International Institute of Social History facts for kids
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Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis
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| Abbreviation | IISH/IISG |
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The International Institute of Social History (IISH/IISG) is one of the biggest places in the world for keeping records about work and society. It is located in Amsterdam, a city in the Netherlands. The institute has over one million books and many special collections. These collections include important papers from famous people and groups who wanted to change society. The IISH was started in 1935 by Nicolaas Posthumus. It is an independent science institute and is part of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
What the Institute Collects
The International Institute of Social History collects information about how people have worked and lived together throughout history. This includes stories from all over the world, and especially from the Netherlands. As of 2000, it holds a huge amount of historical items.
These items include one million books and 80,000 audio and video recordings. There are also 2,400 different magazines and newspapers. The institute has three million digital files and 30,000 feet of handwritten papers. These papers are organized into 2,300 different collections.
Some of the important collections come from large groups like Amnesty International. This group works for human rights. Other collections are from Greenpeace International, which protects the environment. The institute also has papers from groups that worked for workers' rights.
You can also find the personal writings of famous thinkers. These include Emma Goldman, Karl Marx, and Leon Trotsky. The institute is known as the best place in the world to find documents about anarchist ideas.
The Institute's Journey
Nicolaas Posthumus started the International Institute of Social History in 1935. He was a professor who studied how money and society worked. He also believed in socialist ideas, which focus on fairness for everyone. Posthumus wanted the institute to collect archives from all over the world. This would help people understand how work and society have changed over time.
In its early years, Posthumus managed to get many important papers. These included writings from anarchists like Mikhail Bakunin. He also collected documents from groups in Germany and Russia that believed in socialist and Marxist ideas.
Before the Germans invaded the Netherlands in 1940, Posthumus did something very smart. He moved the most valuable archives to London, England, to keep them safe. During World War II, many of the remaining archives were taken to Nazi Germany. Luckily, they were not destroyed. Most of these papers were found in Hannover in 1946. Other parts were later found in Moscow in 1991 and returned to Amsterdam.
In 1989, the International Institute of Social History moved to a new building. This was an old warehouse in the eastern part of Amsterdam. For a while, the Press Museum was also in this building. However, in 2017, the Press Museum became part of another institute.
The IISH also hosts most of the IHLIA LGBT Heritage collection. This collection holds historical documents about the LGBTQ+ community.
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A membership card from the Bakunin Archives at the IISG.
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A page from the Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx.
See also
In Spanish: Instituto Internacional de Historia Social para niños
- Swiss Social Archives in Zurich
