Main content

Francoise W. Douwes Collected Papers

Notifications

Held at: Swarthmore College Peace Collection [Contact Us]500 College Avenue, Swarthmore 19081-1399

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Swarthmore College Peace Collection. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

[by daughter Francine Whitney]

Francoise Wilhelmina (Willy) Everts Douwes died on August 24, 2014 in Canaan, Connecticut. Until June 2014, she had been a resident of Abington and Cheltenham townships.

Willy Douwes was born on July 6, 1923 in Jakarta, Java, then a part of the Dutch East Indies. Her future husband, Karel Douwes, was a childhood friend there. Following three years of Japanese occupation during World War II, the couple immigrated to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 1945 and where Karel studied medicine. They were married in 1950.

In 1958, the Douwes' immigrated to the Philadelphia area (where Karel eventually became Head of the Department of Surgery at Episcopal Hospital, in the Kensington area of the city; he later worked at Merck, Sharp and Dohme in West Point, Pennsylvania). The Douwes first settled in Melrose Park, and later lived in Wyncote and Rydal. Willy Douwes was involved in the Cheltenham Art Center, the Philadelphia Art Museum, and the Netherlands-American Association of the Delaware Valley. A fluent speaker of five languages, she also worked as a part-time translator and tour guide for the Center for International Visitors for many years.

In the early 1980s, Willy Douwes became interested in political and environmental activism. For two decades she was an active member and a leader of the Philadelphia chapter of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). She was a regular, contributing letter writer to the editor of the Chestnut Hill Local. Following a serious car accident in 2004, Willy continued to campaign for peace from Stapeley Hall in Germantown, where she lived for two years.

Willy is survived by two daughters, Francine Whitney of New York and Caissa Douwes of Connecticut; she was predeceased by her husband (1991) and two brothers.

This collection of papers is primarily about Douwes' activism with WILPF and other organizations.

The Swarthmore College Peace Collection is the official repository for these papers.

Gift of Francoise Wilhelmina Douwes, 2005 [Acc. 05A-026].

Processed by SCPC staff. This finding aid created by Katy Santa Maria and Wendy Chmielewski, July 2013; updated by Anne M. Yoder, Archivist, September 2014.

Publisher
Swarthmore College Peace Collection
Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research use.

All or part of this collection is stored off-site. Contact Swarthmore College Peace Collection staff at peacecollection@swarthmore.edu at least two weeks in advance of visit to request boxes.

Copyright may have been transferred to the Swarthmore College Peace Collection or may have been retained by the creators/authors (or their descendants), in this collection, as stipulated by United States copyright law. Please contact the SCPC Curator for further information.
Use Restrictions

None.

