Women with Minister Suroso on Government Regulation 19
De Nieuwsgier, 28 Aug 1952: Minister Suroso meets representatives of about a dozen women's organisations, including Gerwis, Wanita Demokrat Indonesia, Muslimat and PPI, about Government Regulation 19 on pensions for civil servants' widows (with plural wives). Several associations urge withdrawal. Shows Gerwis among the
Request for clarification on the 17 October 1952 affair
De Nieuwsgier, 6 Dec 1952: representatives of 18 parties and organisations in Surabaya, under the PNI, urge the government to clarify whether the 17 October 1952 affair was a coup, to act against all involved and to implement the Sophiaan motion. Gerwis is among the listed attendees (with PKI, PNI, SOBSI, Murba, Wanita
City news: Kartini Day tomorrow in Semarang
De Locomotief, 20 Apr 1953, city news: Semarang prepares Kartini Day, with a committee of women's associations chaired by Mrs Surya Hadi (Perwari), including Mrs Sri Hudarijah of Gerwis. Programme includes a commemoration meeting, a krontjong evening, a cooking competition, a dolls' exhibition and a foundation for a ho
Reports from Tegal: revived Kowani representation
De Locomotief, 21 Nov 1953, Tegal reports: the local KOWANI representation was revived on 28 Aug under Mrs Sarwono, uniting ten women's organisations including Gerwis, Perwari-type groups, Muslimat, Aisjiah and Bhayangkari. It collected money and clothes for terror victims and planned to mark KOWANI's 25th anniversary
PSI objects to composition of Jakarta election committees
De Nieuwsgier, 18 Dec 1953: three Jakarta branches of the PSI protest to Mayor Sudiro that election committees for the Greater Jakarta regencies seat only certain parties and their 'side organisations', naming Gerwis, Wanita Demokrat, Petani, Sobri, Sobsi and PPR as associations with seats. Shows the political contest
Mayor explains composition of regency election committees in Jakarta
De Nieuwsgier, 13 Feb 1954: Jakarta Mayor Sudiro explains the composition of the three regency election committees, giving one seat each to Masjumi, PNI, Gerwis, NU, PKI, PIR, Perwari and others. Gerwis's seat falls from two to one, with a Gerwis woman seated to represent 'socialism'; the Wanita Demokrat seat passes to
Joint declaration of thirty parties (abolition of the Netherlands-Indonesian Union)
Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (24 Jun 1954, p.1): the Jakarta cooperation committee of about thirty parties and organisations, including PNI, PKI, Partai Buruh, Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, SOBSI, BTI and Wanita Rakjat, issued a joint declaration demanding immediate abolition of the Indonesian-Dutch Union, blaming Dutch imper
Tens of thousands gathered in Djakarta: resolution demands unilateral incorporation of Irian
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1954-12-06, p. 2): tens of thousands rally on Merdeka Square, Jakarta, organised by the West Irian Liberation Committee with women's organisations. Speakers include Perwari chair Mrs. Kartowijono and Mrs. Sardjono of Gerwani, who reads the resolution demanding unilateral incorporation of West
Mass demonstration in Jakarta demands incorporation of West Irian
De Locomotief, 6 Dec 1954: tens of thousands rally on Merdeka Square, Jakarta, organised by the West Irian liberation committee with women's associations. Speakers include Umi Sardjono of Gerwani, who read out the resolution demanding unilateral incorporation of West Irian, severing relations with the Netherlands and a
Mass demonstration in Jakarta demands incorporation of West Irian (duplicate copy)
Second copy of the De Locomotief report of 6 Dec 1954 on the Merdeka Square mass meeting for West Irian. Umi Sardjono of Gerwani spoke and read the resolution demanding unilateral incorporation, severing of Dutch relations and abrogation of the agreements; text differs slightly in wording ('colonial Dutch government').
Indonesian Women's 3rd Congress, Palembang, 2-6 March 1955 (Indian Daily Mail)
Indian Daily Mail (Singapore), 2 March 1955, p. 1: the third Indonesian Women's Congress is held in Palembang, 2-6 March, with 300 delegates of women's organisations. Preparatory committee chair is Mrs S.A. Hanafiah (Gerwani), secretary Mrs R. Mailan (Gerwani), treasurer Mrs Djauhari; Perwari, Gerwani, Wanita Demokrat
Wanita Demokrat Indonesia, Semarang: new board and kindergarten
De Locomotief, 9 June 1955: the Semarang branch of Wanita Demokrat Indonesia forms a new board (names garbled; a Soetanti and Sri Soetanti appear) and will again open a Froebel kindergarten on Jalan Karangtempel. Gerwani is not mentioned; the Soetanti here is not identified as Soetanti Aidit.
