Dutch Chicago

$69.95

A History of the Hollanders in the Windy City Written by Robert P. Swierenga The story of the Dutch in Chicago until now largely has been below the radar screen of historians. The dean of Dutch American historians, Prof. Swierenga in his massive book has lifted the veil on an amazing...

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A History of the Hollanders in the Windy City

Written by Robert P. Swierenga

The story of the Dutch in Chicago until now largely has been below the radar screen of historians. The dean of Dutch American historians, Prof. Swierenga in his massive book has lifted the veil on an amazing community which now numbers in excess of 250,000. Whereas most Dutch groups in Chicago assimilated into the American culture around them, the Reformed Christians settled into a few distinct enclaves - the Old West Side, Englewood, Roseland and South Holland - where they stuck together, and build an infrastructure of churches, schools, societies, and shops that enabled them to live from cradle to grave within their own communities. The closest the Chicago Dutch came to farming was owning horses which the entrepreneurial types used in their businesses, particularly garbage hauling and vegetable gardening and peddling. Business always was picking up for them. In jobs that other groups despised, Dutch immigrants saw opportunities, eventually monopolizing the garbage disposal business not just in Chicago but across the nation, and beyond. In his book, the author also covers those groups that assimilated.

Endorsement

"This brilliant chronicle of a unique ethnic enclave is as much a tribute to the overlooked Dutch contingent of the Windy City as a monument of historical scholarship." - Hans Krabbendam, Roosevelt Study Center.

Hardcover with jacket, 857 pages, about 250 (rare) photos and illustrations, appendixes detailing garbage and hauling industries, bibliography, index.

Dutch Chicago

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