De Locomotief, 2 Nov 1950, Semarang city news column. Relevant items: Gerwis Semarang has a new board chaired by Miss Kadarsih after merging its three branches; Gerwis (with Perwari, Kowani) is on the committee for the reburial of Lt-Col Sirojo (catering); a PKI branch opens in Semarang. The 'Kartinah' mentioned died o
De Waarheid, 6 May 1953, p. 5: dispatch citing two Gerwis women, Su... and Warinah, on the growth of Gerwis in East Java: districts up from 19 (early 1952) to 37, 120 branches plus 50 forming, 7,016 members, mainly women workers, peasants and self-employed. Illiteracy is the main obstacle, countered by courses attended
De Locomotief, 11 July 1953: one-line notice from Surakarta that the Central Java Commissariat of Gerwis will hold a working conference from 27 July (end date garbled in source), with delegates from all of Central Java.
De Waarheid, 31 Jul 1953, p. 5: short Jakarta dispatch (20 July) that on Gerwis's initiative a committee was formed to assist victims of terrorist bands such as Darul Islam, joined by SOBSI, the veterans' league Perbepsi, student organisation IPPI and the peasants' union RTI. Shows Gerwis leading a relief and anti-Daru
De Waarheid, 9 Dec 1953, p. 5: Malang dispatch on a Gerwis conference reviewing East Java work. In six months membership rose from 12,000 to 16,420 and branches from 37 to 49; literacy courses ran in 120 villages with 1,349 participants; 15 kindergartens (kleuterbewaarplaatsen) opened, holding almost 600 children daily
Algemeen Handelsblad (1954-04-05): President Sukarno received participants of the Gerwani congress; Dutch communist MP Rie Lips-Odinot conveyed the sympathy of the 'peace-loving part of the Dutch people'. Sukarno replied that good relations require return of New Guinea, and she endorsed Indonesia's claim. The paper cal
De Maasbode, 5 Apr 1954: Sukarno receives at the palace women attending the Gerwani congress in Jakarta (described as a continuation of the communist Gerwis). The Dutch communist MP Mrs Lips-Odinot conveys the 'peace-loving' Dutch people's support; Sukarno says New Guinea is the main barrier to good relations. Shows Ge
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: short note that the recent congress of the Indonesian women's movement unanimously decided to change the name Gerwis to Gerwani, because 'Gerwis' (aware women) implied that only aware women could join, whereas every Indonesian woman should be able to become a member. Key evidence for 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
Bintang Timur (Jakarta daily), 29 May 1954, p. 2 of a multi-article issue; only one item concerns Gerwani. Its central board (DPP Gerwani), speaking for 80,000 members, protests to the UN against ECOSOC's removal of the WIDF from consultative status, citing a letter from WIDF president Eugenie Cotton, and demands reins
Het Vaderland front page (8 Jun 1954) opening with Dutch resistance veterans' wreath-laying at the Normandy invasion beaches, followed by Indonesian news. A short passage 'Indon. comm. women and the Union' says the Indonesian feminist movement Gerwani, recently hostess to delegations of communist women from Russia and
Bintang Timur (Jakarta daily), 23 Jun 1954, p. 2 of a multi-article issue. Relevant item reports that the Indonesian Peace Committee's plenary elected Prof. Ir. Purbodiningrat of Yogyakarta as chair; its committee lists include Mrs Salawati Daud (Gerwani leader) among names such as Ny. Aruji Kartawinata and Mr. Astrawi
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
Algemeen Handelsblad (1954-07-02): a Committee of Co-operating Parties of 31 parties and organisations, including PKI, PNI, NU, SOBSI and Gerwani, urges the Dutch government to declare High Commissioner Van Bylandt persona non grata, recall Indonesia's delegation, abolish the Netherlands-Indonesia Union unilaterally an
De Gooi- en Eemlander, 2 July 1954: a committee of 31 cooperating parties and organisations, including the PKI, PNI, SOBSI and Gerwani, demands that Dutch High Commissioner Count van Bylandt be declared persona non grata. It also asks for unilateral abolition of the Netherlands-Indonesia Union and a West Irian administ
De Nieuwsgier, 8 July 1954: Jakarta forms a committee to celebrate 17 August for national unity, abolition of the Netherlands-Indonesia Union and the return of West Irian; its secretariat, at the Balai Kota, is run by Gerwani, SOBSI and FPI. No Soetanti Aidit; Gerwani appears only as a secretariat organiser.
De Locomotief, 29 July 1954: the Salatiga branch of Gerwani, with Central Java provincial delegates and BTI, SOBSI and women's organisation representatives, discusses implementing the latest congress decisions. Sub-branches will be set up in every subdistrict capital. Gerwani fields no candidates in the elections but i
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
CIA weekly 'Recent Communist Conciliatory Gestures...' (9 Aug 1954), a long chronology of Soviet-bloc exchanges. The only Gerwani item (p.24, 1 August 1954) says the Indonesian women's organisation GERWANI, labelled Communist-front, was reported planning to send ten women on a three-week tour of the USSR, reciprocating
De Locomotief, 24 Aug 1954: a note on 50 families transmigrating from Purwokerto to South Sumatra, and a brief item that the Medan Badan Kerdjasama Nasional (BKN), to which PKI, PNI, SKI and Gerwani are affiliated, urged by resolution that the mayor be relieved of his post (text breaks off).
De Nieuwsgier, 24 Aug 1954: the Medan Badan Kerdjasama Nasional, to which PKI, PNI, SKI and Gerwani are affiliated, adopts a resolution urging the government to relieve Medan's mayor A.N. Djalaluddin. Same item as in De Locomotief of the same date.
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1954-08-26, p. 2): first item on the Dutch UN report on New Guinea for 1953. A final line says the Badan Kerdjasama Nasional in Medan, affiliating PKI, PNI, SKI and Gerwani, urged the government to dismiss Medan's mayor A.M. Djalaluddin.
De Waarheid, 27 Oct 1954, p. 5: report on the draft marriage regulation PP-19, which would allow polygamy for men and which tens of thousands of Indonesian women protested. Quotes Umi Sardjono, Gerwani chair, in Harian Rakjat urging mass action, mobilising all women's groups and unions (PP-19 also risks mass dismissals
De Locomotief, 16 Nov 1954: a one-line item that Gerwani of Lampung, at its first congress at Tanjungkarang, decided to submit to the government a resolution requesting a ban and confiscation of pornographic reading matter and improper newspaper and film advertisements. Other items (Stork-Werkspoor orders, Tokyo, Phili
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1954-11-30, p. 2): two-day congress of Gerwani's Bandung branch ('formerly Gerwis') sends sympathy to Maisoeri, a sixteen-year-old in South Sumatra jailed for refusing a forced marriage to a sixty-year-old, and calls for abolishing forced marriages. It also demands bans on 'modern dances' and
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1954-11-30, p. 2): notes on Bandung provincial, municipal and regency council sessions. A final paragraph says the Bandung branch of Gerwani backs the Ali-Arif cabinet because of its security policy, asks for the 'undemocratic' West Java provincial council to be dissolved, and calls for a very
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