Cold Case: do you recognize these Frisian emigrants?

Tresoar, the Regional Historical Center for the province of Friesland, has a new Cold Case project. They are looking for the names of the people in two movies created in 1932 and 1936. The movies were show emigrants who came back to Friesland for Friezendei [Frisians day]. Since the late nineteenth century, thousands of people from Friesland emigrated, mostly to the United States. Big reunions took place in 1932 and 1936 (and again in 2000). … [Read more...]

Column: land movers

In the nineteenth century, thousands of people emigrated from the area around Winterswijk to the United States. "Land movers", they were called. Some left because of their religion, most in the hope of a better future. Among them there were several siblings of ancestors of mine. Curious what happened to them, I contacted their offspring on the internet. What began as a simple question ('What happened to Gerrit Jan Droppers') quickly turned into several long contacts and one of the closest … [Read more...]