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Title: Lawrence G. Van Loon Collection, Undated

ID: COLL/297

Creator: Van Loon, Lawrence G. (1903-1985)

Extent: 0.25 Cubic Feet. More info below.

Arrangement: Folder level description

Medical doctor and author. The collection includes papers detailing folk tales in the New York Dutch dialect, some in English.

Lawrence Gwyn Van Loon was born in New York City in 1903. From 1930 to 1932 Van Loon was an intern at the Wilhelmina Hospital in Amsterdam. In 1932 he married a woman he met while in the Netherlands, Grietje Prins.  He went on to pursue his medical career. He served as a medical director on Hawaii from 1955 to 1967.

Van Loon was also passionate about his family's Dutch heritage. He was considered an expert on the old Dutch language, especially the dialect spoken on the East Coast of the United States. He wrote publications on the subject, however in the 1980s it was discovered that many of his works were based on forged documents. He died on November 7, 1985 in Gloversville, New York.