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Stanley Wiersma Collection, 1953-1989

Collection Overview

Title: Stanley Wiersma Collection, 1953-1989

ID: COLL/332

Creator: Wiersma, Stanley (1930-1986)

Extent: 3.0 Cubic Feet. More info below.

Arrangement: Folder level description

Abstract

Professor of English at Calvin College. The collection includes chapel talks; published articles and poems; book reviews; talks; correspondence; unpublished manuscripts and poems; two plays for the Calvin College Thespians entitled The Potting Shed Program and Lost in the Stars; and recorded lectures and readings. [See also the Campus Titles Database.]

Biographical Note

Stanley Wiersma was born 15 Jul 1930 in the rural town of Middleburg, Iowa.  Wiersma attended Calvin College and earned his BA in 1951. After graduation, Wiersma became an instructor at the Western Christian High School in Hull, Iowa. From 1953 to 1954, Wiersma entered the United States Army serving as corporal, Central Command, Tokyo, Japan. Wiersma then entered the University of Wisconsin earning his MS degree in 1956. During this time, Wiersma married Irene Hanenburg on 11 Jul 1955. Together they had two sons.

In 1959, Wiersma accepted an instructor position at Calvin College. Wiersma furthered his own education even more by earning his PhD in English from the University of Wisconsin. Eventually he was promoted to professor of English at Calvin. Beloved by students and faculty alike, Wiersma was awarded the title of "Teacher of the Year" in 1967.

Next to teaching, Wiersma's other passion was poetry. He often wrote poetry with a nostalgic twist about the Dutch experience in America. He was a member of the International Poetry Society. Wiersma was also a member of the Modern Language Association of America and an active church member of the Mayfair and Calvin Christian Reformed churches. Wiersma also found time to write. He authored several books including More Than the Ear Discovers: God in the Plays of Christopher Fry, 1983 and Style and Class, 1982.

Wiersma was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to analyze the works of Patrick White of Australia. During the last few weeks of his sabbatical, while in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, he went in for emergency abdominal surgery. He passed away during surgery on 21 Jun 1986. His burial took place in the Netherlands.

