Marissa first stayed with Thomas and Clara Clack in the Catskill Mountains for a week. Together with the already existing connections of the Dutch Consulate, she was ready to start her scavenger hunt for Dutch history. The New York Historical Society pointed Marissa in the right direction, giving her a long list of organizations that were on their radar. It was interesting to see how the societies were usually less focused on sharing the folkloristic character of the Dutch past, and were instead embracing a more scientific approach to research its Dutch history. Above all, everyone involved had a genuine passion for the material. She found that the societies usually worked with both volunteers and paid staff, partly consisting of young, highly educated people. Marissa was surprised to discover the high level of professionalism and enthusiasm in the organizations that she visited. The societies that she would find, would probably be rather small and mostly revolve around locals. Before she embarked on her journey, she was told that she shouldn’t expect too much. Marissa started off very enthusiastically, planning to visit Upstate New York and learning more about this forgotten chapter of Dutch colonial history. Marissa’s main goal was to create a geographical oversight of Dutch-American history in Upstate New York, exploring the way in which local cultural organizations commemorate and share their unique heritage. She wanted to find out in what way the shared cultural heritage between the Netherlands and the United States was still preserved and promoted by local cultural organizations, such as historical societies and museums, in Upstate New York. Although her project was challenging at times, she always realized that she was fortunate enough to walk the kind of paths that remain hidden and unexplored to most. In 2016, she spent 6 months in New York City to intern for the cultural department of the Dutch Consulate, providing content for and carrying out a personal research project. During these months, Marissa spent hours digging into the unknown and days of visiting peculiar and unexpected places. Marissa Klaver is an American Studies graduate student at the University of Utrecht.
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