The Maps of Bert Twaalfhoven
As a young man, Bert Twaalfhoven and his family lost everything during the bombing of The Hague during World War II. Like his countrymen centuries earlier, Dr. Twaalfhoven immigrated to that land on the Hudson his predecessors knew as New Netherland and he knew as New York.
Dr. Twaalfhoven attended Fordham University and later Harvard Business School. A long career as a venture capitalist and entrepreneur followed, along with a devotion to fostering entrepreneurship in others, the mission of the European Forum for Entrepreneurship Research which he founded in 1987.
Along the way, Dr. Twaalfhoven began collecting 16th, 17th and 18th century maps of his new home. The grateful alum of Fordham donated 22 maps of New Netherland, New Amsterdam and New England to his alma mater. Fordham University has kindly allowed the New Netherland Institute to display these maps in this digital exhibition.
The collection of maps printed from copper plates and in many cases hand-colored hangs in the Reference Room of the Walsh Library at Fordham, where it is accessible to visitors.
The New Netherland Project & the New Netherland Institute thank Fordham Univerisity Libraries for permission to use descriptions and maps from its collection.
Thanks to Joep de Koning for providing descriptions to Maps 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 14 and 15.
About the New Netherland Institute
For over three decades, NNI has helped cast light on America's Dutch roots. In 2010, it partnered with the New York State Office of Cultural Education to establish the New Netherland Research Center, with matching funds from the State of the Netherlands. NNI is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. More
The New Netherland Research Center
Housed in the New York State Library, the NNRC offers students, educators, scholars and researchers a vast collection of early documents and reference works on America's Dutch era. More
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