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Collection Overview
Abstract
Family historian and genealogist. The collection includes the supporting material of the book, The Life of a Dutch American: George Roelofs, i.e., drafts, photographs, letters, and photocopy images of photographs, plus correspondence, family member information, and research material.
[Note: see also Heritage Hall books The Life of a Dutch American: George Roelofs, 1853-1919, of Zwolle, the Netherlands, and Grand Rapids, Michigan: His Ancestry, Life, and Descendants with Photographs, Maps, and Genealogical Charts by Cora Helen Roelofs Verbrugge (CT274 .R635 V47 1994) and Brieven uit het Verleden: Samenstelling en Redactie door Frank Verbrugge (Letters from the Past: Compiled and Edited by Frank Verbrugge) (CT274 .V47 B75 1981). See also Frank Verbrugge. Papers – collection 529]
Biographical Note
Cora Helen Tromp Roelofs (11 Jan 1918 - 09 Jan 2002) was born in Grand Rapids to George (nee Gerrit) Roelofs (1853-1919) and Nellie Tromp (1878-1939). He was a real estate dealer, insurance agent, and editor/publisher of Een Stem des Volks, who had emigrated in 1875. He and his first wife, Mary Dijkema (1857-1912), had five children. In 1913 he and Nellie Tromp married and they had two children, Robert (1914-1985) and Nellie. After George’s death, Nellie married Theodore (nee Tiddo) Wolthorn (1880-1972), whose first wife, Wilhelmina Johnson (1883-1918), had also died.
Cora graduated from Grand Rapids Central High School in 1936 and attended Calvin College, there meeting Frank Verbrugge (1913-1985). The two married in 1940 and in 1946 settled in Northfield, Minnesota, where Frank served on the faculty of Carelton College. In 1956, the family moved to St. Paul when Frank joined the faculty of the University of Minnesota. After helping her husband with his family’s history, Wither Thou Goest: The Life and Story of Jacobus and Maria Verbrugge in Minnesota, she began collecting material about and writing the history of her family, The Life of a Dutch American, George Roelofs, which she finished after Frank died. Frank and Cora had four children—Anne Louise (married Tomas Hughes Martin), Lois Marie (married Elmer Grant Gilbert), Robert Roelofs (married Noreen Elizabeth Hughes), and Martha Helen Verbrugge.
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: The Life of a Dutch American, George Roelofs],
[
Series 2: Correspondence],
[
Series 3: Family Members' Information],
[
Series 4: Research Material],
[Series 5: Photographs, People],
[
Series 6: Slides, 1950-1986],
[
All]
- Series 5: Photographs, People
- Box 19
- Folder 1: Bonnet, Lenore
- Folder 2: Dykema: Cornelia, Cornelius, Henrietta
- Folder 3: Dykema, Mary
- Folder 4: Glazer, Johanna
- Folder 5: Griffioen: Jantje, Marinus
- Folder 6: Leduc, no first name
- Folder 7: LeLoux: Jan B. P., Maria J.
- Folder 8: Michels, Catherine
- Folder 9: Mollenkamp, Treuw
- Folder 10: Notting, Henrietta; Dykema, Cornelius
- Folder 11: Ornee, Elizabeth
- Folder 12: Ravenhorst: Arie, Marie
- Folder 13: Roelofs: Ebertha, Helen, Irene
- Folder 14: Roelofs, Egbert
- Folder 15: Roelofs, Flora
- Folder 16: Roelofs, George
- Folder 17: Roelofs: Henrietta, Flora
- Folder 18: Reolofs, Irene, Henrietta
- Folder 19: Roelofs family: Cora, Ebertha, Flora, George, Henrietta, Howard, Irene, Mary, Robert
- Folder 20: Scheepmacher, Jaantje
- Folder 21: Segers, Aagje
- Folder 22: Scholten, Frans
- Folder 23: Tromp: Anna, Charles, Cornelius, Fannie, Franciscus J., Frank T., Gladys, Govert C., Jean B. John, Mary, Robert, Robert H. C., Robert H. C. Jr., Robertus, Rosa, Tena
