Colloquium Series

FALL 2022 Schedule 

What if Lincoln Had Lived?

Friday, September 16 at 6:30 p.m. in Graves Winants Auditorium
Presented by Dr. Allen C. Guelzo, senior research scholar in the Council of the Humanities and director of the Initiative on Politics and Statesmanship in the James Madison Program at Princeton University

Hope College, the Department of History and the Van Raalte Farm Civil War Muster of Holland are pleased to welcome world-renowned author, eminent Civil War historian and prize-winning Lincoln scholar, Dr. Allen C. Guelzo from Princeton University. Dr. Guelzo's talk will touch on four likely scenarios for a very different reconstruction than the one we experienced at the hands of Andrew Johnson: Lincoln’s support for black voting rights, Lincoln’s encouragement of black economic integration, Lincoln’s interest in settlement of the west, and finally Lincoln’s desire to “clean the Confederate slate” by encouraging the Confederate leadership to flee into exile and be replaced by a new Unionist Southern leadership. 

BIBLICAL IMAGERY IN UNLIKELY PLACES: CHRISTIANITY AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY CHINESE LITERATURE

Thursday, September 22, 7–8:30 p.m. (*virtual event)
Presented by Dr. Gloria S. Tseng, associate professor of history at Hope College

The first three decades of the 20th century witnessed both a remarkable expansion of missionary endeavors in China and the rise of anti-Christian and anti-imperialist sentiments among Chinese intellectuals. Surprisingly, the authors of this period who championed new Chinese literature often employed Biblical imagery in their works, infusing them with a Christian ethos. This presentation with Gloria S. Tseng, associate professor of history at Hope College, explores the paradoxical relationship between Christianity and modern Chinese literature through a case study of the author Ba Jin’s novels. This program supports our exhibition In Service to Others: A History of Holland’s Women Missionaries.

*Registration is required on Eventbrite

This event is presented by the Holland Museum as part of their Cultural Lens Program.

THINGS ODIOUS AND IMMORAL: THE FOREIGN RELATIONS OF U.S. SLAVERY, 1775-1865

Tuesday, October 25, at 7 p.m. (virtual event)
Presented by Dr. Steven Brady, Department of History, George Washington University

This is a virtual event. Join via Google Meet.

THE OTTAWA COUNTY POOR FARM: NEW PERSPECTIVES FROM DATA ANALYTICS AND LOCAL/DIGITAL HISTORY

Friday, December 2, at 4 p.m. at Herrick District Library
Presented by Dr. Wayne Tan, Department of History, and Hope College summer research students Aubrey Brolsma, Chloe Bares and Ty Overhiser

For more than a century, the Ottawa County Poor Farm was a place some people called home, and a source of identity in the county’s community. But time has erased memories of its significance. This past summer (2022), Hope College students Chloe Bares, Aubrey Brolsma and Ty Overhiser along with Wayne Tan, associate professor of history, worked together to find new perspectives on the Poor Farm. Using rare historical records and new digital and data analytical tools, this presentation breathes new life into stories about the Poor Farm — its residents and their lives, and its rise and decline in the timeline of the community’s history. 

This off-site presentation is a collaboration between the Holland Museum, the Hope College Department of History, and the Herrick District Library. This program is part of the Holland Museum “Tales from the Archives” series which explores local history topics supported by the Holland Museum’s collection and archives. The museum program is free; donations are encouraged.