Collection Inventory

Biographical information.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5713]
Personal correspondance.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5713]
Correspondence to/from the media.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5713]
Correspondence to/from Congress and government personnel.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5713]
Involvement with WILPF - Germantown Branch, 1986.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5713]
Involvement with WILPF - Germantown Branch, 1987.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5713]
Involvement with WILPF - Germantown Branch, 1988.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5713]
Involvement with WILPF - Germantown Branch, 1989.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5713]
Involvement with WILPF - Germantown Branch, 1990-1991.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5713]
Involvement with WILPF - Germantown Branch, 1992-1993.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5713]
Involvement with WILPF - Germantown Branch, 1994-1996.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5713]
Involvement with WILPF - Germantown Branch: Panel on gun violence, April 19th, 1994.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5713]
Involvement with WILPF - Germantown Branch: Program with speakers (Dr. Chu Chu Saunders and Ivan Juzang), October 18th, 1994.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5713]
Involvement with WILPF - Germantown Branch: Silent march against gun violence, September 20th, 1994.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5713]
Involvement with WILPF - Germantown Branch: Celebration of WILPF's 80th anniversary, 1995.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5713]
Involvement with WILPF - Germantown Branch, 1997-1999.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5713]
Involvement with WILPF - Germantown Branch, 2000.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5713]
Involvement with WILPF - Germantown Branch, undated.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5713]
Efforts re: WILPF's Great Peace Train going to Philadelphia (PA), Nov. 1995.
Box 2 [offsite SCPC-5714]
Involvement with WILPF - Philadelphia Chapter, 2001.
Box 2 [offsite SCPC-5714]
Involvement with WILPF - Philadelhpia Chapter, 2002.
Box 2 [offsite SCPC-5714]
Involvement with WILPF - Philadelhpia Chapter, 2003.
Box 2 [offsite SCPC-5714]
Involvement with WILPF - Philadelhpia Chapter, 2004.
Box 2 [offsite SCPC-5714]
Involvement with WILPF - Philadelhpia Chapter, 2005.
Box 2 [offsite SCPC-5714]
Involvement with WILPF - Philadelphia Chapter, undated.
Box 2 [offsite SCPC-5714]
Involvement with WILPF - Norristown Chapter.
Box 2 [offsite SCPC-5714]
Involvement with WILPF - U.N. Headquarters.
Box 2 [offsite SCPC-5714]
Involvement with the Great Peace March for Nuclear Disarmament, 1986.
Box 3 [offsite SCPC-5715]
Involvement with Beyond War awards, 1987 (December 6).
Box 3 [offsite SCPC-5715]
Involvement with the Montgomery Alliance for Nuclear Disarmament [MAND], 1986-1988.
Box 3 [offsite SCPC-5715]
Involvement with the International Peace Walk, 1988.
Box 3 [offsite SCPC-5715]
Involvement with the Peace Fair, 1989-1990.
Box 3 [offsite SCPC-5715]
Involvement with the Peace Fair, 1991.
Box 3 [offsite SCPC-5715]
Involvement with the Host Committee for the Philadelphia Hearings of the U.S. Commission on Improving the Effectiveness of the U.N., 1991 (October 23).
Box 3 [offsite SCPC-5715]
Involvement with the World Federalist Association [WFA], 1992-1993.
Box 3 [offsite SCPC-5715]
Involvement with 'The Nation' seminar cruise, 1998(?) (December).
Box 3 [offsite SCPC-5715]
Involvement with the Peace, Justice and Environment Network of the Delaware Valley [PJENET], 1998-2000.
Box 3 [offsite SCPC-5715]
Involvement with the Philadelphia Project for Global Security, 1998-2001.
Box 3 [offsite SCPC-5715]
Involvement with the Philadelphia Community Press Coalition Outreach Community, 1999-2004.
Box 3 [offsite SCPC-5715]
Membership in the Philadelphia Project for Global Security Steering Committee, 2000.
Box 4 [offsite SCPC-5716]
Attendance At "Global Responsibility: A Reason for Hope", 2002 (February 16-17).
Box 4 [offsite SCPC-5716]
Involvement with Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, 2000-2005.
Box 4 [offsite SCPC-5716]
Involvement with Dennis J. Kucinich's presidential campaign, 2004.
Box 4 [offsite SCPC-5716]
Involvement in Northwest Peace and Justice Movement [NWPJM], [Grassroots Network], 2003-2005.
Box 4 [offsite SCPC-5716]
Efforts re: Disarmament.
Box 4 [offsite SCPC-5716]
Scope and Contents

material removed from binder

Phone lists/trees, approximately 2003.
Box 4 [offsite SCPC-5716]
Phone tree, 1997.
Box 4 [offsite SCPC-5716]
WILPF members list.
Box 4 [offsite SCPC-5716]
Miscellaneous notes.
Box 4 [offsite SCPC-5716]
Miscellaneous name lists.
Box 4 [offsite SCPC-5716]
Miscellaneous efforts.
Box 4 [offsite SCPC-5716]
Drawings.
Box 4 [offsite SCPC-5716]
Names and media contacts, etc.
Box 5 [offsite SCPC-5717]
Scope and Contents

Pages from binder

Reference material.
Box 5 [offsite SCPC-5717]
Scope and Contents

4 folders

Print, Suggest