Collection stories

The International Institute of Social History (IISG) holds a remarkable collection of travelogues dating from the 16th to the 19th century. These travel stories document European journeys to all corners of the world. The collection belongs to the library of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and is managed by the IISG (part of the KNAW) since 2005.

How can we promote gender equality, starting with the ICT and cleaning sectors? This question is at the heart of the ‘Women Forward with Netwerk V’ project, a collaboration between the FNV trade union and the IISG, which will run until the end of 2027.

The IISH is proud to present a new online collection: the digitized price currents. What was the price of candied ginger sold in 1679 Amsterdam? How much did elephant teeth cost in 1817 in Amiens? Growing trade meant a growing demand for information on market at the end of the Middle Ages.

As part of the FNV archive project, another archive has been processed. The archive of the Kunstenaarsorganisatie-NVV, later known as the Kunstenbond FNV, has now been organised and catalogued.

NB: a version of this text in Farsi is downloadable as pdf below.

One of the early events that mark the beginning of the Cold War played out in the northwestern province of Iran, Azerbaijan, widely referred to as the 1946 crisis. A number of recently acquired posters in the collection of the International Institute of Social History (IISH) provide a colorful image of the way in which the 1946 crisis was perceived and propagated by the Iranian state in the following decade in the context of the Cold War.

This year, the Netherlands is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its liberation. Throughout history, many stories have been told about the resistance during the Second World War. One key player in the resistance was the Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN). Their role in the resistance was undeniable and highly active, and that involvement was, of course, not without risk. Many resistance fighters paid for their efforts with their lives.

The photographic collection of Dutch photographer Maya Pejić (1935 - 2023) comprises over 220,000 negatives, slides, and prints. The collection features images of minority groups, social issues, anti-racism campaigns and other political initiatives in the Netherlands from the 1960s onwards. 

Kier Schuringa was a member of the Dutch Anti-Apartheid Movement (AABN) in the 1970s. The AABN was founded in 1971. The AABN was one of the five major movements, alongside many regional and smaller groups. Schuringa now manages the collection on the Dutch anti-apartheid movements and South Africa at the International Institute of Social History (IISG) in Amsterdam. Following the abolition of apartheid in 1990, these movements became redundant, allowing their archives to be transferred to the IISG. Here, treasures are preserved that are rarely researched or loaned out.

The French student protests of May 1968 are well known and have been widely commemorated. But how many people know the story of 30 May 1969 in Curaçao?