The history of the archives
KvinnSam was established in 1958 as a private initiative aimed at highlighting women’s historical and contemporary living conditions, and enabling women’s history research. During the 1960s, pioneers Rosa Malmström, Asta Ekenvall and Eva Pinéus began collecting and organising archival materials relevant to women’s history.
Today, the KvinnSam archives span approximately 600 shelf metres - including nearly 200 personal archives and over 100 association archives. Among the first collections acquired were those of Emilia Fogelklou, Märta Tamm-Götlind, and the Gothenburg chapter of the Fredrika Bremer Association. Since then, the archive has grown to include materials from individuals and organisations significant to women’s history and gender research, ranging from the suffrage movement at the turn of the 20th century to the present day. KvinnSam currently holds around 300 archives from private individuals and associations, with materials from politicians, authors, researchers, and associations engaged in women’s history and gender research. Notable individuals whose documents are held in our archives include Elin Wägner, Alice and Hjördis Nordin, Barbro Alving, Karolina Widerström, Kerstin Hesselgren and Barbro Werkmäster.
In addition to personal archives, we hold a substantial collection of archives from various associations and organisations advocating peace, the right to vote, women's working conditions, gender equality, education, LGBTQI issues, family issues and women's culture, among other topics. These archives include correspondence, minutes, accounts, photographs, activity reports and much more, from organisations such as the Kvinnliga medborgarskolan in Fogelstad, the Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom (WILPF), Centralstyrelsen för Landsföreningen för kvinnans politiska rösträtt (LKPR), Forum för feministisk forskning and Bohus stickning, as well as Kvinnohuset in Stockholm, Grupp 8 Göteborg, Föreningen Kvinnokultur and Kvinnofolkhögskolan.