De Moderne Tijd - Volume 7, Issue 1, 2023

‘Speaking is not that difficult’. Meeting culture, political emancipation and the women of the ‘s-Hertogenbosch branch of the Vereeniging voor Vrouwenkiesrecht, 1908-1926

Based on the ‘s-Hertogenbosch branch of the Vereeniging voor Vrouwenkiesrecht, this article examines the local meeting culture within the Dutch women’s movement around 1900. The presence of women on the political stage in the late nineteenth century was not evident. How did they learn to take their position? Local gatherings of social-political movements, such as the suffrage movement, offered women an important place to learn (public) speaking and develop their thoughts and opinions. Meeting procedures played a central role in this: how does one give shape to new voices and build a professional association? This article links up with the shift in the early women’s movement historiography from a focus on national leaders to local political organisation and the perspectives of ‘ordinary’ members. In addition, the focus on women’s debating culture offers a counterweight to the conception of the late nineteenth-century assembly as an almost exclusively male domain.

Pioneers of Surinamese historiography. A transatlantic exchange of manuscripts?

In 1861, the Amsterdam-based publishing company H. de Hoogh published A History of Surinam by Julien Wolbers (1828-1889), followed two years later by the publication of A Brief History of the Colony of Surinam by Maria Vlier (1819-1908). Surinamist Ellen Neslo and Japanist Steven Hagers suggest that Wolbers used the manuscript of Vlier for his study. In this article the possibility of knowledge sharing between both authors – who lived on opposite sides of the ocean with different perspectives on Surinam – is studied. We conclude that it is unlikely that Wolbers had access to the manuscript of Vlier. On the contrary, it is plausible that Vlier used the first published parts of Wolbers’ work for her study.

‘Each fishes on his own tide’. Jacob van Lennep and the practice of history in the Netherlands, 1820-1860

This article examines how the activities of the Dutch novelist and historian Jacob van Lennep (1802-1868) related to the practice of history in the Netherlands in the mid-nineteenth century. Van Lennep wrote historical novels as well as poetry, short stories and popular historical non-fiction. The article argues that in the course of his career, Van Lennep to a certain extent adapted his work to the developments regarding the professionalisation of the practice of history. He did this in order to be able to continue writing history for a broad audience. Van Lennep can therefore be seen as an early example of a public historian.

The true principles of state credit. Louis Drucker, a liftetime of opposition

Louis Drucker (1805-1884) was an extremely wealthy investor, financial specialist and publicist. He contributed to the debates about the financial policy of the Netherlands at a time when the liberal opposition was pushing for a more democratic form of government. His liberal approach was primarily concerned with property rights and the legal surety of the state lender. Struggling for this he helped the radical liberal opposition with advice and came into contact with the values and norms of the circles that defended the world of their old regent elite. This written portrait of a relative loner on the Dutch financial-political scene inspires further research into the relationship between political culture and economic governance in the period 1840-1880, also from an international perspective.

Willem van Barneveld (1974-1826), chemist and revolutionary in service of the common good

The experimental research of nature in Amsterdam was mainly practiced by ordinary citizens, who joined forces in various societies. Willem van Barneveld (1747-1826) as a pharmacist, was trained to make medicines, but he went much further: he also sought new means to improve the economy and possibilities to prevent diseases. His work is a sign of his tremendous drive. In his societies he was active within a larger group of nature researchers engaged in seeking ways to improve the general well-being during a period that greatly increased the differences between rich and poor in the Dutch Republic. This led to a politicization process in which researchers like Van Barneveld joined the patriotic faction. Their efforts to improve the general well-being were accompanied by the pursuit of a new political system and as a result he also grabbed the weapons. He took part in the Patriottic (1787) and Batavian (1795) Revolutions. Part of his environment of experimental nature researchers made the same choice. In this article, I take Van Barneveld as a case to demonstrate the merging of scientific and political renewal in this period of great chemical discoveries.