Women in the WIDF (Or: The Long Arm of HUAC: Finding the Women in the WIDF)

In terms of their size, status and impact, the International Council of Women (ICW), the International Alliance of Women (IAW), and the Women’s International Democratic Federation (WIDF) were the three major international women’s organizations of the post-1945 period. For a number of complex reasons, the Women’s International Democratic Federation, established in Paris in 1945, is still the least known of these three, despite its impressive contributions to the global cause of women’s equality. In my presentation I will focus on the reasons why it is appears to be difficult to find WIDF sources, both for the international umbrella organization, and some of the national branches. The examples I will present include the American, Indonesian, Soviet and Swedish branches of the WIDF (which was a global, not an “Eastern European” organization) as well the international umbrella organization itself.