Women Write to Us From Everywhere: Indonesia (Darmini, 1954)
Short 1954 item in WIDF's 'Women Write to Us From Everywhere' by Darmini, Assistant General Secretary of Gerwani. She reports the Gerwani congress as a success, with WIDF representative Monica Felton present and foreign delegates (Dutch, Australian, Soviet) touring the country, a first in Indonesian women's movement hi
Dawn Over the Equator: Monica Felton on the Second Gerwani Congress, 1954
Monica Felton (WIDF Vice-President) writes in 1954 on the Second Congress of Gerwani, which she attended: 349 delegates, 80,000 members, a meeting with President Sukarno, resolutions on West Irian, the 1955 elections, a nationwide marriage law, democratic rights and support for the government against armed gangs. She s
Short 1954 WIDF note 'Dutch-Indonesian Solidarity': Dutch women's movement raised funds for a delegate to attend the Gerwis national congress (March 25) and sold soap 'For peace and friendship between Indonesian and Dutch women'. Mrs. Umi of Gerwis's executive says the campaign strengthened solidarity and showed Dutch
Indonesia: Miss Darmini of Gerwis (WIDF, 1954)
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
Indonesian and Dutch delegates meet at WIDF Executive, Geneva (1954)
Caption (1954) from WIDF's magazine: Indonesian and Dutch delegates met at the Geneva WIDF Executive Committee. Mrs. Rie Lips of the Dutch women's movement was invited to the congress of GERWIS, described as the national organisation in Indonesia with 80,000 members.
WIDF 1954 article compiling women's campaigns against atomic and hydrogen bombs after Bikini, with excerpts from Eugénie Cotton and the WIDF Executive appeal (Geneva). Countries covered include Britain, US, Japan, Germany, India; the Indonesia entry apparently refers to a national women's congress of 349 delegates dema
Salatiga: new executive council member elected
De Locomotief, 20 Jan 1954: Salatiga municipal council elects a new member of the executive council; Mrs Judodiprodjo of Gerwis receives 1 vote against 6 for Abdulsalam (Pemuda Demokrat) and 4 for Djojopuspito (PIR). Shows a Gerwis woman as a candidate in local government.
Illustrations from Joop Wolff's book on Indonesia: review mentions Gerwis marriage-law struggle
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
With the Gerwis congress in sight: Jakarta feature on preparations
De Waarheid, 27 Jan 1954, p. 5: correspondent's Jakarta feature ahead of Gerwis's second congress (opening 26 March 1954), describing its literacy courses, hygiene campaigns, defence of women under customary law, wage struggles (Sampurna cigarette factory Surabaya, Kaliklatak coffee estate) with SARBUPRI, and the mass
Warmth despite cold on the Indonesian evening: NVB Amsterdam event report
De Waarheid, 28 Jan 1954, p. 2: report on the NVB Amsterdam 'Indonesia evening' attended by about 200 women, with krontjong music, a reading from Multatuli, a film from the High Commission, and Annie Averink's speech on Indonesia's colonial past and on Gerwis's tens of thousands of members campaigning for a democratic
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
Soviet Woman, Feb 1954: Rantijem, 'Our Unity Is Growing Stronger'
Soviet Woman, 28 Feb 1954, p. 30: article by Rantijem (SOBSI National Council member), written after her Nov 1953 USSR tour with a trade union delegation, on Indonesian women's conditions. Describes legal bars to women's state and foreign-firm work, unequal pay (4.30 rupees/day vs 155.49 subsistence minimum), no matern
Women celebrate 8 March in Jakarta, 1954
De Nieuwsgier, 9 Mar 1954: International Women's Day is commemorated in Jakarta's Gedung Pertemuan with Mrs Rasuna Said, Dr Thung Sin Nio and members of Gerwis's central board present. Chair Mrs Effendie says women worldwide mark the day of sisterhood for equal rights and peace regardless of conviction.
They went to Canberra
Tribune (Sydney), 10 Mar 1954, p. 6: short review of Australian women's peace and welfare activity in 1953 (200-woman deputation to Canberra, Peace and War convention, delegations to Copenhagen). Says Australian women's representatives will doubtless attend the Indonesian women's congress soon to be held in Indonesia.
Indonesian women in the cigarette industry and the Gerwis congress (photo caption)
De Waarheid, 10 Mar 1954, p. 5: photo caption only, stating that Indonesian women work in the cigarette industry, often have to struggle for better working conditions, and that the Gerwis congress is also of great significance for them. Accompanies the NVB's pre-congress coverage; no further text.
