The interviewers of De Stem van Leiden have spoken to dozens of older Leiden people about life in the past in the key city. By now the project has 126 interviews!
The oral history project, which started in 2015, is rock solid and is still ongoing. A clear manual has been made for interviewers and two information leaflets to hand out, both for people who want to tell about the past and for people who are interested in interviewing.
An overview of all the stories resulting from the interviews by the committee De Stem van Leiden, which is part of the Historische Vereniging Oud Leiden and works together with Erfgoed Leiden en Omstreken and the Opleiding Geschiedenis of Leiden University:
De geschiedenis verteld – De Stem van Leiden
In february 2023 we spoke with two volunteers from the Voice of Leiden about their work. Curious about these results? See this link!
The history of slavery is a very painful, important and until recently underexposed part of our shared history. During the Slavery History Commemoration Year, which runs from July 1, 2023 to July 1, 2024, the entire kingdom will pay extra attention to this past and its repercussions in the present. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science has a coordinating role in the organization of the Slavery History Memorial Year. With the goal of increasing knowledge and awareness of this theme in society. BKB, AMARU and Canvas Black together created the communication strategy and campaign for the Slavery History Memorial Year.
The Slavery Past Memorial Year marks the 150th anniversary of the actual abolition of slavery. By commemorating our slavery past, we ensure that we do not forget this history. Commemoration reminds us that it should never happen again. We pay attention to the pain, suffering and far-reaching consequences, as well as the resistance of enslaved people and the pride of their descendants and in the history before slavery. By sharing stories, and making the slavery past an equal part of our history, we keep this history alive.
The campaign “The history of us all’ consists of six conversations, focusing on the personal experiences of well-known storytellers. The campaign takes place entirely online. All six conversations can be found online.
The following conversations can be found online:
1. Shirma Rouse (singer) and Safi Graauw (director)
2. Lucelle Comvalius (teacher) and George Adegite (illustrator)
3. Hesdy Lonwijk (director) and Carmen Felix (writer)
4. Lukas Eleuwarin (creator of the fashion brand Knowledge by Roots) and Jill Mathon (writer)
5. Lex Bohlmeijer (presenter) and Prof. Soortkill (writer)
The last conversation can eventually be found on the site.
Some conversations received a sequel. This can be found at the bottom of linked pages.
The Eyewitnesses of Gas Extraction project will record the stories of at least 100 people on video over the next two years (from April 2024). In this way, recent history will be told through personal stories in a unique way. Many stories have already been collected in recent years. But never before have the testimonies of residents and those involved in gas extraction been recorded in a systematic and scientific way. This initiative is being led by researcher Nienke Busscher and counselor Marjo van Bergen. The first interviews are expected to be recorded starting April 2024. So you can still participate in this project!
Here you may find more information concerning this project.
And here you may contact the project and participate in the interviews.
Here you may find an NPO interview with the leaders of this project.
Ooggetuigen van de Gaswinning is an initiative of nine organizations with roots in Groningen based on an idea by Diepduik Media. Each party contributes its own expertise, guaranteeing (scientific) quality. A foundation is being set up especially for this project. In this way, independence is guaranteed and the proceeds of the project can be properly and carefully managed.
Photo: Rose Mary Allen interviews woman on Curaçao in the 1980s.
Since the 1950s, visionary pioneers such as Paul Brenneker, Elis Juliana, Bòi Antoin and Rose Mary Allen have dedicated themselves to collecting oral history interviews in the Dutch Caribbean. These interviews contain personal stories, traditions, songs, proverbs and language of older generations in that area. Some of this material has been digitised and is accessible to a wide audience, but much of it is still on outdated cassette tapes and VHS Tapes. If this material is not digitised soon, important stories within history risk being lost.
In close collaboration with Rose Mary Allen, Sound and Vision, DANS en het National Archive Curaçao, the Hub Sprekende Geschiedenis start digitising, making accessible and presenting the oral history interviews conducted by Rose Mary Allen. This valuable material, recorded between 1980 and 1995, includes interviews with people on the islands, migrant communities and (grand)children of enslaved people. It constitutes important source material for an in-depth and layered historiography of the Caribbean and contributes to the identity formation of current and future generations.
The project aims to:
With the Storianan Skondi di Karibe project, we aim to preserve the stories of the past for the future. By working together, we hope to bridge generations, cultures and communities, bringing the rich heritage of the Caribbean to life for a new generation.
Keep following our website and social media channels for more information on the project, its progress and the partners involved.
This project is co-sponsored by the Stimuleringsfonds.
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This study on Catholic-inspired poverty care in Brussels between 1945 and 2000 is conducted by doctoral student Els Minne. Central to the research is the question of how Catholic poverty organisations managed their religious identity in a society that was firmly rooted in Catholic traditions, but where the pressures of ‘secularisation’ and ‘modernity’ began to increase. The research starts from eight case studies of both Catholic personalities and Catholic-inspired organisations that took up the fight against poverty.
Through an analysis of letters, newspaper articles, publications and oral history, the practices and discourses of these actors are examined. What help did these organisations offer, and what target group did they have in mind? What role did religion, from volunteers or clients, play in the organisations? In what ways did they try to influence political policy or academic research on poverty? How did the organisations respond to the increasingly diverse group of people living in poverty? By seeking answers to these questions, the project aims to complement knowledge about the role of religion and welfare states with local experiences, thoughts and practices.
