually unknown today. Dr. Jan Peter Verhave is intent on rectifying that loss of memory. In an award-winning biography of de Kruif, A Constant State of Emergency (Van Raalte Press, 2020), Verhave has shown the remarkable extent of de Kruif's influence on modern medicine. Drawing on his research, Verhave will share insights into the life of de Kruif while he grew up in turn of the century Zeeland, of his career as a medical researcher, and as an internationally recognized authority on public health matters. Verhave will argue that de Kruif's writing about syphilis helped to bring that lethal illness out of the shadows and into public awareness and, finally, cure.

De Kruif was recognized around the world for dozens of articles on public health issues that he wrote for Reader's Digest, Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Journal, and Country Gentlemen. In this way, he educated a wide swath of the public on the promising successes--and fatal shortcomings--of modern medicine. In 1926 he published "The Microbe Hunters," a seminal study about the founders of modern medicine. It became the most important motivator for generations of youth to join the ranks of physicians. A friend of Sinclair Lewis, he was a key advisor (indeed, some would suggest co-author) of Lewis' bestselling book, Arrowsmith, about a young, country doctor.

Verhave is a retired professor from the University of Nijmegen. He is a specialist on parasitology, having conducted groundbreaking field studies on malaria and other tropical diseases in Senegal, Burkina Faso, Vietnam, Cambodia, and elsewhere. He is an honorary research fellow of the Van Raalte Institute of Hope College.

02/28/2023

As a repository for the records of Hope College and Western Theological Seminary, as well as the papers of many Holland organizations and individuals, the Joint Archives of Holland’s collections hold many interesting local history stories. Often, these stories showcase connections across the local community and with the wider world.

The Mary E. Geegh Papers, newly available for research, are one example of global story with local roots. Read Carolyn Thornbury’s article about Geegh’s missionary work in India in the Winter 2023 issue of The Joint Archives Quarterly.

As a repository for the records of Hope College and Western Theological Seminary, as well as the papers of many Holland organizations and individuals, the Joint Archives of Holland’s collections hold many interesting local history stories. Often, these stories showcase connections across the local...

11/30/2022

The Great Depression impacted everyone, even students at Hope College. Though the effects of this era may not have been immediately apparent on campus, alumni archives and Hope’s newspaper reveal some perspectives on the student experience at Hope during the 1930s.

Read about this story in our Fall 2022 newsletter’s featured article, “Hope College and the Great Depression,” by Grace Baty.

https://blogs.hope.edu/joint-archives/joint-archives-quarterly/hope-college-and-the-great-depression/

08/12/2022

Since its founding, Hope College has emphasized both classical and biblical training and studies in science and math. It is relatively well-known that many graduates have gone on to work and serve as missionaries or medical professionals around the world. But did you know that a significant minority of those science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) graduates have been women?

This discovery is the subject of Maria Seidl's recent article "The STEM-Missionary Connection for Hope Women." Read about this story and other archives news the Summer 2022 issue of The Joint Archives Quarterly newsletter.

Since its founding, Hope College has emphasized both classical and biblical training and studies in science and math. It is relatively well-known that many graduates have gone on to work and serve as missionaries or medical professionals around the world. But did you know that a significant minority...

12/03/2021

Few people know that Burr Tillstrom, creator of the famous puppets Kukla and Ollie, and later a television colleague of Fran Allison, spent lots of time at Hope College. During the 1970s and 1980s Tillstrom worked with students and collaborating with communication department professor Ted Nielsen on a biography about Tillstrom captured on videotape and not seen since his death in 1985. Read more about this special connection to Hope College in the latest Joint Archives Quarterly newsletter.

Few people know that Burr Tillstrom, creator of the famous puppets Kukla and Ollie, and later a television colleague of Fran Allison, spent lots of time at Hope College. During the 1960s and 1970s Tillstrom worked with students and collaborating with communication department professor Ted Nielsen on...