Everyone judges a book by its cover, despite the old adage warning us not to. In reality, it's a high stakes component to get "right," to...

Reading through the Dutch documents—which miraculously have survived ~400 years, fire damage, and neglect—is like time traveling. They're...

Lana Waite Holden is the author of Catalyntje Trico: A Life in New Amsterdam , a deeply researched historical fiction novel about the...

Browse all titles here on my bookshop.org page where you can buy from independent booksellers. Historical Fiction: Catalyntje Trico: A...

In 1620, Jessé acutely felt the weight of expectations and a pang of jealousy in his heart as he watched the Mayflower depart. He and his...

1. The Island at the Center of the World by Russell Shorto Narrative non-fiction at its best. Pre-recquosite reading. It tells the...

My novel revolves around Sarah Rapalje, but at times, the story follows people connected to Sarah and their experiences of New Amsterdam...

What do the Revolutionary War, the founding of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and Brooklyn records from the Dutch days going missing have in...

Catalyna is an iconic OG (original grandmother) to millions. I don't know if a single blog post can scratch the surface. A whole book...

Did you know the oldest African American holiday dates back to Dutch NY? Pinkster or Pentecost was a gathering when African Americans...

In honor of Father's Day- this post is about Sarah's dad. In the previous What is a Walloon post, I described how Joris was born...

Born in 1625—Sarah Rapalje is the first child of European ancestry born in New Netherland—the Dutch colony that included parts of states...

I Introduced this term in my first post. It's the cultural and ethnic identity of several main characters in my novel, Salt People of the...

Based on the real life of an inaugural American woman determined to not only survive, but thrive, in the days when Manhattan was...