CATT, CArrie ChAPMAN  GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE   MANUS, ROSA
1939-41

January 16, 1939.
My dear Rosa:

We were shocked last evening to receive your cable
and at once telephoned Felix and passed the word on to him.  I 
am thinking of you every hour now and realizing what it means to
wait so long before you can arrive.  You are brave, however, and 
the time will pass and you will arrive.

Please express to all the family my sincerest sympathy.

Now Rosa, since you are so far off, I must speak of
some things that are not appropriate at the moment.  Let me say
to you that if you find any considerable changes have to be made
in your way or anybody else's way of living on account of the passing
of your mother, do not be in a hurry about making the arrangements.
I have known so very many cases where people made plans immediately
after .   Take plenty of time to make up your mind thoroughly.  You
can make up your mind quickly (I saw that with the resolution here),
but I do not know, however, that you might not, after some weeks or
months, regret the resolution taken and from that I would save you
by this advice to go slow.

You have a very remarkable father and mother and you had
them for a long time.  For that, you should be very grateful.

This is a troubled time in the world and there is very
much to be done.  We are all likely to do the wrong thing just now,
but I think Holland is very stable in its mind.  I doubt if war is
coming very soon and perhaps we shall settle down and be a calmer
world ere many months.

I am sending you some newspapers, - the page from
Sunday's Tribune and the write-up of the tea in the Standard Star.

I am sending off, today, the letter to the International
News.

I also enclose a letter to Mrs. Vandenbergh and Mrs. Palter.

I am notifying all the people who write you and telling
them what has happened.

Shortly after you left the house, the cable came which I 
understand you received before the ship sailed and when the mail
arrived, we found three letters which we are forwarding to you at 
your home.   There may be more today.

Very lovingly, dear Rosa, and with the hope you will be
brave enough to bear up under all the difficulties that await you in
Holland,

January 20, 1939.
Dear Rosa:

Evidently, you cabled to Mrs. Ashby and she has
cabled a reply, sending it here.  I have cut off the waste
paper and enclose only the telegram.

We have been thinking of you every hour and understand
full well what a dreary trip it is that you are making.
When this reaches you, it will all be in the past.

I am still busy thanking people for various kindnesses
and so I would like to say something along that line
to you.

I shall never forget the wonder of those eighty 
roses which fell upon me when I came down for breakfast on
Sunday morning.

I look with wonder upon the beautiful nightgown
with its little coat and which is carefully laid away in my
drawer.  I wonder if I shall ever dare to put so beautiful a
thing on my body with the intention of going to sleep in it.
It is more suitable for having my picture taken.

The blue album which Anna sent has been a most 
useful gift.  The clippings continue to come in and we have
it about full.  I think I shall send it along to the 
Congressional Library when the last of the books go.

My green bag still hangs upon my chair and the
basket still travels around from room to room.   That green
bag was a most practical idea.

I shall keep the foreign greetings which you brought
in the little antique box so long as I shall live.   Probably,
I shall send messages to some of them.  I appreciate the effort
you made to get these greetings for me.

Lastly, let me mention the beautiful pillow which may, 
perhaps, have been the last work your mother did.   At any rate,
I shall hold it in especial reverence on that account.  I admire
and love it very, very much.

The beautiful cloth which Carmen made and sent has
been snatched off the table in my room and now graces the
dining-room table where more people can see it.  You would
approve the change.

I have engaged the Icelandic dressmaker, who does
some sewing for me now and then, so that the dress will be
all ready to wear upon grand occasions.  That was a great
gift.

I thank you and yours for each and every gift and
I thank you for coming.  I sincerely hope you will not feel
sorry that you came.

In the days to come, which will be so hard for you
in every way, I hope that you may have courage for each new task.

Blessings on you, dear Rosa.

Very lovingly yours,


January 27, 1939.
My dear Rosa:

We were thinking of you very much all day Monday
and know how sad a day it was for you.  I sent you a cable to
get some flowers from me.  I thought you would understand that
I have no idea about the cost of flowers or the kind that are
obtainable at this time of year in Amsterdam.  I thought you
would get something suitable and send me the bill.  I hope you
were able to do that and if so, please let me know at once how
much they cost.

I am sure the settling of your mother's affairs
will require a good deal of attention and perhaps bring you some
worry.

Let me advise you once more not to do anything too 
quickly.  It does not pay.

We read in the newspapers that the storms on the
ocean were very bad and that the Paris had some catastrophes.
I suspect that your journey was not very comfortable aside from
your own personal worries.

When you have time to write, let me know how you
are and how the family is.

Of course, after each cable received, we at once
telephoned Felix and passed the word on to him.

Blessing on you!

Very lovingly,


Miss Rosa Manus,
Jacob Obrechtstraat 67,
Amsterdam-Zuid, Holland.


CCC:HW.

February 8, 1939.
My dear Rosa:

I looked forward, day after day, to the time when a
letter would come from you.   I read about the hard time the
ship had had and I wanted to know so much how you made the
passage.  I am very glad that it was not your nose that was
broken and, apparently, you arrived with all your bones intact.

That was very clever, stopping in England, seeing
Mrs. Ashby, and going by airplane to Amsterdam.

I thought of you all the days you were on the boat with
no one to talk to and very much to think about.  I sent you my
hourly sympathy, but I guess that did not reach you.

Now I have your letter and I was tremendously glad to
receive it.  Now I know you arrived home safely.  It is interesting 
to note that your letter, written on the steamer to me, and
the one written from your home arrived at my door at the same
moment.  The next day, the letter you had written to Alda while
you were on the boat arrived.

There are two things I want to say.   Do not forget to
let me know, the next time you write,what the cost of the lilies
were, so that I may pay you promptly.  You know, I asked you
to get those flowers merely as an agent and if you are a good
agent, you will send in your bill promptly.  Let me know, when
you know, the time that Anna will be coming back.

I have not heard from Felix, but he must have had his
two examinations.  I do not like to write and ask him whether
or not he came through them all right.   I thought, perhaps, he
would let me know if he had done so.  However, they are very
slow in giving the results of examinations and he may not have
heard from them.  Perhaps that is the reason why I have not
yet heard.

Concerning the slumber robe, Alda got the one the woman
had ordered for me.  It is very comfortable and does very well.
I think you should not give me the one you have in mind.   You
certainly have done enough for me and there are so many in your
family who would like it, I think.

I still love the pillow and everybody admires it very
much.

I want to give you a piece of advice that I have given 
you three or four times before.  If, as you hint, you may need
to change your way of living, now that your mother has gone,

-2-

let me beg of you not to do anything too hurriedly.    I happen
to have known several cases where quick action was taken after
a death to made some changes that seemed necessary at the time,
but those changes were so bitterly regretted afterwards that
lives were almost spoiled by the process, so I suggest to you
that you do whatever you must in settling your mother's estate
and when you so longer have that burden upon your shoulders,
then think of what you should do for yourself.   It will give
you time for calm and careful planning.  That will certainly
be the best way and one that will satisfy you in the long run.

I did not got to Washington for the Conference on the 
Cause and Cure of War and have not regretted it.   I was not
well enough.

After you had gone, we began to talk about going to 
Florida, but it is not and easy matter to arrange and I have
about concluded that I am more comfortable here than I would be
anywhere else.

The doctor was here last night and gave me an injection,
or it might be called a "serum hypodermic. I told him I was
not well enough, but he told me I was well enough and that there
was nothing for me to worry about.  I told him that he said that
because he did not know how I felt.   After we quarreled a little, 
we parted as friends.

You will be surprised when I tell you that birthday
letters are still coming from all over the world and I have
just received a birthday present from a Japanese friend.   I
have not yet acknowledged all the letters that came while you
were here.  If I should live to see another birthday, I am
going to hide away where no one will find me.

I shall be very anxious to hear from you again and to
know how you are getting on.  I do not need to know your private
affairs, but I would like to know in what direction you will
be moving.

Blessings on you, dear Rosa.  Give my kind remembrances 
to all the family.

Very lovingly,

P.S.-I dictated this letter yesterday and Henrietta brought it
to the office to type there.  Shortly after she left, I had a 
telephone message from Anna, announcing that she had arrived
yesterday.  We had a little talk, but, of course, I have not
seen her yet.

I learned from her that the examinations were over, but no report
had yet been returned upon them, so they do not know how things are.
I was glad to hear that the boy had arrived safely.

I think I told you that I found the jewelry that was lost.  It has 
now been thoroughly packed and I have put it into my bank vault.
Alda sends love and says she will write soon.  Henrietta also sends lov
Very lovingly,


February 8, 1939

To Rosa, Anna, and Emma, dear sisters three:

I have learned how devoted Anna and Emma
were to their mother in the last days
and that made Rosa very grateful.  You 
are three good girls and have been very
devoted to your mother and that must have
been a great comfort to her.

There is something else.  So many
children lose their mothers early in
life and perhaps get a stepmother.
Rarely, if ever, do they love her.
It is very wonderful that you had so
remarkable a mother and so remarkable
a father and that you had them so long.
They were very good to you and, in the
sorrow of their departure from this
life, you must be grateful for the
blessings they brought you.

I am sending you my love and best wishes
for the future.

Very lovingly yours,


CCC:HW

February 15, 1939.

Dear Rosa:

This is a business letter.   I know you are very busy
and I am sorry to write it.

I had a letter from Rosika Schwimmer, telling me that
Mrs. Gisela Urban of Vienna had written a second time and was
in great distress.  She said she had written you to use your
influence with me for her and her family.  Rosika Schwimmer
says that in neither of her letters did she give me the data needed
for affidavits.  Perhaps she mentioned those things to you.

When this letter came, I remembered the conversation 
I had with you the first morning after you came.  You probably
mentioned this same woman, but I thought of Mrs. Ungar who lived
in Budapest.  I have now looked them up in the minutes of the
Budapest Convention and I find there was a Mrs. Ungar of Budapest
and a Mrs. Urban of Vienna.  They are confused in my mind.  One
of these women I can see with my eyes shut and I remember her
very well.  I was fond of her, but I think it was Mrs. Ungar and
I do not remember the other woman at all.  However, she is crazy
to get an affidavit for herself and her family to come over, but
she has not given Rosika Schwimmer any details at all.  If she
has given you any, please send them to me.  I shall ask Rosika
Schwimmer to give me her address, so I can write direct to her.

Since you were here, I have learned a good many things
about affidavits and I do not see how a whole family who do not
have relatives here, or some people who know them well, could
possibly secure an affidavit, because the person who signs an
affidavit must agree to take care of them provided they are not
able to take care of themselves.

I hope things are going well with you and that you
are not having too sad a time.

Very lovingly,


Miss Rosa Manus,
Jacob Obrechtstraat 67
Amsterdam - Z., Holland.

CCC:HW.

ROSA MANUS
JACOB OBRECHTSTRAAT 67
AMSTERDAM - Z.
Telefoon 91537
Tel.-adres: ROMANUS AMSTERDAM

Febr.21st 1939.

Dearest Mother Carrie,

Your letter of February 8th has arrived, thank
you for every word of it.

I knew you were thinking of me all those days on the steamer and
your hourly sympathy helped me ever so much,you may depend on it.
In my thoughts you were no longer my stepmother but you have been
promoted as a real mother.  I never felt that mother and you were
on a different scale. I always thought of you both on the same level
and now you are the only one.  I know in your heart of hearts you
see it exactly the same as I know your real loving feelings for me.
It is just wonderful to possess that. I am proud and happy and it
gives me consolation many,[a] many a time.

I am going through difficult times as you can well imagine but I am
well supported by an excellent notary who has become a friend,who
is executor with me.

Emil has been to see that notary and is trying to make some little
difficulties but as mother's will was really made so well and
accurate,even with his cunning I do not think he can ever put a pin
between it.

The lease of the apartment we live in was signed by my mother.We
still have it until November 1940. In mother's will it said that
the house must remain two months after her death like before.
Everything must be paid by the heirs until March 15th but the lease
of the house must be paid by the heirs until the end.

Now Emil suggested that I should be out of the house by March 15th.
It made me so mad at one moment that I almost packed and went,but
when I came to my senses I found that he had nothing to say about
it, that if I live in it or live not in it, the lease must be paid
by the heirs but on the other hand you know me well enough to know
that I do not want to live in a house that should be paid by the
other brothers and sisters especially not as most of them are so
badly of, but merely to think that he has written to the notary to
say that makes me just mad.

I have been trying to sub-let the apartment but as it is a large
and wonderful flat with a big terrace and has a great number of
rooms,it needs a certain family to come and live here,so up to now
I have had many people to come and see but nobody has taken it yet,
so I will calmly bide my time.

I have two maids and the minute mother dies people came rushing
after them asking them to come to them. I am now letting my wonderful
cook go by March 15th and am keeping the housemaid who has been with
me for 4 years and who is a very respectable little girl.I have
taught her cooking and she has also learned much from the cook since.

I still have my faithful chauffeur who has been with us next May 20
years.It is a problem to know what to do with him. Of course he is
very expensive but on the other hand if I should have to do without
my car and chauffeur I would be rather hampered, so I will wait and
make up my definite accounts first and see what happens. He is a 
boy who is very handy in the house too. He can almost do anything. 


