Isaac Balie

For Isaac Balie to review

This page is waiting for Isaac Balie to check it. It is published now so that he can see how it fits with the rest of the site. Until he has approved the text, it may change. Questions for him:

1. Is “Historian of Genadendal, former museum curator” the role you would like the wiki to use? If not, what wording do you prefer?
2. Which posts did you hold at the museum (curator, director, manager), and in which years?
3. The Genadendal Music Archive calls you the museum’s founder, and says you directed it for 50 years. Your book says a museum first opened at Genadendal in 1963, and the present museum in 1987. What was your part in each?
4. News reports in 2021 said you are a great-grandson of Michael Balie, one of the teachers trained at Genadendal in 1838. May this page say so?
5. Which degrees do you hold, and from which universities? In which department did you write the MA thesis behind Die Geskiedenis van Genadendal?
6. Is Genadendal: Its Golden Age, 1806 to 1870 (1992) your book? Have you published anything else the wiki could cite, such as articles or booklets?
7. Is the account of your 1995 letter to President Mandela on this page correct?
8. Should readers reach you through the moderators, or would you like a public contact listed?

Isaac Balie is a historian of Genadendal and a former curator and director of the Genadendal Mission Museum [IC]. He grew up in Genadendal [MS]. He has written two histories of the village: Die Geskiedenis van Genadendal, 1738 to 1988, published in 1988, and Genadendal, The Valley of Grace: A Long Walk Through the History of the First Mission Station in South Africa, first published in 2020 [IC]. This wiki cites the second book on more than 20 of its history pages. Genadendal: A Long Walk describes it.

What the letters in square brackets mean

Facts on this page are followed by a tag that shows where they come from.

• [IC] Independently Corroborated. Confirmed by at least two sources that do not depend on each other, or by an official record.
• [MS] Mission-Sourced. Comes from the contributor’s own account, profile, or publications, or from the museum, the Moravian Church, or groups he has worked with.
• [TBV] To Be Verified. Seems likely, but nobody has confirmed it yet.

At a glance

Field	History of Genadendal, and museum work [IC]
Known for	Leading the Genadendal Mission Museum, and two books on the history of Genadendal [IC]
Link to the valley	Grew up in Genadendal, and led its museum [MS]

Their work

Study

His first book, Die Geskiedenis van Genadendal, 1738 to 1988, is a reworked version of the thesis for which he was awarded a Master of Arts with distinction (cum laude) [MS]. The university and the year have not yet been recorded.

At the Genadendal Mission Museum

His book says a museum first opened at Genadendal in 1963, and that the present museum opened in 1987 in the building of 1838 that housed South Africa’s first teachers’ training college [MS]. The museum’s collection was declared a National Cultural Treasure on 8 March 1991 [MS]. The Genadendal Music Archive calls him the museum’s founder, and says he directed it for 50 years [TBV]. Which posts he held, and in which years, has not yet been recorded.

In 1995 President Nelson Mandela renamed his official Cape Town residence, then called Westbrooke, Genadendal [IC]. Mission sources say the name came from a letter by the museum’s curator, Isaac Balie, written early that year [MS]. Die Burger reported the renaming on 2 February 1995 [TBV]. Mandela visited Genadendal on 10 October 1995 [IC]. In his preface to The Challenge of Genadendal (2009), he recalled both the renaming and the visit [IC]. History of the Valley tells this part of the story.

From 2011 to 2012 he led a project to make an inventory of the museum’s collections, with an assistant auditor from the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) [MS]. He also mentored the museum’s archival digitisation and auditing team [MS].

In February 2021 the provincial parliament’s Standing Committee on Community Safety, Cultural Affairs and Sport visited the museum. Its report names him as the former museum manager, and records that he led the committee through the museum’s buildings [IC].

In September 2021 the Western Cape government handed the remains of Michael Balie back to the community of Genadendal [IC]. Michael Balie was one of the first students at the teachers’ training college, which opened in 1838 (see Carl Jonas) [MS]. The provincial statement names Isaac Balie as the museum manager. It says the reburial at the museum was conducted by traditional stakeholders and Isaac Balie according to cultural protocols [IC]. He also unveiled a memorial stone for the teachers trained in 1838 [MS]. He told the Cape Argus that Michael Balie and his ten fellow students were the first South Africans to be formally trained as teachers [MS].

Their publications

• Die Geskiedenis van Genadendal, 1738 to 1988 (1988). Perskor, Cape Town. 263 pages. A cultural history in Afrikaans of the mission’s first 250 years, reworked from his MA thesis. It traces how Genadendal became one of the most orderly communities at the Cape in the 1800s, and what its people gave to Afrikaans culture, including some of the earliest printing in Afrikaans.
• Genadendal: Its Golden Age, 1806 to 1870 (1992). A study of the mission’s years of growth. The wiki has not yet found a library record of this book [TBV].
• Genadendal, The Valley of Grace: A Long Walk Through the History of the First Mission Station in South Africa (2020; AuthorHouse edition 2023). AuthorHouse, Bloomington, Indiana. A history of the mission village from 1737 to the present, told partly from his own memories. Genadendal: A Long Walk sets out the events it records, and where its dates differ from other sources.

Work on this wiki

Isaac Balie has helped the moderators with the history of Genadendal over many years [MS]. The wiki draws on his English history, Genadendal: A Long Walk, on more than 20 pages, and checks its dates against other sources. The page on the book lists where they differ.

How to reach them

Contact Isaac Balie through the moderators via How to Submit.

Related

• Research Contributors
• Genadendal: A Long Walk
• Genadendal Mission Museum
• History of the Valley
• Carl Jonas
• Samuel Baatjies

References

• Balie, I. (1988). Die Geskiedenis van Genadendal, 1738-1988. Cape Town: Perskor. WorldCat record. The title, publisher, and year.
• Theron Books. Die Geskiedenis van Genadendal 1738-1988. The publisher, year, and page count, the thesis behind the book, and a description of its contents.
• Balie, I. (2023). Genadendal, The Valley of Grace: A Long Walk Through the History of the First Mission Station in South Africa. Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse. First published by the author in September 2020. The museums of 1963 and 1987, the declaration of 1991, and the author’s upbringing in Genadendal.
• Western Cape Provincial Parliament. Oversight reports, Announcements, Tablings and Committee Reports 67-2021, 28 June 2021. The committee’s visit of 12 February 2021, and his title as former museum manager.
• Hermanus Times. Parlys museum visit. February 2021. The same visit, and his title as former curator.
• South African Government. MEC Anroux Marais on human remains of Michael Balie. Media statement, 14 September 2021. The handover, the reburial, and his title as museum manager.
• Cape Argus. Iconic teacher Michael Balie’s remains given dignified burial. 15 September 2021. The reburial, the memorial stone, and his words on the first trained teachers.
• Daily Maverick. The path less travelled: From Genadendal to Greyton through the mountains. 6 May 2020. Describes him as a former curator of the museum and a local historian, and his account of the renaming of Westbrooke.
• Genadendal Music Archive. About GMA. The inventory project of 2011 to 2012, the digitisation team, and the description of him as the museum’s founder.
• Genadendal Music Archive. About Genadendal. Describes him as the museum’s founder and its director for 50 years.
• Du Preez, H. and others (eds) (2009). The Challenge of Genadendal. IOS Press. Nelson Mandela’s preface, dated April 2008, on the renaming of Westbrooke and his visit of 10 October 1995.
• Valley of Grace: Significant Dates (2026). Forum research notes, held by the Forum. The 1995 letter and the report in Die Burger.