| Description | Feminist Archive: Dora Russell Boxes: Caravan of Peace, 1958
Please note that I have gone through these boxes quickly in order to get a sense of the contents. It has not been possible to identify all of the languages used, but the addresses from communities which Dora Russell’s Caravan of Peace visited in 1958 are very moving. There are fine examples of artwork, and photographs of things held dear to the communities. Of particular interest is the 177 page typescript by Dora Russell, 'We called on Europe', giving an account of the Caravan and a road map marked with the route it took in Box 15, along with the video made from original film of the journey in Box 12. The Caravan travelled from Britain through France, Belgium, Holland, West Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Yugoslavia, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Poland, before fIying briefly to Moscow and then returning back to Britain by way of East Germany, West Germany, Belgium, and France. It will be necessary to return to these boxes and improve their lists, and the housing of some items. It does not include the contents of the White Plan Chest Drawer DM2123/7/Drawer 4 which contains additional Caravan of Peace items.
See also: Dora Russell, 'The Tamarisk Tree: volume 3: Challenge to the Cold War', Virago, 1985, Chapter 10 'Women make the moves..' for an account of the Caravan by Dora Russell in her autobiography (Arts & Social Sciences Library HQ1595 RUS). See also Katherine Tait, 'Carn Voel: my mother's house', Patten Press, 1998, for an account of Dora Russell's life at her Cornish home (Arts & Social Sciences Library Restricted Pamphlet DA670.C8 TAI).
For a study of Dora Russell and the Caravan of Peace see: Michaela Maria Magdalena Schwarz-Santos Gonçalves Henriques. Minding His-Story: Dora Russell's Voice on the Side of Life against the Backdrop of Her Peace Mission in the 1950s. PhD thesis in English. Lisbon, Portugal: Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Letras, Departmento de Estudos Anglísticos, 2015
Archive material on Dora Russell and the Caravan of Peace is also held at the International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. See their Webpage at: https://iisg.amsterdam/en
Hannah Lowery
December 2010 |