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Collection Overview
Abstract
Professor of English at Calvin College. The collection includes class notes; papers; essays; articles; speeches; chapel talk; lectures; a syllabus for freshman English; book reviews; a thesis entitled "E. T. A. Hoffmann in England and America"; a script for a Christian Reformed Church Centennial Pageant entitled "A Tree of Life"; a World War II report detailing the South Pacific; a history entitled "Early Dutch Settlements in South Dakota"; a paper entitled "Memoirs of Rien J. Zylstra"; and poetry readings. [See also the Campus Titles Database.]
Biographical Note
Henry Zylstra was born in Platte, South Dakota on April 4, 1909. Zylstra first attended Grundy College, but later enrolled at Calvin College where he received his A.B. in 1931. Zylstra remained at Calvin for another year, assisting in the subjects of English, German, and speech. By 1932 he received a scholarship to attend State University of Iowa to earn his Master's degree in German. For the next three years, Zylstra taught English for Western Christian and Grand Rapids Christian high schools. During this time, he also served as a part-time English assistant at Calvin College.
Zylstra went on to further his own education at Harvard University where he earned his Ph.D. in 1940. He remained at Harvard for the next year as a research bibliographer. In 1941 Zylstra accepted the call from Calvin College as their Instructor of English and German. During the time Zylstra was promoted to Associate Professor, World War II broke out. He served as 1st Lieutenant in the Pacific Theatre until 1946. In 1950 Zylstra became professor and chairman of the Department of English at Calvin College. During his career, Zylstra was also chairman of the Division of Languages, Literature, and Arts; Chairman of Library Committee; and member of the educational policy committee. He also served as president of Student Council and on the Chimes staff.
Zylstra received a Fullbright grant to lecture at the Free University in Amsterdam for a year. In 1956, while waiting for a bus in Amstelveen, the Netherlands, Zylstra had a heart attack and passed away at the age of 47. He was survived by his wife, Mildred (Reitsema) and two daughters.
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Biographical Information],
[
Series 2: General Papers, 1930-1984],
[Series 3: Correspondence, 1932-1944],
[
All]
- Series 3: Correspondence --- 1932-1944
- Box 3
- Folder 1: "The Golden Fleece," by Mildred Louise Reitsema --- 1932
- Folder 2: To Mildred --- Feb.-July 1932
- Folder 3: To Mildred --- Aug-Sept 1932
- Folder 4: To Mildred --- Oct 1932
- Folder 5: To Mildred --- Nov-Dec 1932
- Folder 6: To Mildred --- Jan-Feb 1933
- Folder 7: To Mildred --- Mar-May
- Folder 8: To Mildred --- June-Sept 1933
- Folder 9: To Mildred --- Oct-Dec 1933
- Folder 10: To Mildred --- 1934
- Folder 11: To Mildred 1935, plus letters --- undated
- Box 4
- Folder 1: Empty envelopes --- 1933-1935
- Box 5
- Folder 1: From Mildred Zandstra to Helen VanderMeer --- 1939
- Folder 2: From Mildred Zandstra to Helen VanderMeer --- 1940
- Folder 3: Notes on letters from Mildred Zandstra to Helen VanderMeer
- Folder 4: To Mildred from Fort McClelland, Alabama --- Sep 1943
- Folder 5: To Mildred --- Oct 1943
- Folder 6: To Mildred --- Nov 1943
- Folder 7: To Mildred --- Dec 1943
- Folder 8: To Mildred from Fort Ord, California --- Jan-Feb 1944
- Folder 9: To Mildred --- Mar- Apr 1944
- Folder 10: To Mildred from New Guinea --- May-July 1944
- Folder 11: To Mildred from New Guinea --- May-Aug 1944
- Folder 12: To Mildred from New Guinea --- Aug 1944
- Folder 13: To Mildred from New Guinea --- Sep 1944
- Folder 14: To Mildred from New Guinea and the Philippines --- Oct 1944
- Box 6
- Folder 1: To Mildred from the Philippines --- Nov 1944
- Folder 2: To Mildred from the Philippines --- Nov-Dec 1944
- Folder 3: Letters from the Philippines --- 1945
- Folder 4: Letters from the Philippines --- Mar 1945
- Folder 5: Letters from the Philippines --- Apr 1945
- Folder 6: Letters from the Philippines --- May 1945
- Folder 7: Letters from the Philippines --- Jun 1945
- Folder 8: Letters from Luzon --- Jul 1945
- Folder 9: Letters from Luzon --- Aug 1945
- Folder 10: Letters from Luzon --- Sep 1945
- Folder 11: Letters from Japan --- Oct-Dec 1945
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Biographical Information],
[
Series 2: General Papers, 1930-1984],
[Series 3: Correspondence, 1932-1944],
[
All]
