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• 1 2021-06-29T16:54:31+00:00 Case Studies - Missionaries and STEM 46 This page will detail case studies of women who studied at Hope and became missionaries. plain 2021-07-29T18:22:02+00:00

  Background

  As featured on the Women in STEM data analysis, eight women who majored in STEM had files in the Joint Archives of Holland. Interestingly enough, we found a connection between women's  STEM majors and their career paths as missionaries. Here are brief descriptions of their lives.
   

  Gallery

  Jeanette Veldman 

  Jeanette Veldman was from Grandville, Michigan. Veldman attended business college in Grand Rapids. She also attended Hope Preparatory School in 1922. She graduated from Hope College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1926 after majoring in science [1]. At Hope, she participated in:
   

  Sorosis; Y. W. C. A. Cabinet, ‘24, ‘25; Gospel Team ‘26; Student Vol.; State Student Vol. Council ‘25; Recording Secretary; Michigan Student Vol. Union ‘25; Student Council ‘25; Milestone staff ‘25; Sweater Club; A. D. D.; Athletic Board ‘25, ‘26; House Com. ‘23; S. G. A., President [2]
   

  After Hope, she went to the Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing in Chicago in 1929. Then, she went to the Kennedy School of Missions in Hartford, Connecticut, Teachers College at Columbia University in 1946, and School of Midwifery in the NYC Maternity Center Association. In 1930, she was sent to Amoy, China and worked in Hope and Wilhelmins Hospital and School of Nursing. In 1946, she received an M.A. in nursing education and administration from Columbia University.
  
  Veldman was employed abroad in Amoy, China as a nurse until the Communist goverrnment ordered her departure from the country. She was there from 1930-1951. However, a short period of employment in India 1937-1938, a prisoner of war interment during World War II, and a return to mission work in 1946. Afterward, she lived in Arabia (Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman) until she returned to the United States in 1967. Veldman passed away in 1994 [3].

   

  Helen Zander 

  
  Helen Zander was born in Schenectady, New York as the youngest of five. She attended grammar school, high school, and Bellevue Reformed Church (Educational Work in Japan). Zander was interested in elocution at a young age and nurtured this interest in church and school work. She acted as a reader with a male chorus and with a group of children who went around giving performances for various groups. Zander decided at 12 to become a missionary after she had a dream in which Christ knocked at the door calling her to service like in the Book of Revelations.

  Her church in Schenectady helped finance her education at Hope. Zander graduated from Hope College in 1928 with a Bachelor of Arts and took a science course [4]. At Hope, she participated in

  Alethea, President ‘25; Y. W. C. A. Cabinet ‘27, President ‘28; Student Volunteers; Gospel Team ‘26, ‘27, ‘28;  Debating Team ‘26; S. G. A. [5]
  
  After graduating from Hope, she was presented as a missionary to Japan by the women’s board of foreign missions. She had not meant to go to Japan (instead, India, Arabia, or China) but had attended a Northfield conference and the theme was Japan. Plus, her big sister’s family at Hope had spent time in Japan. In 1928, after her graduation, she left for Japan. After studying French and German in college, she studied Japanese while in Japan.

  In 1929, Zander entered the Japanese Language School, studied under the Mission Language Committee course until she left the field in 1940. She taught in seminaries in Japan like Sturges Seminary and Ferris Seminary. Zander taught some physical training but specialized in subjects like English (composition, reading, and literature), stenography, typing, commercial English, and office practice. Zander found hobbies in Japanese penmanship, flower arrangements, and collecting envelopes and chopsticks.

  In 1934, she came back to the United States for the first furlough but returned to Japan in 1935. She taught until  her second furlough in 1940. After, she attended Columbia University and got an M.A. degree in Rural Education with emphasis on Industrial Arts [6]. In 1962, she taught at a girl’s high school in Tokyo [7].

