Wikipedia

List of Dutch Americans

The first Dutch settlers arrived in America in 1624 and founded a number of villages, a town called New Amsterdam and the Colony of New Netherland on the East Coast. New Amsterdam became New York when the Treaty of Breda was signed in 1667. According to the 2006 United States Census, more than 5 million Americans claim total or partial Dutch heritage. Today the majority of the Dutch Americans live in the U.S. states of California, New York, Michigan, Iowa, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Montana, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

This is a list of notable Dutch Americans, including both original immigrants who obtained American citizenship and Americans of full or partial Dutch ancestry.

List

Arts and literature

  • Earl W. Bascom (1906–1995), artist, sculptor, inventor, author, known as the "dean of rodeo cowboy sculpture"
  • Edward W. Bok (1863–1930), author, publisher, editor of Ladies Home Journal
  • Willem de Kooning (1904–1997), abstract expressionist painter
  • Peter DeVries (1910–1993), author and editor; wrote Tunnel of Love; editor and staffer for Poetry magazine and The New Yorker
  • Barthold Fles (1902–1989), literary agent, author, editor, translator and publisher
  • Charles Fort (1874–1932), author, wrote Book of the Damned, father of ufology, cryptozoology and critic/satirist of mainstream, dogmatic science
  • Frederick Franck (1909–2006), painter, sculptor, and author of 30 books who was known for his interest in human spirituality[1]
  • Marius Jansen (1922–2000), American academic, historian, and Emeritus Professor of Japanese History at Princeton University.
  • Herman Melville (1819–1891), author and poet, wrote Moby Dick[2]
  • Milton J. Nieuwsma (born 1941), author, film writer and producer
  • Erwin Timmers (born 1964), Dutch-American environmental "green artist", glass sculptor and teacher
  • Raeburn van Buren, magazine and comic strip illustrator best known for his work on the syndicated Abbie an' Slats
  • Edward Stratemeyer, (1862–1930), author
  • Janwillem van de Wetering (1931–2008), Dutch-American author of police procedurals, Zen autobiographies and children's books
  • Philip Van Doren Stern (1900–1984), author
  • Hendrik Willem Van Loon (1882–1944), author, historian and journalist
  • Gloria Vanderbilt (1924–2019), artist and socialite[3]
  • Walt Whitman (1819–1892), poet[4]

