Postcard from Zandvoort

I sent you a postcard from Scheveningen before. Today you receive a card from Zandvoort, another famous beach resort. Scheveningen was the beach resort of society, Zandvoort of the people. This card is more recent than the 1909 Scheveningen card (it was sent in 1927). The beach fashion had changed between 1909 and 1927, but there were also big differences in fashion between the two resorts.

The buildings on this card are long gone: All landmark buildings were demolished in the second world war to hamper a potential invasion of allied forces.

The text at the bottom of the card: Groeten uit Zandvoort. Strandgezicht met Badhuis "Zeeduin". (Greetings from Zandvoort. Beach view with beach house "Zeeduin".)

The slave revolt and the long road to freedom

Today in history: The slave revolt of 1795

Slave revolt

The long road to freedom for slaves in the Dutch West Indies started on 17 August 1795. A group of almost 50 slaves, led by a slave named Tula, revolted at the Knip plantation of Caspar Lodewijk van Uytrecht at Bandabou, Curaçao. The slaves went from farm to farm, and many slaves joined the uprising.

The revolt lasted a month. The revolting slaves lost the first battle, but many slaves fled and started a guerrilla-style warfare. The authorities offered a reward for the capture of Tula, and with success: Tula was betrayed, and arrested on 19 September together with other leaders of the revolt. Tula was publicly tortured and beheaded, and the revolt petered out.

August 17 is still celebrated in Curaçao, as the start of the fight for freedom.

End of slavery

None of the revolting slaves would see the abolition of slavery. After a long discussion, The Netherlands finally abolished slavery on 1 July 1863. To compensate, slave owners received 300 guilders per freed slave from the Dutch government. Moreover, freed slaves in Suriname were required to work for their former owner for ten years (so effectively they remained slaves until 1873).

A monument

On 1 July 2002, H.M. Queen Beatrix unveiled a national slavery monument in Amsterdam. It was supposed to be a festive occasion, but for many slave descendants the unveiling was a disappointment. Because of the Queen's presence, security was tight and the general public was kept at a distance, and most could not watch the event. The many people with Suriname, Aruba or Curaçao roots who came to watch the unveiling of (what they considered to be) "their" monument were frustrated they were kept away.

The unveiling may have been a disappointment for many, but at least we do now have a national monument. The monument is the location of the annual slavery commemoration.

Tracing your roots

The Dutch National Archive publishes several important databases on their website. Unfortunately, they are only available in Dutch.

• Vrij in Suriname (Free in Suriname) contains two databases: One of 6,364 slaves freed before 1863, and one of the 34,441 slaves that were freed in 1863 at the slavery abolition.
• Arbeid op contract (contract labour) contains databases of contract labourers from China and the East Indies that were hired in the late 19th and early 20th century.
• Koloniaal Suriname (Colonial Suriname) contains databases of free (mostly European) inhabitants of Suriname before 1863.
• Vrij van slavernij (Free from slavery) contains a database of slaves freed before 1863 (and their owners) on Curaçao.

Links

• National Institute for the Study of Dutch Slavery and its Legacy (English or Dutch)
• Keti Koti festival (Burst Chains festival, annual Amsterdam festival, part of slavery abolition commemoration on 1 July, in Dutch)
• Tula (Wikipedia, in English)
• National Slavery Monument (Wikipedia, in Dutch)
• Dutch Queen unveils slavery memorial (BBC News, in English)

Online genealogy in Flevoland

It is odd to talk about the new province Flevoland on a genealogy site. A century ago, nearly all of Flevoland was water part of the Zuiderzee (Southern Sea, a small inland sea). In the early 1930s, the Afsluitdijk (Closure Dike) closed off the Zuiderzee and turned it into a fresh water lake, the IJsselmeer (Lake IJssel). Since then, several large polders were created in the IJsselmeer, where people now live on the bottom of the (former) sea. Since 1986 these polders form the province Flevoland.

Two places were inhabited before the 20th century, though: The former islands Urk and Schokland (the latter was evacuated in 1859 and uninhabited since then). The northeastern part of Flevoland is inhabited since the early 1940s.

• The provincial archive, Nieuw Land Museum (New Land Museum), and others participate in the websites Nieuw Land Erfgoed (New Land Heritage), Flevolands Geheugen (Flevoland's Memory), and Flevoland boven water (Flevoland above the water). All websites are in Dutch.
• Church books and BMD records of Schokland and Urk are indexed in Genlias.
• There are images of the past on Flevoland boven water and on local sites, for example Schokland.
• For indexes of cemeteries and photos of tombstones visit Graftombe (Tomb) or Online Begraafplaatsen (Online Cemeteries).
• Discuss your Flevoland roots at the Ancestry message board Flevoland.

For more information see Genealogy in Flevoland.

Photo: Construction of the Afsluitdijk, 1931, unknown photographer. From Wikimedia Commons.

Dutch archive news: July 2009

It's summer, and that means holiday season here in Holland. Archives have fewer visitors (visitors are on holiday), limited service and limited opening hours (staff are also on holiday). Summer also means there is hardly any news to report.

• Genlias added birth acts from Groningen, Utrecht and Curaçao, marriage acts from Utrecht, and death acts from Utrecht.
• The regional archive of Achterhoek (Gelderland) placed scans of church books of several towns on Flickr.

Postcard from Hillegom

A postcard from the town Hillegom, sent on 30 July 1908. Houttuin is a small street in the center of Hillegom. There is a lot to see in this coloured photo postcard: The children posing for the camera, the ladies' hats, the boy with a hoop, clothes from a century ago. Note also the traffic: No cars, just a man on a horse and pedestrians. In the background (to the left of the horse) you can just make out a parked bicycle.

Online genealogy in Overijssel

• To find BMD records for Overijssel, use Genlias.
• The provincial archive has many more online Overijssel databases.
• Find images of the past in the image database of the provincial archive.
• There are also many regional and local image sites, e.g. for Hof van Twente, Deventer, Kampen, or Enschede.
• For historical maps, visit Overijssel in kaart (Overijssel in maps), a website maintained by the city archive of Deventer.
• For indexes of cemeteries and photos of tombstones visit Graftombe (Tomb) or Online Begraafplaatsen (Online Cemeteries).
• Discuss your Overijssel roots at the Ancestry message board Overijssel or the Yahoo mailing list Genealogy in Overijssel.

For more information see Genealogy in Overijssel.