  Zander worked at seminaries that specialized in the Christian education of women in Japan. Some notable alumni of her schools were two ladies in waiting for an imperial princess, one of the first Japanese authors to produce Christian literature, president of one of the foremost women’s universities, and minister’s wives. Zander herself said that the students represented “largely girls from a very good class of home and are picked through entrance examinations for scholarship and personality.” Very few of the students were Christians when they came, which was a “tremendous evangelistic opportunity” [8].

  Zander received an imperial award known as the Fifth Order of the Sacred Treasure from Iwatoro Uchiyama, Governor Kanagawa Prefecture. She was awarded it because of her work in the “furtherance of good Japanese-American relations with your wealthy knowledge, ideas, and love.” In regards to this achievement, Zander wrote “I am grateful that God called me into His service, directed my interests toward Japan” [9].

  Overall, Zander taught at four schools - Baiko Jo  Gakuin, Ferris, Joshi Gakuin, and Woman’s Christian [10]. She was a missionary for the Reformed Church in Japan from 1928 to 1941 and 1947 to 1974. Helen Zander passed away on January 1, 1983 [11].

   

  Eva Van Schaack
   

  Eva Van Schaack was born in Coxsackie, NY in 1904 [12]. She graduated from Hope in 1929 with a Bachelor of Arts and a major in science. She was involved in the Dorian sorority and the Senior Girls Association [13] 

  Van Schaack specialized in botany after she graduated from Hope. From 1931-1937, she studied at the School of Higher Studies at the Faculty of Philosophy of the John Hopkins University where she received a PhD. She taught and worked as a laboratory assistant and taught at many schools. Van Schaack was an assistant professor of botany at Kalamazoo College from 1946-1947, assistant professor of plant science at Mount Holyoke College from 1948-1950, associate professor of biology at Wheaton College from 1953-1956, and a professor at Hope College from 1956-1969. She was a member of Sigma Xi.

  At Hope, Van Schaack’s pay was very low for an associate professor, and she did not obtain full professorship until two years before her retirement even though she had “distinguished herself in the field of biology”. Van Schaack specialized in fungi and was promoted in 1967.

  Van Schaack passed away in 1981 [14].
   

  Bernadine Siebers De Valois
  

  Bernadine Siebers De Valois was born Bernadine Siebers in Grand Rapids. She went to South High School in Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids Junior College, and graduated from Hope College in 1930. She received a Bachelor Arts after majoring in science [15]. At Hope, she participated in

  Dorian; Gospel Team 2, 3, 4; Y.W.C.A. Cabinet 3, President 4; Student Volunteer, Secretary-Treasurer 3, President 4; Trumpet Quartet; Orchestra 2, 3; Milestone Assistant Editor; Dorian Basketball 4; Chairman Senior Music Committee; S.G.A. [16]
   

  The Milestone described Bernadine as 

  "Bernie," the capable president of the Y.W.C.A. Let us consider her good characteristics. Purposeful is she, with a good deal of plain vigor in carrying out her plans; sociable to a high degree. For an example of enthusiasm we would direct you to her and leave you to be convinced in a moment's conversation. We must not forget that terrible trait of hers of working so hard that others feel ashamed of themselves [17].

  After Hope, she received an M.D. in 1934 from Rush Medical College. She was a Diplomat of the National Board of Medical Examinations in the United States in 1936. In 1936, she was sent to Vellore, India as a missionary. She worked in surgical wards and clinics with an ear, nose, and throat specialty, taught medical and nursing students, public health programs in villages, and village women’s classes and conferences. She married John James De Valois in  1946 [18]. 

  While in India, Siebers De Valois wrote many letters and pamphlets describing her life in India. She noted that she treated an average of 225 patients a day [19]. In her letters, she discusses the dangers of missionary work abroad. In particular, she detailed religious conflicts, riots, extreme weather, and illness. However, she hoped that the dispensary she was helping found would “become a real source of healing power for physical and spiritual needs,” [20].

  Eventually, India became suspicious towards missionaries and began to make it harder for them to stay. In an article published by the Church Herald, Siebers De Valois argued that mission work was not meant to establish Christian belief or practice as superior or even drastically increase the number of Christians. Instead, it was meant for converts to have a free response and agency in their religious experience [21].
  
