A participant in the conference as well as its guest of honor, Swierenga had completed his
scheduled address immediately before the consul general spoke. "Now I truly am speechless."
Swierenga said. "Thanks to the ambassador, the consul general, and the queen. I can't
believe it."
The event, "The Dutch-American Experience: A Celebration of the Career of Robert P.
Swierenga," featured a series of talks by scholars from throughout the United States and the
Netherlands. The conference grew out of the planning for a book, The Dutch-American
Experience: Essays in Honor of Robert P. Swierenga, which was presented to Swierenga earlier
in the day, also as a surprise.
The royal decoration was proposed to the Dutch government by Larry Wagenaar and Hans
Krabbendam. They also co-edited the book The Dutch-American Experience: Essays in Honor of
Robert P. Swierenga, and co-coordinated the June 9 conference held in the Maas Center on
the campus of Hope College.
Swierenga has been at Hope since 1996, serving as a senior research fellow with the college's
A.C. Van Raalte Institute and as an adjunct professor of history. He had previously been a
memeber of the history faculty at Kent State, where he served from 1968 until retiring in 1996.
He has written or edited more than a dozen books and numerous journal articles, and has lectured
widely on issues related to the Dutch in America. He holds his bachelor's degree from Calvin
College, where he was an assistant professor from 1965 to 1968, his master's from Northwestern
University, and his doctorate from the University of Iowa.
(Reprinted by permission of the Joint Archives of Holland)
