ALBANY, NY (05/09/2011)(readMedia)-- Dr. Dirk Mouw, an authority on the history of the Dutch Reformed Church, will be the featured speaker at the 24th annual meeting of the New Netherland Institute Saturday, May 21, at the Stockade Inn in Schenectady.

"A Silver Lining? How New Netherland Church-Goers Seized New Opportunities Presented by the English Conquest, 1665-1699" will be Mouw's topic.

Mouw won the institute's 2010 Annual Hendricks Award for his dissertation on "Moederkerk and Vaderland: Religion and Ethnic Identity in the Middle Colonies, 1690-1772." He earned his doctorate at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, following a master's degree in history at the University of Iowa and a bachelor of arts degree in history and philosophy from Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Mich.

The annual meeting begins with registration at 11:45 a.m. The cost of the luncheon program is $25. Both members and non-members are welcome to attend.

The agenda includes reports on the work of the institute and the New Netherland Research Center, both located in the Cultural Education Building in the Empire State Plaza.

The event schedule concludes at 3 p.m. with a tour of the Stockade Historic District, which surrounds the Stockade Inn. The building stands on land bought in 1661 by Arent Van Corlaer, the founder of Schenectady and a kinsman of Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, the Dutch owner of the Rensselaerswijck Patent.

The New Netherland Institute is a membership organization that supports the New Netherland Research Center in its mission of transcribing, translating and publishing some 12,000 documents of the New Netherland Colony in the 17th century.

Raising funds is a continuing activity of the institute, especially to match funds required for the Dutch government's 2009 grant that supports the augmented program of the New Netherland Research Center.

The institute's schedule of projects includes publishing books and holding events such as the annual meeting and the 34th New Netherland Seminar, which will be held in New Castle, Delaware, September 15-17.

In education, the institute works with teachers, researchers, historians, museum curators, genealogists, archeologists and anthropologists, assists the writers of scholarly and popular books on America's Dutch history and provides internships and other learning opportunities.

Further information about the annual meeting is available at the institute's website, www.newnetherlandinstitute.org, by sending an e-mail to nyslfnn@mail.nysed.gov, or by telephone at (518) 486-4815. Reservations may be mailed to the New Netherland Institute, P.O. Box 2536, ESP Station, Albany, NY 12230-0536.

Posted Monday May 09, 2011 at 08:16 pm by New Netherland Institute
Last Updated Wednesday August 31, 2011 at 12:24 pm