  Moreover, she published articles in the Hope College Alumni magazine attempting to get alumni to become missionaries. In one article, she argued that medical outreach is an important part of Christian professional training. Moreover, the Church needed to focus on the new field of preventative medicine. She argued that her job was to provide new dignity and respect to womanhood in areas where women were treated poorly and so, she focused on village outreach, food, maternal and child welfare [22]. She targeted mothers to disperse information. She described the importance of missionary work as similar in the words of Jesus taken from scripture “‘I am come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.’” [23] Bernadine illustrated how missionary work fulfilled this vocation as she claimed that 

  Hope College cannot have a greater and more important mission today than to send her  well-armed children as the resolute servants of our scientific and spiritual life to all the imperiled posts of American to save the future life of this nation,... and to watch over the freedom of mankind [24].

  Hope presented her with an honorary D.Sc. degree on June 4, 1956 [25].

  Eventually, she went to Africa. Upon returning to the United States, she was a member of many medical societies, taught at Western Seminary, and worked at Pine Rest. Bernadine Siebers De Valois passed away on June 19, 2001 [26].

   

  Anne De Young

   

  Anne De Young was born in Clymer, New York though she lived in Newark, New York. Her father was a Reformed Church Minister and her aunt was a domestic missionary. De Young was the middle of seven children [27]. Her parents were born in the Netherlands and went to Hope. De Young decided to enter the nursing profession after visiting her aunt [28].

  She graduated from the Berea College School of Nursing in 1938 and Hope College in 1942 after majoring in biology [29]. At Hope, De Young participated in

  Sibylline, Treasurer 3; Alcor 4, President; Y. W. C. A 2, 3, 4, Vice President 4; Christian Workers League 2; Band 2; Chapel Choir  3, 4; Music Group 4; German Club 3; Girls Basketball 2, 3; Treasurer of Voorhees Hall 3; Voorhees Hall Nurse. [30]

  While at Hope, she worked at Holland City Hospital. After graduating from Hope, she studied Chinese in Berkeley, California in hopes of being stationed in China as a missionary. However, China closed its doors to missionaries so she was unable to go [31]. Then, she studied at Kennedy School of Missions, Hartford, Connecticut in 1951 for one term and the School of Midwifery in 1952 [32]. 

  De Young was an assistant nurse in Voorhees Hall at Hope College for two years and was the head nurse for one year. While head nurse, she had over 100 girls in her care. Afterwards, she was an instructor in the hygiene department at Hope [33]. She continued to teach at the Berea, Kentucky School of Nursing for nine months [34]. 

  She worked at Scudder Memorial Hospital in India for one year. Then, she served in Amoy, China from 1946 to 1951. De Young was reassigned to Arabia in 1952 where she worked in the medical field. She was furloughed from 1958 to 1959 and transferred to Oman soon after reentering the field [35]. Overall, she had mostly been a nursing teacher and supervisor [36]. Anne De Young passed away in 2007.
   

  Mary Louise Talman 

   

  Mary Louise Talman was born in China in 1921. Her parents were missionaries. They returned to the United States in 1929 where they lived in Hyde Park, New York [37]. She graduated from Hope in 1942 with a Bachelor of Arts and a major in biology. At Hope, she participated in 

  Sibylline, Reporter 1, 2;  Anchor 1, 2; Y.W.C.A. 1, 2, 3, 4, Cabinet 2; Christian Workers League 1, 2, Secretary 1; Chapel Choir 1; Scalpel Club 4; Philosophy Club 4; Tennis 4 [38].

  Talman was a part of the faculty at Presbyterian Green Mountain Conference in Poughkeepsie, NY. She taught science at Attamont, NY High School and earned a M.A. from Albany State Teacher’s College in 1944. She eventually taught general science in Santiago, Chile where she was the head of the middle school department of the College. 

  Talman died in Lima, Peru on her way home from teaching at Santiago College, Santiago, Chile. The cause of death was an accidental gas leak [39].
   