Mrs.Catt. Cont. 2.

Another possibility is that some day I may keep him and his wife
who was once my little sister's maid and who has always come in to
help serving at table etc.when we needed extra help.

The question what kind of a home I shall go into is indeed a great
problem. My little sister and I are still talking of living together.
In one way it seems the only solution. She is nice and sweet
and we have always got on exceedingly well together.
She can do a lot of things for which I have not time;on the other
hand she does not care for cooking and all the things in the kitchen
which are a great pleasure to me.

At any rate we would only join up, if we have each of us our sitting
room and I my room to work with my secretary and receive my friends,
have my meetings as I have been doing for the last 10 years.

When I give a big tea party as I do now and then, she always came
to arrange things for me behind the screens.She is most helpful and
sweet about it. So there are many advantages.

Her two boys to not live at home anymore,the eldest one may come
in for week-ends now and then, so we shall have to keep a visiting
room either for the boys or for Carmen who comes for week-ends too
or for some of my friends.

There are two or three friends who have asked to live with me but
that seems more difficult still,firstly the financial situation
of each of us is different;then every one has her own relatives and
friends. I often go away and then the household would have to go 
on as if I were there and if I live with  my little sister and if
she has less means that I have, I do not [spend s] mind spending my
money on her and her boys but why should I spend it on a friend's 
family?

On the other hand my little sister likes to burry herself in her
sorrow. She does not want to hinder anybody with it but she wants to
live in the past.Since her beloved husband has gone there is no
pleasure for her, so I sometimes get to think I cannot bear to be
always with such a quiet and sad person but on the other hand when
I am abroad,she will not mind much and will have time to think
again and I think it perhaps part of my duty to give her something
else in her life and gradually she may take part more and more in
my things.  I therefore think in the end we shall make up our minds
to join up.

I will however not hasten it. I have to make several yourneys in
the near future.There is a meeting of the Disarmament Committee
in Paris this month; we have our Alliance Board Meeting the first
days of April at Brussels. I must go to London to talk things over
with Mrs.Ashby and Mrs.Bompas the middle of June. I go to Copenhague
for the arrangement of the Congress and will be away a month.
[In generally] In September I generally go to Geneva.

Formerly I always hurried home as I knew Mother wanted me to come
back as soon as possible. Now I have the feeling I can add a few
days after the meetings are over and see some of the friends abroad.
Some time,dear mother Carrie, I hope to get another invitation from
you and I will come and stay with you a short time if I may.

ROSA MANUS
JACOB OBRECHTSTRAAT 67
AMSTERDAM - Z.
Telefon 91537
Tel.-adres: ROMANUS AMSTERDAM

February 27th 1939.


Dear Mother Carrie,

As regards Mrs.Gisela Urban, she is a woman whom
we always met in Vienna and who came to several congresses;she
is a homely looking woman.She is a journalist and has always
written the reports for Vienna in JUS.

I can well understand you do not remember her as she is not
a woman who makes much impression,though she is intelligent
and a good writer but no longer young.
Mrs.Ungar from Budapest is the nice looking very well dressed
woman who wore that beautiful hat with feathers and of whom 
you were very fond and who spoke English so exceedingly well.

As to Mrs.Uban I have indeed had a tremendous correspondence
with her. First she wanted me to get her son who is about 40
and who is in a printer's firm, to Holland. In a letter to me
of December 6th Mrs.Urban told me that her son had received an
affidavit from a president of a jewish associatioin in New-York.
After I had given myself much trouble with a catholic society
in Utrecht,Holland for both herself and her son,she told me she
had also tried to get into the United States. Mrs.Urban seems
to be a Jewess but belonging to the catholic church since long.

I do not see how in the world you can give these people an
affidavit. Her son will not be able to look after his parents
I suppose and I cannot imagine you being responsable for Mrs.
Urban[d] and her husband.

It is useless to send you in my correspondence wtih her as it is
in German.I have given myself no end of trouble for her which
now seems of no use. Besides that in Holland we cannot people
in unless they are parents from  people who live here already or
children from elder people who are living here.

Mrs.Urban's address is:  Gisela Urban, Fichtnergasse 22, Viena XIII

The whole situation in Germany is getting more critical every day.
People who actually are allowed to come out now must leave everything
they possess and only come over the frontier with a nightdress 
for luggage;even their watch and weddingring must be left
behind.

We are responsible now besides some of the family,for 3 children,
a boy of 15, a girl of 17 1/2 and a boy of 16. They live in camps
just now for which we must pay and if we get them out of the
camp we have to look after them. These children hope one day to
meet their parents again who have left for Uruguay trying to find
a new position.  In Holland they are not allowed to work.

This being a business letter I will not write about private affairs
although this letter is meant only for you.
Lovingly
as always Rosa

March 9, 1939
Dear Rosa:

Your letter had just arrived and I have read it
with such interest.  I am not going to give you a long reply,
because I have not yet caught up with my correspondence which
got behind because of the birthday.  I do not know whether I
shall ever catch up.  I am still receiving congratulations
upon being eighty and I received another present the other
day, - a little radio that can be carried to the attic or
the cellar.  I think that must have been a present for my
eighty-fifth birthday.   I shall have to cut short this letter
to you, so that I may catch upwith a few of the others.

I was very much interested in the story about your
house.  I see the difficulty and you are doing quite right to
rent the place, if possible, because with all the children
being away and only one living there, some ugly things might
be said and the bad feeling grow worse.  I think you will be
wise if you can get a smaller place and you and your little
sister find a way to live together for a time, at least.
This need not be the last time you move, but I think you will
be happier to settle the business of the big house now, if
you can.  Here, it would not be so easy to rent or sell anything
in the way of real estate.  Perhaps times are better
there.  At any rate, take your time and do not rush into
anything.

Pretty soon you will be going to Copenhagen.  I
hope nothing will happen there which will injure the progress
of the Alliance.  I heard the other day that the Woman's Party
is expecting the Alliance to die soon and they expect to take
its place as an international body.   I think you had better
not let that happen.  The Alliance stands for democracy, for
self-government, and for democratic progress.  Just at present,
the other kind of government and the other kind of people seem
to be ruling the world, but democracy is bound to come out
ahead in the end.  That will not be, however, if we do not
keep its flags flying.

About the little sister, I have something to say.
She must have work to do.  Somewhere in the world there is
something that will interest her, something that she will be
glad to do and you must help her find it.  When she is
happy again, doing this work, you will both be happier to
live together.

Next time, I shall write a longer letter, but I know you
will be patient with me.
Lovingly,
CCC:HW.


March 16, 1939.
Dear Rosa:

I have had no idea of signing an affidavit for Mrs.
Urban or for anybody else.   I simply have not money enough
to do that, but as Mrs. Urban had written to you telling you
to ask me to help in some way, and she had written to Bertha
Lutz asking her to ask me, and the same thing to Rosika
Schwimmer, I thought I ought to write her a letter and see
if there was any way in which I could help her.  I spent one
whole day on her affairs and I learned that there is a
Catholic Committee that looks after Catholic refugees, but
they said they could not get affidavits signed, - that it was
well-nigh impossible.  Nevertheless, they wanted me to give
them Mrs. Urban's address and all the particulars and they 
said they would send her full directions of what they would
do.  I do not suppose I shall ever find out what they wrote
her.   I wrote a letter to every woman to whom Mrs. Urban
had written.  I asked each one to answer and tell me whether
she had done anything at all to assist Mrs. Urban and if so,
what.  That was a week ago, and I have had no answer from any
one of them yet.

I had a little conversation with Anna over the 
telephone.  She told me that the Doctor had not yet received
a report as to the result of the examination, that she is
busy with her leather work, and that the boy has something 
to do without pay but which is promising.  All of this you
know.

You said in your letter that perhaps you would like 
to come here for a little visit this autumn.  Now I want to
tell you something which may or may not work out.

There will be a World's Fair in New York this year.
They are calculating upon having it opened on the first of May.
It is some little distance from us and when the weather is
permissible I will drive over there and see how near completion
it is.

It will be a grand thing for the people who have never
seen an exposition to go to it and, of course, everybody in the
country wants to come to New York and visit the Fair.  For young
people, especially, I think it is worthwhile.

Now, in my family, I have a second group of youngsters.
These children are my grand-nieces and grand-nephews and they
have little children.  The same is true with my husband's only 
sister who had seven children.  Two are gone, two are unmarried,
and the others are married and have children.  Of course, every

-2-

one of these families wants to come to the Fair.  I do not think
all of them can find somebody to care for their little children,
but perhaps they can.  To be exact, there are eighteen altogether
who want to come to the Fair.  They are all relatives and I have
invited them to come and stay with me, provided they do not all
come at once and it means I shall keep a boarding house all
summer and autumn.  Even people for Sunday dinner leave me tired
for the rest of the week, so I do not know how I shall manage to 
get through this performance.   The Fair will run from
May 1st to November 1st.

As I did not go away this winter, we are planning, if I
am able to do so, to close the house as soon as the Fair season
is over and go away to some warm place for the winter.  I shall 
need to recuperate by that time and it is my intention to go
where there is nobody to play with us.

If I am able to get through all this, I would be at home
and the house running again in the spring of 1940, but I have
this year pretty well filled up, I should say.   It is possible
that I shall not be able to do as much as I hope, and perhaps I
shall not feel able to go away at all.  I am not strong and I
can do nothing outside of the house.

What I would like you to do would be to plan some other 
way for this fall and make me a visit in the spring of 1940.
How about that arrangement?   If the Fair were not coming this
year and all of my family wanting to come to it, I should
certainly urge you to come this fall because I know you will
be lonely and would like to have a change.

When the meeting is held in Copenhagen, it may be that
they will tease you very hard to stay in your place and if they
do, I think it would be an excellent thing for you to do, so
that you may have some outside diversion to occupy your mind.

Very lovingly yours,


Miss Rosa Manus,
Jacob Obrechtstraat 67,
Amsterdam-Zuid, Holland.


CCC:HW.


March 23, 1939.

My dear Rosa:

I hear that you have been to London.

When you have time, and you need not hasten
to do this, tell me what Holland is thinking about the
coming of war.

We are terribly disturbed here by what has 
been done to Czechoslovakia. If you hear that Madam
Plaminkova has been released, I would like very much to
send her a message, but I do not know that it would be
safe to do so.

Whatever you do, do not be afraid.  At the
same time, I again advise you to place your money
somewhere else so far as you are able.  I do not know
where you would put it unless it would be Iceland!

Excuse this brief letter.  I will write more
next time.

Lovingly,


Miss Rosa Manus,
Jacob Obrechtstraat 67,
Amsterdam-Zuid, Holland


CCC:HW.

ROSA MANUS
JACOB OBRECTSTRAAT 67
AMSTERDAM - Z.
Telefoon 91537
Tel-adres: ROMANUS AMSTERDAM  March 27th 1939.




Dear Mother Carrie

Your letter of March 9th reached me. I have not
written for quite a time as your stepdaughter has been very ill.
When I was in London my finger hurted me terribly and Mia Boissevain
took me to the doctor who found he had to cut it.
Upon my return to Amsterdam the next day I went to the specialist
who ordered me to bed immediately as I had a high temperature and
dreadful pains.
After a day he found it necessary to give the finger another cut
and hoped it would get better but unfortunately the terrible pains
remained and got worse and after a few days of high temperature
and dreadful suffering he decided to operate upon it;it has been
a very painfil performance and my hand has to be bathed three times
a day in hot water with soda in it;the wound is still open.The
doctor says it was "streptocoken" and very dangerous indeed.
It has taken a great deal out of me and it took me quite a while
to be myself again. I am getting better now but still have to wear
my arm in a sling.

I hope to get the permission from my doctor to go to Paris on Friday
for the Meeting of the Peace and Disarmament Committee on
Saturday and Sunday. Then I will go to Brussels for the Board
Meeting of the Alliance on April 1st,2nd,3rd.

My nurse has to come alonge with me as I am unable to help myself
and she has to dress the wound morning and evening. You can well
understand what it means for me to be dependant like that but I am
making the best of it. Of course I was terrible depressed and very
low down and with all the dreadful things happening as regards world
situation one does not feel happier at all.

I have not been able to let my flat yet;who knows what happens and
I will not hurry I can assure you;may be something turns up.

Forgive this short note. Let me thank you for the notice you gave
me of the Women's Party. There are a great many younger people
who are keen now about the Alliance. In Holland there is a party
of about 20 young women who want to go to Copenhagen.

Lovingly as always

Your adoring stepdaughter
Rosa
love to Alda please

[*IAV*] INTERNATIONAAL ARCHIEF VOOR DE VROUWENBEWEGING
KEIZERSGRACHT 264 - AMSTERDAM-C - TELEFOON 34449
PRESIDENTE: ROSA MANUS   SECRETARESSE: Dr. W. H. POSTUMUS_VAN DER GOOT
Amsterdam,March 27th 1939.


Mrs.C.Chapman Catt
120 Paine Avenue
New-Rochelle.N-Y.USA
Dear Mrs.Catt,

I am writing you to day on behalf of the International
Archives of the Women's Movement.

You will remember that when I was with you in January,I told
you of a collection of american documents which we were intending
to buy for our Amsterdam Archives.

