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Stories have the power to connect people, inspire, to break stereotypes and thus to bring about social change. Stories also offer the ability to uncover hidden history and thus to offer new insights into the present and for the future. We aim to create an exhibition around the life of Otto and Hermina Huiswoud.
Otto Huiswoud was president of the Vereniging Ons Suriname (Association Ons Suriname) from 1954 to 1961, a period in which the Association played an important role in the growing Surinamese community in Netherlands and in its resistance against racism, colonialism and inequality.
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The story of Otto and his wife, Hermina "Hermie" Huiswoud, offers an opportunity to connect people and share knowledge about the hidden history of Black people in Dutch history and in an international context.
Otto Huiswoud was the son of an enslaved African. At 16, he set sail for the Netherlands by boat, but he didn't reach his final destination immediately, disembarking in New York. In New York, he became involved in political and intellectual circles and became a social leader. He was the only Black co-founder of the Communist Party of America and became part of the early civil rights movement, which advocated for equal opportunities for Black Americans. Hermina was also active in various socialist and communist networks. During World War II, Otto Huiswoud moved to Suriname for health reasons. There, however, he was considered an enemy of the state and imprisoned for a year alongside Nazis.
After the war, the Huiswouds immigrated to the Netherlands, where Otto Huiswoud, as a member and later as chairman, continued to advocate for the emancipation of Black people and Surinamese people by connecting his international contacts with the growing resistance in the Netherlands as part of the Vereniging Ons Suriname (VOS). The Black Archives collection therefore contains unique documents, books, and objects, such as original newspaper articles and magazines from the 1950s and 1960s about Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement, signed books by artists such as Langston Hughes, and letters and telegrams between VOS and various international student and emancipation movements.
Otto Huiswoud was the son of an enslaved African. At 16, he set sail for the Netherlands by boat, but he didn't reach his final destination immediately, disembarking in New York. In New York, he became involved in political and intellectual circles and became a social leader. He was the only Black co-founder of the Communist Party of America and became part of the early civil rights movement, which advocated for equal opportunities for Black Americans. Hermina was also active in various socialist and communist networks. During World War II, Otto Huiswoud moved to Suriname for health reasons. There, however, he was considered an enemy of the state and imprisoned for a year alongside Nazis.
After the war, the Huiswouds immigrated to the Netherlands, where Otto Huiswoud, as a member and later as chairman, continued to advocate for the emancipation of Black people and Surinamese people by connecting his international contacts with the growing resistance in the Netherlands as part of the Vereniging Ons Suriname (VOS). The Black Archives collection therefore contains unique documents, books, and objects, such as original newspaper articles and magazines from the 1950s and 1960s about Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement, signed books by artists such as Langston Hughes, and letters and telegrams between VOS and various international student and emancipation movements.
Otto Huiswoud & Claude McKay in Moskou (1922)
Otto and Hermina Huiswoud belonged to a generation of anti-colonial thinkers, leaders, and organizers active in the struggle against European and American imperialism. They were members of an international anti-imperialist network that maintained contacts, including through the International Communist Party (Comintern), to organize revolutionary resistance based on Marxist-Leninist ideology. Along with George Padmore, C.L.R. James, and Aimé Césaire, the Huiswouds belong to the first generation of Caribbean Marxists, to which Frantz Fanon, despite his younger age, can also be attributed. Huiswoud served as editor of The Negro Worker and, along with George Padmore, was active in the International Trade Union for Negro Workers in the 1930s.
From this perspective, the Huiswouds saw the struggle against racism and imperialism as inextricably linked to the struggle against classism and capitalism, and the struggle of oppressed groups in the Caribbean as inextricably linked to the struggle for freedom and independence from colonized countries in Africa, Asia, and other parts of the world. For example, Otto Huiswoud was involved in organizing a solidarity action surrounding the assassination of Patrice Lumumba in January 1961. Much has been written and reflected upon about Fanon, Padmore, C.L.R. James, and other Black revolutionary intellectuals and leaders. However, the story of Otto and Hermina Huiswoud remains unknown to many.
NUC has part of Otto and Hermie Huiswoud's personal collection of books and documents in the Black Archives. From November 25, 2017, to July 2018, the exhibition "Black & Revolutionary: The Story of Hermina and Otto Huiswoud" was on display at The Black Archives.
From this perspective, the Huiswouds saw the struggle against racism and imperialism as inextricably linked to the struggle against classism and capitalism, and the struggle of oppressed groups in the Caribbean as inextricably linked to the struggle for freedom and independence from colonized countries in Africa, Asia, and other parts of the world. For example, Otto Huiswoud was involved in organizing a solidarity action surrounding the assassination of Patrice Lumumba in January 1961. Much has been written and reflected upon about Fanon, Padmore, C.L.R. James, and other Black revolutionary intellectuals and leaders. However, the story of Otto and Hermina Huiswoud remains unknown to many.
NUC has part of Otto and Hermie Huiswoud's personal collection of books and documents in the Black Archives. From November 25, 2017, to July 2018, the exhibition "Black & Revolutionary: The Story of Hermina and Otto Huiswoud" was on display at The Black Archives.