Solidarity with women in the Netherlands: Umi Sardjono on NVB invitation
De Waarheid, 10 Mar 1954, p. 5: excerpt from Umi (Sardjono) describing how the NVB received Gerwis's invitation to its congress with joy, sending a delegation and running a friendship campaign and a soap-selling drive (soap printed with Dutch and Indonesian hands) to strengthen solidarity and support Indonesia's demand
Women of Indonesia prepare their congress: Umi Sardjono excerpts from Harian Rakjat
De Waarheid, 10 Mar 1954, p. 5: excerpts from an article by Umi (Sardjono), Gerwis board member, in Harian Rakjat preparing Gerwis's second congress. She lists invitations to women's groups in the USSR, China, Netherlands, India and WIDF, and stresses plantation and factory women, mass dismissals driving women into pro
International Women's Day in Salatiga, 1954
De Locomotief, 11 Mar 1954: Salatiga's federation of women's associations marks International Women's Day on 8 March; a Gerwis representative explains the day's origin, followed by a talk on baby care, a health-service film and children's dances. Shows Gerwis giving the political history of the day within a mixed local
Action against the Swapradja: self-government in Solo does not fit present system
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1954-03-12, p. 2): the anti-Swapradja Surakarta committee, whose conference included Gerwis among PNI, PKI, Partai Buruh, SOBSI and youth groups, resolves to reject any return of self-government and to hold regency rallies by 15 April. The government says swapradja must be gradually adapted an
The anti-self-government action in Solo
De Nieuwsgier, 12 Mar 1954: a Solo conference against 'self-government' (the autonomy plan for Surakarta) adopts a campaign of regency mass meetings by 15 April, a central action and a delegation to national leaders. Attendees include the PNI, PKI, Pemuda Rakjat, Pemuda Puteri Indonesia, Gerwis and SOBSI.
Introduction to a story on the struggle against polygamy in West Java
De Waarheid, 24 Mar 1954, p. 5: editorial caption introducing a published story about a local victory against polygamy in West Java a few months earlier through united action. It says the issue is also on the agenda at the Gerwis congress that has just begun, attended by Rie Lips-Odinot. The story itself is not part of
Mrs Rie Lips: understanding for Indonesia's wishes
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1954-03-27, p. 2): Dutch MP Rie Lips-Odinot, chair of the Dutch Women's Movement, arrives in Jakarta for the second congress of Gerwis. She says Indonesians have the full right to decide their relations with the Netherlands, that many Dutch understand Indonesia's wishes, and that the Union tre
Public Masyumi meeting: 'Quran doctrines must be basis of our state'
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1954-03-29, p. 2): report of a public Masyumi meeting in Bandung. Mrs. Ijom Suleiman argues Islam gives women equal rights and duties; Masyumi West Java secretary Rusjad Nurdin rejects PKI claims that Masyumi are American compradors and urges Muslims never to join the PKI or organisations it i
Muntilan: committee to receive foreign women's delegations
De Locomotief, 30 Mar 1954: Muntilan sets up a committee led by the local Gerwis branch to receive a forthcoming visit (April) of representatives of the WIDF and Chinese, Indian, Australian and Dutch women's organisations, to be welcomed at Borobudur. Evidence of Gerwis's WIDF-linked international hospitality.
Sukarno urges communist to support transfer of New Guinea; Mrs Lips-Odinot, interpreter of 'peaceful' Netherlands
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
Untruthful communist business: Gerwani congress in Jakarta
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
The Irian question
Java-Bode, 5 April 1954, p. 2: Rie Lips Odinot, a Gerwis congress guest, conveys Dutch peace-lovers' sympathy to Sukarno, who replies that good Dutch-Indonesian relations are impossible until West Irian is returned to Indonesia, calling it the greatest political barrier.
Berliner Zeitung, 11 Apr 1954, p. 2: Warm reception for the Soviet women's delegation in Surakarta
Berliner Zeitung, 11 April 1954, p. 2. The relevant item is a one-sentence news brief in the page's digest column: thousands of women gave the Soviet women's delegation a warm reception in Surakarta, where it is on a study visit to Indonesia. No Indonesian organisation or person is named, and no Gerwani mention; the pa
Neues Deutschland, 15 Apr 1954, p. 5: Radioactive clouds over Mexico (Djakarta report on the national conference of the
Neues Deutschland, 15 April 1954, p. 5: under the headline "Radioaktive Wolken über Mexiko", a roundup of ADN items on US hydrogen-bomb tests includes a Djakarta item: the national conference of the Indonesian women's movement appealed to the world's peoples to avert the H-bomb threat and secure lasting peace, alongsid
But what is the reality? Travel report on workers in Indonesia
De Waarheid, 1 May 1954, p. 4: travel report by Mak Meyer, a Dutch union delegate to the SOBSI conference, on Indonesian workers' misery: poverty, homelessness, factory conditions and wages, child labour, becak drivers, and figures such as 35,000 women dying in childbirth yearly. Portrays SOBSI and PKI as leaders and u