Regency council installed
De Locomotief, 10 Oct 1950: report on the installation of the Semarang regency council by Resident Milono, listing about 40 members from many parties and bodies. Mrs Sri Utari is named as the Gerwis representative; Mrs Sukandar and Suwarti represent GPII's women's wing. Records Gerwis's presence in local government in
City news: Semarang, 2 November 1950
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
Salatiga: Gerwis meeting on labour protection
De Locomotief, 23 Nov 1950: Salatiga news column. A well-attended Gerwis (Gerakan Wanita Indonesia Sedar) meeting with local women's organisations, addressed by central board members on the 1948 Labour Ordinance, adopts a motion urging the government to enforce article 13 on protection of women workers, which employers
English-language news-in-brief column, Java-Bode, 20 Jul 1951, p. 2. Only the final Dutch paragraph concerns Gerwani: Gerwis (Gerakan Wanita Indonesia Sedar) recently commemorated its first anniversary at Hotel Kali-Taman in Salatiga with local organisations attending. The rest of the column is not related.
The Wikana question: August raid detainees' families delegation
De Nieuwsgier, 16 June 1952: Central Java territorial command denies that the defence minister told a delegation of the Committee of Families of August Raid Detainees (Mr K. Wirdojo and Mrs Moedigdo [Mudigdio]) he would lift the banishment of the Wikana group released after the 1951 raids. The three remain in Central J
Support for widows of freedom fighters
Java-Bode, 12 Sep 1952, p. 2: a Salatiga federation of local women's organisations including Perwari and Gerwis decides to found a foundation for widows of victims of the freedom struggle, to support those denied government aid; 50 such widows are recorded in Salatiga.
Surakarta: Gerwis meets (Central Java working conference)
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.
Salatiga: national action committee formed
De Locomotief, 29 July 1953: Salatiga branches of SOBSI, BTI, PPDI, Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwis jointly convene a meeting of 35 organisations and parties, which forms a national action committee and decides to send an open letter to Sukarno urging implementation of parliament's decisions and action against Darul Islam and
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
A quiet invasion of the governor's office: women petition for a marriage law
De Locomotief, 17 Dec 1953: about a hundred women from seven Semarang associations, led by Perwari and including Gerwis, ride 40 becaks to the Governor's Office to petition for a marriage law securing women's legal position and for a freeze on the 1952 regulation giving pensions to second-to-fourth wives. A Gedung Rakj
Petition in Semarang
Java-Bode, 18 December 1953, p. 2: news column reporting that a hundred women from seven Semarang women's associations, led by Perwari and joined by Gerwis, presented a petition to Central Java governor Budiono supporting a Perwari central board motion. Other snippets (hospital openings, Davao vice-consulate) are unrel
Women held a demonstration
Indische Courant voor Nederland, 23 Dec 1953, p. 3: over 2,000 women led by Perwari march in Jakarta against the amendment of Government Regulation 19 on marriage conditions and demand a marriage law; in Semarang, seven women's groups including Gerwis petition the Central Java governor.
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.
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
Impressive ceremony on the invasion beach (with item on Gerwani and the Union)
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
Gerwani conference in Salatiga on implementing congress decisions
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
To the Chinese People's Republic: women's delegation to China
De Locomotief, 11 Sept 1954: Mrs Surya Hadi, member of the Central Java provincial council's education section, and ten other women including one from 'the left-oriented Gerwis' will visit the Chinese People's Republic at the invitation of the chair of China's federation of democratic women's organisations.
Salatiga: International Women's Day, 1955
De Locomotief, 9 Mar 1955: Salatiga's women's federation (10 organisations) marks International Women's Day on 8 March in the people's building; Mrs Kaslah of Gerwani gives the opening speech and Mrs Sugijarto of Rukun Wanita explains the day's meaning, followed by remarks from agencies and parties.
