Holland Dames : la place des femmes dans la fabrique des origines néerlandaises de New York au XIX e siècle

Abstract

After Independence, New York’s Dutch colonial past was soon forgotten then re-discovered during the 19th century. This complex relation to the past displays the means by which it was reconstructed and the values that were associated with it. Women played a significant role in this reconstruction, through civic life and philanthropy, but also as historians who engaged with these Dutch origins and gave them a social and political meaning. This participation raises the issue of their affirmation as a conservative social elite, at odds with the suffragist ideas of the time.