However it is not yet quite settled if we shall really buy
this collection as we do not know if these documents indeed
represent the value asked for. I am enclosing a list of the
documents offered to us and would like you very much to look
it through and if possible find out if these documents are
authentic and if you advise us to buy them for the sum of $750.-

Perhaps you see your way to come into contact with the seller,
Leon KRAMER, 19 West 8th Street New-York; may be he can meet
you at the office of perhaps Mr.Kramer can come and see you 
at New-Rochelle.

Could you send us a cable advising us either to buy the
collection or to leave our hands off. When cabling,you can
send the cablegram to my home address: ROMANUS AMSTERDAM.

On receipt of your cable,I will then cable back to the man at
once whether we buy or no.

I know my dear friend that it is impossible for you to go
after it but if Mr.Kramer can come to you,you can judge anyhow
and if you look through the list you can surely give us
your most valuable advice.

The documents offered and put  down on the enclosed list,are
ORIGINALS, not copies.

Thanking you very much for the trouble you are going to take
on our behalf,
Yours sincerely
Rosa Manus
President

Extra Copy

April 11, 1939.

Miss Rosa Manus,
Jacob Obrechtstraat 67,
Amsterdam-Zuid, Holland.

Dear Rosa Manus:

I am not replying to your letter on behalf of the 
International Archives as promptly as you requested nor am I
answering by cable as I feel I cannot tell you by that process
as much as you should know.

If you are intending to get as much material as is
possible concerning the woman question and if you have plenty
of money, you may find this list worthwhile.

There are quite a number of titles in it which come
from Great Britain and I will leave those out of consideration.

Titles from the United States, almost exclusively,
bear upon the question of Woman's Rights and Woman Suffrage.
A very large number of them are mere pamphlets of propaganda
from the Anti-Suffrage Associations.  There were two or three
separate associations for a time, but these were united later
into one national association.  Their work consisted largely
in the circulation of literature, which was filled with the
usual arguments against the enfranchisement of women that all
countries put forth.  They may be useful for future students
of the opposing side of the question.  I have not counted how
many leaflets have been taken from this free distribution of
literature by the Anti-Suffragists, but I note that a very
large proportion of the numbers are familiar leaflets once
commonly circulated here and for which the collector has paid
nothing, I should judge.

There are a few items which are valuable because 
they are no longer available and belong to an earlier period.
I have marked those.  On the other hand, there are a good many
pamphlets and leaflets that once were circulated on behalf of 
woman suffrage, but they are not so numerous in this collection
as are the anti-suffrage leaflets.  Apparently, this man gathered
these leaflets, which were freely given him, from the headquarters.

There is something else to be said.   In about 1880,
Miss Anthony had some money left to her by a wealthy woman and
she employed Mrs. Stanton and Mrs. Gage to write the History of
Woman Suffrage.  They wrote it and it was published in three
volumes which were distributed in the early 80's.  These are very
valuable and are no longer obtainable, but the International
Archives has a set of them from Dr. Jacob's library.

-2-

In 1900, Miss Anthony raised some money and employed
Mrs. Ida Husted Harper to write Volume IV of the History of Woman
Suffrage.  At the same time, she wrote Miss Anthony's biography
in three volumes.  These, you also have.

Miss Anthony was always a careful saver of important
papers and she had a good many of them.  In the early days, there
was no headquarters and when the time passed for the papers to be
of value, she packed them into trunks and she had many trunks full
of these papers.  Mrs. Harper examined and took from them all facts
of interest.  As Miss Anthony wrote letters to senators and representatives 
and other prominent men, soliciting their interest in
woman suffrage, she received acknowledgements from very many outstanding
persons, but often there was little in these letters except
the mere acknowledgement; nevertheless, she had kept those papers.
She also had some books and many pamphlets of the early days that
were interesting and valuable.  From these, Mrs. Harper gleaned
facts of interest to the movement.  When she was finished with the
work, she asked Miss Anthony what she should do with the letters
and papers that had been preserved.  Miss Anthony told her that as
the history had been written, she had no further use for them and
if Mrs. Harper could find any use for them, she might take them.
Mrs. Harper had the idea that these might be saleable and so letters,
which were of no value whatever except that they contained the
signatures of senators or other persons of importance, were put
into files and she attempted to sell them.

At one time, a man came to see me with a few letters from
Miss Anthony and a few from important men and he wanted to sell them
to me.  Probably, it was the same man who owns this collection.  I 
looked over these letters and I told him I had trunks full of the
same kind and that they were of no value whatever to anybody; all
that had been important had been published and those that had not
been important were of no value.

Those letters that Mrs. Harper tried to dispose of
may have found buyers here and there, but I should say they were
of no importance at all.

In this long list, those that I have marked are old
publications.  For instance, the papers and books by Mrs. Dall and
Margaret Fuller Ossoli are valuable because they cannot be bought
now except through such collections and I think they would be
valuable for you to possess.  On the other hand, there are a good
many books and pamphlets which I am sure you must have in the
library of Dr. Jacobs.

Toward the end of the campaign, Mrs. Harper was engaged
to write the last volumes of the History of Woman Suffrage.  We
paid her for this work.  She was at liberty to go through our
files and had access to our correspondence, telegrams, etc. These
ought not to have been removed from the files, but that wonderful
collection of my papers which that man has are quite clearly those
which Mrs. Harper took from our files in the headquarters.  However,
they are not useful now.  Perhaps they contain some information
which a student might find interesting, but I doubt if there is a
single thing in any of them which is really valuable.


-3-

I am giving you this information somewhat fully in
order to report that, in my judgement, the price of this collection,
$750.00, is enormous and utterly out of proportion to the value
of the list.  I should say that some things would be worth having,
but first you should remove from the list those things which you
already have in Dr. Jacob's collection.  You should then next
judge the value to you of the things that have been obtained from
England.  By no means is there in this list anything like a complete
account of the English campaign.  However, this man would 
probably not take out of his collection the books which really are
of value until he is quite certain that he cannot dispose of his
entire collection for these few old publications are the ones
which give some value to the whole collection.

I would, therefore, after having reduced the list by the
subtraction of those books you have already received from other
sources and the English books, make an offer for the American publications.
I should say he would be getting a very good price if 
he received $100.00 for them instead of $750.00.

I am returning the list which seems to be an original
and which may be one you have received from him.  Perhaps it is 
your own copy.

I might give you more valuable advice were I to actually
go and see this collection and if you wish me to do so before making
your bid, I will go.  I could do it some time.

You need not feel in a great hurry, I think, for this
collection will not be easily sold.  I think he will not be content
with a smaller bid, but if you stand out for it, I think you may be
able to bring him to those terms.

I hope I have made all matters clear, but if I have not,
put your questions to me again, and I will try to answer promptly.

Very cordially yours,



CCC:HW.

April 11, 1939.
Dear Rosa:

I had learned about that sore finger of yours from
two sources before I heard about it from you.  I am tremendously
sorry that it happened for the streptococcus is a very "bad bug"
and you must be very careful and very thorough with it.  Some
times, if it is neglected, it gets into what is called "the blood
stream" and makes sad trouble.   I wonder how you got it.   I
think it would have been better for you to have stayed home with
your nurse than to have gone abroad with her.   Apparently, you
have gone to Paris and also to Brussels.

I am anxious to know what the Board did about Madam
Plaminkova.  I do not know that it could successfully do anything.
Our papers said that she had been arrested.  That was to be
expected.  No mention of her has been made since nor has any other
individual been mentioned, but we all suspect that they are in
prison or in concentration camps.   I suppose that none of you 
could have much influence over the situation, but I do hope that
somewhere, somehow, somebody can make a helpful protest.

A great Church organization in this country tried to
invite Niemoeller to come here for lectures, but they did not
succeed in getting him out of jail.  If I were Hitler, I would 
not let any of them get away either for they might tell the
truth and he would not want that to be known.

We would invite Madam Plaminkova to come here for
lectures if we could communicate with her.  I do not think she
speaks much English which would be a drawback.

Anna was out one day last week and we had a talk over
the situation, but, of course, you know all that she could tell
me.

I am very glad that you have some young women to join
the Alliance at Copenhagen.  I hope the Alliance will not disband.
Apparently, no one is going from the United States.  Our women
are occupied with programs of their own and money is becoming
more and more scarce.  Refugees, all the world around, are in
need of food and shelter, medicine and care, and those who can
give are helping in that direction.  It is reported to us that
forty millions of people in China are absolutely homeless and
many of them are suffering with maleria.

-2-

I understand that you are still living in your old home
and have not yet made up your mind what you had better do.  I
think you are quite right to go slowly until your meetings are
over and you can settle down and know what would be best for you
to do.

I am answering your letter about the books and pamphlets
on another page, so that you can hand it in to the Archives if
you so wish.

I certainly hope you will soon be entirely better.

Very lovingly yours,


CCC:HW.


May 23, 1939.
Dear Rosa:

I am going into a hospital tomorrow in order to have
an observation.  I have had continual headaches for some time
and I want to find out what causes them.  I shall be home by
Saturday.

Josephine was here Sunday and we were united in our
opinion that it is a pity no one is going to Copenhagen from
the United States.  The truth of the matter is that in other
times shiploads of people were always starting out for Europe
in the month of May and hundreds, even thousands, went to
Europe for a vacation or perhaps to fulfill the dream of a 
lifetime to have a trip in Europe.   This year this is not
true.

Mr. & Mrs. Raymond Brown are planning to sail on
the Noorndam on May 27th.  I do not know when they will arrive
in Rotterdam, but she is going to try to see you, just to
express her friendship.  Perhaps you will not be at home.
Mr. & Mrs. Brown could not make up their minds whether or not
to go until just now.

Yesterday I had a call from and old suffrage friend,
the son of a former Alliance member and whose name I will not
give you because I am going to tell you a secret.  He is to
sail for his home today and he is going because he fears that
in the month of June war will break out.  He has some reason
which I do not know for thinking this and he wants to be in his
own country to help if the worst comes.

All of this has had its influence upon women going
over to that convention in Copenhagen, but there is another
reason, and that is, the women who otherwise would be interested
have suddenly got the idea that the Alliance is a European
organization with European ideas concerning the future and those
ideas do not agree with those of this country.  I do not think
this condition ever happened before and it may only influence 
this particular conference.

When I get back from my hospital experience I am having
my first young relatives arrive for the World's Fair and they
will be followed by other relatives.  When they have gone and
before others come, I will send you a long letter, telling you
how things are.  In the meantime, if I seem silent for too long 
a time, you will know that all is well.

-2-

I hope you will have an enjoyable time at the convention
in Copenhagen, that your health will improve and that the infection
in the finger will disappear.  You will find that your
life will settle down as time goes on and you will know what to
do.

Our dear Felix does not get his license yet and, as you
know, Anna is having her teeth our.  Altogether, I they they are
not particularly happy as things are now, but they will improve.

Mary Peck is at the New Rochelle hospital at this moment.
She has had an operation for appendicitis and came through it
very well indeed.  I accuse her of enjoying the rest at the
hospital.  She has no pain and in another week she will be out
of the hospital.

Alda and Henrietta are here at this moment and join me
in sending love to you.

Very lovingly,

CCC:HW.

Miss Rosa Manus,
Jacob Obrechtstraat 67,
Amsterdam-Zuid, Holland.


May 29, 1939.
Dear Rosa:

I had a little letter from Mrs. Bompas and, among
other things, she answered some questions I had asked.  One
of them was whether Mrs. Ashby had withdrawn her withdrawal
and was going to stand for the presidency again.  She said
she had not withdrawn it and would stand again, but she said you
had not withdrawn your withdrawal and was very sorry for that.

Last week I went to the Hospital for four days.  I 
had been having perpetual headaches for some months and had
received no relief from anything anybody could do here, so I
went to have an examination in a hospital where the cause of
the trouble could be found.  I do not yet know how much benefit
I received, but I came home feeling somewhat better than when I 
went away and have not had a hard headache in the two days I
have now been at home.  I am very glad I went, whether it helps
me or not, because I learned a good deal.

When I returned, I found a letter from Felix, saying he
was going to get his license now and, of course, that had given
him much relief of mind.  Anna has been having her teeth extracted.
I think things are looking up a little for them now.

To return to Mrs, Bompas, her letter came just before
I went to the hospital and I tried to get a letter off to you
then to tell you what I am now going to say.   There were so
many other things to be done, that I did not get it dictated
last week.

What I want to say is this.  I feel, now that you do
not have the care of your mother and are free from many responsibilities,
even though new ones may have been added, that it
would prove of benefit to you if you had a continuation of the
work you have enjoyed and which was important to have done.
When Mrs. Ashby withdrew and you followed her example, I thought
it was a good idea for any person who has held an elective
office for some time to withdraw in order that the convention
might feel entirely free to elect some one else if it so desires;
however, now that Mrs. Ashby has withdrawn her withdrawal and
will undoubtedly be re-elected at the convention, I hope that if
she wants you to return to your office, you will surrender
meekly and thus be re-elected.  Of course, having withdrawn, you
cannot, without being urged, withdraw your withdrawal.