Entertainment

Dick Van Dyke
Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart)
Bruce Springsteen
  • Christina Aguilera (born 1980), singer, actress and model, partly of Dutch descent through her mother
  • Alison Brie (born 1982), actress, partly of Dutch descent through her father
  • Dan Aykroyd (born 1952), actor
  • Reiko Aylesworth (born 1972), actress, best known for playing Michelle Dessler in the television series 24
  • Earl Bascom (1906–1995), cowboy actor in "Lawless Rider" and a descendant of the Coerten and Cos families of New Jersey
  • Aaron Paul (born 1979), actor
  • Carmit Bachar (born 1974), member of the Pussycat Dolls, born to an Israeli father and Dutch-Indonesian mother
  • Shannon Bex (born 1980), member of Danity Kane; of Scottish and Dutch descent
  • Moon Bloodgood (born 1975), actress (father has a small amount of Dutch ancestry)
  • Humphrey Bogart (1899–1957), actor (father was of part Dutch descent; "Bogart" comes from the Dutch surname Bogaert, derived from "bogaard", short for "boomgaard", which means "orchard")
  • Hobart Bosworth (1867–1943), actor, director, writer and producer
  • Michelle Branch (born 1983), singer (Dutch through her maternal grandfather)
  • Marlon Brando (1924–2004), Hollywood film actor; father was of partial Dutch ancestry
  • Clancy Brown (born 1959), actor
  • Steve Buscemi (born 1957),[5] actor, writer and director, mother had some Dutch ancestry
  • Captain Beefheart (1941–2010), stage name of musician and artist Don Van Vliet
  • David Carradine (1936–2009), actor, distant Dutch ancestry
  • Ever Carradine (born 1974), actress and daughter of Robert Carradine, distant Dutch ancestry
  • John Carradine (1906–1988), actor, distant Dutch ancestry; descended from Dutch diamond merchant Kiliaen van Rensselaer, who settled the province of Albany, New York in the seventeenth century
  • Keith Carradine (born 1949), actor and son of John Carradine, distant Dutch ancestry
  • Robert Carradine (born 1954), actor, distant Dutch ancestry
  • Montgomery Clift (1920–1966), actor, of partial maternal Dutch ancestry
  • Wilhelmina Cooper (née Behmenburg) (1939–1980), model who began with Ford Models; at the peak of her success she founded her own agency, Wilhelmina Models
  • Jan de Bont (born 1943), film director, producer and cinematographer
  • Robert De Niro (born 1943), two-time Academy Award-winning actor, mother of part Dutch descent
  • Dane DeHaan (born 1986), film actor, paternal great-grandfather was of Dutch descent
  • Thomas Dekker (born 1987), actor, his paternal great-grandfather was of Dutch descent
  • Cecil B. DeMille (1881–1959), film director and producer
  • Emily Deschanel (born 1976), actress best known for her role as Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan in the comedy-crime drama series Bones, distant Dutch ancestry
  • Zooey Deschanel (born 1980), actress, distant Dutch ancestry
  • Joyce DeWitt (born 1949), actress
  • Michael Douglas (born 1944), actor and producer who won four Golden Globes and two Academy Awards, distant Dutch ancestry on mother's side
  • Clint Eastwood (born 1930), Academy Award-winning film actor, director and producer, distant Dutch ancestry
  • Frances Farmer (1913–1970), film actress, her mother was of Dutch ancestry
  • Melissa Ferlaak (born 1979), soprano singer and vocal coach, distant Dutch ancestry (original spelling of her surname was Verlaak)
  • Nina Foch (1924–2008), film actress, father was from the Netherlands
  • Bridget Fonda (born 1964), actress, daughter of Peter Fonda, best known for her roles in The Godfather Part III and Jackie Brown, father of part Dutch descent
  • Henry Fonda (1905–1982), Academy Award-winning film actor, father of Peter and Jane Fonda, was of part Dutch descent
  • Jane Fonda (born 1937), Academy Award-winning actress, daughter of Henry Fonda, father was of part Dutch descent
  • Peter Fonda (born 1940), actor, best known for his role as "Wyatt" in the 1960s counterculture classic Easy Rider, father was of part Dutch descent
  • Ace Frehley (born 1951), musician, Dutch on paternal side
  • Troy Garity (born 1973), actor; son of Jane Fonda; best known for his roles in the television movie Soldier's Girl and the Barbershop films
  • Janina Gavankar (born 1980), actress of Indian and Dutch ancestry
  • George Gaynes (1917–2016), actor and singer, had a Dutch father
  • Lauren German (born 1978), film actress[6]
  • Paul Giamatti (born 1967), actor, distant Dutch ancestry
  • Mark-Paul Gosselaar (born 1974), actor, perhaps best known for his role as Zack Morris on NBC's Saved by the Bell; his father is of Dutch Jewish and German descent, and his mother is of Dutch-Indonesian descent[7]
  • Lucas Grabeel (born 1984), American actor, distant Dutch ancestry, best known for his role as Ryan Evans in High School Musical
  • Betty Grable (1916–1973), actress, singer, dancer and pin-up girl whose sensational bathing-suit photo became the number one pinup of the World War II era[8]
  • Bella Hadid (born 1996), model
  • Gigi Hadid (born 1995), model
  • Yolanda Hadid (born 1964), television personality and model
  • Rebecca Hall (born 1982), maternal grandmother was Dutch
  • Audrey Hepburn (1929–1993), actress; her mother, Baroness Ella van Heemstra, was a Dutch aristocrat
Audrey Hepburn