  Marjorie Van Vranken

  
  Van Vranken was born in Schenectady, New York. Her parents were missionaries in India where they quickly returned after Marjorie was born. Her playmates were Indian children of the compound and she  went to Highclerc School for  Missionary Children in Kodaikanal, South India. Van Vranken described this time as having “many opportunities of witnessing to God’s handiwork  in nature and to His word in their Christian training.” [40]

  Van Vranken earned an A.B. from Hope  in 1946 after majoring in biology and chemistry. The Milestone lists her hometown as Hudsonville, Michigan in 1946. At Hope, she participated in 
  
  Thesaurian 1, 2, 3, 4, Treasurer 3; Y.W.C.A. 1, 2. 3, 4, Cabinet Member 4; Milestone 3 ; Alcor 4, Secretary-Treasurer 4 ; Sister Organization of Alpha Chi 4 ; French Majors' Club 1, 2, 3. 4, Treasurer 3; Scalpel Club 2, 3, 4, Secretary-Treasurer 3, President 4. [41].

  To pay for tuition, Van Vranken worked many odd jobs including as a glass grinder, machine mirror engraver, nurses’ aide, and at a chemical plant and wire and spring factory.

  After graduating from Hope, she did graduate work at the University of Illinois and received her master’s degree in physiology in 1949. She spent a summer at the YWCA learning about labor and social problems. At graduate school, she was a member of the University Woman’s Scientific Research Association. She also was a part time assistant in physiology and served as a laboratory instructor. 

  There was a need for women doctors and nurses in India so she got a teaching position in the physiology department of the Vellore Christian Medical College. This was an interdenominational school and international institution which got support from the RCA. She studied Tamil and took exams alongside working. Van Vranken wrote that it was “refreshing to be back in India, but it was also a challenge to be a small cog in the work of God’s kingdom among the students.” She returned to the United  States in 1952 [42].

  Overall, she spent thirteen years as an RCA missionary in Vellore, India, 28 years involved in the activities of the International Protestant Church of Kinshasa, and five years with the Protestant Women of the SHAPE Chapel in Belgium. She passed away in 1995 [43].

   

  Alida J. Kloosterman
   

  Alida J. Kloosterman was born in 1921 She spent her early life in Grand Rapids except for summers spent on her grandparents farm. At the age of six, she went to Rogers Junior High School where she liked school so much that she did not want to take vacations. She was a member of the school safety division where she worked from a patrolman up to the captain of the force. Home was a “wonderful example of Christian nurture and recognition.” During this time, Kloosterman became interested in Christian Endeavor and the Girls’ League for Service. She also loved sports.

  Kloosterman was about to enter Lee High School when her father died, leaving her younger brother to take over the home and support her mother, herself, and her younger sister. The girls sold flowers and babysit as any further education had to be earned through “spartan diligence.” At seventeen, she became a member of the Reformed Church in Grand Rapids. She taught Sunday School and enjoyed listening to the missionaries. She wanted to give her “life to full time Christian service, too, but her finances seemed always to stand in the way.”

  After her mother’s death, she worked to pay off debts and mortgages on the house. She saved enough for one year in college. While at Hope, she worked summers, vacations, evenings, and Saturdays, to finance other years too. She worked for the American Sunday School Union and was the Director of Summer Camps. She taught Vacation Bible School, was an inspector at a wood factory and was in charge of girls in the plant. At Hope, she worked in the dorm collecting and dispensing linen, in laundry as a cleaning girl, in the library, and filing. She viewed college as the background for her life work [44]. 

  At Hope, she was in the varsity club, speech club, red cross, Y. W. C. A., prayer bands, wrote for the Milestone and the Anchor, and was a member in the Theasurian sorority (page 47). She graduated from Hope in 1948 after majoring in mathematics [45].

