What's Dutch » Dutch Ancestry

Notable Dutch Americans

rickwhelan — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 17:36:56 +0000

LITERATURE

Janwillem van de Wetering – Renowned for detective fiction; his most popular writing was Grijpstra and de Gier
Edward W. Bok – Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiographer and magazine editor credited with coining the term “living room.”
Herman Melville – American novelist who created masterpieces of American and world literature, such as Moby-Dick and Billy Budd.
John Updike – American novelist, poet, literary critic.

MEDIA/ENTERTAINMENT/SPORTS

Anderson Cooper – Journalist, news anchor, and son of Gloria Vanderbilt.
Anneliese van der Pol – Singer and actress.
Audrey Hepburn – Iconic actress born of Dutch parents.
Benjamin Spock – First American pediatrician to focus on children’s needs and family dynamics.
Bruce Springsteen – Songwriter, singer, and musician nicknamed “the Boss”.
Clint Eastwood – Actor, film producer/director, composer.
Dick Van Dyke – Actor, presenter, entertainer.
Eddie van Halen – Lead guitarist and founder of the VanHalen band.
Gloria Vanderbilt – Artist, actress, apparel designer, and heiress of the prominent Vanderbilt family.
Greta Van Susteren – Broadcast journalist of Dutch descent.
Mark-Paul Gosselaar – Actor from the series Saved by the Bell, was born to Dutch parents.
Rebecca Romijn – Television and film actress.
Mary Steenburgen – Television and film actress.
Meryl Streep – Award winning actress of theater, film, and television.
Tiger Woods – Among the most successful and highest-paid professional athletic of all times.
Tom Brokow – Television journalist, news anchor, author.
Walter Cronkite – Broadcast journalist and news anchor.

MEDICINE/SCIENCE

Nicolaas Bloembergen – Won the Nobel Prize in 1981 for his work in laser spectroscopy.
Samuel Abraham Goudsmit and George Eugene Uhlenbeck – Physicists who proposed the concept of electron spin.

Government & Politics

rickwhelan — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 17:30:58 +0000

American Presidents of Dutch ancestry:
- Martin Van Buren – 8th President; key organizer of the Democratic Party; first president not of English, Irish, or Scottish descent. He also was the only president not to have spoken English as his first language – rather grew up speaking Dutch.
- Theodore Roosevelt – 26th President; was a Progressive reformer with a “cowboy” persona.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt – 32nd President; elected to four terms, the only president to be elected more than twice; ranked as one of the three greatest U.S. presidents. He was raised and lived in the Hudson Valley (Dutchess County).
Dewitt Clinton – 1st Governor of New York and responsible for construction of the Erie Canal
Eleanor Roosevelt – First Lady of the United States as wife to the 32nd President; advocate for civil rights, active in the formation of the United Nations; author and speaker.
The Dutch were the first to acknowledge the independence of the United States in 1776 by saluting the American flag.
The Hague (Netherlands) was the first American Embassy in the world

Commerce & Industry

rickwhelan — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 17:20:16 +0000

The Dutch – from one of the smallest countries in Europe – established a trading empire, New Netherland, in the Hudson Valley, a series of trading posts, towns, and forts up and down the Hudson River.

New Netherland (Hudson Valley) produced immense wealth for the Dutch and other nations began to envy the riches flowing out of the Hudson River Valley.
Netherlands/Dutch are the 4th largest investors in the United States.
Cornelius Vanderbilt – American entrepreneur who built wealth in shipping and railroads and known as “The Commodore.”
Jacob Westervelt, renowned and prolific shipbuilder and Mayor of New York (1853)
Thomas Edison – businessman and inventor of devices that influenced the world – phonograph, electricity, light bulbs, principles of mass production, and the first industrial research lab – with over 1093 U.S. patents.