Journalism

Anderson Cooper
  • Anderson Cooper (born 1967), CNN journalist, mother is Dutch-American socialite Gloria Vanderbilt[18]
  • Walter Cronkite (1916–2009), CBS Evening News journalist
  • Watson Spoelstra (1910–1999), sportswriter for the Detroit News, grandfather of Erik Spoelstra
  • Greta Van Susteren (born 1954), Fox News journalist
  • Michiel Vos (born 1970), journalist, made documentary Diary of a Political Tourist

Military

Hoyt Vandenberg
  • Cornplanter (John Abeel III) (died 1836), Seneca war chief who fought in the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. Great-grandson of Johannes Abeel.
  • Eugene DeBruin (fl. 1933–1968), USAF sergeant; disappeared over Laos in 1968
  • John L. DeWitt (1880–1962), US four-star general during World War II
  • John Bell Hood (1831–1879), Confederate general during the American Civil War
  • James Longstreet (1821–1904), Confederate Lieutenant-General in the American Civil War
  • Jack Robert Lousma (born 1936), retired United States Marine Corps colonel, aeronautical engineer, NASA astronaut (member of the second manned crew on the Skylab space station in 1973, commander STS-3, the third Space Shuttle mission), and politician (R)
  • Thomas S. Moorman (1910–1997), United States Air Force Academy
  • Thomas S. Moorman, Jr. (born 1940), Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force
  • David Petraeus (born 1952), US four-star general; Commander in Iraq in 2007; his father is an immigrant from the Netherlands
  • Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. (1887–1944), US brigadier general; Medal of Honor; fought in both world wars
  • Henry Rutgers (1745–1830), American Revolutionary War hero
  • Robert M. Shoemaker (born 1924), US four-star general during the Vietnam War
  • Eric Schoomaker (born 1948), US three-star general; Surgeon General of the United States Army
  • Peter Schoomaker (born 1946), US four-star general; Chief of Staff of the United States Army
  • Philip John Schuyler (1733–1804), general in the American Revolution and US Senator from New York
  • Earl Van Dorn (1820–1863), Confederate general during the American Civil War
  • James Van Fleet (1892–1992), US four-star general; Army General during World War II and the Korean War
  • Cortlandt Van Rensselaer Schuyler (1900–1993), US Army four-star general; served as Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe from 1953 to 1959
  • Daniel Van Voorhis (1878–1956), United States Army Lieutenant General
  • Isaac Van Wart (1759–1828), militiaman from the state of New York during the American Revolution; in 1780, he participated in the capture of Major John André
  • Alexander Archer Vandegrift (1887–1973), US four-star general; Medal of Honor; 18th Commandant, US Marine Corps
  • Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg (1899–1954), US four-star general during World War II; Second Chief of Staff, US Air Force Director Central Intelligence Agency
  • Jocko Willink (born 1971), US Navy SEAL retired officer, podcaster and author

Politics

Martin van Buren
Hamilton Fish
Theodore Roosevelt
Arthur Vandenberg
Franklin D. Roosevelt

Sciences

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Businessmen

  • Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794–1877), founder of Vanderbilt University
  • Thomas Edison (1847–1931), inventor and businessman; his father was of Dutch descent
  • Anthony Fokker (1890–1939), aviation pioneer and aircraft manufacturer
  • Hank Meijer (born 1952), CEO US supermarket chain Meijer