Box and Folder Listing

Series 1: Correspondence, Articles, and General Papers --- 1953-1989
Box 1
Folder 1: Biographical information and Curriculum Vitae
Folder 2: Report cards: elementary, Western Christian High School, Calvin College
Folder 3: Diplomas: Western Christian High School, Calvin College
Folder 4: University of Wisconsin diplomas
Item 1: MS --- 1956
Item 2: PhD --- 1961
Folder 5: US Army, Japan --- 1953-1954
Folder 6: Wedding, Stanley Wiersma and Irene Hanenburg --- 11 Jul 1955
Folder 7: Family items
Folder 8: Explanation of pen name "Sietze Buning"
Folder 9: Memoirs
Folder 10: Photographs
Folder 11: Newspaper articles
Folder 12: Letters home from trip to England --- 1975
Folder 13: Grant applications
Folder 14: Award certificates
Folder 15: Correspondence with parents
Box 2
Folder 1: Fulbright Scholarship, Australia University of New England --- 1985
Folder 2: Visit to Australia and the Netherlands --- 1985-1986
Folder 3: Death of Stanley Wiersma --- 21 Jun 1986
Folder 4: Memorial Committee booklet materials --- 1986
Folder 5: Tributes to Sietze --- 1986-1987
Folder 6-7: Condolence letters --- 1986
Folder 8: Eulogy by Steve Van der Weele --- 1 Jul 1986
Folder 9: Published articles about Stanley Wiersma
Folder 10: Memorial booklet, Adjoining Fields, A Gathering of Works and Tributes, gathered by the English Department, Calvin College --- 1987
Box 3
Folder 1-7: Correspondence --- 1958-1981
Box 4
Folder 1-2: Correspondence --- 1982-1985
Folder 3: Correspondence, Australia --- 1985
Folder 4: Correspondence, the Netherlands --- 1985-1986
Folder 5: Correspondence of Irene Wiersma
Folder 6: Series of letters to Dr. Harmon Hook (suffering brain cancer) --- 1973
Folder 7: Series of letters to Calvin Bulthuis (dying of pancreatic cancer) --- 1971
Folder 8: The Banner published articles by Stanley Wiersma
Folder 9: The Banner Sietze Buning poems
Folder 10: Correspondence with Frederic Cassidy --- 1978-1985
Folder 11: Correspondence with George G. (Tom) Harper --- 1978-1985
Box 5
Folder 1: Thesis, "A Linguistic Analysis of Words Referring to Monsters in Beowulf," University of Wisconsin --- 1961
Folder 2: Manuscript, "Catching the Dove in Flight"
Folder 3: Script, "The Impossible Possibility" (Calvin College Centennial)
Box 6
Folder 1: Manuscript, "More Than the Ear Discovers: The Theology of Christopher Fry"
Folder 2: "Christopher Fry: A Critical Essay" by Stanley Wiersma --- 1970
Folder 3: Resumes and articles regarding the works of Christopher Fry
Folder 4: Correspondence, Christopher Fry
Folder 5: Book, More Than the Ear Discovers by Stanley M. Wiersma --- 1983
Folder 6: Pageant text, "A Celebration of Mercy"
Folder 7: Poem, "Last Visit"
Folder 8: Speech, Northwestern's Peace Planter:  B. D. Dykstra (1872-1955)
Box 7
Folder 1: Book, Purpaleanie and Other Permutations by Sietze Buning
Folder 2: Manuscript, Purpaleanie by Sietze Buning
Folder 3: Presentation by Dordt of Purpaleanie, program and cassette tape --- 1980
Folder 4: "Purpaleanie," Calvin Alumni Theater Performance --- 1987
Folder 5: Correspondence with Middleburg Press, Carl Vander Meulen
Folder 6: Book, Style and Class by Sietze Buning --- 1982
Folder 7: Published articles --- 1950-1959
Folder 8-11: Published articles by S. Wiersma --- 1960-1985
Folder 12: Articles --- undated
Folder 13: Comments to M. Howard Rienstra on the poetry of Chad Walsh in "For the Time Being" --- 1981
Box 8
Folder 1: Essays regarding Patrick Whites Voss --- 1985
Folder 2: Essay, The Point of View of Shelley's "Ozymandias"
Folder 3: Essay, The Sound of Marianne Moore's "Silence"
Folder 4: Essays on the lyrics of Ben Jonson
Folder 5: Poems published in Dialogue --- 1975-1979
Folder 6-9: Poems by Sietze Buning --- 1960-1965, 1970-1986
Folder 10: Poems --- undated
Folder 11: Poem, "Teachers in General," class assignment (age 15) --- 1945
Folder 12: Play, "Baroque Permutations" by Sietze Buning
Folder 13: Student term papers with evaluations by Wiersma --- 1985
Folder 14: Letter re:  B. J. Haan and Dordt --- 1980
Folder 15: Villanelles
Folder 16: Sestinas
Folder 17: Bulletins and programs
Folder 18: Article, "The Age of Lowth and Ward: A Reassessment"
Folder 19: Article, "Creativity"
Folder 20: Article, "The Fact of Death and Experience of Dying"
Folder 21: Article, "God's Word in the Here and Now"
Folder 22: Article, "Franklin Park: Learning to See"
Folder 23: Article, "No Room for a Peace Planter," B. D. Dykstra
Folder 24: Article, "The Storytelling Family of God," Church Herald --- 1985
Folder 25: Article, "Teaching Literature to Humanize Christians"
Folder 26: Psalter Hymnal versifications --- 1987
Folder 27: Hymn and prayer Dutch translations
Folder 28: "Sietze Buning and the Delicate Lament"
Folder 29: Tape, Interview for Dutch Radio --- 1984
Box 9
Folder 1: Talks and speeches
Folder 2: Paper, "The Role of the Chairman in Improving Teaching"
Folder 3: Manuscript, "A Distinctively Christian Circus"
Folder 4: Book and play reviews --- 1964-1980
Folder 5: The Frisian Connection by Bernard Fridsma
Folder 6: "A Quick Guide to CRC Churchmanship"
Folder 7: Masques in Honor of Calvin College Colleagues
Folder 8: Seminar Murdoch University, "My Words Echo Thus in Your Mind," T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets --- 1985
Folder 9: "Litany of Praise," dedication program, Center for the Performing Arts --- 12 Oct 1980
Folder 10: Script, Purpaleanie "Shivaree" by Kurt Schemper --- 2003
Folder 11: "Five Reformed Vows" --- 1984
Folder 12: Translation, Listening to Dreams by H. R. Wijngaarden
Folder 13: Translation, "An Eye on Israel," by Hans Bouma
Folder 14: Translations by Sietze Buning, Stories of Jan Wolkers
Folder 15: Translation by Sietze Buning, All is Made New by Hanna Lam
Folder 16: Translation, "A Tourist Does Golgotha" by Gerrit Achterberg --- Nov 1972
Folder 17: Translation, Gerrit Achterberg, "Ballade of the Gasfitter" --- 1953
Folder 18: Address to Synod of Reformed Church in Australia --- 1985