Aletta H. Jacobs Papers
The Aletta Jacobs Papers offer a rare insight into the struggle for women’s rights in an era of colonialism. They highlight how transnational feminist networks engaged in the fight for suffrage, education, birth control, labour rights and peace, often limited by white supremacist thinking. Aletta Jacobs (1854–1929) was the first female doctor in the Netherlands with a university doctorate in medicine. She used her position as a medical doctor to fight for women’s social and political rights. Containing letters from famous American and British suffragists such as Susan B. Anthony, Ann Howard Shaw, Jane Addams and Emmeline Pankhurst, the Aletta Jacobs Papers reveal a life full of international political activism and travel in Europe, the USA, Africa and Asia. Jacobs was of one of the many Jewish activists and a leading figure in the International Woman Suffrage Alliance, which later gained NGO status at the United Nations. She was also the initiator of the International Congress of Women in 1915, the founding meeting of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.
Aletta Jacobs (1854–1929) was the first female doctor in the Netherlands with a university doctorate in medicine, was of one of the many Jewish activists and a leading figure in the International Woman Suffrage Alliance. She used her position as a medical doctor to fight for women’s social and political rights. The collection contains letters from famous American and British suffragists such as Susan B. Anthony, Ann Howard Shaw, Jane Addams and Emmeline Pankhurst, the Aletta Jacobs Papers reveal a life full of international political activism and travel in Europe, the USA, Africa and Asia.
