Tulip Time

May is Tulip Time in Holland, Michigan! The above photo dates from 1931 - and Holland's third Tulip Time festival!

When this "Tulip Time" web page was created, the Archives of Michigan had no positive identification on the two young ladies shown above. A passage in Randall Vande Water's book Tulip Time Treasures (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Color House Graphics, 2004) led me to believe that they might be Jean Rottschaefer and Virginia Kooiker (See page 16 of Vande Water's book.). Now, I can confirm that at least one of these identifications is correct!

Sandy Barkema of Holland, Michigan saw this web page and e-mailed me. She confirmed that the young lady on the right is indeed Virginia Kooiker, who was her husband's aunt.

Ms. Barkema knew Virginia Kooiker as "Aunt Ginny." I asked her for biographical information. She said that her Aunt Ginny was born in 1913 (making her about eighteen years old when the above photo was taken) and had lived to the age of 75. Ms. Barkema noted that her Aunt Ginny died of cancer in November, 1988.

Ms. Barkema provided some more personal details, as well. She said that "Aunt Ginny married (Uncle) Preston Luidens, who was part owner of Luidens Brothers of Holland. She taught for many years in the Holland Schools area." Ms. Barkema further stated that "Aunt Ginny taught general elementary education for 4th, 5th and 6th grades and then music in 7th and 8th. She taught English one year before she gave up the profession in the 1950's to marry and later work at Uncle Preston's business, Luidens Brothers. Ginny also enjoyed singing in the Third Reformed Church's choir." Finally, Ms. Barkema wrote that "both she [Aunt Ginny] and Uncle Pres shared in the lives of all their nephews and nieces, especially in their retirement years. We all knew they were proud of us and loved us very much. They are still missed to this day."

On behalf of the Archives of Michigan, I'd like to thank Ms. Sandy Barkema for contacting us. I think her story illustrates nicely that history is far from dead. Rather, it's a collective memory that continually lives and breathes within us all.

Bob Garrett, Archivist
E-mail: garrettr1@michigan.gov
June 2, 2006

Below is the original essay on Tulip Time, written for this page.

Tulip Time began as a gleam in Lida Rogers' eye. Lida Rogers was born in 1877. A graduate of Michigan Normal School (now Eastern Michigan University), she moved to Holland in 1912 and became a biology teacher. On April 26, 1927, she made history in her adopted town.

On that date, Lida Rogers spoke before the Woman's Literary Club of Holland. Her topic: "Civic Beauty." As a means of achieving said civic beauty, she suggested planting tulips in every yard. After all, tulips, like Holland itself, had close ties to the Netherlands. (In 1927, eight-five percent of all Holland residents claimed Dutch descent.). Rogers also advised having "one day every spring set aside as a tulip day."

Her ideas caught on. The next year, Holland mayor Earnest C. Brooks persuaded Holland's City Council to purchase 100,000 tulip bulbs from the Netherlands. These were planted along two city streets.

In spring 1929, those tulips blossomed. Visitors were encouraged to see them by visiting Holland during the week of May 15th. Responses were so enthusiastic that it was quickly decided to make Tulip Time an annual event.

Ethel Telling was soon appointed Tulip Time's first Chairperson. Under her four-year tenure, Dutch-themed attractions and ethnic clothing (complete with wooden shoes) became trademarks of the event. There were Dutch parades, dances, operettas and street scrubbings.

Tulip Time continued to thrive and became a grand Michigan tradition. Today, it is among the five largest festivals in the United States.

The festivals' founders were not forgotten. In 1936, Detroit poet Edgar Guest announced that two new tulip varieties would be named after Lida Rogers and Ethel Telling. Lida Rogers' tulip was a Triumph class chocolate brown flower with white edges. Ethel Telling's name was applied to a carmine rose tulip of the Cottage family. Another founder, Mayor Earnest C. Brooks, was recognized at Tulip Time's fortieth anniversary in 1969.

Sources for this month's essay include the aforementioned Tulip Time Treasures and Larry B. Massie's The Holland Area: Warm Friends and Wooden Shoes (Northridge, California: Windsor Publications, 1988). Copies of these books were found at the Library of Michigan. Click Library of Michigan to visit the Library's web site.

Also consulted were the official web sites of Tulip Time and the Joint Archives of Holland (housed at Hope College.). Click Tulip Time to visit the Tulip Time web site. Click Joint Archives of Holland for further information on that institution.

The Archives of Michigan houses historical photos of Tulip Time and other Michigan festivals. Records of the West Michigan Tourist Association contain photographs and written documents on Western Michigan attractions.

Click Archives of Michigan to visit the Archives of Michigan home page.

Click Image of the Month for archived Image of the Month pages.

Archives of Michigan
Michigan Library and Historical Center
702 W. Kalamazoo Avenue
Lansing, MI 48913
Phone: (517) 373-1408
E-mail: archives@michigan.gov

Updated 08/31/2006

Michigan Historical Center, Department of History, Arts and Libraries
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