A village cast its vote
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad reportage (1955-09-30, p. 2) from the village of Tjoblong-Sekeloa, Bandung, on the 29 September 1955 election: 1,147 voters at a bamboo polling place. A child-minding and first-aid post near the booths is run by a committee of eleven women: one from Muslimat, two from Wanita Demokrat and eight
Better roads
Short Algemeen Indisch Dagblad item 'Betere wegen' (1956-01-03, p. 2): at the Wanita Demokrat's instigation, the village of Tjoblong in North Bandung sets up a road-improvement committee led by lurah Ateng Sutisna. Members include PSII, PKI, Wanita Demokrat, Gerwani, Permai, PNI, NU and the local guard; first project i
Suluh Indonesia, 14 February 1958: Welcoming the Asian-African Women's Conference in Colombo
Suluh Indonesia, Jakarta, 14 February 1958 (four pages, OCR very noisy). Front page: the Husein ultimatum, cabinet and Sumatra crisis. Page 3 (cont. from p. 1) carries 'Menyambut Konperensi Wanita Asia-Afrika' on the conference due in Colombo 15-24 Feb 1958 (education, health, labour, slavery, nationality), and lists t
Biographic Data on Members of the Gotong Royong Parliament (US Embassy despatch, July 1960)
US State Department Central Files despatch from Embassy Djakarta (July 1960, chargé Rolland Buchner): biographic data, with alphabetical index, on about 110 former members of parliament appointed to the Gotong Royong parliament, grouped by party. Biographies of women MPs include Gerwani figures. Mrs Mudigdio (Gerwis/Ge
Dong Biwu receives women's delegations from Asia, Africa and Latin America (snippet)
Snippet-only Renmin Ribao front-page item (4 Oct 1963): Dong Biwu receives Asian, African and Latin American women's delegations on the National Day visit. The snippet lists the Indonesian women's delegation (Soemarno's wife, Gerwani's Kartinah Kurdi, Kartini Radjasa and an Islamic women's representative) among others;
Dong Biwu receives women's delegations from Asia, Africa and Latin America
Xinhua report in Renmin Ribao (4 Oct 1963, p. 1): on 3 October Head of State Dong Biwu received women's delegations from Asia, Africa and Latin America, with All-China Women's Federation leaders present. The Indonesian group includes Jakarta mayor Soemarno's wife, Gerwani First Deputy Secretary-General Kartinah Kurdi,
All-China Women's Federation banquet for women's delegations (snippet)
Snippet-only Renmin Ribao item (6 Oct 1963, p. 4) on an All-China Women's Federation banquet for Asian, African and Latin American women's delegations. The snippet lists the Indonesian delegation, including Gerwani First Deputy Secretary-General Kartinah Kurdi, and is truncated. Full text is GA-01914.
All-China Women's Federation banquet for women's delegations from Asia, Africa and Latin America
Xinhua report in Renmin Ribao (6 Oct 1963, p. 4): the All-China Women's Federation hosts a banquet on 5 October for women's delegations from Asia, Africa and Latin America, including the Indonesian group with Gerwani's Kartinah Kurdi. Vice-chair Shi Liang frames support for anti-imperialist women's struggles as an inte
Indonesian and Ghanaian women's delegations leave Beijing (snippet)
Snippet-only Renmin Ribao item (9 Oct 1963, p. 3): the seven-member Indonesian women's delegation (Soemarno's wife, Gerwani First Deputy Secretary-General Kartinah Kurdi, Kartini Radjasa and others) leaves Beijing with a Ghanaian delegation to tour other places. Truncated; full text is GA-01916.
Indonesian and Ghanaian women's delegations leave Beijing
Xinhua note in Renmin Ribao (9 Oct 1963, p. 3): the seven-member Indonesian women's delegation and a three-member Ghanaian delegation left Beijing on 7 October to tour elsewhere. Names Soemarno's wife, Gerwani's Kartinah Kurdi, Kartini Radjasa, an Islamic teachers' women's leader and Rabiah Djamil of the Perti women's
FO 371/181556: Joint Malaysia-Indonesia Department, Propaganda [1] (1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/181556 (Joint Malaysia-Indonesia Department, 1965): minutes, letters and telegrams on countering Indonesian propaganda during Konfrontasi (crashed-aircraft evidence, guidance telegram no. 36, Afro-Asian posts). It has nothing on Gerwani in the official papers. Filed within it is a printed
Politics in Simalungun: A Study in Political Integration (Liddle, 1967)
PhD dissertation (Yale, 1967) by R. William Liddle, a political-science study of local parties and political integration in Simalungun regency and Pematangsiantar, North Sumatra, based on 1963-64 fieldwork. Gerwani appears in a few brief passages in ch. VI: listed among PKI mass organizations (p. 190), given no members
Women in the first election (Historia, 2019)
Historia article (2019) on women's wings of parties in the 1955 election (Perwamu, Parkiwa, Wanita Demokrat, Aisyiyah, Bhayangkari), noting the PKI grew close to Gerwani and that Mudigdio and Umi Sardjono entered the DPR for the PKI. Context on Gerwani and elections.
Years of Dressing Dangerously: Modern Women, National Identity and Moral Crisis in Sukarno's Indonesia (Sullivan, 2020)
Charles P. Sullivan's PhD dissertation (History, University of Michigan, 2020) reads Indonesian women's magazines (Wanita, Puspa Wanita, Varia) from 1945-66 to argue that the Lubang Buaya narrative about Gerwani worked as a 'post-text' of long-running anxieties over modernity, moral crisis and the 'Mother of the Nation