ARCRAWFO-L Archives

From: Nan & George Wolf <>
Subject: Follow up on Holland Pilgrim Site Threatened
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 03:42:42 -0400

Hi:
I rec'd this today.

Hi Nan- thanks for the alert on this story.

"This website , which includes pictures, adds some interesting information
to
the story:
http://www.delanoye.org/Vrouwenkerk.cfm "

So, I visited the site and it has good photos of the Leiden site plus
drawings of what preservation groups would like
to do with the site. It also has a sample letter which I have posted below
and several addresses of people who will be making the decision concerning
this site..

Regards,
Nan Wolf

=======================================
George DeLano, organizer of the local effort to save the Vrouwenkerk,
writes:

"The DELANO KINDRED has written a letter to the Raad van State, and Dr.
Bangs indicated that more letters or messages of concern would be very
helpful in the effort to save the ruins. Here is a theme you might use to
improvise upon in writing your own letter or message.

'Visualize traveling to Leiden at sometime in the future to see the sites
important to your heritage. Visualize taking your children or grandchildren
and not being able to see these ruins where their ancestor was baptized 396
years ago. Wouldn't be distressing to find that the City of Leiden had let
the ruins of the church of our Walloon ancestors disappear. Weave those
thoughts into this basic theme in the letter outlined below. Please help.
You can make a difference!'"

Please send your letters and email to the following (sample letter
follows):

Netherlands Government Information Service
General Director: E. Brouwers
Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst
Postbus 20009
2500 EA Den Haag
NETHERLANDS
Telephone: 070-3564000

Dr. Cynthia P. Schneider
U.S. Ambassador to The Netherlands
Lange Voorhout 102
2514 EJ The Hague
the Netherlands
Phone: +31 70 310-9209
Fax: +31 70 361-4688

Office of Culture
Royal Netherlands Embassy
4200 Linnean Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 2008
His Excellency Joris M. Vos
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
(202) 244-5300 Phone
(202) 362-3430 Fax


Dutch National Service for Monument Protection
Broederplein 41
3703 CD Zeist
Postbus 1001 - 3700 Zeist
The Netherlands

Ms. drs. M. H. Schultz van Haegen-Maas Geesteranus
Mr. Alexander Pechtold
City of Leiden
Postbus 9100
2300 PC Leiden
The Netherlands


Leiden Tourist Office


Financial contributions may be sent to
Dr. Jeremy D. Bangs, Director
Leiden American Pilgrim Museum
Mandenmakersteeg 11
2311 ED Leiden, NETHERLANDS

- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----

Dear __________,

I was distressed to read recent reports that the City of Leiden is
planning the further destruction of medieval and seventeenth century
buildings and ruins, which are of tremendous value as historical monuments.
As you know, many of these structures have strong association with the
Pilgrims and refugees driven out of Belgium and northern France during the
Eighty Years' War, among them are the ruins of the Vrouwenkerk, a church
that was granted to a congregation of about 6000 Walloon refugees.

Led by John Robinson, a former Fellow of Corpus Christi College,
Cambridge, these Nonconformists crossed the North Sea in the hope of
practicing their religion without hindrance in Holland. They moved a year
later to Leiden, one of the Republic's most important and prosperous
centers, "a fair and bewtifull citie". King James instructed his ambassador
to make life difficult for his Nonconformist subjects, but the city fathers
of Leiden gave them protection and allowed them to settle. They were to
live there for the next 11 years.

The Elders - Robinson, William Brewster and Thomas Brewer - held posts
at the University of Leiden. They conducted their services in Robinson's
house in De Groene Poort in the Kloksteeg. Brewster and Brewer set up a
printing house in Pieterskerkchoorsteeg, a street still in existence today,
where they printed religious books and pamphlets for distribution in
England.

Several church members joined the Pilgrims, including Philippe de la
Noye who was baptized there in 1603, and Francis Cooke and Hester Mahieu
who were married there the same year. Traveling by canal boat to
Delfshaven, a port near Rotterdam, they boarded the ill-fated Speedwell to
cross the Atlantic. In Southampton they transferred to the Mayflower, where
they joined the Pilgrims who immigrated to Plymouth in New England. Among
their descendants are U.S. Presidents Grant, Roosevelt and Bush. John
Robinson stayed in Leiden, where he died in 1625.

It is surprising that while interest in the Walloon contribution to
the Pilgrim movement is growing that Leiden, the "City of Refugees", is
planning the destruction of the remains of this church, while at the same
time encouraging tourist interest in Leiden's past. This unfortunate action
appears to be contradictory in many respects. Conserving and maintaining
the ruins of this structure in a small, well cared-for public square would
be preferable and, in the long run, more financially beneficial to the
city.

I thank you for your efforts and consideration in saving this
important monument to the Walloon Refugees and the Pilgrims.


Sincerely yours,

Name
Address
Telephone
========================================
We would like to thank the New England Historic Genealogical Society for
their help in promoting the preservation of the Vrouwekerk in "New England
Ancestors" magazine, the The Olive Tree Genealogy pages at RootsWeb for
featuring this story on their front page, the United Church of Christ for
their articles and petition, the Episcopal Church of Our Saviour for their
Justice and Peace Advocacy section, the BoatFolks Genealogical Society, the
Pilgrim Hall Museum for their "What's new from Leiden?" page, Muriel
Cushing, and Messrs. George DeLano and Dr. Jeremy Bangs for their
continuing efforts to preserve this important landmark. THANK YOU!

If your Website has linked to ours, please let us know!

The DELANO Kindred, Inc.
PO Box 2635
Duxbury, MA 02331

© 2000, Delano Kindred and J.D. Bangs

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