Amsab - Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis

Amsab - Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis 

Amsab-ISG is an officially recognized Flemish cultural heritage institution engaged in archiving documents and other items of progressive social movements and persons. It was founded in 1980 by Herman Balthazar and Wouter Steenhaut. Both of them were employed at the Department of Modern History at the University of Ghent at that time. Amsab-Institute of Social History became an officially recognized Flemish cultural institution in 1985. Since the establishment of Amsab Institute of Social History, research has been one of its core activities. As a cultural heritage institution, research is conducted in concert with Amsab’s collection management and public services. Scientific research supports and provides direction to the institute’s acquisition and collection accessibility policies, as well as inspiring activities in the field of public history, popularising research and community service. This provides a clear added value for the global profile of the institute and permits Amsab- distinguish itself from purely academic research entities. The institute has a preference for research topics that fit the thematic pillars underpinning our collection policy, in particular: • labor movement • new social movements • ecological movements • migration history For more information about the history of the institution, please consult [its website](http://www.amsab.be/) 

Pierre-Alain Tallier (dir.), Gertjan Desmet & Pascale Falek-Alhadeff, *Sources pour l'histoire des populations juives et du judaïsme en Belgique/Bronnen voor de geschiedenis van de Joden en het Jodendom in België, 19de-21ste eeuw*, Brussel, ARA-AGR/Avant-Propos, 2016, 1,328 p. 

[AMSAB](http://www.amsab.be) website consulted on 11/03/2026 

All Amsab-ISG collections appear in the online catalogue (htttp://www.opac.amsab.be), which is available for consultation on the Internet. Finding aids are also regularly published. 

Monday - Friday 9.00am to 17.00pm. Making an appointment is recommendable. 

Collection material can be reserved in advance via the online catalogue. For this purpose, you create a (one-time) account. After reserving, you will be contacted by e-mail to set up a reading room appointment. Due to our limited staff, priority is given to urgent research. In order to provide a suitable solution for everyone, please indicate the purpose of your consultation (paper, thesis, doctorate, publication, etc.) and any deadlines. You have not finished your application on the day of your appointment and would like to continue with your consultation? Tell the person in charge of the reading room which days you want to drop by or mail to leeszaal@amsab.be to make a follow-up appointment. Please note: written permission from the archive creator is required for consultation of some archives. This is done in consultation with an archivist. Do you want to consult magazines? When reserving periodicals and series, please indicate the desired volumes and/or issues in the reservation request. Documents of which a digital version is available (online or in the reading room) cannot be consulted on paper. This applies to image documents, digitised periodicals, archive files,.... Digital documents that cannot be published online for legal reasons can only be consulted in the reading room. Borrowing documents is not possible, with the exception of loans for exhibitions. 

Amsab-ISG is made up of several services: first of all the Collection service registers, describes and curates the archival collection and organises the lecture room, secondly the Projects service organises all exhibitions, publications and public projects, including the journal 'Brood en Rozen', thirdly the Research service focuses on fundamental scientific research while the ICT, communications office and administrative staff are at the service of the entire institute. 

The stately mansion, originally used by a wallpaper wholesaler, with one part living quarters and one part business section, both parts separated by a entrance corridor for coaches and glass doors, had previously been thoroughly renovated by the editorial staff of then socialist newspaper De Morgen. The building was in the 1980s partially restored to its original state and adapted to carry tons of papers and accommodate a rapidly growing team of employees. Shortly before 2020 a new wing was added at the back, fitted with a small exhibition and meeting space on the ground floor and a comfortable reading room on the second floor. 

Amsab-ISG is located in Gent. It's collections focus on the political regio Flanders, but however it keeps collections from other political parts of the federal state of Belgium and also some international collections linked with people or institutions living in Flanders. 

Originally, archives were accepted under depot or as a gift, but a couple of years ago the policy totally shifted to accpetance as a gift, i.e. all new collections are donated to Amsab-ISG, while some older archives still are property of the creator. Amsab-ISG prospects the working field of social movements and institutions, but mostly relies on its broad network of activitsts and groups to assemble archives. 

Amsab's collection can be consulted in the reading room. To consult archival documents and library material, make a reservation . To do this you first have to log in and create an account. You will be notified via e-mail when the documents are available. Because these have to be collected from external depots, this can take a few days, but never longer than a week. If you do not find what you want, or you can not reserve certain matters, send us an email to leeszaal@amsab.be. Please note that archives can only be requested at item level. If you plan to consult a larger share of items or a complete archive, you can indicate this in the reservation form (Comments section). There you can also specify which volumes or numbers of magazines you want to consult. Also, digitised documents or documents that are available online can not be accessed in the reading room. This applies to image documents, digitised journals, inventories of archives etc. 

The reading and exhibition rooms are freely accesible, however, it's recommended to make an appointment before visiting the reading room. At the ground level, sanitary installations are freely accesible. The small garden, in summer beautified with limited furniture for sitting and eating, is also freely accesible. 

It is possible to order reproductions from Amsab's picture archive, provided that copyright is respected and a number of conditions are met. 

Our reading room is accesible via the lift if needed.