In the struggle for women's suffrage, the 'ordinary' housewife from Ten Boer in Groningen played just as vital a role as the widely praised Aletta Jacobs. She too walked in demonstrations, appeared in her grandmother's costume during protests and sewed a banner for the movement in her kitchen or living room. Like her peers from the rest of the Netherlands, she fought for the right to choose, to have a say in the future of her country. Her efforts eventually ensured that on 9 May 1919, the Lower House passed a bill to amend the law. From then on, women have the right to vote. She is now also allowed to cast her vote.
The Groninger Museum wants to celebrate this historical fact, 100 years of women's suffrage, and is doing so with the exhibition Struggle! 100 Years of Women's Suffrage.
The exhibition gives the struggle a face. This time, not the face of Aletta Jacobs. The exhibition highlights the stories of women who are not always associated with women's suffrage. Mineke Bosch (professor of modern history at the University of Groningen) explains that the fight for women's suffrage was the most underexposed element in the struggle for universal suffrage. 'Women's turn came only two years after men's, after a long struggle,' says Bosch 'we want to tell that story.'
Figureheads Aletta Jacobs and Wilhelmina Drucker are obviously not missing, but they are not the focus of the story. The untold stories of the 'anonymous' but no less important women are part of a bigger picture. Historiography is usually not about the ordinary man and, in this case, the ordinary woman. Only key figures are recognised and celebrated.
In Struggle!100 Years of Women's Suffrage, this is the other way around. It is inspiring to find out that countless women, from all walks of life, did their bit in the struggle. Regardless of education and origin. Even the 'ordinary housewife' from Ten Boer made a difference. The sober banner made at the kitchen table in Ten Boer or Borger had just as much influence as the distinguished banner ordered from a workshop in Amsterdam or Rotterdam.
A modern mass movement
The exhibition shows how widely the struggle for women's suffrage was carried. The 14 found banners used by the sections of Vereeniging voor Vrouwenkiesrecht are an example of this. It was a modern mass movement. From Ten Boer to Rotterdam.
This is also supported by Rosa Manus' book. She compiled a scrapbook for Carrie Chapman Catt ( American suffragette). Rosa asked Dutch women to send her their stories and messages. The Groninger Museum has several pages on display. I found it interesting to read these. Some pages contain beautiful and colourful drawings. Of a Dutch landscape, among others, but also a beautiful 'group photo'. Other pages are full of personal stories and memories. It gives a fascinating insight into the fighters' characters. From Aletta Jacobs's pages, the fighting spirit and humour splashes out.
It was lovely to read how she hoped she could still use her combat skills in the afterlife. Otherwise, she would find it very boring. Rosa Manus' book is just one of the objects that shows that the women of this modern mass movement communicated globally with each other and exchanged strategies and tactics.
Reflection of society
One of the highlights of the exhibition was the room with the drawings and cartoons. A cartoon is always the ideal reflection of a time period and society. The creativity with which the cartoonists held up a mirror to the fighters, both for and against women's suffrage. Criticism disguised as a comic note.
To literally give a face to the names behind the fight for women's suffrage, there is also a portrait gallery on display. Entirely in keeping with the atmosphere of the exhibition: underexposed stories told by women, for women. Except for a single work - a marble bust and a portrait of Aletta Jacobs by Isaac Israëls- all the artworks were created by women artists. The women in and behind the beautiful paintings are rightly spotlighted. In addition, this beautiful and colourful 'Hall of Fame' has another function: it shows what else the women involved had to offer. One example is an exhibited children's book written by one of the fighters.
Source of inspiration
With Struggle! 100 Years of Women's Suffrage, through historical and visually appealing objects, shows people the importance of the underexposed story. That story is given an extra dimension. The as yet anonymous women who fought for the contemporary and now self-evident right to vote have been given a face. In the process, it becomes clear that the women from small villages and the 'ordinary housewife' were just as indispensable as Aletta Jacobs and Wilhelmina Drucker. They too had to endure a lot in their fight for equality, but took up the fight, despite everything.
Without any power base, the women have managed this, together. That is inspiring. It also raises the question of what more women -with each other- can achieve in the struggle for emancipation in the future.
Good to knowGood to know: Fight! 100 Years of Women's Suffrage is on display at the Groninger Museum from 20 April to 15 September 2019.
Photos: author.
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