On the Waterfront 1 and 2

24 January 2018 - 10:50

On the Waterfront is the semi-annual magazine of the IISH. These are issue 1 and 2

On the Waterfront : newsletter from the Friends of the IISH
Authors: Jan Lucassen, Mieke IJzermans
Place of publication: Amsterdam
Year: 2001 / Issue: 1 and 2 / Format: 16 pp.

Including Geert Mak - Lecture on his book De eeuw van mijn vader. Lecture held on 16 June 2000, p. 7-8
Renate Fuks-Mansfeld - "The Yiddish Collections of the IISH". Lecture held on 12 December 2000, p. 13-14

Introduction

We contemplated and discussed ways to involve people outside the Institute in the wellbeing of the IISH for two years. We also explored alternative sources of funding for activities that are not covered by the regular IISH budget. In 2000 the Friends of the IISH was established. The circle of Friends, which now comprises over fifty members, has met twice: on 16 June and on 12 December 2000.

At the second meeting, in addition to the standard presentation of acquisitions and the lecture by a guest speaker, the board was elected. This board met twice: on 23 January and on 11 April 2001. This first Newsletter reports on these activities. In the future, the Friends of the IISH Newsletter will appear twice a year. A Dutch version in a basic layout is available on request.

Members of the Friends of the IISH pay annual dues of two hundred or one thousand guilders or join with a lifetime donation of three thousand guilders or more. In return, members are invited to semi-annual sessions featuring presentations of IISH acquisitions and guest speakers. These guest speakers deliver lectures on their field of research, which does not necessarily concern the IISH collection. The first speaker was Geert Mak and the second Renate Fuks-Mansfeld. The presentation and lecture are followed by a reception.

In addition to these semi-annual gatherings, all Friends receive a forty-percent discount on IISH publications. Friends paying dues of one thousand guilders or more are also entitled to choose Institute publications from a broad selection offered at no charge. The board consults the Friends about allocation of the dues and delivers an annual financial report in conjunction with the IISH administration.

TheIISH was founded by master collector Nicolaas Posthumus (1880-1960) in the 1930s. For the past decade, two of the institutes established by this “history entrepreneur” have operated from the same premises: the NEHA (Netherlands Economic History Archive) since 1914 and the International Institute of Social History (IISH), which is now over sixty-five years old. Both institutes are still collecting, although the “subsidiary” IISH has grown far larger than the “parent” NEHA.

Detailed information about the IISH appears in:

  • Maria Hunink De papieren van de revolutie. Het Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis 1935-1947, Amsterdam 1986,
  • Jan Lucassen Tracing the past. Collections and research in social and economic history; The International Institute of Social History, The Netherlands Economic History Archive and related institutions, Amsterdam 1989;
  • In addition, Mies Campfens reviews archives in De Nederlandse archieven van het Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis te Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1989 (1984)
  • Jaap Haag and Atie van der Horst have compiled the Guide to the International Archives and Collections at the IISH, Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1999.
IISH On the Waterfront 1 and 2