The Last Illusion: Letters from Dutch Immigrants in the "Land of Opportunity," 1924-1930

Terry A. Crowley is a professor of history at the University of Guelph,
and the former editor of the journal Ontario History. He is the author
of Agnes Macphail and the Politics of Equality and Canadian History to
1967, and the co-author of The College on

Among the great variety of peoples who have come as immigrants to
Canada, the Dutch generally get short shrift. Since immigration policies
that moved toward the points system during the 1960s brought much
greater racial diversity, the Dutch have seemed too white, too much
“like us,” to attract much historical interest.

University of Calgary historian Herman Ganzevoort has sought to remedy
this deficiency through the publication of the letters of Dutch
immigrants from across Canada during the 1920s. In some ways he has
produced a remarkable collection. The anxieties of adjustment,
particularly in gaining work and coping with the English and French
languages, are paraded in almost every letter. Since these immigrants
came from ordinary backgrounds and possessed little wealth, they hoped
against hope that dreams for material advancement would not prove the
last illusion in lives where emigration appeared the remaining dream.
Although immigration practices at the time favored farm placements and
domestic service for women, some letter writers recount their
experiences in cities such as Montreal and Toronto.

The letters, which were translated from newspapers in the Netherlands,
tell us as much about Canada during the 1920s as about the immigrants.
Miserly Canadian farmers intent on keeping down their labor costs figure
prominently, as do reflections on the outwardly Christian nature of
Canadian society, hard work with long hours, and efficiency in
production. One seemingly gay male in Toronto wrote that a “curious
expression here for an effeminate young man is ‘sissy.’ The word has
absolutely no bad connotation; it’s simply the nickname for an
overdone fop, who shapes his eyebrows, reddens up his lips so that his
pearl teeth appear brighter.” The annual Santa Claus parade, he
observed, brought out the city’s many races, but interracial marriage
was taboo.

The absence of women’s voices in these letters is offset by an
already published volume that provides this perspective. Since the
letters were intended for publication, they touch on the personal only
in politically correct areas and tell us little beyond the search for
gainful employment and adjustment. Still, in contrast to immigrant
letters from the 19th century, they reflect a broader sensibility that
sees Canada as a place where many cultures and races meet without
melting. The translations generally read well, but occasionally there
are slips, such as saying a man was hung rather than hanged. These
immigrant letters contribute not only to the history of Dutch
immigration but also to our understanding of Canadian society during the
1920s.