OSS/State Department report OIR 5714.7 (30 May 1952) analysing PKI propaganda: party structure, front organisations, relations with international communism and themes. Names Gerwis under Mrs Mudigdo as the communist vehicle competing with Kowani for women, and BTI under S. Sardjono; appendices cover publishing, films,
WIDF 1954 profile of Miss Darmini of GERWIS, reporting to a WIDF meeting. Membership rose from 6,000 at the 1951 first congress to 37,000 by 1953 and about 600,000 prior to the March 1954 second congress (as printed); the Union of Railway Workers' Wives affiliated. She describes campaigns on women's rights, maternity l
De Waarheid, 23 Jan 1954, p. 6: Annie Averink's review of Joop Wolff's Pegasus book 'Uit het rijk der duizend eilanden', based on a trip to Indonesia after the SOBSI congress of late 1952, with colonial-contrast views of Jakarta and kampongs. It notes that Gerwis, which organises workers' and peasants' wives, leads wom
Tribune (Sydney), 12 May 1954, p. 11: Allison Dickie, Union of Australian Women delegate, reports on the 1954 Indonesian women's congress. She describes Gerwis, the league of women 'more politically awake', whose work helped hundreds of thousands become literate and from which Gerwani developed; the six-day Gerwani Nat
Tribune (Sydney), 12 May 1954, p. 11: Allison Dickie, Union of Australian Women delegate, reports on the 1954 Indonesian women's congress. She describes Gerwis, the league of women 'more politically awake', whose work helped hundreds of thousands become literate and from which Gerwani developed; the six-day Gerwani Nat
De Waarheid, 12 May 1954, p. 5: opening of an interview with Rie Lips, vice-chair of the NVB, back from six weeks on Java after the Gerwis/Gerwani congress. She rejects stereotypes of Indonesians as lazy, dirty or stupid, citing women who work in factories or walk hours to attend meetings of the women's movement, 'the
De Waarheid, 12 May 1954, p. 5: Rie Lips's account of her Java trip: plantation workers' wages (about 3 rupiah per day), child labour on tea and rubber estates, and volunteer village schools. Quotes the Gerwani congress appeal that those who can read should teach others; Soviet delegate Alexandra Kolopowa speaks; photo
Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton), 1 June 1954, p. 9, report of Allison Dickie, Victorian president of the Union of Australian Women, on her return from an Indonesian women's conference in Jakarta (360 delegates for 60,000 women; Dutch WIDF delegates present). She describes sex equality in the provisional constitution but
Izvestiia, 20 Jun 1954. Travel notes by a member of the Soviet women's delegation (Anti-Fascist Committee of Soviet Women) touring Indonesia: Jakarta, Boyolali rally where Gerwani representatives and the woman who invited them questioned the guests about the USSR, plantation conditions near Bandung, Round Table agreeme
De Nieuwsgier, 7 Aug 1954: a Dutch-Indonesian paper recounts that Russian delegates invited to the Gerwani congress arrived after it ended but toured Java with organisers. Ekaterina Sheveleva's Izvestia report praises roads built by colonisers, laments farmers' primitive tools and notes a women's union meeting at a rai
Znamia, 31 Oct 1954, p. 124: opening of Yekaterina Shevelyova's travel essay 'On the Island of Java'. She says a Soviet Anti-Fascist Women's Committee delegation, invited by Gerwani, spent almost a month in Java, then summarises Dutch colonialism, the 1949 Round Table settlement, and the 1954 dissolution of the Dutch-I
Harry J. Benda, The Crescent and the Rising Sun: Indonesian Islam under the Japanese Occupation of Java, 1942-45 (PhD thesis, Cornell, June 1955), on Japanese policy towards Islam, Masjumi and the mass organisations Putera and Hokokai. Gerwani is not mentioned (it was founded after the thesis's period). The only women'
Daily News (Perth), 9 Feb 1955, p. 18, 'Diane's Diary' women's column. The second item reports Mrs A. Dickie, a Presbyterian minister's wife, who was the Union of Australian Women's delegate to a conference in Djakarta 'conducted by the Indonesian Women's Movement' (about 500 women) in April 1954, then toured Java and
Daily News (Perth), 9 Feb 1955, p. 18, 'Diane's Diary' women's column. The second item reports Mrs A. Dickie, a Presbyterian minister's wife, who was the Union of Australian Women's delegate to a conference in Djakarta 'conducted by the Indonesian Women's Movement' (about 500 women) in April 1954, then toured Java and
La Presse (17 May 1955, p.10): feature on a Muslim feminist campaign against polygamy, starting with the Pakistani PM Mohamed Ali's second marriage and spreading to Java. Says Fatmawati Sukarno was recruited and that Hartini was pregnant during the Bandung Conference. A snippet names Mme Suharti, president of the 'very
La Presse (17 May 1955, p.10), snippet extract of the polygamy feature: unrest in Indonesia over Sukarno's marriage to Hartini, in which Mme Suharti, president of the 'very communist-leaning' Indonesian Women's Movement (Gerwani), took advantage; Hartini's pregnancy surfaced as the Bandung Conference drew attention.
