Dutch in America
Early settlers
The first Dutch immigrants settled in the 17th century, between 1624 and 1664, in the New Netherland colony, in cities
like Nieuw Amsterdam (now New York City), Beverwijck (Albany) and Wiltwijck (Kingston).
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Russell Shorto,
The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch
Manhattan, the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America  (2004).
In this book, Shorto narrates the story of New Netherlands,
the 17th-century Dutch settlement on Manhattan Island,
introducing celebrities like Henry Hudson, Peter Minuit and Peter
Stuyvesant, but also a lot of long-forgotten people.
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Arthur C. M. Kelly,
Names, Names and More Names: Locating Your Dutch Ancestor in
Colonial America  (1999).
A book about the evolution of Dutch surnames in the U.S.
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Janny Venema,
Beverwijck: A Dutch Village on the American Frontier,
1652-1664  (2003).
From the publisher's
website:
When the English conquered New Netherland in 1664,
they found a well-established society that was firmly held
together by a Dutch-modelled government and church, and which
maintained continuous communication with its fatherland, the
Dutch Republic. Combined sources from American and Dutch archives
provide a lively picture of every-day life in this colony. Newly
wealthy traders, craftsmen and other workers, and people who
survived thanks to a well-organized system of poor relief are the
main characters in this study of one of its major communities,
Beverwijck on the upper Hudson (present-day Albany, New York).
Beavers and shell beads that served as money, daily visits by
Indians, and the presence of African slaves make clear that
Beverwijck was not only Dutch, but a new, 'American' society, as
well.
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Janny Venema,
Deacons' Account, 1652-1674: 1st Dutch Reformed Church of
Beverwyck-Albany New York (1998).
A translation of the oldest deacon's accounts of Albany's
first Dutch Reformed Church.
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Dirk Barreveld,
From New Amsterdam to New York: The Founding of New York by
the Dutch in July 1625  (2001).
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Secessionists
After the conquest of New Netherland by the English, Dutch
immigration came to a halt: There were almost no immigrants from
Holland for nearly two centuries.
The secession from the Dutch Reformed Church in 1834 caused a
new wave of emigration, in the years 1845-1847. The
afgescheidenen (secessionists) founded Dutch settlements
in Michigan (Holland, founded by A.C. van Raalte) and Iowa
(Pella, founded by H.P. Scholte).
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Gerrit J. Tenzythoff,
Sources of Secession: The Netherlands Hervormde Kerk on the
Eve of the Dutch Immigration to the Midwest  .
The secession from the Dutch Reformed Church started of the
first wave of mass emigration (1845-1847), mainly to the Midwest:
Michigan (Holland, Grand Rapids), Iowa (Pella), and Illinois
(Hooge Prairie). This book discusses its preamble and causes.
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Johan Stellingwerff, Robert P. Swierenga (Editor), Walter
Lagerwey (Translator),
Iowa Letters: Dutch Immigrants On The American
Frontier  .
Collection of letters written between 1847 and 1873, by Dutch
settlers in Iowa to their family in The Netherlands and v.v.
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Robert P. Swierenga,
Dutch Households in U.S. Population Censuses, 1850, 1860,
1870: An Alphabetical Listing by Family Heads  (1987).
Reference book listing all Dutch households in the 1850, 1860,
and 1870 censuses. A bit expensive if you're only looking for one
or two Dutch ancestors (but maybe your local library has it?),
but useful if you want to study a larger group of American
Dutch.
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Robert P. Swierenga,
Dutch Immigrants in U. S. Ship Passenger Manifests, 1820-1880:
An Alphabetical Listing by Household Heads and Independent
Persons  (1983).
Same remark as the previous book...
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Mass immigration 1880-1920
Around 1880 began the period of mass immigration into the
U.S.A. Dutch immigrants usually travelled on the ships of the
Holland-America Line (H.A.L.) from Rotterdam to Ellis Island in
New York, a sea journey of ten to twelve days. Immigration peaked
around 1910, and started to decline at the outbreak of the first
world war in 1914.
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Suzanne M. Sinke,
Dutch Immigrant Women in the United States, 1880-1920
 (2002).
From the flap:
In this deftly researched ethnographic portrait,
Suzanne M. Sinke skillfully adapts the concept of social
reproduction to examine the shifting gender roles of tens of
thousands of Dutch Protestant women who crossed the Atlantic from
1880 to 1920 to make new homes in the United States.
Examining the domain of the home as well as the
related realms of education, religion, healthcare, and worldview,
Sinke discerns women's contributions to the creation and
adaptation of families and communities, pointing out how they
differed from those of men. Through Sinke's articulate and
captivating descriptions of real women, the statistical evidence
comes to life, providing valuable and heretofore unexamined views
on the international marriage market, language shifts, the
acquisition of American customs, the church's role in adaptation,
and the shifting economies that allowed women to work outside of
the home. A parallel analysis of the United States and the
Netherlands as developing welfare states provides a fascinating
look at what Dutch immigrant women left behind compared to what
they faced in America regarding healthcare, education, and
quality-of-life issues.
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Hylke Speerstra,
Cruel Paradise: Life Stories Of Dutch Emigrants  (2005).
Translation of It wrede paradys: Libbensferhalen fan Fryske
folksferhuizers (1999), transl. Henry J. Baron.
This book contains the story of several immigrants from the
Dutch province Friesland.
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Robert P. Swierenga (Editor),
The Dutch in America: Immigration, Settlement, and Cultural
Change  (1985).
Collection of scholarly articles on Dutch emigration to the
U.S. and Canada.
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Dutch in Canada
Canada was a popular destination for Dutch emigrants since the
1930s, but especially after the second world war. The first
post-war emigrants were the Canadese bruiden (Canadian
brides), young women (many of them with a baby) who had started a
relationship with Canadian soldiers who were in The Netherlands
in 1944-1945.
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Donald Sinnema (ed.),
The First Dutch Settlement in Alberta: Letters from the
Pioneer Years 1903-14  .
From the publisher's
website:
"Translated from Dutch, this collection of letters
makes available for the first time in English a detailed view of
the Dutch pioneer community in southern Alberta. The letters
reveal much about the immigrant experience and detail how these
pioneers fared in the early years of Alberta's history. They
document a slice of early life in Alberta just before and after
the province was born in 1905, a time when the great land rush
for free homesteads lured thousands of new settlers to the
prairies from eastern Canada, the United States, and Europe.
The First Dutch Settlement in Alberta pictures the pioneer
experience in elaborate detail, from the lonely homestead on the
bald prairie to a well- developed rural community with new
railroads and towns, new churches and schools, and even rural
telephone service - all within the rapid course of a decade.
Includes a map of Dutch settlement in Alberta in addition to a
wealth of genealogical information."
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Herman Ganzevoort,
The Last Illusion: Letters from Dutch Immigrants in the "Land
of Opportunity," 1924-1930  (1999).
Letters from Dutch immigrants in Canada in the 1920s.
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Hylke Speerstra,
Cruel Paradise: Life Stories Of Dutch Emigrants (2005).
Translation of It wrede paradys: Libbensferhalen fan Fryske
folksferhuizers (1999), transl. Henry J. Baron.
This book contains the story of several immigrants from the
Dutch province Friesland.
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Robert P. Swierenga (Editor),
The Dutch in America: Immigration, Settlement, and Cultural
Change (1985).
Collection of scholarly articles on Dutch emigration to the
U.S. and Canada.
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(1987).
(1969).
(1993).