Hermina Dumont Huiswoud Papers and Photographs
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Abstract
Hermina ("Hermie") Dumont Huiswoud (1905-1998), was born in British Guiana (now Guyana), and migrated to New York in 1919. In 1926 she married Otto Eduard Huiswoud (1893-1961), born in Dutch Guiana (now Surinam) and a charter member of the Communist Party of the United States of America, with whom Hermina was also active in international communist activities, eventually settling in Amsterdam in 1949. The collection contains correspondence and a manuscript regarding Otto Huiswoud, letters from Langston Hughes, published and unpublished writings, personalia, and photographs.
Historical/Biographical Note
Hermina ("Hermie") Dumont Huiswoud (1905-1998), was born in British Guiana (now Guyana), and migrated to New York in 1919. In 1926 she married Otto Eduard Huiswoud (1893-1961), born in Dutch Guiana (now Surinam) and a charter member of the Communist Party of the United States of America. Otto was also active in international communist activities, including heading the Profintern's International Trade Union Committee of Negro Workers, and editing their publication, The Negro Worker, under the name Charles Woodson. Hermina accompanied her husband to Moscow, Paris, Antwerp and Amsterdam, where she settled in 1949. She actively participated in activities associated with the Left, and wrote articles for radical publications. Langston Hughes was one of her friends and correspondents.
Sources:
Turner, Joyce Moore. Caribbean Crusaders and the Harlem Renaissance (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2005)
Arrangement
Folders are arranged alphabetically. The files are grouped into two series:
Missing Title
- Papers
- Photographs
Scope and Content Note
The collection contains Hermina Huiswoud's correspondence with friends, postcards, letters from Otto, correspondence regarding Otto (most with academic researchers), 46 letters and postcards from Langston Hughes, "Ballad of the Brown King: A Christmas Cantata" by Hughes; Hermina's newspaper articles, literary manuscripts, and biographical sketches of Otto; articles by Otto, and personal documents for both Otto and Hermina (citizenship, passports, pension, work, etc.), biographical materials relating to relatives; and biographical materials and correspondence relating to the Burroughs family (African American radicals). Also included in the collection are photographs of Hermina and Otto Huiswoud and of their travels in the Caribbean.
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Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive has no information about copyright ownership for this collection and is not authorized to grant permission to publish or reproduce materials from it. Materials in this collection, which were created in 1890-1996, are expected to enter the public domain in 2116.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date; Hermina Dumont Huiswoud Papers and Photographs; TAM 354; box number; folder number;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Joyce Moore Turner in 2006. The accession numbers associated with this gift are 2006.001, 2006.008, and NPA.2006.098.
Custodial History
Hermina Dumont Huiswoud gave this collection of her papers and correspondence to her biographer Joyce Moore Turner.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Photographs were separated from this collection during initial processing and were established as a separate collection, the Hermina Dumont Photographs (PHOTOS 237). In 2013, the photograph collection was reincorporated into the Hermina Dumont Papers and Photographs. Additionally, materials from the Langston Hughes Letters and Postcards to Hermine Huiswoud (TAM 354.1) have been reincorporated into the Hermina Dumont Papers and Photographs.