I feel sure that there is going to be a great necessity
for the Alliance in the future and it may be a different kind
of direction that it must follow in the future,  I am sure there
are few women who can afford to give their service to any organization
with so small an income as the Alliance must have for 
awhile.

-2-

I think it would do you good to remain with it and so 
you will limber up your feeling about it and I shall be glad to
hear you have been re-elected.

I think, perhaps, you are feeling too sensitive about
all the things that are happening to the Jews.  I have read in
the newspapers that Holland, as a nation, is feeling less worried
over its prospects than was true a little while ago.  Long ago,
Dr. Jacobs used to tell me how Holland thought that a time would
come when Germany would seize Holland, not for its own sake but
for its colonies.  This, of course, was before the war.  For a
little time after the war, Holland felt relieved, but since these
later capers of Hitler, the government began to worry again.  You
will know better than I whether it is relieved now of that feeling,
as our newspapers think, or if it is not.   When the government
was worried, it was natural that you should be even more worried
because of leaving the country.  You might go to live anywhere in
 the world and still be a member of the Alliance.

I do not think there are any members of the Alliance who
would be glad that you had left the Alliance Board because you
are a Jewess.  I think for your own sake, for the sake of your
race, for the sake of the cause of equality and righteousness,
you should stay there.  I did not think so when Mrs. Ashby was
going out too, but now I do.

My dear Rosa, it is a great battle that the whole world
is fighting and all those who are on the right side must stand
together until Germany and Italy, Spain and Japan, get back their
senses.

On Sunday, we brought Mary Peck from the hospital to her
home.  She will remain at home with a practical nurse for a short
time, but on Wednesday of this week we will take her to the home
of her cousin, a doctor, who lives in Plainfield, New Jersey.  He
is going to take charge of her for a couple of weeks.

Blessings on you, dear Rosa.

Lovingly,

CCC:HW.

ROSA MANUS
JACOB OBRECHTSTRAAT 67
AMSTERDAM-Z.

Telefoon 91537
Tel.-adres: ROMANAUS AMSTERDAM  June 8th 1939.
Zandvoort.

Dear Mother Carrie,

Here I have two letters from you before me, the one
written just before you went to the Hospital and the other one when
you had returned.

I am glad you yourself are satisfied to have gone there and that at
least for those few days your head seemed better. As you say you have
learned some thing and that will prove useful. One is never too old to 
learn something.

And now about your motherly advice about me withdrawing
my withdrawal. Up tp now I have been quite sure that I would not stand
for re-election and your letter all at once makes me doubtful!
You write saying that I am more free at this moment than I have ever
been in my whole life. I have no real responsibilities to anybody.I
am free and will be able to dispose more of my time than I have ever
been able before.
These last months I have been ill and in very low spirits. I have been
at the seaside for three weeks and I may say I am regaining strength
although I am not the old Rosa yet but since your letter came, I feel
a pushing power behind the screen. I can hear you saying: "Rosa,buck
up.Don't give way"!. You are right, Mother Carrie, there may be something
that I can still give and help build up in this disastreuous world. I
may find that I have more energy left than I know myself yet and the
idea of the Alliance going out and [Ellis] Alice Paul picking up the members,
makes my hair stand. This may not happen and I shall fight for it.
I have just hear that [Ellis] Alice Paul has taken a big house in Geneva to be
the centre of the International Women's Movement and she has succeeded
of getting on it one of our best swedish women,the President of the
Auxiliary in Sweden,Dr.Hannah Ryddh.

The Dutch Delegation to Copenhagen consists of a group of young,
intelligent women with whom I am in constant contact,who are the right
kind of women to help the Alliance to live. So it may be that although
we shall have a small Congress,something real may turn out of it yet.

My Doctor has not permitted me to go to Copenhagen just now and do the
organising od the congress. My friend Miss Meyers is going to help
Mrs.Ashby instead of me and I will go to Copenhagen the 1st of July
and remain until July 15th.
I have written to Mrs.Ashby and sent her a copy of your letter to me.
I am a fatalist as you know and I will not take a decision just now
but leave things to come as they ought to.
I am of opinion that younger women must take the lead now and they
must not be hampered by the old ones. The younger ones have different
methods to get at their goal and I must say in Holland they have
succeeded. I am ready to stand behind them and help them.

Perhaps you will think my answer is not quite satisfactory to you,but
I assure you,Mother Carrie,that if in Copenhagen I see that they
really want me, I will not be obstinate.
I have these last months many letters from the Board Members



ROSA MANUS
JACOB OBRECHSTRAAT 67
AMSTERDAM-Z

Telefoon 91537
Tel.-adres: ROMANUS AMSTERDAM  Cont.1.  Mrs.Catt
8.6.1939.

pleading that I should stay. I have not answered one of them - have I
been wrong?

I am beginning a new period in my life:  will it be one of the old
maid sitting and knitting or will it be a fighting Rosa who still
believes in the cause of equality and righteousness?
Certainly there is a tendency in the world and especially in 
Holland,to be more hopeful about the international conditions
but one can never tell what ideas Hitler has up his sleeve yet.

We were so glad to get Felix' announcement that at
last he can practice in the United States and I hope some of the
american citizens will becide to have hem as a docyor when they
are really ill. He is a good doctor and knows to make a good
diagnoses. He has surely shown a great deal of energy.

My address in Copenhagen will be: Hotel Cecil. So do send me an
encouraging note there and please send us a message to be read to
the Congress.

Thanks,Mother Carrie, for your encouragement which I needed just
now so very,very much and it shows me that you still have belief
in your stepdaughter and love for her.

I have been together with the Browns's
they ask me to motor through Holland
with them but I felt too tired.  They
Came to lunch - and I prepared
a good tour through Holland for them.
My friend Miss Meyers who came to see you
last year is motoring with them.
Love and lots of it to you and Alda
do hope you feel better
your Rosa

June 20, 1939.

Dear Rosa:
I have just received your letter
dated June 8th.

I am very glad you have written
as you did. You are quite right. You
cannot withdraw your withdrawal now, but
if they tease you a bit, you may yield
and I believe you will be happier if you
do.

You did not tell me how your
finger is getting on. I am sure it will
get better in time.

Do be a fighting Rosa. The world
is going to need fighters, because most
people are terribly confused and bewildered
over the present situation.

I did not learn that Felix
actually received his license, but I did
know he had the promise of it. I hope
they may have some plans for their future.

I planned to write you a longer
letter, but people are calling and if I
do not send the letter today, you will be
without one for awhile as I am rushed with
work just now. I have three broadcasts to
prepare inaddition to other work.

I do hope you will soon be entirely
better and a real fighting Rosa again.

Very lovingly,

ROSA MANUS
JACOB OBRECHTSTRAAT 67
AMSTERDAM-Z.
 Telefoon 91537
Tel.-adres: ROMANUS AMSTERDAM  July 31st 1939.

Dear Mother Carrie,

I am ashamed of myself that I have not had the energy
to write to you since my return from Copenhagen. There is really no
excuse,but the Congress really this time overwhelmed me a bit and I 
could not come to my senses and get my thoughts in order so as to
write to you about my impression.

This Congress in Copenhagen has surely been one of the most difficult
and one with the most ups and downs I have ever been through. It was
a real reflection of the world situation of the present moment.
The day I left by airplane to Copenhagen,some of my man-friends at
the aerodrome said to me:"how dare you go to Copenhagen on a day
when the world situation is so earnest;you will have to return no
sooner than you have arrived",but as I had made up my mind and Mrs.
Ashby was waiting for me at the other end I decided to go and I am
glad I went.
As usually is the case it was found that the Danish Auxiliary had
not executed what we had planned with them and the final arrangements
as always had to be done by ourselves. Mrs.Ashby who had been there
for more than a week did what she could but she had to go to Sweden
to a big Meeting organised for her there, so that real final
arrangements were still left for me and I was glad to take hold of them.
Instead of hundreds and hundreds of delegates and many more hundreds
of visitors like we used to have in former days,there came about
250 Delegates and visitors altogether,except of course a large number
of Danish Visitors attending the Congress.
It ment however that on the whole we had women who really ment to
do earnest work and who were interested in it which made things in 
one way more efficient and easy. Also we only had English and French
for our Congress and translations in German were not needed.
Mrs. Ashby herself was terribly nervous and exhausted and I am sorry
to say (but this I only tell you in secret) she was not a good
presiding officer at all which was much felt in the Congress. On other
congresses I always sat next to her and helped her watching speakers,
handing in the names to her and keep her going a little, but in
Copenhagen the platform was divided in two and inbetween was the 
speaker's desk. Mlle Gourd sat next to Mrs. Ashby but she was so busy with her own duties that she could not assist her really.
Some of the sessions were presided over by Mme Malaterre and these 
were a great success so that even the three British Societies of
each of which Delegates were present, said to me: "why do you always
keep Mrs. Ashby as your President. Malaterre is much better" and I
must confess that Malaterre kept them much more in order. It is a 
pity however that Malaterre does not speak enough English to preside
in English at times. She understands it however and is indeed making
progress in her English. When it came to the voting it was surely
Malaterre who got the most votes so I think next time there will
not be any difficulty in letting her pass as President.


Cont.l. Mrs. Catt. 31.7.1939.
The Declaration which was put to the Congress was very
much discussed and debated and some of the Delegations amongst whom
were the three British ones, did not want to vote for it and when the
Declaration was finally put to vote it was only with a slight
majority that it was accepted. My Dutch Delegation also voted against
it. They had prepared another one which might have been more to the
point. I myself was not much in favour of this Declaration and do
not think it means much as it is much too weak. I am enclosing a copy
for you just to see and give your opinion to me about it.
In due time you will get the resolutions voted I suppose; they will
appear in "Jus". If I have enough copies, I will send you one of each.
Lady Astor was especially invited by the Danish Members to come. She
was tremendously applauded and was a great attraction the few days
she was there.
There was a special Meeting organized by the Danish Members of
Parliament and Members of the Town Council for all the women
Members of Parliament in other countries, ex-Members of Parliament
and Members of Town Councils. They seem to have had a very good and
interesting meeting and a special Committee was set up which will
be one of the Alliance Committees now to keep the international
contacts with these women who will then meet in different places.
I think they want Szelagowska XXXXXXXXXX of Poland to preside over
the next meeting; she certainly is a most prominent woman who is
a Member of Parliament since many years and is sitting in four
official commissions of her parliament, also the budgetary one. 
They seem to think that those women who are really on duty ought to
have more contact with the feminists and their wishes.
At the Board Meeting where about 17 of the 20 Members were present, a
terrible incident happened. Mme Charaoui Pacha came to present a
resolution to the Board which she wanted the Board to accept and put
to the Congress in which it was asked that we should take a vote
that from now on Palestine would not let in anymore Jews. She said
that the Arab population was too badly treated by them, that it was
the country of the Arabs and that we ought to protest against more
Jews going to Palestine.
You can well imagine that the Board Members did not want to go in
for any discussion about it as it was not within the scope of the
work of the Alliance but meant mere politics.
A special session was then called in the evening on which Charaoui
got hotter and hotter. She said it was all very well the Alliance
having in XXX it's Constitution that it was all for all races and
creeds and why then could not they accept her resolution.
Poor Charaoui was so beseated with that one idea that nobody could
bring her to reason; she was like a tiger and finally in rage left
the room. This was a very nasty incident and happened on Friday
evening when on Saturday would be the official opening.
It was then decided that on Saturday morning Mrs. Ashby and Mme
Malaterre would go together and see her and beg her to come to
the opening session as it would have been a very bad thing if she
would not have been there when it was all planned for her to
speak at the Opening Meeting. I for myself must confess that I 
thought it was a weakening point to beg her to return as this was a 
matter of principle and there was quite a few of the Board Members
who had no patience with her standpoint but still it may have been

Cont. 2. Mrs. Catt 31.7.1939

better for the Congress at this moment not to have a fuss of this
kind right in the beginning.

So after two hours talk they left Charaoui who said she would consider
to come at the Opening Session.
 
As you know we have since many years the organisation of the Jewish
Women of Palestine affiliated to the Alliance and three of them had
come to the Congress, fine, intelligent women.
The Arab Society of Palestine with whom we had been in contact before
the Instambul Congress does not belong anymore to the Alliance and
therefore it is their own fault that the Arab Women are not officially
represented. We could not make Charaoui see this point and she said
that Palestine was not really represented as there were only Jewish
woman.

Well, finally Mme Charaoui came to the Opening Session. She entered
like a queen as she always does and she was treated with great honour
but incidentally she did not salute some of her Board Members.
On Sunday morning was the opening of the Congress at 9.30 but the
Egyptian Delegation came at about 11 o'clock,however they came ! They
sat through some of the sessions of the Congress but it was quite
clear that in reality they were not much interested and were only
concentrated upon their own hobby.

