Steve VanderVeen: The women who helped make Holland, continued

This week we highlight more women who helped make Holland.

Martha Diekema Kollen

Martha Diekema Kollen (1867-1960) lived near present-day Heinz, originally the home of an Odawa settlement and burial ground. Compared to many of Holland’s settlers, the Diekemas were culturally progressive. Martha attended the English-speaking Hope Church; after finishing Hope Preparatory School, she attended Columbia University.

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After graduation, she married George Kollen, a partner in the family firm Diekema, Kollen and TenCate, and they built their home at 80 W. 13th St. In 1894, with her neighbor, Kate Garrod Post, daughter-in-law of Anna Post, Martha attended the the Bay View Reading Club, which became the Women’s Literary Club; then served as its president from 1899-1910.

She also organized the Century Club, a social club for Holland’s emerging elite. Then, after women secured the right to vote in local elections, Martha won membership on the Holland Board of Education, a position she held for 30 years, including 10 years as superintendent.

After her husband passed away, in 1921 she purchased the C.L. King property and donated it to the city of Holland in George’s name. Today, we know it as Kollen Park. She then traveled the world to share what she learned with her hometown. Hope College gave her an honorary doctorate in 1949.

Nellie Churchford

Nellie Churchford

In the 1890s, Nellie Churchford (1873-1931) served Holland-area residents as a maid, midwife and minister. As minister, she played music and preached the gospel on street corners, in vacant downtown buildings, and, during the summers, in a large tent on Eighth Street between River Avenue and Pine Avenue. Then, in 1903, she opened a temporary mission in a vacant storefront.

Initially, because she wasn’t Dutch, Reformed, educated, or male, city leaders didn’t support her religious work. So, Nellie left town, earned a degree from the Scofield Bible College in New York City, and accepted ordination from the Apostolic Holiness Association in Battle Creek.

Missing her, Holland’s leaders called her back, whereupon she expanded her ministry. In 1919, she launched the first Christmas drive for poor mothers and children. Then, overwhelmed by community needs, she announced her retirement.

In response, Holland leaders, among them Con DePree, Gerrit Diekema, and August Landwehr, rallied to support her. In 1927, the community built a mission center. But, during the Depression, the mission defaulted on its mortgage. Yet her legacy continued — today her mottos of “no law but love, no creed but Christ” and “everlastingly at it” still ring at Gateway Mission.

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Jan Vogelzang

Before they were married, Jan Vogelzang wisely gave Klaashje (“Clara”) Miehaus (1879-1958) the responsibility of managing their money. In 1907, they emigrated to Holland. For the next 13 years, Jan worked for a variety of companies; among them Ottawa Furniture, Bush and Lane Piano Factory, Western Michigan Furniture, Charles Limbert Furniture, Western Machine Tool Works, and Holland Furnace.

He also launched his own carpentry business. But Clara had a better idea. She purchased land in the newly developing Washington Square area and persuaded Jan to open a Vogelzang Hardware.

Helena Boone Pardee

Helena Boone Pardee (1881-1916) was born to Hermanus and Helena PfanstiehlBoone. Helena married George Pardee. George died in 1912. Helena then became manager of Boone’s City Hotel (on the site of present-day Warm Friend), which was so successful her father and brother, Hub, considered adding a five-story addition. A member of the Century Club and Women’s Literary Club, Helena sang at venues in Holland and Grand Haven. Upon her death, the Holland City News claimed she was “the most popular woman in Holland and possibly in Ottawa County.”

Dena Muller

Dena Muller

Dena Muller (1884-1976) was born to Iete Muller and Martha Vandenberg Muller, then lived on a prosperous farm in Illinois. But her brother Cornelius, when attending Hope College, convinced Iete to purchase the bankrupt Walsh-DeRoo Company. So, in 1907, the family moved to Holland.

By 1920, Iete’s Standard Grocery served 100 retail bakers, grocers, and restaurants. After Iete’s death, Dena ran the business. By 1924, Standard had issued stock, built a second warehouse, and joined the International Grocers Association (IGA).

In 1947, after fending off the Teamsters, Dena moved the business to E. 16th St. (west of present-day Menards). After Progressive Grocery purchased Standard Grocery in 1959, the 16th Street building became home to Holland Transplanter.

We’ll share more thumbnail stories next week.

— Steve VanderVeen is a resident of Holland. You may reach him at skvveen@gmail.com. His book, “The Holland Area’s First Entrepreneurs,” is available at Reader’s World.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Steve VanderVeen: The women who helped make Holland, continued