The Netherland-America Foundation (NAF)

Building on the enduring heritage and values shared between the peoples of the Netherlands and the United States, the Netherland-America Foundation (NAF) seeks to further strengthen the bonds between our two countries through exchange in the arts, sciences, education, business, and public affairs.

The Netherland-America Foundation was founded in 1921 by visionary leaders in New York City. Edward Bok, the celebrated publisher of the Ladies Home Journal, served as its first president. Bok and his colleagues – including Franklin D. Roosevelt – were determined to build the NAF into an activist organization.

Business, government, and academic leaders served as presidents, among them: Thomas J. Watson, founder of IBM; the Hon. William C. Redfield, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce and Dr. A.J. Barnouw, Queen Wilhelmina Professor at Columbia University.

In 2011 the Netherland-America Foundation celebrated 90 years, to honor the occasion and the circumstances surrounding that year, the first history book on the NAF was published. Hendrik Edelman, Professor Emeritus at Rutgers University, produced this publication from recovered archives, now part of Columbia University Library. The Netherland-America Foundation 1921–2011: A HISTORY, is an in-depth look at how the NAF started, has progressed through the decades, and managed the changing social and political landscapes.