When it came to the election and it was asked if Mme Charaoui would
stand she said that she would not stand. Again private discussions
took place and then a special Meeting of the Board Members without
Charaoui.
She was of course all the time talking against the Jews. We then
learned that Charaoui said she would stand again if the Board
unanimously wished her to. I then for the first time spoke in this
matter as I did not think it was wise for me as a Jewess to have 
mixed myself into it but then I spoke up and said that ever since
Mme Charaoui had come she had not spoken to me, that all those years
before she had thought me her best friend on the Board, that she had
invited me to come to Cairo, that she had discussed all the special
matters of the Alliance over with me, that on the whole she had
been rather not too friendly with Mrs. Ashby on account of the political
situation with the Mandates etc., so I said to the Board that if they
would unanimously decide to beg Mme Charaoui to stand for re-election
that I wanted to know if Mme Charaoui was against me as a Jewess and
that if the Board wanted her to stand I wanted to know before
Mme Charoui's opinion.
The re-election of my Board Members was quite funny as some of them
seemed never to have known that I was a Jewess and Malaterre pretended
that it was out of the question that Charaoui had anything against
me for that reason. So there we had the jewish question right in
our midst which really ought not to have been mentioned at all.
Malaterre went to see Charaoui again and we learned that she was as
fond of me as ever, that she had put me forward on her voting paper,
that the Jewish question was not the matter but only the Palestine-Jewish
question, so on the election paper Charaoui appeared. Naturally
she did not get as many votes as she would have liked as she had
propagated before that she would not stand.

You can well imagine my feelings those days as I had just after much
pressure from your side tried to overcome my standpoint and after

Cont. 3. Mrs. Catt. 31.7.1939
my Board Members had each of them made a speech to me at the Board
Meeting to beg me to re-consider and stand for election, I had
indeed given in but at that moment you can understand what I felt 
like.

Well the elections went off fairly well and a great number of
countries put me forward as usual and after Malaterre and Plaminkova
I had the most votes.
Funnily enough Mme Charaoui had said that the only member of the
Board she could not stand was Mlle Gourd because 15 years ago she
had said something she did not like. That was quite an amusing
incident and it shows that the mentality of the Moslem woman is
rather different to ours.

Well then it came to the last day when resolutions were put forward
by the Resolution Committee and although the Egyptians had put their
resolution in quite a different form, they still put it into the
Congress which as you can imagaine was a dreadful thing in which
for the first time they stirred the Palestine women. To my mind it
was wrong to have any discussions on it at all as it was really not
within the scope of the Alliance and ought to have been ruled out,
but Mrs. Ashby let it for discussion and even let Charaoui or her
Delegates talk two to three times. The Palestine women got so
heated up that it was really terrible. One of the Indian Women [said]
got up and said this was out of order and that the Indian women
did not talk about their Indian politics and that it was wrong to
do so. Finally the egyptian resolution was put to the vote and
was of course voted down with a great majority, so then the three
egyptian Delegates walked out.
It was a dreadful thing to happen and I think it could have been
avoided if we had been strict in the beginning.
Funnily enough we first got a letter of resignation from Mme Charaoui
and then she wrote again saying she had to re-consider and talk with
her Auxiliary at home. Well honestly, we ought to have a firm president
although I agree that for Mrs. Ashby as a british woman it was a
very delicate matter, but if politics get into our Alliance, we better
stop. What do you say?

A good feature of the Copenhagen Congress was that there was a great
number of younger women under thirty interested in the work and
anxious to carry the work on. They had an interesting meeting of
the Youth Council where young men and young women came in great
numbers. This was most peculiar because it was holiday time and
they feared that everyone was away. There were quite capable young
women from England and many Delegations had brought young women with
them. It was quite interesting to hear their speeches and their
discussions, also Miss Betty Shield Collins who was one of the head
persons of the Youth Congress at Waser College last year.
They intend carrying the work in a special Youth Council [with] but
nobody over 30 years is allowed there so I am afraid you and I are
nomore accepted!

Cont.4. Mrs. Catt.

As I have mentioned already in the beginning I stood again for
re-election and more than 15 countries put me forward and I was
re-elected with almost the highest amount of votes and now I am
in again for three years. I hope you received my cable telling
you I have been re-elected.

We have eight new Board Members now amongst whom some very valuable
ones. An outstanding woman from Sweden, Dr. Hanna Rydh, who was in 
the U.S. A. last year; she is an archeologist. Then a charming,
capable woman, Kunwa Rani Lady Maharay Singh from British India,
further a young french woman who is at the head of a wood manufactury
in Marseilles, as well as a young french lawyer from Maria Verona's 
Society and then a young Danish girl who had been sent last year
to the Youth Congress and who did a great deal for our Congress this
time. Then the president of Denmark, Mrs. Edel Saunte, a young lawyer
and president of our auxiliary came in and instead of our polish
member of parliament Mrs. Szelagowska who has no more time, we have
a capable polish woman, Mrs. Siemienska.
Bertha Lutz has not been re-elected. It is always difficult to get
people elected if not at the Congress and as she has not been at the
Istanboul Congress either, the people who come now, do not even know
her. I think poor Bertha will be very disappointed.
Instead Mrs. Rocha from Brasil was elected. She is an official
at the Ambassy of Brasil in Paris, a nice intelligent young woman
who since a few years is a Delegate to the Assembly and the Labour
Office for Brasil and she can come to the Board Meetings which of
course, is a great help.

It was indeed a great loss to the Congress that we had no American
Delegation. This was the very first time such a dreadful thing happened.
Although Mrs. Potter was made american delegate and Miss Dingman,
to us insiders, it did not mean the same at all. Mrs. Potter has been
for so many years at Geneva so that although she keeps in touch with
the League of Women Voters she is no longer to my mind, a real
delegate of that body and Miss Dingman has never been really in touch
with them, so although Mrs. Potter was put forward b some countries,
there was no chance og getting her elected. We have discussed it
with our new Board Members and everybody thought it was dreadful not
to have the United States represented. You will understand how badly 
I feel about it personally but I think Josephine never had the real
interest in the Alliance.
I wonder what could be done about it and if it would help if two
good Alliance Members would make a tour in different places for the
Members of the League of Women Woters. Do give us your advise!!.

I am going to spend a week or ten days with my sister at Miss Sterling's
from August 8th and I shall be home again for my birthday when my young
nieces and nephews will be with me that day, August 20th. In September
I shall go to Geneva.
My house is not rented yet so I think I will have to keep it on for
another year. I have a friend staying with me now.
     Now I leave you again for the moment and send you my love
and heaps of it.
     I am sorry this letter seems such
a long one but I know you like to hear. There is much
more to tell but I shall leave that till next
time. Much live from old fighting Rosa
     love to Alda.

August 4, 1939.

Dear Rosa:

You have not heard from me for some time. Henrietta
has been absent on a vacation, so she was not here to write
for me. While she was gone, however, I attempted to go over 
old papers and thin out the masses of papers stowed away in
the attic. I worked as hard as I could every day Henrietta
was gone and, consequently, you have not heard from me.

I had a letter from Mrs. Brown who was glad to have
seen you in Amsterdam. She said you were not well, although
you were going to the congress.

There are several things I am very anxious to know about
that congress when you have time to write me.

First, let me congratulate you upon your re-election.
I felt sure that would take place. I think it is much better
for you to have something of that kind to occupy your mind
for otherwise, you could easily get quite disturbed and upset
over the present state of things.

1. I want a report on your health and especially about the
infection.
2. Was Madam Plaminkova at the Congress or any other Czech
women? If Madam Plaminkova was there, do tell me what you
can about her and what she said. I think she would have
to be very careful. I would like to write her, but do not
dare to do so lest I do her more harm than good.
3. Did you have any German, Austrian, Hungarian, Italian, or
Spanish women there?
4. Was anything said in the discussions as to how the Alliance
was to go on or was it advised at all that it should come
to an end?
5. Is there in Holland a camp or camps where refugees are kept
temporarily until they can go to a permanent place? You will
remember that you told me about the many inquiries you had
for help and about Mrs. Urban of Vienna who asked you to
bring her case to my attention. Well, she applied to a 
good many people, asking them to bring her case to me and
I got it from Bertha Lutz of South America also. I have
been corresponding with Mrs. Urban ever since. Meanwhile,
things have come forward. Her one and only son got an
affidavit signed by somebody here. He arrived in this
country and secured a position. He is some kind of a high 
grade printer, -  perhaps a lithographer. He does not know
English very well. Henrietta has seen him for me. They are

-2-
Catholics and there is a Catholic Committee here which looks
after the Catholic refugees. They are not so well endowed
nor quite so efficient as the Jewish Committees who are more
intelligent and far richer. Mrs. Urban writes me that they
have been living where they have lived for twenty-five years.
I do not at all know whether the house is theirs or if they
have rented it all these years. Now they have been told that
they must leave. They have been renting a part of their
house, or apartment, whichever it is, and living on the proceeds.
Now they do not think they can rent another place nor would
their means allow it. She is terrified over their situation.
The husband was born in the land which was recently known as
Czechoslovakia. When the Jews were attacked in Austria, the
Urban family at once put in an application to go to Czechoslovakia,
but before they got there, that land had fallen, so
by the time they put in an application to come to America, they
were far down the list on our quota. Now they want a preference
visa which I find is very difficult to get. I should think that 
if a family like that could get out of Austria, they would be at
least somewhat relieved.
I am just asking you what the situation is in Holland;
if there are such camps there, how long they may stay in them,
and who pays for their keep. At some time, I read in the
papers that there were such camps in Holland and that they
have also established them in Great Britain. I shall write
Mrs. Bompas about that. Any information you can give me along 
this line, would be gratefully received.
This is the end of the questions.
A few days ago, Felix and Anna took dinner with us.
Anna is not pleased with her new teeth and cannot eat with
comfort. She spoke well enough. Felix has an office in which
to practice; they have an apartment in which to live; a car in
which to drive around, you would you think that all is well.
I suspect that he has not yet had a single patient and I never
saw Felix so depressed as he seemed that night he called. Of 
course I do not know him well enough to know whether he was 
unwell or if something had troubled him about which I did not
know. I am mentioning this merely to suggest that you write
as cheerfully as you can and try to lift him up. Do tell him
he must not be surprised if it takes him a long while to get
his first patient. Under no circumstances, mention that I
said he was depressed. He thinks Anna will be lonesome in the
new apartment, as the place they have selected to live is far
away from the office. I think he will get lonesome in the
office with no one to treat. It has been hard for them all
the way along and yet not nearly so bad as compared with many
other people.
I told you that I had been looking over old papers.
When we went to South America, I told Mollie that I would
write to her regularly and tell her some of the things we
were seeing and doing and that she was to keep my letters,
so that if I had forgotten anything, I could recall them by 
reading the letters over at some future time. I have just
been reading those letter and I was very full of praise of
you upon many occasions. One thing brought to my mind was

-3-
the time I hurt my heel in going through an iron gate which
fell before I could get through. It had cut into the soft
flesh and there was some bleeding when I took my stocking off.
You flew away and came back with a "first aid to the injured"
and had everything at hand, cotton, disinfectant, bandages,
etc. You certainly would have been a good doctor or nurse
You will remember that Mrs. van (I cannot think of her
name at this moment) told everybody that she had nothing to
do with suffragists here and did not believe in it. When we
returned, she tried hard enough to make connections with me,
but I would never accept invitations or meet her anywhere,
although occasionally I would see her at some meeting. Now
she is dead. Miss Cameron, as you know, died of tuberculosis.
She was a nice girl, but had great difficulties. Well, that
is far back.
No definite plans have yet been made for next winter.
I am now feeling much better than I have felt for some time
and if I continue getting better, I shall take a trip to the
moon.
Very lovingly yours,
CCC:HW.

August 7, 1939.

Dear Rosa:
     I have given a letter of introduction to you
to Mrs. Josefa of the Philippines. She speaks English
perfectly and is a remarkable young matron. You will
find her a charming and highly intelligent woman. She
is traveling with her husband who is a correspondent
and they expect to visit Holland. However, they have
only about a month for their visit to Europe and they
expect to visit half the countries; consequently, Mrs.
Estroda may not have time to present her letter of introduction
to you. If you do not hear from her, very well,
but if you do, I hope you will take a little trouble to
see her.
     I have asked her to see the Women's Archives
and have told her a little about them. Some one might
go with her to the Archives, but if you would superintend
the advice she gets, it would be well.
     I think you will enjoy meeting her. I enjoyed
her myself very much.
     She brought me from the Philippine ladies a
lovely table set of native weaving that is beautiful.

Lovingly,

Miss Rosa Manus,
Jacob Obrechtstreet 67, 
Amsterdam, Holland.

CCC:HW.

August 22, 1939.

