COLL/137 Guide to the Bartel J. Jonkman Collection Jonkman, Bartel J. Collection

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Hekman Library 1855 Knollcrest Circle SE Grand Rapids, MI, 49546 URL: http://archives.calvin.edu Email: crcarchives@calvin.edu Phone: 616-526-6913 Fax: 616-526-7689
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Guide to the Bartel J. Jonkman Collection Heritage Hall, Hekman Library Overview of the Collection Bartel J. Jonkman Collection 1913-1948 COLL/137 Bartel J. Jonkman, 1884-1955 1.00 Heritage Hall, Hekman Library
Hekman Library 1855 Knollcrest Circle SE Grand Rapids, MI, URL: http://archives.calvin.edu Email: crcarchives@calvin.edu Phone: 616-526-6913 Fax: 616-526-7689
Kent County, Michigan, prosecuting attorney and US Congressman. The collection includes: speeches, articles, and letters to his wife Anna (Vanden Bosch) Jonkman and letters from Tom and John Vanden Bosch.
Biographical Information:

In 1882, Rev. John B. Jonkman emigrated from the Netherlands to the United States. Two years later, after settling in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Rev. John B. Jonkman and his wife Sarah Holwerda Jonkman were blessed with the birth of a son named Bartel J. Jonkman.

Bartel J. Jonkman eventually became, as Rev. Henry Beets stated in the Missionary Monthly, “the third one from our circles to obtain a seat in our national House of Representatives.”

The Grand Rapids Press sTated in a headline in March 1940 that, “Jonkman rises from modest start to a seat in Washington.” Jonkman’s start was indeed modest.

As a youth, Jonkman attended both public and parochial schools. He did not attend high school, but received from his father’s instruction what he considered an excellent equivalent.

At the age of sixteen Bartel moved with his family to Zeeland, Michigan, when his father received a call to a Christian Reformed Church there. He worked in a furniture factory until 1904 when he married Ann Van den Bosch. Soon after his marriage, he entered a Grand Rapids business college. Following graduation, he obtained a job in Grand Rapids at an ice and fuel company; later he was employed in a bank. While there a “yearning to become a lawyer overcame him.”

Jonkman and his wife and three daughters moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, so Jonkman could attend law school. He returned to Grand Rapids in 1914 with a law degree from the University of Michigan.

From 1915 to 1920, Jonkman was employed as the assistant prosecuting attorney of Kent County. Following this, he engaged in private practice for eight years. Jonkman served as prosecuting attorney for Kent County during the years 1928 to 1936.

His career as the fifth district representative from Michigan began in 1940. During the almost nine-year period that he spent in Washington, Jonkman was a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Because of this, he visited Europe during World War II to “investigate the coordination of the war effort of this country with that of its allies.” He also helped to prepare legislation that involved the arming of United States merchant vessels.

Jonkman’s loyalty to the Republican Party was evident in his opposition to President Roosevelt and New Deal politics; he also strongly opposed United States intervention in World War II at the beginning of his career as Representative.

Gerald R. Ford defeated Bartel Jonkman in the 1948 election. He then returned to private law practice in Grand Rapids. Jonkman passed away on June 13, 1955.

Arrangement of Materials:

Folder level description

Detailed List of Contents id31939 Biographical Material, Speeches, Correspondence 1913-1948 id31940 1 id31941 1 1 Biographical sketches id31942 1 2 Indices of the Congressional Records during Jonkman's career as representative 1940-1948 id31943 1 3 Speeches made while in the House of Representatives id31944 1 4 Items from the collection of Henry Beets id31945 1 4 correspondence following Jonkman's election to House of Representatives id31946 1 4 newspaper article from The Grand Rapids Press id31947 1 4 speech on the lend-lease bill id31948 1 5 Correspondence to Anna Vanden Bosch Jonkman from family and husband 1913-1945 id31949 1 6 Correspondence to Anna Vanden Bosch Jonkman from Bartel J. Jonkman 1945-1946