- Folder 24: Van Diepeningen: Dirkje, Mina, Martine, Neeltje
- Folder 25: Van Emmerick, Aagje
- Folder 26: Van Zetten, Alexander
- Folder 27: Visse, Maria
- Folder 28: Wolthorn: Cora, Henry, Nellie, Robert, Sarah, Theodore, Wilbur
- Box 20
- Folder 1: Unidentified people
- Folder 2: Canal Street, Grand Rapids, MI
- Folder 3: Lisse, Netherlands
- Folder 4: Little Portion Friary, Mt. Sinai, NY
- Folder 5: Macatawa Park, MI
- Folder 6: Middleburg, Netherlands
- Folder 7: Roelofs house, Grand Rapids, MI
- Folder 8: Tombstones: Roelofs, Tromp, Nieuwenhuis, Wolthorn
- Folder 9: Vreeland, Netherlands
- Folder 10: Zwolle, Netherlands
- Folder 11: SS Adriatic (ship of the White Star Line)
- Folder 12: Roelofs, Cora: high school graduation --- 1936
- Folder 13: Verbrugge, Frank; Roelofs, Cora --- 1946
- Folder 14: Verbrugge, Cora --- 1990
- Folder 15: Roelofs family photos
- Folder 16: Tromp, R. H. C --- 1881, 1905
- Folder 17: Leloux, F., and Sonne, N., album
- Folder 18: Family Christmas pictures, CDs
- Folder 21
- Item 1: Family photo albums --- 1940s-1955
- Item 2: Faculty Women's Club Records --- 1968-1970
- Folder 22: Family photo albums --- 1941-1955
- Folder 23: Family photo albums --- 1956-1970
- Folder 24: Family photo albums --- 1977-1984
- Folder 25: Family photo albums --- 1991-1994
- Folder 26: Family photo albums --- 1995-2001
- Folder 27: Family photo albums of Netherlands trips
- Folder 28: Scrapbooks --- 1918-1940
- Folder 29: Scrapbooks --- 1940-1948
- Folder 30: Family photo albums --- 1918-1940, 1932-1946, 1971-1976
- Folder 31: Family photo albums --- 1985-1990
- Item 1: Maps of city of Grand Rapids, Michigan --- 1899
- Item 2: Copies of "Een Stem Des Volks" --- undated
- Box 21
- Item 1: Family Photo Album --- 1913-1988
- Item 2: Faculty Women's Club Records --- 1968-1970
- Box 22
- Item 1: Photo Album: Helen and Frank Verbrugge --- 1941-1945
- Item 2: Photo Album: Helen and Frank Verbrugge --- 1946-1950
- Item 3: Photo Album: Helen and Frank Verbrugge --- 1951-1955
- Box 23
- Item 1: Photo Album: Helen and Frank Verbrugge --- 1956-1960
- Item 2: Photo Album: Helen and Frank Verbrugge --- 1961-1965
- Item 3: Photo Album: Helen and Frank Verbrugge --- 1966-1970
- Box 24
- Item 1: Family Photo Album --- 1977-1982
- Item 2: Family Photo Album --- 1983-1984
- Box 25
- Item 1: Family Photo Album --- 1991-1992
- Item 2: Family Photo Album --- 1993-1994
- Box 26
- Item 1: Family Photo Album --- 1995-1997
- Item 2: Family Photo Album --- 1998-2001
- Box 27
- Item 1: Photo Album: Anniversary Party and Trip to the Netherlands --- c. 1993
- Box 28
- Item 1: Scrapbook I Memoirs --- Jan 1918-Jun 1936
- Item 2: Scrapbook II Memoirs --- Jun 1936-Aug 1938
- Item 3: Scrapbook III Memoirs --- Sep 1938-Dec 1940
- Box 29
- Item 1: Scrapbook IV Memoirs --- Dec 1940-Apr 1943
- Item 2: Scrapbook V Memoirs --- Mar 1943- Feb 1946
- Item 3: Scrapbook VI Memoirs --- Feb 1946-Jan 1948
- Box 30
- Item 1: Scrapbook of Dutch Relatives --- 1932-1946
- Item 2: Roelofs Family Album --- 1918-1940
- Item 3: Family Photo Album --- 1971-1976
- Box 31
- Item 1: Family Photo Album --- 1985-1987
- Item 2: Family Photo Album --- 1988-1990
- Item 3: Photo Album --- 1989-2002
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: The Life of a Dutch American, George Roelofs],
[
Series 2: Correspondence],
[
Series 3: Family Members' Information],
[
Series 4: Research Material],
[Series 5: Photographs, People],
[
Series 6: Slides, 1950-1986],
[
All]