Dear Rosa:
     I received your nice long letter, telling me about 
the conference in Copenhagen. I was very glad to get it.
My letter to you, asking some questions, must have passed it
on the way.
     I am not surprised at the behavior of the Egyptian
delegation for they think they have the right on their side.
they have already written us, begging us to side with them.
That is the reason why the world has wars. People line up on
opposite sides and each thinks it is right. I am sorry it was
so disagreeable.
     Sunday was your birthday. I ought to have sent you
a present, but I can never think of a suitable thing to give
anybody. I am the worst present giver in all the world. I
am sure I never gave anybody anything she wanted to have and
although I tried to think of something for you, I made an
utter failure of it, so I merely sent you a cablegram of good
wishes. With all the birthdays, weddings, holidays, etc., that
people have, it is difficult for a person, who does not know what
to give, to find suitable gifts.
     We have had the hottest summer for many a year and
it has been very hard to endure. Old age, plus heat, plus dental
work at eighty, is a combination I cannot recommend. I stopped
the dental work until it gets cooler and it has not cooled yet.
     The morning paper says more definitely than at any
time during the last twenty years that there may be war and if
so, it will come in the next week. It has looked like war for
the past twenty years. Hitler is sitting up on his mountain top
and ordering the human race to go out and kill each other. Some
armies should be sent to that mountain top, take it, and put
Hitler on an island the way they did with Napoleon.
     Blessings on you, dear Rosa. I have not the slightest
idea how old you are. You always tell me, but I forget everybody's
age but my own. I had an aunt who died at the age of
ninety-six and when she approached ninety, she used to add a
year every once in awhile and her son and daughter, with whom
she lived, had to keep close watch as to her announcements about
her age. When people are young, they do not want to tell their
ages, when they are old, they are proud of the number of years
and want to make them as many as possible. In the middle ages,
people tell the truth.
     Anna telephoned last night and she said that Felix has
actually got a few patients. I am very glad, because if he just
gets a start, he will feel more satisfied.
     Tell me how you are feeling.  Very lovingly,

ROSA MANUS
JACOB OBRECHTSTRAAT 67
AMSTERDAM - Z.
Telefoon 91537
Tel.-adres: ROMANUS AMSTERDAM  August 22nd 1939

Dear Mother Carrie,
     I have before me your letter of August 4th and another
one of August 7th and since I have had my birthday on August 20th I
have had your most welcome greetings on that day. It was so nice to
know that day you were thinking of me!

It was strange to have that day pass by without my mother being there.
One is so used having her around all the day but still I am satisfied
to know she has had until the last a good time and that last year when
we went together in the country she enjoyed it so much and we spent
my last birthday with her.

The young ones all spent two days with me as it was on a Sunday, so
Eirca came and Carmen and Egon. We were fourteen at midday dinner
and as it was a hot day, I had it served on the terrace and I gave them
a real dutch east-indian meal. How you would have enjoyed it. The real
"Rice-tafel" with the "Kroepoek" etc. It was served in soup-dishes
and they drank beer with it and they all had a good time.

Do you remember the seeds I took away two years ago from your climber
with the blue bells; they all came up of a sudden this time and so I was
surrounded in fact by the American blue bells!

I had a good many nice presents and amongst them was a blue table
cloth with little serviettes, all blue and beautifully embroidered.
I am going to use it to day as I am going to have a friend just now.

In the morning of my birthday at about 10 o'clock I was called at the
telephone by your Mr. Josefa of the Philippines telling me thay had
arrived inAmsterdam the evening before and were leaving for Hambourg
the very same morning at 11.29- -. I begged them to make me a flying 
visit as I thought I did want to see them, so they spent 20 minutes 
with me. Mrs. Josefa certainly is a charming woman and we would have
liked a few days of talk and discussion. I told her as much as I
could about our Archives and she wants to send material for it and
she also wants some of our stuff. What a pity they are in such a
hurry as one really cannot get to understand a new country only in
a few minutes time. Nevertheless I was pleased to see her and hope 
one day to meet her again in the Philippines.

     Now as to your questions:

1.  My health at present is better than it has been for many years.
I look sunburned and well after a ten days stay with my sister at
Miss Sterling's beautiful home. I enjoyed the garden and the rest 
and my sister for the first time after Edgar's death came away and
seemed to enjoy it very much. We were one day in London shopping
and remembered the happy days with you at Liberty's etc. We went to
the tea place where we went with you in Regent Street.

2
The blood test showed that the streptococcen have gone, so there
is no reason why I should have a relapse. My finger itself is
not normal yet but that must take its time.

2. About Plaminkova I have told you in my last letter and I
think I said already what you wanted to [*you*] know.
She really said that the materials used for automobiles,
flying machines, agricultural machinery etc. are all of inferior
quality' things collapse by the road and she thinks that for
war time they simply would be no use. On the other hand people
told me the good materials have been stored away under th
ground and piled up for use during the war.

Plam indeed must be very careful. She came away to Copenhagen
and to a Congress of the University Women at Oslo; she took away
some amount of clothes. I think she had a quantity of new dresses
made for fear she would not be allowed back and would then have
enough clothes to last her for a number of years. I suppose she
left quite a number in Denmark to have them at her disposal when
they should chase her away.
Mrs. Bompas got her news saying she was over the Tsechoslovakian
frontier again, so we think she is safe there now.
She was busy building a little cottage outside Prague where she
intends to go and stay for the rest of her life. If this is an
optimistic idea I do not know.
She was not allowed to take any jewelry out of the country unless
she would put down a big sum of money as a caution and as she
did not think it safe she did not take the jewelry away but
gave everything officially by notary act to her sister who was
still in Prague. Plam is as always, a plucky woman. It was plucky
of her to come and she did not hesitate to speak, of course within
the scope of our programme, and not one word of politics.
Nevertheless one evening in Copenhague one of our Congress people
was rung up from Prague asking to give Plam a message to say she would
better not return as it would be dangerous for her. Plam did not mind
and did go back!
I told Plam when I saw her about the interest you were taking in her
and she was very, very pleased. I begged her to write a lettter to you
from Copengue but she was so terribly busy there that I am afraid
she did not write at all but she asked me to send her wamr love to
you.

3.  No, there were no german, austrian, hungarian, italian nor spanish
women at the Congress.
4.  Has been answered in my last letter, that the Alliance would
go on; not one word was said about dissolving it.
I for myself am not so convinced that we did rightly and that there
is still a reason for the Alliance to go on with so many countries
not attending. One can hardly call it really international nowadays
but on the other hand it is in some way keeping contacts with the
women of the other countries, seeing there were so many present all
the same. (34 countries)


3
5. Yes, we have camps in Holland where refugees are kept
temporarily until they can go to a permanent place.
Now that we cannot really diggest anymore refugees in this
countries, they can only enter Holland now if they have a
definite certificate, a real railroad or steamer ticket for
another country and if their passport is officially marked off
for the country they definitely go to. These refugees with
their permits etc., are allowed to stay here for a short period
until they can continue their ultimate yourney and the Government
has had camps errected where these people are kept; if possible
the families have to pay for their relations thus kept
in camps a fee of about $30- a month to enable them to live
there.
If refugees appear not to have the necessary permits, tickets and
so on, they are sent back at the frontiers.
There are camps of this sort outside Rotterdam, also in the north
of our country; in fact there are several, also near Amsterdam.
Such camps also exist in England. I think England on the whole
is a little easier to take people in than they are in Holland.
As a matter of fact Holland has taken in such enormous quantities
of refugees in proportion to other countries, that it can hardly
diggest anymore and the government must be as strict
as they are now.

We also have a great number of children here; f.i. in Amsterdam
an empty orphelinage has been filled with them; amongst these
children there is a young cousin of 17 from my sister. We are
taking care of that child paying a monthly fee to keep her there.
Unfortunately lately they took in some children who seemed to
have the diphteria-baccil and directly about 24 children were
infected; these were put into quarantaine-hospital and some more
followed. A few weeks later the little cousin was also taken to
the hospital suddenly as she seemed to be infected too. That is
the risk when one has to take care of someone else's children
and the parents are so far away (in Chili this instance, trying to
build up a new living. The mother is trying to earn her bread by
making hats and it is quite remarkable how they seem to succeed).

As to Mrs. Urban, I had a letter from her again this week. She also
told me that her son is at work in the United States and that she
hopes that her son will soon be able to have them come to America.
I do not know how it will be possible to give them a preference
visum but one thing I have learned in these last years, namely
that the germans themselves manage always in some way or other
to get affidavits and permissions for parents etc. to join them
whereas we outsiders trying to help, do no succeed at all.
Over and over again I have tried myself lately with our own
Government and I absolutely did not succeed to get any further
people into the country whereas the germans themselves managed
to get them in. So I am at the point not to intervene with the
Government any further as regards these matters.

As to Felix and Anna I have had several letters from them lately.
They seem to like their new home. They have received the antique
chairs from the dining room which Anna very much wanted to have.
A cousin has brought them over with several other pieces of
furniture, porcelain etc. from the parents' home. Anna seems very
pleased with everything.

4
Felix writes that he has a few patients and in his letter he
was not so depressed.

The reason why he seemed so depressed when they come to dinner
with you will have been I am sure, as I have seen that so often
before, that for some reason or other Anna before going out to
you, Anna has made no end of a row with him and she does that in such
a terrible way that Felix gets immensely downhearted and
depressed. I myself always feel quite scared by one of these
scenes of Anna; she herself after a few minutes quite forgets
she has hurt your feelings and she does as if nothing has
happened. A scene of that sort with Anna upsets Felix for days and
I would not be surprised if this depression from Felix did not
result again from a similar outbreak of Anna's. I am so sorry
for him as instead of helping him, she always for one reason or
other bothers him and worries him.

It was indeed lucky for them that at that moment they received
the money from my mother; just at the right moment when they
needed it most.

Anna has always been impossible and will remain so for the
rest of her life.
First she bothers him that she wants a certain thing to happen
and no sooner has it been arranged then she worries him that
she wants something else to happen. So for that. 

I am sorry I was not there when you read over the letters to
Molly about South-America. I would have enjoyed it immensely
and would have loved to hear you putting in some words of praise.
I remember indeed very well the moment when you hurt your foot.
Indeed at first it looked rather serious although I did not tell
you so but I was glad that by dressing it two or three times a
day, it got well so soon. It might easely have given you some
blood poissoning. It was quite funny you saying I would have
been a good doctor or a good nurse.

When I was in England I read a book about [*by*] Marry Garett Anderson, the first woman docter of Gr. Br.
sister of Mrs. Fawcett. It gave me a big thrill; it is quite
wonderful what she has done and made of her life. I go indeed
so enthusiastic that I kept on saying: Why did not I become a
woman doctor, why did not I erect a women-hospital with women-doctors
and women-patients. Why have I made such a failure of 
my life! I told my little sister I still wanted to be a doctor
but coming to my senses again I quite well realize that my
brains would not be ready for doing the examens that are needed
nowadays but I am still thinking hard in what way I can make
myself useful in that direction. It may be that some day shortly
a new plan will appear!

I am so glad to hear you are feeling so much better. That sounds
wonderful and I am sure your garden will have given you much
pleasure this summer.

My plans are not settled yet for the future. If the Inter-Continental
Conference will take place and the European situation
will allow it, I intend coming over to Washington Conference, but
it may be that our situation gets thus that it will not be likely
that we can travel, but I will write later about that.



5
In England I found that war-psychose is most horrible!
If it was artificially done, I do not know; because as a 
rule the British nation is so very flegmatic it has been
considered necessary to buck them up, I do not know; at any
rate one felt as if war was to break out at any moment.

     To day I will simply thank you for all your loving
thoughts to me. Your friendship has been amongst the greatest
assetts in my life and you know it. Your understanding has
been most helpful and I hope you will be able to help me solve
my problems of to day when I have to start a new life in many
ways.
     Dear Mother Carrie, blessings upon you
     Your loving stepdaughter
           Rosa
lots of love to dear Alda.

Amsterdam, January 16th 1941

Rosa Manus,
Minervalaan 54-II

Dear Mother Carrie,
     I was so pleased to receive your letter of
December 12th telling me about the Congress. From different
sides I have heard what an immense success it was and how
remarkable you were.
Anna was enchanted and was very thankful that you gave her and
the doctor the opportunity to sit at your guest table. I could
all picture it so well as I have been so often amongst you all
that I know exactly how the preparations and the congress proceedings were.
I was much thinking of you those days when you were at the
Commodore Hotel and my thoughts were daily with you. I am so
glad you are saving a book for me, please write something in
it; you know how much it will be appreciated.
Erica is trying to get her visum but this is not an easy matter
at present. She is working daily at the Laboratorium but I am
convinced that when she get over there she will have to do
some new schooling.

My health is not as good as it might be but that is a minor
fact. I am still doing my work, go to the office a few times
a week; the board meetings take place in my house as they do
not want me to get too tired, so you see I am now getting the
old lady with all those youngsters who come on their bicycles
through the snow and rain but they simply do not let me go, so
I am trying to help them, if it is only trying to give them
some of my experience. It is so wonderful to feel in these
days how the friends who are real friends keep coming. We go
through difficult times and I may say that I long for the time
when we can have a heart to heart talk again like in olden times.
After five o'clock we do not go out. We have a severe winter, and
Holland is on skates again like one sees it on the pictures.
I wonder if you have seen Miss Hage. I received a cable from
her and Josephine for the New year, so I know she was there. She
is a very remarkable person and you will enjoy her talk although
she may be a bit fatigueing at times, but she is very, very nice.
I hope you will be able to take a holiday with Alda. In one way
it is nice to get out of the regular home life but on the other
hand one is always best in one's own bed and surroundings. Still
I know a few weeks in a good sanatorium where one is looked after,
is also a good plan.
I suppose you read about the happenings in Europe. Margery seems
to be well and one day I hope to get a letter from her; I have
not seen her paper.
You have always told me that a memory can never be taken away
and you are right. In these days I just sit and think of all the
nice things which have gone, the wonderful times I have had with
you arise amongst them and it seems to be helping me to pull
along, but it is difficult sometimes. Let us hope that the time

may come that we can sit chatting. I will be the first to come
over when it will be possible.
I try to be brave. Blessings on you, dear Mother Carrie and may
you be spared for many. many years to come. Love to dear Alda and
to all the friends over there.
     Your ever loving
     stepdaughter
           Rosa

August 31, 1939.

