Hi: I rec'd this today. Hi Nan- thanks for the alert on this story. "This website , which includes pictures, adds some interesting information to the story: http://www.delanoye.org/Vrouwenkerk.cfm " So, I visited the site and it has good photos of the Leiden site plus drawings of what preservation groups would like to do with the site. It also has a sample letter which I have posted below and several addresses of people who will be making the decision concerning this site.. Regards, Nan Wolf 71532.734@compuserve.com ======================================= George DeLano, organizer of the local effort to save the Vrouwenkerk, writes: "The DELANO KINDRED has written a letter to the Raad van State, and Dr. Bangs indicated that more letters or messages of concern would be very helpful in the effort to save the ruins. Here is a theme you might use to improvise upon in writing your own letter or message. 'Visualize traveling to Leiden at sometime in the future to see the sites important to your heritage. Visualize taking your children or grandchildren and not being able to see these ruins where their ancestor was baptized 396 years ago. Wouldn't be distressing to find that the City of Leiden had let the ruins of the church of our Walloon ancestors disappear. Weave those thoughts into this basic theme in the letter outlined below. Please help. You can make a difference!'" Please send your letters and email to the following (sample letter follows): Netherlands Government Information Service General Director: E. Brouwers Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst Postbus 20009 2500 EA Den Haag NETHERLANDS Telephone: 070-3564000 Dr. Cynthia P. Schneider U.S. Ambassador to The Netherlands Lange Voorhout 102 2514 EJ The Hague the Netherlands Phone: +31 70 310-9209 Fax: +31 70 361-4688 Office of Culture Royal Netherlands Embassy 4200 Linnean Avenue NW Washington, D.C. 2008 His Excellency Joris M. Vos Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (202) 244-5300 Phone (202) 362-3430 Fax nlgovnyc.cul@spacelab.net Dutch National Service for Monument Protection Broederplein 41 3703 CD Zeist Postbus 1001 - 3700 Zeist The Netherlands Ms. drs. M. H. Schultz van Haegen-Maas Geesteranus Mr. Alexander Pechtold City of Leiden Postbus 9100 2300 PC Leiden The Netherlands sleutel@leiden.nl Leiden Tourist Office mail@leidenpromotie.nl Financial contributions may be sent to Dr. Jeremy D. Bangs, Director Leiden American Pilgrim Museum Mandenmakersteeg 11 2311 ED Leiden, NETHERLANDS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- Dear __________, I was distressed to read recent reports that the City of Leiden is planning the further destruction of medieval and seventeenth century buildings and ruins, which are of tremendous value as historical monuments. As you know, many of these structures have strong association with the Pilgrims and refugees driven out of Belgium and northern France during the Eighty Years' War, among them are the ruins of the Vrouwenkerk, a church that was granted to a congregation of about 6000 Walloon refugees. Led by John Robinson, a former Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, these Nonconformists crossed the North Sea in the hope of practicing their religion without hindrance in Holland. They moved a year later to Leiden, one of the Republic's most important and prosperous centers, "a fair and bewtifull citie". King James instructed his ambassador to make life difficult for his Nonconformist subjects, but the city fathers of Leiden gave them protection and allowed them to settle. They were to live there for the next 11 years. The Elders - Robinson, William Brewster and Thomas Brewer - held posts at the University of Leiden. They conducted their services in Robinson's house in De Groene Poort in the Kloksteeg. Brewster and Brewer set up a printing house in Pieterskerkchoorsteeg, a street still in existence today, where they printed religious books and pamphlets for distribution in England. Several church members joined the Pilgrims, including Philippe de la Noye who was baptized there in 1603, and Francis Cooke and Hester Mahieu who were married there the same year. Traveling by canal boat to Delfshaven, a port near Rotterdam, they boarded the ill-fated Speedwell to cross the Atlantic. In Southampton they transferred to the Mayflower, where they joined the Pilgrims who immigrated to Plymouth in New England. Among their descendants are U.S. Presidents Grant, Roosevelt and Bush. John Robinson stayed in Leiden, where he died in 1625. It is surprising that while interest in the Walloon contribution to the Pilgrim movement is growing that Leiden, the "City of Refugees", is planning the destruction of the remains of this church, while at the same time encouraging tourist interest in Leiden's past. This unfortunate action appears to be contradictory in many respects. Conserving and maintaining the ruins of this structure in a small, well cared-for public square would be preferable and, in the long run, more financially beneficial to the city. I thank you for your efforts and consideration in saving this important monument to the Walloon Refugees and the Pilgrims. Sincerely yours, Name Address Telephone ======================================== We would like to thank the New England Historic Genealogical Society for their help in promoting the preservation of the Vrouwekerk in "New England Ancestors" magazine, the The Olive Tree Genealogy pages at RootsWeb for featuring this story on their front page, the United Church of Christ for their articles and petition, the Episcopal Church of Our Saviour for their Justice and Peace Advocacy section, the BoatFolks Genealogical Society, the Pilgrim Hall Museum for their "What's new from Leiden?" page, Muriel Cushing, and Messrs. George DeLano and Dr. Jeremy Bangs for their continuing efforts to preserve this important landmark. THANK YOU! If your Website has linked to ours, please let us know! The DELANO Kindred, Inc. PO Box 2635 Duxbury, MA 02331 © 2000, Delano Kindred and J.D. Bangs info@delanoye.org