The ‘Papers’ series contains certificates, newspaper and magazine clippings, obituaries, announcements, correspondence, postcards, hotel forms, a probate court discharge, advertisements, banking records, checks, a blueprint, bills, tax documents, land contracts, receipts, a dog receipt, land documents, invitations, programs, his military discharge, the Holland Soldiers’ Union constitution, pamphlets, cards, envelopes, a souvenir photobook of Washington D.C., ribbons, financial records, newspaper subscriptions, account books, issues of the Bay View Magazine, Cushing’s Manual, a business ledger, a child’s handwriting workbook, and his notebook. It shows the multifaceted life that Dirk Van Raalte lived, from his time as a soldier in the Civil War to his presidency over Holland City State Bank, showing his acumen at economics and rhetoric, as well as being a diligent, family man. Moreover, the family’s propensity for travel reveals, in combination with their long-reaching subscriptions to magazines and newspapers, a family that liked to keep abreast with current American culture and events.