Archive

Atria manages two kilometres of archives on gender history and is still collecting new archives to add personal stories to the collection.

Archive collection

Close-up of archives just returned from Moscow
Close-up of archives just returned from Moscow, 2003, photographer: Mieke Schlaman, IAV-Atria Collection

Atria manages archives of women pioneers and of individuals and organisations that are part of the women's movements. The archives include (personal) correspondence, minutes, manuscripts and reports of congresses.

Personal archives

Personnel archives come from individuals who played a role in gender equality and the struggle for gender equality. For example, Atria holds the personal archive of Aletta Jacobs (1854-1929), the first woman to receive a university degree and the first female doctor, as well as the personal archive of Tania Leon (1945-1996), who was actively involved in the anti-apartheid and black women's movements. Such personal archives include correspondence, notebooks and diplomas, as well as scrapbooks, recipes and birthday cards. The personal archives provide a picture of the diversity of people who contributed to gender equality.

Organisational archives

The organisational archives come from foundations and associations founded with the aim of contributing to gender equality. Some of these organisations were already established at the start of what we now call the 'first feminist wave'. For example, you can think of the Association for Women's Suffrage or Tesselschade Arbeid Adelt, an organisation that emancipated women by selling their handicrafts to generate an income. More recent organisations have also donated their archives to Atria. For example, you can find the archive of abortion action group Women on Waves or the archive of Moluccan women's group Kelompok in our collection.

View archives

In our reading room there is plenty of space to browse the archives and do research. You can consult the description or inventory of each archive online. More than fifty archives have been fully digitised and can be viewed online.

Would you like to come and see archive records? To ensure that the material is available and on time, please fill in the form below.

Donating archive material

Atria is always looking for special archives. Atria's collection is made up of archive material from individuals and organisations that have played a role in the women's movements. Do you or do you know an archive that might be a good addition to Atria's collection? Or are you curious whether the documents, photos or diaries you have lying around fit into an archive? Then fill in the form below and the archivist will contact you.

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