Join author, Elisabeth Paling Funk in a discussion about her new book
The Dutch World of Washington Irving: Knickerbocker's History of New York and the Hudson Valley Folktales
March 25, 2026
6:30 to 8:00 PM
Online program
On March 25th, Elisabeth Paling Funk will discuss The Dutch World of Washington Irving: Knickerbocker's History of New York and the Hudson Valley Folktales. Irving's History of New York (1809) is his account of New York’s beginnings as he saw it in his famous satire. This work and Irving's Hudson Valley folktales that followed also cover a vast and varied treasure trove of Dutch and Dutch-American popular culture. Knickerbocker's History and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" present various aspects of Dutch courting customs, which continued to be practiced into Irving's day and beyond.
Born in Woerden, the Netherlands, Elisabeth Paling Funk received her PhD from Fordham University, taught English at the university level, and is now a translator, editor, and independent scholar. She lives in the Hudson Valley. Her book, The Dutch World of Washington Irving: Knickerbocker History and the Hudson Valley Folktales, was published by Cornell University Press in June 2025.
