A letter of recommendation for T. de Vries (see 1896.23), which Kuyper wrote at the request of a member of the Holland Society of Chicago who was soliciting such letters from prominent persons. The Chicago branch of the General Dutch League was then engaged in an effort to convince the University of Chicago to establish a professorship in Dutch history, art, and literature. T. de Vries was their candidate for this professorship.

No copy of the relevant issue of Onze Toekomst [Our future] seems to have been preserved. The existence of this letter of recommendation is known, however, thanks to The Chicago Foreign Language Press Survey (Chicago: Chicago Public Library Omnibus Project, 1942). This major collection includes translations from twenty-two foreign-language newspapers published in Chicago (Harold Washington Library Center, SPECL9/Z6953.5A1C47). According to this source, the following letter appeared in Onze Toekomst, a Dutch-language paper, on March 24, 1911:

In 1911, De Vries was appointed lecturer on Dutch institutions at the University of Chicago. He received a two-year contract (1911–1913). The Holland Society of Chicago, which had agreed to sponsor the chair for two years, had expected that the university would pick up the costs thereafter. The university was not prepared to do so, however, and the chair was abolished after two years.

De Vries had found himself in tension when pursuing his scholarly and political career in the Netherlands. He forfeited his chance for a professorship at the Vrije Universiteit and also lost several elections for a seat in the Second Chamber. He immigrated to the United States in 1910, primarily to advance his career. De Vries had already written Kuyper, his former professor, for a letter of recommendation before leaving for the United States and then again after arriving (see KA 132, microfiche 938 and KA 132, microfiche 944/945).