A publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries
A division of the American Library Association
Editorial Offices: 575 Main Street, Suite 300, Middletown, CT 06457-3445
Phone: (860) 347-6933
Fax: (860) 704-0465

FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY

Please do not link to this page.

September 2017 Vol. 55 No. 1

For historians of early America, the Hudson River Valley, with its blend of Dutch and English cultures, is an island unto itself with a distinctive history. Historian Shefsiek (Univ. of North Carolina, Wilmington) agrees but reminds readers that the region’s pluralistic character extended beyond its two most prominent groups. In this study of New Paltz, Shefsiek follows the town’s founding families—a group of Walloon Huguenots—and their descendants over several generations. His meticulous account of the Huguenots’ creolization shows how they shed Walloon and then Dutch customs and eventually assimilated with the English. The chapters that detail adaptations in language, architecture, inheritance patterns, and religion will appeal mainly to specialists of the region. But Shefsiek’s final analysis holds broader interest. Ultimately, he argues, the Huguenots’ 19th-century descendants created a cultural narrative that reflected not a proud ethnic consciousness but rather an American nationalist identity that interwove their own lineage with a historically constructed chronicle of triumphant liberty. By analyzing how the latter-generation Huguenots reimagined their history, Shefsiek shows how race and ideology shape historical memory. In doing so, he adds nuance to what might otherwise have been merely a well-researched local history.

--S. M. Balik, Metropolitan State University of Denver

Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, faculty, specialists.