Hope College: Western Theological Seminary: Joint Archives of Holland: Broer D. Dykstra

Immigrant from Friesland, the Netherlands; Hope College class of 1896 (A.B.) and 1900 (A.M.); Western Theological Seminary class of 1900. Collection contains numerous articles, booklets, commentaries, and other written materials. The biography section includes much information about his life, including a rather extensive statement of his philosophy in his autobiography. There are also several of his reports to Classis Dakota included in the collection.

Broer Doekeles Dykstra was born in Pingjum, Friesland, the Netherlands, in 1871 and emigrated to the United States in 1882 with his family. He was educated at Orange City Academy, Hope College, Western Theological Seminary, and Yale University, and was ordained to the ministry in 1904. In 1909, he was married to Nellie Schippers and eventually he fathered nine children.

He served as pastor of the Platte Reformed Church (1906-1913), and as missionary of Classis Dakota (1913-1919). He taught at Platte Christian School (1919-1923) and the Harrison Academy (1923-1928). He became he editor of the Volksvriend in 1928 and served in that position until 1934. The years from 1934 to 1949 were devoted to preaching, lecturing, and writing. He wrote and published nine bound books, including several in the Dutch language, and many articles and pamphlets. He returned to the Volksvriend in 1949 and served there until his retirement in 1952. He died in Orange City, Iowa, on March 29, 1955, at the age of 83.

The Broer D. Dykstra collection consists almost entirely of samples of his writings. It contains numerous articles, booklets, commentaries, and other written materials. The biography section includes much information about his life, including a rather extensive statement of his philosophy in his autobiography. There are also several of his reports to Classis Dakota included in the collection.

“Can A Pacifist Be Reformed?" 1941
“The Challenge of Conscience,” n. d.
“Church and State in War,” n. d.
“The Church in the Wilderness,” 1944
“Classis Sunshine,” 1915
“Communism – Catholicism,” 1950
“The Continuity of the Reformed Church,” 1950
“Crusades,” 1944
“Dakota Jottings,” 1915
“Dakota Letter,” 1916
“Education by the Word,” n. d.
“The Fall of Eve” (Poem), 1946
“For the Cause of Peace,” 1945
“From the ‘Sunshine’ Classis,” 1914
“Influence of the Dutch upon the Life of Sioux County,” n. d.
“Involuntary Servitude,” 1944
“The Little Brown Church,” n. d.
“Thee Liturgical Revision,” 1953
“Memory,” 1892
“The Single Eye,” 1942
“Organic Union?” 1949
“The Prayer that Changed the World,” n. d.
“Pure Pacifism,” 1935
“The Reformed Church and the Federal Council,” 1931
“Rome or Geneva?” 1936
“Saving Minorities,” 1943
“The Statesmanship of Jesus,” 1943
“The Story of the Bible,” n. d.
“The Supremacy of Conscience,” 1942
“To Be or Not To Be!” 1949
“To the Women of the Christian Temperance Union,” n. d.
“Trinitarian Humanity,” n. d.
“Valedictory,” n. d.
“The War of Peace,” 1946
“Where Should the General Synod Meet?” 1952

Accession No.:	W88-0037.3
Provenance:	Broer D. Dykstra
Donor:	Unknown
Processed by:	Lee Witteveen, October 1998