A library archivist has spent over three decades translating 17th-century documents in order to shed light on New York's early history.

Charles T Gehring, of the New York State Library, has translated 7,000 Dutch papers over the past 35 years, uncovering a history of Manhattan quite different from that of the textbooks. His research reveals a city run by adventurers, pirates, bohemians and gold diggers – a far cry from the upright, conservative Puritanism traditionally portrayed as the beginnings of America.

Gehring holds a PhD in German linguistics, specializing in Netherlandic studies. His painstaking research has involved scrutinizing quill-written, Old Dutch-language parchments that have been subject to four centuries of damage and decay.

"Most historians don't think much of the Dutch; they minimalize the Dutch influence and try to get out of that period as quickly as possible to get into English stuff," Mr. Gehring told the New York Times. "What you find out is how deeply the Dutch cast roots here and how much of their culture they transmitted to this country."

The Island at the Center of the World, the widely praised 2005 book by Russell Shorto, drew heavily on Gehring's findings, declaring Holland of the 1800s "the melting pot of Europe."

The colourful characters unveiled by Gehring also inspired Journey into Mohawk Country, a graphic novel by artist George O'Connor. It told the story of Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert, a barber and surgeon who may have been an ancestor of Humphrey Bogart.

Gehring still has 4,000 letters, journal pages and official documents to translate, and says he has no plans to retire. He told the Times, "Eventually I'll fade out like the Cheshire cat, with nothing left but my smile."

27 December 2009