9 May is the exact date in 1919 that the Dutch House of Representatives passed the amendment decreeing that both men and women had the right to vote, and the Groninger Museum is holding a special celebration for the occasion.
The Groninger Museum has been hosting “Struggle! 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage”, an exhibit commemorating a century since Dutch women won the hard fought right to vote, since 20 April.
On Thursday 9 May at 6:30 p.m., the museum will put on a special party commemorating the exact anniversary of the amendment’s passage, featuring talks, film screenings, theatre performances and music.
The exhibit features posters, banners, photographs, cartoons, portraits, paintings and other historic documents, including the original article which amended Dutch law, according to the museum.
One of the portrait subjects is Groningen doctor and feminist Aletta Jacobs, who played a crucial role in the Dutch women’s suffrage movement: in 1903, she became the president of the Women’s Suffrage Association and served in the post for 16 years. Jacobs and her husband travelled throughout Europe and America campaigning for the cause.
The exhibit, which will run through 15 September, has been curated by University of Groningen modern history professor Mineke Bosch and Egge Knol, a history curator at the museum. Bosch told the Dagblad van het Noorden recently that there were around 35,000 Dutch women involved in the suffrage movement.
