I was honored when The Holland Society of New York awarded me the 2011 Gold Medal for Distinguished Achievement for excellence in Finance and History (two of my favorite topics).

Because I love history, I was asked by my older relatives to be a genealogist for the Winans and Eisen families and keep the memory of our ancestors alive for future generations. I am a direct descendant of Cornelius Melyn and Jan Winans, both leaders of Dutch settlements in New York and New Jersey in the 1600s. As I wrote my financial history book Investment Atlas I realized that my ancestors experienced everything I was writing about—200 years of wars, depressions, and natural disasters.

The Holland Society was founded in New York City in 1885 to collect information respecting the settlement and history of New Netherland, and is one of the nation’s oldest heritage societies. Its main objective is to find and preserve documentation about the inhabitants’ lives and times so as to elucidate the political, social, and religious patterns in the Dutch colony. Historical publications are sponsored, along with encouragement for family studies and genealogy. The Society’s membership is represented by many of America’s oldest families such as the Van Der Bilts and Roosevelts. I am currently the organization’s Pacific Southwest representative.