Sports

Bert Blyleven
Erik Spoelstra
  • David Aardsma (born 1981), Major League Baseball player currently with the Seattle Mariners
  • Don Ackerman (1930–2011), NBA player
  • Rick Adelman (born 1946), NBA player and head coach
  • Lance Armstrong (born 1971), Professional cyclist
  • Earl W. Bascom (1906–1995), Hall of Fame rodeo champion and rodeo pioneer known as the "father of modern rodeo."
  • Odell Beckham Jr. (born 1992), NFL player; mother is part Dutch
  • Hank Beenders (1916–2003), NBA player
  • Bert Blyleven (born 1951), Major League Baseball player, born in the Netherlands
  • Kiki Cuyler (1898–1950), Major League Baseball right fielder from 1921 until 1938
  • Matt den Dekker (born 1987), Major League Baseball center fielder
  • Vern Den Herder (born 1948), NFL defensive end with Miami Dolphins 1971–82, two-time Super Bowl champ
  • Sergiño Dest (born 2000), soccer player
  • Lenny Dykstra (born 1963), award-winning professional baseball player
  • Robert Eenhoorn (born 1968), Major League Baseball; played for New York Yankees, Anaheim Angels and New York Mets
  • Rikkert Faneyte (born 1969), Major League Baseball player from 1993 to 1996 for the San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers
  • Matt Grevers (born 1985), Olympic swimmer
  • Cole Hamels (born 1983), Major League Baseball pitcher currently with the Texas Rangers
  • Harald Hasselbach (born 1967), NFL player
  • Shea Hillenbrand (born 1975), Major League Baseball player
  • Jim Kaat (born 1938), Major League Baseball pitcher, three-time All Star, 16-time Gold Glove winner, and television broadcaster
  • Kyle Korver (born 1981), NBA basketball player
  • Arie Luyendyk (born 1953), auto racing driver, twice winner of the Indianapolis 500
  • Mark Mulder (born 1977), Major League Baseball pitcher
  • Swen Nater (born 1950), ABA and NBA player, the only player ever to lead both the NBA and ABA in rebounding
  • Kirk Nieuwenhuis (born 1987), Major League Baseball player for the Milwaukee Brewers
  • Jay Riemersma (born 1973), NFL player for the Buffalo Bills
  • Bas Rutten (born 1965), MMA fighter and color commentator
  • Curt Schilling (born 1966), Major League Baseball pitcher
  • Ryan Sheckler (born 1989), skateboarder
  • Jack Sikma (born 1955), Hall of Fame NBA player, averaged 15.6 points and 9.8 rebounds during 14 seasons; former assistant coach at Minnesota Timberwolves
  • Luke Sikma (born 1989), basketball player
  • Julia Smit (born 1987), Olympic swimmer
  • Erik Spoelstra (born 1970), head coach for the Miami Heat, during their NBA championship win in 2012
  • Earnie Stewart (born 1969), soccer player who was a regular midfielder for the US national team from 1990s until his retirement in 2005[30]
  • Greg Stiemsma (born 1985), NBA player
  • Jermaine Van Buren (born 1980), Major League Baseball player
  • Tejay van Garderen (born 1988), cyclist
  • Jeff Van Gundy (born 1962), NBA color commentator, former NBA head coach for the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets
  • Stan Van Gundy (born 1959), current NBA head coach for the Detroit Pistons
  • Keith Van Horn (born 1975), NBA player
  • James van Riemsdyk (born 1989), NHL player for the Toronto Maple Leafs
  • Trevor van Riemsdyk (born 1991), NHL player for the Chicago Blackhawks
  • Dale Van Sickel (1907–1977), football player, actor and stuntman
  • Andy Van Slyke (born 1960), Major League Baseball player, first base coach for the Detroit Tigers
  • Scott Van Slyke (born 1986), Major League Baseball player
  • Tiffany van Soest (born 1989), Muay Thai kickboxer
  • Kyle Vanden Bosch (born 1978), former NFL player
  • Leighton Vander Esch (born 1996), linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys
  • Johnny Vander Meer (1914–1997), baseball player, the only pitcher in major league history to pitch two consecutive no-hitters
  • Logan Vander Velden (born 1971), NBA player
  • John Vander Wal (born 1966), Major League Baseball player
  • Peter Vanderkaay (born 1984), Olympic swimmer
  • Justin Verlander (born 1983), Major League Baseball pitcher for the Detroit Tigers
  • Tiger Woods (born 1975), professional golfer

