START the new year with new women’s history!On Saturday at 1:30pm, “The Wives (and Lives) of Early Dutch Pastors” — Unlike the biographies of early male ministers of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, which have been well documented and honored, the stories of their wives, who were important community builders in their own right, have been sadly ignored in the historical writings of the church. Now Janet Sjaarda Sheeres pulls them out of obscurity in her new book, For Better, For Worse. Adding to her increasing body of historical work on invisible Dutch women, Sheeres highlights the living conditions of these women and the challenges they faced. Sponsored by the Western Michigan Genealogical Society at the Grand Rapids Public Library: http://wmgs.org/news.htm (Free and open to the public)
Previously, Janet Sjaarda Sheeres has reported on early Dutch women midwives and single women immigrants, also sidelined in early historical records. Born in the Netherlands, Sheeres is the author of three books and over 70 articles in national and international journals. Among her many service positions, she has been president of the Association for the Advancement of Dutch American Studies, chair of the Christian Reformed Church Historical Committee, and is the associate editor of Origins, the historical magazine of Calvin College’s Heritage Hall Archives.