Het Parool column 'P.N.I.' (11 Nov 1955) analysing the 1955 Indonesian election result: the PNI did well despite corruption; Sukarno's second marriage (Hartini) had been thought to hurt him as it moved many prominent Indonesian women to militant counter-action, but the fight against polygamy was a concern of a handful
Bintang Timur, 17 July 1956, p. 3 (four-page issue). Continues the published lists of candidates/elected members for the Konstituante by party; among the PKI-and-allies list (OCR columns interleaved with NU, Masyumi and regional lists) appear Setiati Surasto and Suwardiningsih, alongside Nyoto and others. Remainder is
Journal article by Justus M. van der Kroef (American Catholic Sociological Review, June 1957) on women's status and marriage in Indonesia: adat versus Islamic law, polygamy, divorce rates, colonial and revolutionary change. Surveys women's organisations (Perwari, Kowani) and notes Kowani's early left turn and WIDF cont
Harian Rakjat, 16 Jan 1957, p. 3: women's page ('Wanita') with a short story by Sulami (Gerwani) about 'Yu Siyem', a village market woman and Gerwani branch activist who recruits neighbours, tours distant villages and wins her husband's support, showing membership expansion and the Anak-Cabang structure. Also Soviet sc
New York Times, 16 June 1957, p.37, Special to the Times from Jakarta: Sukarno names the 45 members of the new National Council (Dewan Nasional), chaired by himself, with Roeslan Abdulgani as deputy chairman and secretary-general. About a quarter are described as Communists or sympathisers, including PKI member Sujono
Front page of l'Unità (PCI daily), 31 Dec 1957: special-correspondent interview by Maria Maddalena Rossi (UDI president, WIDF vice-president) with President Sukarno in Jakarta on 21 Dec. Rossi says she came for the WIDF to Gerwani's congress at Solo (23-27 Dec 1957) and conveyed WIDF solidarity; Sukarno discusses colon
OCR text version of the same l'Unità front page (31 Dec 1957): Maria Maddalena Rossi (UDI/WIDF) interviews Sukarno in Jakarta on 21 Dec, saying she attended the Gerwani congress at Solo for the WIDF and conveying WIDF solidarity; Sukarno speaks on anti-colonialism and the 'four-legged horse' concept. Rest of page cover
US Monthly Indonesian Press Survey (1958) analysis of the First National Conference of Communist Women (Jakarta, 26-31 May 1958). Aidit's address presents the 'Communist woman' and calls for a wider Gerwani; Suharti Suwarto (Gerwani second deputy chair) and Sundari report on women's groups, only 100,000 women PKI membe
WIDF magazine 1958, one page carrying two pieces: a profile of R. A. Kartini for Indonesia's Kartini Day (born 1879, regent's daughter, quoted letters on education, polygamy and anti-colonial sympathy, died aged 25), and 'The Growing Family of the WIDF' on new affiliations (India, Japan, Sudan, Cameroons, Senegal, Ceyl
WIDF magazine 1958, one page carrying two pieces: a profile of R. A. Kartini for Indonesia's Kartini Day (born 1879, regent's daughter, quoted letters on education, polygamy and anti-colonial sympathy, died aged 25), and 'The Growing Family of the WIDF' on new affiliations (India, Japan, Sudan, Cameroons, Senegal, Ceyl
Fifth issue of Api Kartini (1959). Cover profile of WIDF president Eugenie Cotton; Umi Sardjono cited on 235 Gerwani TK Melati kindergartens in Java; also Sumpah Pemuda editorial, ethnography of the Tengger, recipes and child-health advice.
Suara Tani (BTI organ), special 10th-anniversary issue, January 1959, OCR noisy. Contains greetings from ministers, army chief Nasution and Gerwani; BTI New Year message; agrarian seminar results; BTI membership table (3.39 million); exposés of landlord exploitation in Java. On p. 5 Gerwani's national leadership (claim
CIA Current Intelligence Weekly Summary, 12 Nov 1959, a long multi-topic report; the Indonesia part (pp.23-27) assesses PKI strength (Aidit's claim of 1.5 million members, Java as base, army and Sukarno restrictions, Aidit's 1959 Moscow and Peking trip). It names GERWANI as the PKI's women's front, alongside Pemuda Rak