Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis

The International Institute of Social History (IISH) was officially established on November 25, 1935, but its history dates back to the 1920s. In 1914, Nicolaas W. Posthumus (1880-1960), who ranked among the pioneers of modern economic history in the Netherlands had set up the Netherlands Economic History Archive (NEHA), the first of a series of scholarly institutions he initiated. The NEHA concentrated on the preservation of archives of companies and related organisations, and on the collection of other sources relevant to economic history. Since Posthumus was a collector with a broad vision, he included materials from individuals and organisations in the Dutch labour movement. Since 1979 the IISH has been an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). 

In general, library and archive material, provided it is in good condition, may be scanned, photographed or copied. For printing or scanning from microfiche, equipment is available. For scanning, copying and printing equipment is available. 

Personal archives at the IISH are (among many others) the collections of the papers of Diego Abad de Santillán, Alexander Atabekian, Angelica Balabanoff, Bernt Carlsson, Ruth Fischer, Emma Goldman, Rudolf Hilferding, Karl Kautsky, Gustav Landauer, Arthur Lehning, Max Nettlau, Theodor Liebknecht, Toma Sik and Leon Trotsky. There are also many institutional archives, among which the archives of the Russian Socialist Revolutionary Party, the Red Army Faction and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. Moreover, in the last decades the institute acquired the archives of Greenpeace and Amnesty International. For more information click [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Institute_of_Social_History). 

You can request materials via the catalogue: search.iisg.amsterdam Please note that permission is required for the use of some archives. This information is listed under the heading 'Access and Use' on the archive description page. You can request permission via the online catalogue. Please arrange permission before making an appointment. The material can be consulted in the reading room. Visitors do not have access to the stacks. Pre-requested material is available at 10:00. You can request material during the day. Material is retrieved from the stacks 4 times a day, at: 9:30, 11:00, 13:00 and 15:00.