This oral history project creates a new archive of district nurses’ experiences and memories through reflections on objects from the Florence Nightingale Institute’s existing heritage collection. The project realises an addition to the history and heritage of (district) nursing and offers new insights into how currently district nurses have a place in society.
Read the article on the V&VN website (venvn.nl)
Projectleider
prof. dr. M.K. Baár
Onderzoekers
dr. P.W. van Trigt
prof. dr. M.K. Baár
E. Pollaert
Instelling: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Tijdsduur: 1 juni 2022 tot 1 juni 2027
Onderzoeksprogramma: SGW Open Competitie
Dossiernummer: 406.20.HW.004
The Village: the idea of an accessible neighbourhood for people with disabilities is gaining traction in several countries. Together with two PhD students, Baár and Van Trigt will investigate how this spread took place. They also want to map the local history of the neighbourhood near Arnhem, partly by using oral history to record residents’ stories. The project should also help to safeguard Het Dorp’s endangered archives and historical objects, which are falling into deterioration.
How can engagement with the concept of disability contribute to writing more inclusive histories? The project pioneers this concept as its central analytical category for undertaking the first comprehensive historical study of Het Dorp â?? a self-governing, accessible residential community for people with severe physical disabilities and chronic illness near Arnhem which was initiated in 1962 by the largest telethon in Dutch history. Employing the methodologies of global microhistory and participatory heritagization the research pursues four major aims:
© Karen Juliane / Nationaal Archief / Spaarnestadphoto
For a new project commissioned by publisher Ambo Anthos, writer and journalist Truska Bast is looking for women, over seventy, who want to talk candidly about motherhood.
Through their personal stories, she hopes to discover how motherhood has changed, or not. What expectations did these women have before becoming mothers? How were pregnancy and childbirth viewed in their time, and how did they themselves experience it? How did motherhood affect relationships, such as those with their partner, family, friends? How do they look at parenting then and now? What did they do differently from their own mothers, what did they pass on? What did motherhood mean for their education, job, career? And, finally, what if they were allowed to do it all over again?
Narrators should count on two 2-2.5-hour interviews, at their homes (if possible). This is preceded by a short telephone introduction that is non-binding for both parties. This is intended to clarify mutual expectations and to ensure that a variety of women are interviewed in terms of age, family situation, education and background. The final selection is made in consultation with publisher Ambo Anthos.
Status: In progress
Project lead: dr. S. Stigter
Institution: University of Amsterdam
Duration: 1 August 2023 to 31 October 2024
Research programme: XS
File number: 406.XS.01.148
From 1 August, Sanneke Stigter’s project Smart Care: Artist Intent and Artist Interviews will start. The project, which was granted funding in NWO’s Open Competition SGW – XS, focuses on whether artificial intelligence could take over the artist’s voice in conservation research.
The Open Competition SGW – XS gives researchers with a promising idea or an innovative and risky initiative the chance to apply for funding for their research. Proposed projects have to be groundbreaking and contribute to existing and new scientific insights.
The granted project:
Smart Care: Artist Intent and Artist Interviews
Conducting interviews with artists, curators and other stakeholders is essential in conservation research to understand unconventional contemporary works of art. However, artist intent is not unambiguous and may evolve over time and be shaped or changed in the dialogue with artists. What if the artist is no longer around; could artificial intelligence then take over the artist’s voice? This project investigates this wicked question to support decision-making around reinstallation and restoration of complex artworks in a ground-breaking approach nurturing smart care for a sustainable future of complex artworks.
Sub-study 4: ‘Veterans’
Currently in progress by the Netherlands Veterans Institute (NLVi)
This study asks different generations within veteran families about the memories, stories and images of the Second World War that live with them, and how they themselves experience freedom and unfreedom. It examines how memories of the war past of the (grand)parent (veteran) carry over to subsequent generations and how the collective social awareness and handling of a particular war past influences the memories of different generations.
With the Veterans sub-study, the Netherlands Veterans Institute contributes to the multi-year research of the National Committee 4 and 5 May, in which other remembrance communities are also surveyed.
The research project ‘War and freedom in three generations’ runs from 2021 to 2025. One or two sub-studies will be carried out each year. Each substudy focuses on a different memory community within which five families are interviewed each time. The interviews cover three different generations; in addition to the war generation itself, representatives from the second and third generations are also spoken to separately.
With this study, the committee aims to investigate how memories of (grand)parents’ wartime past carry over to subsequent generations and how family stories form in practice.
Does social awareness and collective handling of a particular war past (e.g. recognition, denial, concealment or disinterest) influence the memories of the different generations and the family stories that are passed on? Do these war memories influence views on or perceptions of freedom? And how do younger generations position themselves within this memory landscape?
Sub-studies
Sub-study 1: ‘Labour deployment
Sub-study 2: ‘Dutch East Indies/Indonesia’
Currently in progress
Sub-study 3: ‘Roma and Sinti
Currently in progress
Sub-study 5: ‘Jewish families
Currently in preparation