Dutch papers in Michigan

"De Hollander"

          The oldest Dutch paper in Michigan was "de Hollander", which was publiced from 1850 until 1895. It was bilingual from 1850 to 1865, but later was solely in Dutch. "De Hollander" is the second oldest Dutch paper in the US. Only "De Sheboygen Nieuwsbode" from Wisconsin is older (1849-1861). "De Hollander" was founded by the immigrant Jacob Quintus from the province of Zeeland. He also founded the "De Amerikaansche Stoompost" in Grand Rapids in 1859.

De Grondwet

          "De Grondwet" is a paper which existed from 1860 to 1938. It was a political newspaper, printing the ideas of the Republicans, the traditionally conservative American political party.

Remaining Papers

           Today, fifty percent of the papers which existed at the time of Van Raalte are still printed. This is a much higher survival rate than American papers. Only thirty-five percent of the American papers that were printed at the same time are still distributed today. It is possible that the reason for the survival of the Dutch papers rests in the fact that the only other thing the Dutch had to beside the Bible were the newspapers. American had access to many other kinds of reading material, so the papers were not as important to them as they were to the Dutch.

The end

          Half of the Dutch papers didn't make it, dying out due to low readership or simply because the publisher changed to one who couldn't speak Dutch. "De Volksvriend" in Grand Rapids started around 1849 and printed only a few issues. "De Stoompost" stopped in 1869 after ten years of publication. Possibly, it stopped due to competition from "De Vrijheids Banier", which also published in Grand Rapids. The "Zeeland Expositor", however, which is now known as the "Zeeland Record", was founded in 1892 and still exists.

About what?

          What did the Dutch read in those papers? Some local news, some national and international news. There were also sections devoted to the Netherlands: news from the Netherlands, poetry written by ministers and amateurs, and some fiction about important events of the Dutch history.

"De Volksvriend"

          As an example of a Dutch newspaper, here are things which were written in one issue of De Volksvriend of Grand Rapids: local news, with stories like who had dinner with who; gossip, written by local authors who got a free subscription for it; considerations by the chief editor (Dykstra, a Frisian); a head-editorial comment about the national politics, pacifism and the increasing liberality of jurys; and a poem.

Religion

          There were also religious papers. Around 1860 there were frequently founded. "De Wekker" in Holland was founded in 1859, and stopped in 1861. In 1862 the weekly "De Verzamelaar" began, another Holland paper. In 1865 there came another, named "De Hope in Holland" printed for the Reformed Church. "De Wachter" was printed for the Christian Reformed Church since 1868 and lasted until 1985, always being published completely in Dutch.

A list of papers

          This is a list of Dutch papers in the US:

Everywhere Dutch