  Her desire to become a missionary intensified at Hope College as she was encouraged and assisted by Mrs. John Piet who had worked in India as a missionary. She hoped to work in villages with Bible women or teaching. In 1947, during her Junior year at Hope, she applied to the Board of Foreign Missions. She was accepted as a missionary that year with an appointment to India. In 1949, she went to Chittoor, India and studied the language. She was financed by the Reformed Church, American Church, and the Sunday School of the Second Reformed Church [46]. Kloosterman stayed in India for three years and then taught at the North 4th Street Christian School. Alida J. Kloosterman married Bastiaan van Dijk in 1953. According to her marriage notice, Kloosterman planned to move back to the Netherlands where her husband was from [47]. The U.S. Death Index from 1898-2008 lists Kloosterman's death date as February 3, 2001.
  
  References:
  [1] Biographical Materials, Box 5, Veldman, Jeannette (1901-1994). Papers, 1912-1989. (W89-1012.), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [2] Milestone 1926 (Holland: Hope College, 1926), 28, https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/milestone/11.
  [3] Biographical Materials, Box 5.
  [4] “Helen Zander: Educational Work in Japan,” Woman’s Board of Foreign Missions, July 1942. Western Biographical File, Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [5] Milestone 1928 (Holland: Hope College, 1928), 35, https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/milestone/13.
  [6] “Helen Zander: Educational Work in Japan.”
  [7] Helen Zander, “South for the Holidays,” The Church Herald, April 6, 1962. Western Biographical File, Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [8] Helen Zander, “The GI Didn't Know - Do You?” The Church Herald, February 13, 1953. Western Biographical File, Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [9] Helen Zander, “A Bridge Across the Pacific,” The Church Herald, April 24, 1964. Western Biographical File, Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [10] Helen Zander, "A Bridge Across the Pacific."
  [11] “Helen Zander Dies,” The Church Herald, January 2, 1983. Western Biographical File, Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [12] Biographical, 1950-1969. Van Schaack, Eva (1904-1981). Papers, 1911-1976. (H88-0177.), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [13] Milestone 1929 (Holland: Hope College, 1929), 37, https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/milestone/13/.
  [14] Biographical, 1950-1969.
  [15] “Dr. and Mrs. J. J. De Valois,” Board of Foreign Missions, October 1955. De Valois Family. Papers, 1938-2001. (W11-1384.10), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [16] Milestone 1930 (Holland: Hope College, 1930), 65, https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/milestone/17.
  [17] Milestone 1930, 54.
  [18] “Dr. and Mrs. J. J. De Valois.”
  [19] Bernadine Siebers to St. Ives, September 24, 1938. De Valois Family. Papers, 1938-2001. (W11-1384.10.), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [20] Bernadine Siebers to Mission Hospital for Women, June 1, 1939. De Valois Family. Papers, 1938-2001. (W11-1384.10.), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [21] Bernadine Siebers De Valois, “The Church’s Right to Send Missionaries,” The Church Herald, May 20, 1955. De Valois Family. Papers, 1938-2001. (W11-1384.10.), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [22] Bernadine Siebers De Valois, “Eat too Little - Live too Wretchedly - Die too Young!” The Church Herald, February 17, 1956. De Valois Family. Papers, 1938-2001. (W11-1384.10.), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [23] Bernadine Siebers De Valois, “Science Plus-Miracles in India,” Hope College Alumni Magazine, July 1956. De Valois Family. Papers, 1938-2001. (W11-1384.10.), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [24] “Nigerian Chicks and Consultations,” Hope College Alumni Magazine, October 1962. De Valois Family. Papers, 1938-2001. (W11-1384.10.), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [25] Bernadine Siebers De Valois, “Science Plus-Miracles in India."
  [26] De Valois Family. Papers, 1938-2001. (W11-1384.10), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [27] “Miss Anne R. De Young,” Board for the Christian World Mission Reformed Church in America, November 1958. Western Biographical File, Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [28] “Anne R. De Young,” Woman’s Board of Foreign Missions, 1946. Western Biographical File, Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [29] “Miss Anne R. De Young.”
  [30] Milestone 1942 (Holland: Hope College, 1942), 40, https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/milestone/26.
  [31] “Anne De Young To Retire,” June 25, 1982. Western Biographical File, Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [32] “Miss Anne R. De Young.”
  [33] “Anne De Young To Retire.”
  [34] “Anne R. De Young.”
  [35] “Miss Anne R. De Young.”; “The task of Christian missionaries in… Muscat, Newest Oil Town,” The Church Herald, September 19, 1969. Western Biographical File, Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [36] “Anne De Young To Retire.”
  [37] “Hope Graduate Buried in Peru,” Holland City News, July 24, 1947. Hope Biographical File, Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [38] Milestone 1942 (Holland: Hope College, 1942), 40, https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/milestone/26.
  [39] “Hope Graduate Buried in Peru.”
  [40] “Marjorie Alice Van Vranken,” Board of Foreign Missions Reformed Church of America, September 1953. Western Biographical File,  Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [41] Milestone 1946 (Holland: Hope College, 1946), 47, https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/milestone/27.
  [42] “Marjorie Alice Van Vranken.”
  [43] “Marjorie A. Van Vranken,” P.F. PORBEUR - Asquillies, 1995. Van Vranken, Herbert E. (1891-1972). Papers, 1914-1995. (W01-1258.7.), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [44] “Alida J. Kloosterman”, Board of Foreign Missions Reformed Church in America, January 1950. Western Biographical File, Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
  [45] Milestone 1948 (Holland: Hope College, 1948), 47, https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/milestone/30.
  [46] "Alida J. Kloosterman."
  [47] "Teacher is Wed to Mr. van Dijk, Netherlander," The Sunday News, December 6, 1953.
  