Theology

Fictional characters

Others

  • Jack Dangermond, founder of ESRI, a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software company
  • Alfred Peet (1920–2007), founder of Peet's Coffee and Tea, credited with starting the gourmet coffee revolution in the United States
  • Kiliaen van Rensselaer (Dutch merchant) (fl. 1596–1643), founder and director of the Dutch West India Company and instrumental in the establishment of New Netherland
  • Leslie van Houten, former Manson family serving life sentence for murder

References

  1. ^ [1] Dutch born
  2. ^ [2] Melville "came from Dutch and English stock"
  3. ^ [3] Vanderbilt "is of Dutch, Chilean, Spanish, and Irish descent."
  4. ^ [4] Whitman "came from Dutch and English stock"
  5. ^ "RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Dowling Family Genealogy". ancestry.com.
  6. ^ [5] "German is a Dutch name, born and raised in California."
  7. ^ Referred to as "Indonesian-Dutch" at "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved May 17, 2006., "Archived copy". Archived from the original on August 14, 2007. Retrieved August 15, 2007. father is Dutch and mother is Indonesian
  8. ^ [6] Grable has described herself as "Dutch, German, Irish and English"
  9. ^ "Ancestry of Angelina Jolie". wargs.com.
  10. ^ "RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Dowling Family Genealogy". ancestry.com.
  11. ^ "RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Dowling Family Genealogy". ancestry.com.
  12. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 21, 2006. Retrieved July 28, 2006. described as "Dutch" by ethnicity notes that her mother, Elizabeth Kuizenga, was a second-generation Dutch American who met her father, Jaap Romijn, who was Dutch, on a trip to the Netherlands
  13. ^ "David Conover's Famous Cousins – Person Page 384". conovergenealogy.com.
  14. ^ [7] Dutch-born
  15. ^ [8] born in Amsterdam to Dutch father and American mother, moved to the U.S in 1987; also Jewish by heritage
  16. ^ a b "Formed around 1975 in Pasadena, California by Dutch brothers Eddie and Alex..."
  17. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 2, 2010. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  18. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved November 16, 2006. Cooper "is of mostly English, Irish, and Dutch ancestry"
  19. ^ "Web Hosting Control Panel Login". fortklock.com.
  20. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 22, 2009. Retrieved June 28, 2009. "Wealth is relative, and the value of the dollar is far from fixed. So this ranking of American plutocrats measures their total wealth as a fraction of U.S. GDP at their time of death (or for Gates, 2006)."
  21. ^ [9] "Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands awarded Congressman Vander Jagt a Knighthood in the House of Orange in 1986. The Netherlands Amity Trust Association in 1991 named him the Outstanding Dutch-American of the Year."
  22. ^ "Dutch Nobel Prize Winners". funtrivia.com.
  23. ^ [10] Dutch-born
  24. ^ [11] Dutch-born, naturalized US citizen
  25. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 19, 2006. Retrieved May 17, 2006. Listing under "Famous Dutch Astronomers & Physicists"
  26. ^ [12] Dutch born
  27. ^ [13] Benjamin Spock – described as Dutch-American
  28. ^ "Page Not Found". jsonline.com. Archived from the original on January 15, 2006.
  29. ^ [14] "van den Berg, Lodewijk, born in 1932, Dutch-American astronaut."
  30. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 22, 2006. Retrieved July 28, 2006. dual Dutch-American citizen
  31. ^ [15] "Louis Berkhof was born in Emmen, Netherlands October 13, 1873."
  32. ^ [16] "Anthony A. Hoekema was born in the Netherlands and immigrated to the United States in 1923."
  33. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on August 4, 2009. Retrieved August 4, 2009. "Herman Hoeksema was born on March 12, 1886 from Johanna Bakema and Tiele Hoeksema in Hoogezand, in the province of Groningen, the Netherlands."
  34. ^ John G. Stackhouse. "Mind Over Skepticism". ChristianityToday.com.
  35. ^ [17] raised in Dutch-American community in Dutch Reformed Church
  36. ^ [18] "the young Van Til studied the works of fellow Dutchman, Abraham Kuyper..."
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