S. Hadikusumo: Indonesia is ready for the elections
Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (5 Sep 1955, p.1): S. Hadikusumo, head of the central election committee, says all regions except unrest areas (Aceh, South Sulawesi) are ready for the 29 September 1955 parliamentary elections. Gerwani urged its members to help ensure elections are held on time because they will express wom
Central Java news: Salatiga election campaign schedule
De Locomotief, 23 Sept 1955, Central Java news: Salatiga campaign schedule lists Gerwani among parties with election meetings at the Gris Theatre (23 Sept afternoon), alongside Masjumi, PIR and PNI. The rest covers people's housing built in Salatiga.
Lectures by Gerwani Semarang on women's rights and Regulation 19
De Locomotief, 30 Nov 1955: Gerwani Semarang held an evening of lectures by board members on women's rights and the inequality kept in force by Government Regulation 19 (1952 pensions for plural wives). Speakers recalled the organisation's help in vote counting and childcare centres during the elections. Text partly ga
P.K.I. (list of PKI candidates)
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1956-03-02, p. 2): list of PKI candidates by electoral district across East Java, Central Java, West Java, Greater Jakarta and Sumatra. It includes women: Umi Sardjono (Mrs. Sukisman), Suharti Suwarto (Solo), Mudigdio (Siti Aminah Mochsjam, Jakarta), Sundari Abdulrachman (Semarang), Salawati D
How it turns out - that's what matters!
Algemeen Dagblad feature by H.N. Appel from Jakarta (1964-04-10) on Indonesia's new elite, its revolutionary rhetoric and economic hardship. Briefly describes women as playing a small, decorative role in a 'men's society', noting Sukarno's second wife Hartini at a party. Gerwani is not mentioned.
Furious: Suharto's statement on the generals' bodies near the Halim training base
De Telegraaf item (7 Oct 1965) on General Suharto's television statement: the generals' bodies were found near the air-force base where Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani volunteers were trained, and an arrested female volunteer in Cirebon reportedly said volunteers came from Central Java. An early press link of Gerwani to the
Dramatic funeral in Jakarta: lieutenant saved Nasution's life
Leeuwarder Courant, 7 October 1965, p. 1: report on the exhumation of the seven murdered army officers from the Lubang Buaya well and the generals' funeral, with Nasution's escape and Lt Tendean's death. It relays Suharto's televised claim that the bodies lay next to a base where the air force trained Pemuda Rakjat and
Jakarta saw gruesome TV film of exhumation of generals' bodies
Twentsch Dagblad Tubantia (7 Oct 1965): Jakarta TV shows exhumation of the generals' mutilated bodies from the Lubang Buaya well; Suharto says they were found near the air-force base where Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani volunteers were trained, citing an arrested female volunteer from Cirebon. Also the generals' funeral and
Sukarno: my life is in danger
Twentsch Dagblad Tubantia (3 Nov 1965): Sukarno tells cabinet his life is in danger; 100,000 demonstrate at the Chinese consulate in Medan demanding Subandrio's dismissal; army purge in Central Java hampered by unreliable troops; Gerwani expelled from the women's congress Kowani, chaired by Mrs Subandrio; soldiers kill
The army: violence against Gerwani women near Solo
De Waarheid, 8 Nov 1965, p. 3: report that the army continues violent actions against progressives; per an army communique, paratroopers near Solo shot nine women who stood before tanks and refused to move, said to be Gerwani members. Also notes army encouragement of Muslims to destroy communists' buildings in Tasikmal
251 dead in Central Java; women demonstrate against the PKI
Leeuwarder Courant, 9 November 1965, p. 5: report that about 10,000 housewives, schoolgirls and actresses marched in Jakarta to the National Front office demanding dissolution of Gerwani and state control of communist-run schools, while over a million demanded the PKI's dissolution. Governor Mokhtar says 251 were kille
Indonesia: slap for Omar Dhani
Algemeen Handelsblad column (1965-11-18) on post-coup Indonesia: Suharto slaps Omar Dhani, rumours of poisoning, false communist accusations, and an RPKAD anecdote. Reports that Mrs. Subandrio, chair of Kowani, announced Gerwani had been expelled from the federation; Berita Yudha mocked her, and Mrs. Nasution reportedl