Membership Categories
Those who are interested in joining the Holland Society of New York are able to do so through two means.
Through a Hereditary Membership or by becoming a Friend of the Society.
Please note that all membership applicants except Junior Members must provide completed proposer/seconder forms AND character reference forms. The Holland Society is no longer able to provide proposers and seconders for applications. Applicants MUST have a current Holland Society member in good standing who is known to them propose them for membership.
Friend candidates must provide a completed character reference form.
Please note that properly formatted applications can take up to four months to be approved based on the quarterly board meeting schedule. Improperly formatted applications may take up to a year to be reviewed or may be deemed ineligible for review. Please contact membership@hollandsociety.org DIRECTLY with any questions about the status of your application. We are unable to release information about an individual’s application to anyone other than the individual or their proposer.
Hereditary Memberships
Direct Line – Legacy – Junior
You may be eligible to become a member if you are a descendant (male/female) in the direct line of:
- A Dutch native or Dutch resident of New Netherland or the American colonies (now a part of the United States) prior to or during the year 1675,
- A person who possessed the right of Dutch citizenship within Dutch settlements in North America prior to or during the year 1675,
- A resident of a Dutch settlement in North America prior to or during the year 1675,
- A Dutch citizen, one of whose descendants became a member of this Society prior to June 16, 1886,
- A Dutchman who was called to this country as a Dutch-speaking Domine during the Colonial Period.
A list of eligible surnames be found here. Please note that this is not a complete list of eligible surnames; if your qualifying ancestor’s surname is not listed, you may still be eligible for membership. Please contact genealogy@hollandsociety.org with any questions.
We do not accept online database family trees (ancestry.com, familysearch.org etc.) nor DNA as supporting documentation for new line applicants.
We would like to suggest that you keep a copy of all of your work. Mailed-in applications must be able to be scanned upon delivery i.e. we cannot accept documents that are printed double-sided, in a binder, in sheet protectors or stapled. Applications that do not arrive in an approved format will be returned to applicant. If you have any questions, please contact membership@hollandsociety.org.
A Friend of the Holland Society Membership
This is open to anyone who is interested in the history of the Dutch in the early colonial times of America and who would like to become an active member in the Society.
