Currently our archives are not accessible for research due to archiving. However, you can still visit us our archive by booking a tour to still enjoy its history and capacity by contacting [email protected] for a tour. You can also visit and contribute to our online Digital Archive.
The Black Archives contains the following book collections:
The Digital Archive contains the following collections:
The Black Archives contains the following book collections:
- The Heilbron Collection
- The Huiswoud Collection
- The Willemsen Collection
- Archives and book collection of Vereniging Ons Suriname
The Digital Archive contains the following collections:
The NUC collection
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The Black Archives falls under the New Urban Collective foundation. The foundation's goal is: "To promote the socio-economic position of primarily Afro-Dutch youth, students, and young professionals in the Netherlands. To develop and maintain 'The Black Archives': a cultural and knowledge center focused on heritage." Mitchell Esajas and Jessica de Abreu are co-founders of TBA and part of NUC, which was established in 2011. Over the years, they have collected many books, resulting in the creation of the NUC Collection. This is a growing archive.
You can view the NUC book collection at our location (Bijlmerplein 140, Amsterdam). You can search through it at collection.theblackarchives.nl. Every book with a code starting with NUCBK can be found at our location. |
The Heilbron Collection
This book collection is the legacy of social scientist Waldo Heilbron who as a sociologist at the University of Amsterdam and studied post-colonialism, the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and its legacy; racism and historiography.
Heilbron had the mission to decolonize the historiography and social science by using alternative methodologies and critical perspectives. In "The Future of the Past: reflections on Dutch history of slavery and its legacy' (2006) he wrote:
"The trans-Atlantic slave trade and slavery left deep traces; in society and in the individual lives of many who are heirs of this history. In the public debate about the Dutch history of slavery, that rose at the end of the last century, it is this part of the history that is largely 'silenced past '. A lot of what is concealed is forgotten. (...) In deepening the knowledge about us ' concealed past ', new ways of thinking and research are needed."
Search through the Heilbron Book collection via www.archieven.nl.
Heilbron had the mission to decolonize the historiography and social science by using alternative methodologies and critical perspectives. In "The Future of the Past: reflections on Dutch history of slavery and its legacy' (2006) he wrote:
"The trans-Atlantic slave trade and slavery left deep traces; in society and in the individual lives of many who are heirs of this history. In the public debate about the Dutch history of slavery, that rose at the end of the last century, it is this part of the history that is largely 'silenced past '. A lot of what is concealed is forgotten. (...) In deepening the knowledge about us ' concealed past ', new ways of thinking and research are needed."
Search through the Heilbron Book collection via www.archieven.nl.
The Huiswoud Collection
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This book collection is the legacy of Otto and Hermina Huiswoud.
Upon his arrival in New York City as a 16-year-old boy, Otto Huiswoud came into contact with socialist and communist ideas. By historians, he is recognized as the first black member of the American Communist Party. He was involved in the early black civil-rights movement and travelled frequently to Moscow for the communist struggle. During his fight for equality and justice, he worked with Claude McKay and Langston Hughes, and was involved in debates with Marcus Garvey on the question of race, or race and class. After the second world war, Otto Huiswoud played as political activist a large role in his presidency in Verenging Ons Suriname in Amsterdam. His influence made Vereniging Ons Suriname a breeding ground for resistance and independence. In addition to the work of Otto Huiswoud, his wife Hermine Huiswoud fought the communist fight with her husband. Many of Otto Huiswoud's books and documents are filed with Hermine Huiswoud's books under the name 'Huiswouds' Collection. Search through the Huiswoud Collection via www.archieven.nl. (Dutch) |
The Willemsen collection
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This book collection is the legacy of Glenn Frank Walter Willemsen. He studied Social Sciences at the University of Amsterdam and received his doctorate in 1980 with a dissertation entitled "Colonial Politics and Transformation Processes in a Plantation Economy (Suriname 1873-1940)." (Dutch)
He oversaw the establishment of the NiNsee, the National Institute for Dutch Slavery History and Legacy, where he became director in 2003. He was also one of the NiNsee's prominent academic researchers. Furthermore, he has published extensively on integration, racism, and abolition. His latest publication deals with the abolition of slavery in the Netherlands, Suriname, and the Dutch Antilles. This book is titled "Days of Jubilation and Jubilation." (Dutch) |