• 1 2021-06-29T20:00:52+00:00 Sororities As Community 18 Needed Community and Social Life During the Great Depression plain 2021-08-02T13:26:12+00:00

  
  In the midst of the Great Depression Hope literary societies blossomed in membership. While the people of the Hope community struggled to make ends meet, women flocked to sororities, even if they had to pay fees in order to become members and maintain their membership. This seems counterintuitive. Why were women so eager to join these organizations, even if they had to pay to be in them? Why were social groups so important with such important hardships facing individuals around the country? The growth of and reliance upon Greek life as a social lifeline reveal a desire for social belonging during the Great Depression. Secondary research would argue that this desire for community became a trend throughout the country. 

  As stated previously in the more general information about sororities in the 1930’s, the Anchor and letters sent to future Hope students indicate a large jump in membership in sororities during the 1930’s. In the Anchor on January 1, 1930, students write that sorority members account for 32.1% of women at Hope while in a 1938 letter from the Student Council to incoming freshman, Eleanor Dalman Vanderhill, the organization states that 75-80% of women at Hope belonged to sororities in the 1937-1938 school year [1]. However, in the years between 1930-1940, many societies had to make changes in order to limit spending within their social groups. In his book A Century of Hope, Dr. Wynant Wichers explains that in 1932, all literary societies decided not to hold their annual spring banquets [2]. Additionally, in a Sorosis Alumni Newsletter from 1931, members ask alumni to send in their dues, as the People’s State Bank froze the money in their account [3]. We might expect the trials of the Great Depression to cause women to fall away from groups that call for extraneous spending or for societies to disband in response to the limitations and financial struggles in their organization. However, as we see above, this is not the case. Even with changes and adapting to the difficulties of the time, sororities continued to meet regularly and hold programs and parties for their members, as we can see in the invitations and programs from the scrapbook of Margaret Kole (Alethea), Marian Ruth Stegenga Groenevelt (Alethea), Ethel Leestma Swets (Sibylline), the Dorian Society Scrapbook, and the Sorosis Meeting Minutes [4]. 
  

  This reveals a desire to find community and belonging within the Great Depression for many individuals. Stephen L. Recken in his article "Fitting in: The Redefinition of Success in the 1930’s" explains the change in people’s idea of happiness within the years of the Great Depression based on the content of 1930’s self-help books. Where the American people of the 19th century believed in self-reliance, independence, and ambition to succeed as a key to happiness, 1930’s Americans emphasized friendship and finding one’s place in American social life as more fulfilling. Recken argues that in 1930’s American culture, individuals sought community and companionship, caring less for materialistic goods and wealth that seemed unattainable in such an economic circumstance [5]. Perhaps Reckon’s theory applied to the Hope College campus community. In the midst of the Great Depression, Greek life and social organizations became essential to individual happiness. Holding a place in a specific community, whether that be merely as a student at Hope or as a member of a literary society, gave students a new level of purpose during a time of financial struggle. 

