Mary Risseeuw will examine the reasons for emigration and the immigration trail in the U.S. She will also talk about the impact of the Phoenix ship disaster in 1847, location of Dutch settlements in Wisconsin, comparisons to the colonies in Michigan and Iowa and an examination of Dutch record keeping in Wisconsin and the Netherlands.

Biography of Mary Risseeuw:
Risseeuw has researched 19th and 20th century Dutch immigration to Wisconsin for over 25 years. She has lectured throughout the Midwest and the Netherlands on the subject. Some of her publications include: A Phoenix Sesquicentennial Tribute: 1847-1997 (1997), I end with my pen, but not with my heart: Dutch immigrant letters, memoirs and travel journals, Editor/compiler (2008), and Diverse Destinies: Dutch Colonies in Wisconsin and the East, Editor/author (2012). She serves on the Board of Directors of the Association for the Advancement of Dutch American Studies and hosted their 2011 conference in WI. She also organized and hosted the Dutch in Wisconsin Conference in 2008; the first Dutch studies conference to focus solely on Dutch immigration to Wisconsin. She was the Development Director at the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center. She has a B.S. from UW-Madison and M.A. and M.F.A. from Northern Illinois University.