Dear Rosa:

I have your second nice long letter and I was very glad to get it and learn all it contained. I have also had a letter from Mrs. Ashby, telling me something about the Congress, but she did not mention the row with the Egyptian women. She was more concerned with the United States. I am going to write her a very important letter and when I do, I will send you a copy of it, but you will please not say anything about having received it.

Yesterday, I went to New York on some business and I went by way of Riverdale, so I paid a call upon Anns. I had something to take to her. They have a nice, cosy place. It is new and therefore very clean and sparkling. She has it arranged very prettily. I presume it is smaller than any place she has ever lived in, but that has some advantages. I think they will get on very well.

Josephine Schain spent a night with me recently and I asked her about the Congress of International Leaders who were to have met last year and, at the last moment, did not do so. I believe that no European woman but you attempting to come. There was a woman from Australia and another one from India who actually got here, but there was no convention for them to attend. I do not feel so certain that there will be one this year, but Josephine thinks there will be, so I asked her if she knew of any woman who had positively promised to come. She could only name Miss Courtney. She thought she would come under any circumstances.

Now, concerning myself, last winter, it was my intention to go away and sojourn in a warmer climate which I thought would be helpful to me, but when I found that that international meeting would be held and that you were going to attend it, I gave up that plan and stayed home in order to be here to receive you and perhaps to do something for the conference. Unhappily, you had to go away before it was time to hold the conference, but as I had given up the plan, I remained here through the winter. I found the winter rather hard to bear. I cannot take walks about which are good for me in the summer.

I had a partial plan to go away this winter in order to escape the troubles of last winter. It has been my intention to go before Christmas, if possible, and to remain until the middle of March. Whether this will come about, I do not know.

If there is a war, we shall not venture away from our own country, but there are places here where it is warmer in the winter and where we might go if we so decide. 

I am telling you this now, but there is no definite plan. As soon as there is, I will let you know.

-2-

I am sure you must have suffered from the war scare as well as the rest of us. At this moment, those big Whigs are talking it over and nobody knows whether there will be war or not. We all hope and pray there will be none.

Blessings on you, dear Rosa. Keep up your courage and keep going.

Very lovingly, 

CCC:HW.





Hotel Richemond
Geneve
A.R. Armleder, S.A.

Geneva, Sep: 19th

Dearest Mother Carrie,

This very morning your
dear letter reached me
and I wish to send you a few
lines;  although I mean to
write to you more elaborately
from Amsterdam again. 

We have indeed succeeded 
to get the assurance of some
of the women to go to the
Intercontinental Conference in
Washington.  Mrs. Druguruan
is writing to Josephine and
will give the names of those
who are really considering to
go.  From the Peace, Disarmament






2
Committee. Kathleen Courtney
will be the Leader - Mrs. [?]
will be the Secretary and
she is appointed to be with me
the [?] of the Conference
That is to say we will together
work with those women who
have formed the Committee
in the U.S.A. Then Mrs Puffer-Morgan
is coming ofcourse,
and Mrs. Dreyfus Barney
is hoping to come but she
cannot say yet if she can
make herself free; but it is 
very probable.
Mrs. Ashby did not intend to
go as she felt she had to save
her strength and her money
this coming year for the 
Copenhagen Congress.


[*Hotel Richmond
Geneve
A.R. Armleder, S. A.*]
3
She received however
your pressing letter
and after I had convinced
her you and
the American women
really want her I think
she will make a special
effort to come.  Then Miss
[Me?selgre?] from Sweden, who 
is here are a delegate to the
Assembly, very much wants
to come. She must first go
to Geneva in January for
the Special meeting on Maters
of women as well as Mrs Ashby.
and she could not leave much
before Jan: 18th.

(4
Much will depend on the
Heaven's  We tried to get
the sailings but most
Company's donot yet know
about the January  Heavens.
Mrs. Bakker van Bosse of 
Holland wants to come.
You met her at the Amsterdam
Study Conference. She is a 
very good speaker and
speaks very good english.
I spoke to some Belegium
women to day who might go.
The real difficulties will
be that they all will just
come over for the days of
work in Washington, but they


[*Hotel Richemond 
Geneve
A. R. Armleder, S. A.*]
5
cannot take extra
time to do sightseeing
in New-York. However
some may be able to
do that.  They specially
will want to come and see
you at any rate.
When we go to Stockholm in
October we might possibly
reach some more women who
will want to go. We are also
trying to get some younger
women; but most of them 
have jobs- and could
not afford the expense of
journey.

6
Donot consider this letter
as an official one please
It is only to tell you that
I think we shall have
some kind of an Int. representation.
I myself am very much
looking forward to my
stay and will let you know
when I shall be able to sail-
Donot get worried about me
if you intend to go away
to some warm place. I shall 
then ofcourse go to an hotel
in New York.  But to begin
with I do want to be with you.
Loving thoughts dear
Mother Carrie from your Rosa

Here ends the file of correspondence between Mrs Catt and
Rosa Manus. Following is a quotation from the Biography
of Carrie Chapman Catt, by M.G. Peck, p.482.

"Shortly after the occupation of Amsterdam by
the Nazi's, June 1940, Rosa Manus was arrested
and taken with other Dutch citizens to Scheveningen.
She was writing a letter to Mrs. Catt
when the gestapo came for her, and the unfinished
letter was left on her desk. She was living
at the time with a wid[i]owed sister, while the 
daughter of another sister occupied another room
under the same roof. Rosa's unfinished letter 
reached Mrs. Catt some weeks later, and it was
last message she ever received from that
devoted friend. From Scheveningen she was taken to
a concentration camp near Berlin, where she died
the following spring. News of her death did
not reach America until three months later and
no particulars accompanied the bare announcement.
Subsequently the niece (Erica Jacobi) met her
death while trying to escape from Holland, and
the sister was arrested and spirited away to 
an unknown fate."

Long afterwards scraps of information were gathered as
to the last months of her life. She was desperately
ill, but drove herself to keep up the courage of her
companions in the two camps where she was incarcerated. 
She asked her friends to send woollen yarn for knitting
articles to keep them warm in the winter weather; she
organized classes in various subjects to occupy their
minds and hands constructively; she no doubt during those
terrible final months relived the many years of friendship
and companionship with her beloved leader and counsellor
to whose inspiration she owed her decision to devote her
life to public service. Memories of those years were
all that she had of consolation.

Mary Gray Peck


It is not necessary to acknowledge this letter. I am 
merely passing on to you the information I received concerning the
Manus family of Holland. It is the only Jewish family which I can 
say I have really known well. The family was wealthy and owned a 
city and country home. They lived in more or less luxury and for
a long time had certainly known nothing but comfort.

Mr. & Mrs. Manus were both well-educated and highly
intelligent people, kindly disposed and friendly to all. They had
seven children and all lived to maturity. Two sons died several
years ago in a natural and normal way. Rosa, whom I first knew as
a young girl and about whom my friends know something, visited me
three times, took two long trips with me, and I met her several
times at international conventions where, for some years, she was
always a very active and responsible worker. Mr. & Mrs. Manus died some
years ago.

In 1941 Rosa was seized as a hostage. The Germans
seize only important people as hostages and hold them as a guarantee
of the good behavior toward the Germans of the rest of the population
of occupied countries. If any injury is done to Germans, they shoot
any of these hostages that they choose. Rosa was taken to Germany,
but no one knew definitely just where she was. She was not permitted
to write or receive letters, except once when she was permitted to 
write to her sister for some money with which to purchase clothing. 
How she lived and what she suffered, no one knows. She had gall stones,
and it is supposed that affliction caused her death in May, 1942,
but facts are not established.

The youngest child of the family was called "Be" as a pet name.
She was the favorite of the entire family. She married a German
who had been a gallant soldier in the German army during the World War. 
As the place he had occupied in life before having enlisted in the
army was no longer open when he returned to civilian life, Mr. Manus
helped to establish him in Amsterdam. The family helped them to furnish
a very charming apartment of good size and comfort. The furnishings
were modern and of excellent quality. It was a pretty, charming home. 
Here, two sons were born. Eventually, the father died. The boys were
old enough to enlist in the Dutch army before the Germans came.

Some time after the death of her parents, Rosa made her
home in this apartment with her sister, occupying two rooms. Meanwhile,
the Women's Archives, of which she was president, and the Amsterdam
Women's Volunteer Corps, sponsored by the Dutch government, of which
she was also the president, had been dissolved by the Germans. Here,
in her own home, she was arrested.

Be made a home for her niece, Erica Jacobi, a daughter of
the third sister, Anna, who had come to the United States with her
husband, who is a doctor, and her son. All who knew the niece, Erica,
found her a charming and remarkable girl. When Rosa was taken, the
two women, Be and Erica, lived in this home by themselves. The niece
went away for a professed visit with friends. That whole story no 
one knows here. It was said that an accident befell her and she was 
instantly killed. The body was returned to her home and Be buried it
in the grave by the side of Mr. and Mrs. Manus and Be's husband.




-2-

Some fine photographs of Erica had been taken and Be had
visited her grave and taken some flowers from it and pressed them.
These, she sent to Miss Gourd in Switzerland to be forwarded to
Erica's mother, Anna, in New York.

This left Be alone in her home. Her two sons were away. 
One had been seized by the Germans and put into a German Labor Camp
where the work and treatment was so unnatural that he was taken ill
and, according to last accounts, had been in a hospital for two
weeks. The other son was living in The Hague, but, meanwhile, the
Germans had forbidden any Jew from traveling about, even in Holland,
and this boy could not come to see his mother, despite the fact that
the distance between The Hague and Amsterdam was so short.

The Germans came and arrested Be, taking her away, no one
knows where, for how long, or for what destiny.

Two remaining brothers are supposed to be still alive, but
no one knows where they are.

Be was alone, the last of her family of seven. Obeying the 
orders of the Germans to take a small package as luggage and food for
three days, she, with other Jews from Amsterdam, are being transplanted
to an unknown destiny.

This is the story of one family, once important, influential,
comfortable and happy. The parents had educated their children, given
them travel and experience, and made them useful citizens in the world
and this is the end the Germans have arranged for that family. It is 
only one of thousands of families that I do not personally know.

With Be, she remembers a cemetery in which many of her dear
ones lie buried and a very pretty apartment that had once been her
home and which is now padlocked and the Germans hold the key.

July 10, 1942

To friends of Rosa Manus: 

I take this means of reply to numerous inquiries concerning Rosa's death which have come to me.

At some date between August 10th and 14th, 1941, the Gestapo arrested her at her home. She probably had no intimation that this would ever happen. She spent a month in a hotel in Holland used by the Germans as a place of detention. While there, she wrote one letter to her sister in Amsterdam, asking for wool to knit and a hot water bottle. Whether she received these things is unknown to me. From Holland, she was moved to Dusseldorf and from there to Berlin where she was kept in what was once a Woman's Prison. She received no letters or messages and her family did not know where she was until they received a letter in the early spring of 1942, asking them to send her 200 marks with which to purchase clothing. She acknowledged the receipt of the money and said that she now had permission to write to her sister, but to no one else, once a month, and to receive one reply. No further news came from her. She is supposed to have died in the camp May 29th. She was therefore a German prisoner for nearly ten months without communication with any outside person.

She left an unfinished letter to me on her desk at home, dated August 10th, 1941. It was personal only and her sister sent it to me via Switzerland. She said in it that since she had developed gall stones, she felt miserably and suffered from cold. I therefore am amazed that she lived so long. No one knows anything about her life or treatment in her prison camp. In similar camps, prisoners were not permitted to speak with each other and in others they were made to crawl on their hands and knees. That happened to a Czeck member of the Alliance Board whom I have known for years. We probably will never know the details of Rosa's experience there. 

Why was she seized? She was not accused of any offense. It is my understanding that she was one of many Dutch who were caught in the strategy of military politics. When the Germans attacked Holland, it was apparently their plan to seize the East Indies at the same moment. They had organized all the Germans living there and had sent several ships which were anchored in the ports and had never been seen there before. The local Dutchmen, however, arrested all Germans on the Islands and seized the ships before the Germans had had time to act. The Hitlerites were furious about that and at once arrested by way of reprisal one hundred of the most prominent Dutch citizens in Holland as hostages and, from to time thereafter, added groups to this number. Rosa was taken a year later.

Rosa had been active for some years in the organization and maintenance of the International Women's Archives, a library at Amsterdam designed to be a research center for all subjects concerning the women movement. Its most valuable asset for all subjects concerning the woman movement. Its most valuable asset was the library and collection of Dr. Aletta Jacobs. I was somewhat familiar with it and regard its loss as irreparable. Rosa was the President. She also organized and was President of the Amsterdam Women's Volunteer Corps, sponsored by the Dutch government and which was devoted to the care of refugees and victims of the Nazi oppression. The Germans dissolved the Corps and the Archives. They seized the entire contents of the Archives Headquarters, including all books and correspondences. It is believed that they were burned. 