  This phenomenon is also evident in the call for a blanket fee in the early 1930’s that would allow all students complete access to all Hope college events and publications. The blanket fee first appeared in the Anchor on April 16, 1930. The Anchor article calls for student support of the blanket fee proposal in order to establish campus unity. A Student Opinion on the matter in the Anchor on April 23, 1930 reiterates the Anchor’s previous argument stating that Hope should be united in all school activities. In the Sorosis minutes on May 2, 1930, the secretary states that many of the members signed the petition, showing group support for the idea. Finally, on April 29, 1931, the Board of Trustees passing of the $10.00 blanket fee in their spring session read as the main headline of the Anchor [6]. 
  

  First, the students’ push for a larger blanket fee that would give them full access to all Hope events displays a desire to participate in the Hope community consistently. When paging through the scrapbooks of women at Hope during the 1930’s, and more specifically Margaret Kole, I noticed that she saved every program from every event they attended. Kole attended all Hope events, from glee club concerts to sporting events to the pull [7]. This commitment to Hope events explained why students believed so readily in the blanket fee. As they attended each event across campus, they found meaning in each event as a social function that solidified their role in the Hope community. 

  Secondly, students’ rhetoric in the Anchor demonstrates the desire for community and belonging to a greater body as essential to thriving during their time at Hope and within the greater decade of the 1930’s. As the Anchor described their push for the blanket fee as a commitment to Hope unity, the student writers established a community focused culture embodied the 1930’s ideals to produce happy and thriving individuals in a collective body. 
  
  References: 
  
  [1] "Societies Not Cause", Hope College Anchor, 1 January, 1930., Letter from Student Council to Eleanor Dalman Vanderhill, 1938, Vanderhill, Eleanor Dalman. Papers, 1926, 1938-1942, Joint Archives of Holland, Holland, MI. 
  [2] Wynand Wichers, A Century of Hope (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1968), 204.
  [3] Alumni Newsletter, 1931, Sigma Sigma Sorority, Records, 1906-[ongoing] (H01-1413), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, MI.
  [4] Memory Book, 1925-1933, Kole, Margaret J. (1909-1994). Papers, 1925-1933 (H95-1250), Joint Archives of Holland, Holland, MI., Scrapbook, 1934-1938, Stegenga Groenevelt, Marian Ruth (1917-1996). Papers, 1934-1938, 1996 (H12-1818), Joint Archives of Holland, Holland, MI. Scapbook, 1929-1936, Swets, Ethel Leestma Papers, 1929-1936 (H18-1988), Joint Archives of Holland, Holland, MI., Scrapbook, 1935-1948, Dorian Sorority (Kappa Beta Phi). Records, 1922-2008 (H09-1695), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland MI., Minutes, 1925-1930, 1932-1935, Sigma Sigma Sorority, Records, 1906-[ongoing] (H01-1413), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, MI.
  [5] Stephen L. Recken, "Fitting in: the Redefinition of Success in the 1930’s," Journal of Popular Culture 27, no. 3 (Winter 1993): 205-206, accessed June 4, 2021, https://doi-org.ezproxy.hope.edu/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1993.00205.x.
  [6] "Unity", Hope College Anchor, 16 April, 1930., "Student Opinion", Hope College Anchor, 23 April, 1930., Minutes, 2 May 1930, Sigma Sigma Sorority, Records, 1906-[ongoing] (H01-1413), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, MI., "Blanket Fee Goes Through", Hope College Anchor, 29 April, 1931. 
  [7] Memory Book, 1925-1933, Kole, Margaret J. (1909-1994). Papers, 1925-1933 (H95-1250).