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THE WAY SHE MOVES, THE WAY SHE TALKS: ORAL HISTORY
PRACTICE IN THE NETHERLANDS
Ingeborg VERHEUL *
In November last year, Atria unveiled the news of the discovery of an unknown movie clip dating
from 1915, which included Aletta Jacobs. Aletta Jacobs is a Dutch role model for many women, not
only in the Netherlands but also abroad. She lived from 1854 till 1929 and became the first female
medical doctor in the Netherlands. She also was one of the leading ladies in the international
suffrage movement and peace movement in the early 20 th century and she has played an important
role in the Netherlands to establish the right to vote for women in 1919. 1 The personal archive of
Aletta Jacobs and her book collection have been safeguarded and form a rich source for historical
research. The short clip of only 20 seconds 2 is, although it is short, a spectacular addition to this
archive and to the reconstructed picture we have of this historic figure. Until the moment this short
clip was discovered, a moving image of Aletta Jacobs had not been known. And getting an impression
of how someone moves, really adds something extra to “experience” someone who has been
important for our history. In general one could say that moving images help to raise historic
consciousness through all generations. When going a step further: hearing someone speak and talk
about what moves them, even adds a bit more. The historic impression becomes unforgettable. And
that is what oral history interviews can add to our historic sensibility.
This paper consists of two parts. Firstly, it focuses on the position and development of the oral
history collection within the broader framework of the archival collection of Atria, including some
more details on the practical approach of creating such a collection. Secondly, the paper focuses on
general developments in the cultural heritage and scientific field in the Netherlands in which Atria
plays a role, from its background as cultural heritage institution. The conclusion summarizes why our
institution so strongly feels that archival collections and especially oral history collections are
important sources for the safeguarding of the heritage of women and for keeping the women of our
past ‘alive’ for hopefully many generations to come.
Atria is the national institute on gender equality and women’s history, based in Amsterdam in the
Netherlands. The name Atria may sound new to you. This makes sense, since our institution got this
name only in January 2013, as a final result of a merger process of two older institutes in the
Netherlands: Aletta, Institute for Women’s History and E‐Quality, knowledge centre on
Emancipation, Family and Diversity. The new institute promotes gender e‐quality and women’s
issues, by performing research and analysis on the position of women in today’s society, giving
advice for future policy and making knowledge available to a wider public. This work is enriched by
the historical point of view, since the institute also plays an important role as a scientific library and a
special archive, and in these roles collects, maintains and disseminates the heritage of women and
the women’s movement. The theme of the new institute ‐ Sharing the past, debating the present,
creating the future – clearly shows how we connect the world of today with the future and with the
past. 3
The library and archive of Atria are housing one of the oldest collections on women’s history
worldwide: it is called the International Archive for the Women’s Movement or Internationaal Archief
voor de Vrouwenbeweging (IAV). 4 The basis of this collection was formed by the archives of Aletta
Jacobs, the woman that was briefly introduced in the beginning of this article.
*
Manager Collections (Library and Archive) at Atria, Institute on Gender Equality and
Women’s History in Amsterdam.