-2-

Rosa remained quietly at home thereafter. Previous to the war, Queen Wilhelmina had awarded her the Order of the Orange Nassau. This was a further indication of her importance as a citizen.

Rosa had been an officer of the International Alliance of Women for Suffrage and Equal Citizenship for some years and had been conspicuous in the preparations and conduct of all the conventions held since the World War.

One friend writes: "Memories of Rosa have been crowding in my mind. I can see her bustling around in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Istanbul. I'm sure that when the crisis came, she met it with courage. The same persistence which made her an organizer would stiffen her against the blows of fate. At least we may know that she was spared more suffering."

I may add that she became a dear personal friend and visited me in my home three times. She came for my seventieth birthday and for my eightieth. She also took two long trips with me, one in Europe and one through South America. Yet, for ten months, I could not send her one cheering message.

Rosa was a little Dutch girl, dancing with other boys and girls in Dutch costumes for the entertainment of the delegates in the Amsterdam convention of 1908. Then she scarcely knew what we were about. She grew into a dependable worker in the woman movement and, curiously enough, was the first of us all to suffer and to die for our cause.

Carrie Chapman Catt

July 10, 1942

To Friends of Rosa Manus:
     I take this means of reply to numerous inquiries concerning
Rosa's death which have come to me.
     At some date between August 10th and 14th, 1941, the Gestapo
arrested her at her home. She probably had not intimation that this
would ever happen. She spent a month in a hotel in Holland used by the
Germans as a place of detention. While there, she wrote one letter to
her sister in Amsterdam, asking for wool to knit and a hot water bottle.
Whether she received these things is unknown to me. From Holland, she
was moved to Dusseldorf and from there to Berlin where she was kept in
what was once a Woman's Prison. She received no letters or messages and
her family did not know where she was until they received a letter in
the early spring of 1942, asking them to send her 200 marks with which
to purchase clothing. She acknowledged the receipt of the money and said
that she now had permission to write to her sister, but to no one else,
once a month, and to receive one reply. No further news came from her.
She is supposed to have died in the camp May 29th. She was therefore a
German prisoner for nearly ten months without communication with any outside
person.
     She left an unfinished letter to me on her desk at her home,
dated August 10th, 1941. It was personal only and her sister sent it to
me via Switzerland. She said in it that since she had developed gall
stones, she felt miserably and suffered from cold. I therefore am amazed
that she lived so long. No one knows anything about her life or treatment
in her prison camp. In similar camps, prisoners were not permitted
to speak with each other and in others they were made to crawl on their
hands and knees. That happened to a Czeck member of the Alliance Board
whom I have known for years. We probably will never know the details of 
Rosa's experience there.
     Why was she seized? She was not accused of any offense. It
is my understanding that she was one of many Dutch who were caught in the
strategy of military politics. When the Germans attacked Holland, it
was apparently their plan to seize the East Indies at the same moment.
They had organized all the Germans living there and had sent several ships
which were anchored in the ports and had never been seen there before.
The local Dutchmen, however, arrested all Germans on the Islands and seized
the ships before the Germans had had time to act. The Hitlerites were
furious about that and at once arrested by way of reprisal one hundred of
the most prominent Dutch citizens in Holland as hostages and, from time
to time thereafter, added groups to this number. Rosa was taken a year
later.
     Rosa had been active for some years in the organization and
maintenance of the International Women's Archives, a library at Amsterdam
designed to be a research center for all subjects concerning the woman 
movement. Its most valuable asset was the library and collection of
Dr. Aletta Jacobs. I was somewhat familiar with it and regard its loss
as irreparable. Rosa was the President. She also organized and was
President of the Amsterdam Women's Volunteer Corps, sponsored by the Dutch
government and which was devoted to the care of refugees and victims of
the Nazi oppression. The Germans dissolved the Corps and the Archives.
They seized the entire contents of the Archives Headquarters, including
all books and correspondence. It is believed that they were burned.

-2-
     Rosa remained quietly at home thereafter. Previous
to the war, Queen Wilhelmina had awarded her the Order of the
Orange Nassau. This was a further indication of her importance
as a citizen.
     Rosa had been an officer of the International Alliance
of Women for Suffrage and Equal Citizenship for some years and had
been conspicuous in the preparations and conduct of all the conventions
held since the World War.
     One friend writes: "Memories of Rosa have been
crowding my mind. I can see her bustling around in Paris,
Amsterdam, Berlin, Istanbul. I'm sure that when the crisis
came, she met it with courage. The same persistence which made
her an organizer would stiffen her against the blows of fate.
At least we may know that she was spared more suffering."
     I may add that she became a dear personal friend and
visited me in my home three times. She came for seventieth
birthday and for my eightieth. She also took two long trips with
me, one in Europe and one through South America. Yet, for ten
months, I could not send her one cheering message.
     Rosa was a little Dutch girl, dancing with other
boys and girls in Dutch costumes for the entertainment of the 
delegates in the Amsterdam convention of 1908. Then she scarcely
knew what we were about. She grew into a dependable worker in
the woman movement and, curiously enough, was the first of us all
to suffer and to die for our cause.
     Carrie Chapman Catt

July 10, 1942
To Friends of Rosa Manus:
I take this means of reply to numerous inquiries concerning
Rosa's death which have come to me.

At some date between August 10th and 14th, 1941, the Gestapo
arrested her at her home. She probably had to intimation that this
would ever happen. She spent a month in a hotel in Holland used by the
Germans as a place of detention. While there, she wrote one letter to
her sister in Amsterdam, asking for wool to knit and a hot water bottle.
Whether she received these is unknown to me. From Holland, she
was moved to Düsseldorf and from there to Berlin where she was kept in
what was once a Woman's Prison. She received no letters or messages and
her family did not know where she was until they received a letter in
the early spring of 1942, asking them to send her 200 marks with which
to purchase clothing. She acknowledged the receipt of the money and said
that she now had permission to write to her sister, but to no one else,
once a month, and to receive one reply. No further news came from her.
She was supposed to have died in the camp May 29th. She was therefore a 
German prisoner for nearly ten months without communication with any outside 
person.

She left an unfinished letter to me on her desk at her home, 
dated August 10th, 1941. It was personal only and her sister sent it to
me via Switzerland. She said in it that since she had developed gall
stones, she felt miserably and suffered from cold. I therefore am amazed
that she lived so long. No one knows anything about her life or treatment 
in her prison camp. In similar camps, prisoners were not permitted
to speak with each other and in others they were made to crawl on their
hands and knees. That happened to a Czeck member of the Alliance Board
whom I have known for years. We probably will never know the details of
Rosa's experience there.

Why was she seized? She was not accused of any offense. It
is my understanding that she was one of many Dutch who were caught in the
strategy of military position. When the Germans attacked Holland, it
was apparently their plan to seize the East Indies at the same moment.
They had organized all the Germans living there and had sent several ships
which were anchored in the ports and had never been seen there before.
The local Dutchmen, however, arrested all Germans on the Islands and seized
the ships before the Germans had had time to act. The Hitlerites were
furious about that and at once arrested by way of reprisal one hundred of
the most prominent Dutch citizens in Holland as hostages and, from time
to time thereafter, added groups this number. Rosa was taken a year 
later.

Rosa had been active for some years in the organization and
maintenance of the International Women's Archives, a library at Amsterdam
designed to be a research center for all the subjects concerning the woman
movement. Its most valuable asset was the library and collection of
Dr. Aletta Jacobs. I was somewhat familiar with it and regard its loss
as irreparable. Rosa was the President. She also organized and was
President of the Amsterdam Women's Volunteer Corps, sponsored by the Dutch
government and which was devoted to the care of refugees and victims of
the Nazi oppression. The Germans dissolved the Corps and the Archives.
They seized the entire contents of the Archives Headquarters, including
all books and correspondence. It is believed that they were burned.


-2-
Rosa remained quietly at home thereafter. Previous
to the war, Queen Wilhelmina had awarded her the Order of the
Orange Nassau. This was a further indication of her importance
as a citizen.

Rosa had been an officer of the International Alliance
of Women for Suffrage and Equal Citizenship for some years and had
been conspicuous in the preparations and conduct of all the conventions
held since the World War.

One friend writes: "Memories of Rosa have been
crowding in my mind. I can see her bustling around in Paris,
Amsterdam, Berlin, Istanbul. I'm sure that when the crisis
came, she met it with courage. The same persistence which made
her an organizer would stiffen her against the blows of fate.
At least we may know that she was spared more suffering."

I may add that she became a dear personal friend and
visited me in my home three times. She came for my seventieth
birthday and for my eightieth. She also took two long trips with
me, one in Europe and one through South America. Yet, for ten
months, I could not send her one cheering message.

Rosa was a little Dutch girl, dancing with other
boys and girls in Dutch costumes for the entertainment of the
delegates in the Amsterdam convention of 1908. Then she scarcely
knew what we were about. She grew into a dependable worker in
the woman movement and, curiously enough, was the first of us all 
to suffer and to die for our cause.

Carrie Chapman Catt
Carrie Chapman Catt

COPY
July 10, 1942
To Friends of Rosa Manus: 
I take this means of reply to the numerous inquiries concerning Rosa's
death which have come to me. 
At some date between August 10th and 14th, 1942, the Gestapo arrested her
at her home.  She probably had no intimation that this would ever happen.
She spent a month in a hotel in Holland used by the Germans as a place of
detention.  While there, she wrote one letter to her sister in Amsterdam, 
asking for wool and a hot water bottle.  Whether she received these things is
unknown to me. From Holland, she was moved to Dusseldorf and from there to
Berlin where she was kept in what was once a woman's prison.  She received
no letters or messages and her family did not know where she was until they
received a letter in early spring of 1942, asking them to send her 200
marks with which to purchase clothing.  She acknowledge the receipt of the
money and said that she now had permission to write to her sister, but to no
one else, once a month and to receive one reply.  No further news came from
her.  She is supposed to have died in the camp May 29th.   She was therefore
a German prisoner for nearly ten months without communication with any 
outside person.
She left an unfinished letter to me on her desk at her home, dated
August 10, 1941.  It was personal only and her sister sent it to me via
Switzerland.  She said in it that since she had developed fall stones, she
felt miserably and suffered from cold.  I therefore am amazed that she lived
so long.  No one knows anything about her life or treatment in her prison
camp.  In similar camps, prisoners were not permitted to speak with each
other and in others they were made to crawl on their hands and knees.  That
happened to a Czeck member of the Alliance Board whom I have known her years. 
We probably will never know the details of Rosa's experience there. 
Why was she siezed?  She was not accused of any offense.  It is my
understanding that she was one of many Dutch who were caught in the strategy
of military politics.  When the Germans attacked Holland, it was apparently
their plan to seize the East Indies at the same moment.  They had organized
all the Germans living there and had sent several ships which were anchored
in the ports and had never been there before.  The local Dutchman, however, 
arrested all the Germans on the Islands and seized the ships before the Germans
had had time to act.  The Hitlerites were furious about that and at once
arrested,  by way of reprisal, one hundred of the most prominent Dutch citizens
in Holland as hostages and, from time to time thereafter, added groups to this
number.  Rosa was taken a year later. 
Rosa had been active for some years in the organization and maintenance of
the International Women's Archives, a library at Amsterdam, designed to be a
research center for all subjects concerning the woman movement.  Its most
valuable asset was the library and collection of Dr. Aletta Jacobs.  I was
somewhat familiar with it and regard its loss as irreparable.  Rosa was the
President.  She also organized and was President of the Amsterdam Woman's 
Volunteer corps, sponsored by the Dutch government and which was devoted to
the care of refugees and victims of the Nazi oppression.  The Germans
dissolved the Corp and the Archives.  They seized the entire contents of the
Archives Headquarters, including all books and correspondence.  It is
believed that they were burned. 


-2-
Rosa remained quietly at home thereafter.  Previous to the war, 
Queen Wilhelmina had awarded her the Order of the Orange Nassau.  This was
a further indication of her importance as a Dutch citizen.
Rosa had been an officer of the International Alliance of Women for
Suffrage and Equal Citizenship for some years and had been conspicuous in 
the preparations and conduct of all the conventions held since the World War.
One friend writes:  " Memories of Rosa have been crowding in my mind.  I 
can see her bustling around in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and Istanbul.  I'm 
sure that when the crisis came, she met it with courage.  The same persistence
which made her a successful organizer would stiffen her against the blows of
fate.  At least we may know that she was spared more suffering."
I may add that many years ago she became a dear personal friend and
visited me in my home three times.  She came for my seventieth birthday and
for my eightieth.  She also took two long trips with me, once in Europe and
one in South America.  Yet, for ten months, I could not send her one cheering
message.  
Rosa was a little Dutch girl, dancing with other boys and girls in the
Amsterdam convention of 1908.  Then she scarcely knew what we were about.
She grew into a dependable worker in the woman movement and, curiously
enough,  was the first of all of us to suffer and die for our cause.  
CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT

Transcribed and reviewed by volunteers participating in the By The People project at crowd.loc.gov.