The find was a complete surprise. The existence of the notebook was not even suspected anymore. After the transfer, it was added to the archives of the Antirevolutionary Party (ARP).
First organised political party of the Netherlands
The ARP was founded by Abraham Kuyper and was the first organised political party of the Netherlands. The party existed from 1879 until 1980, when it became part of the CDA with CHU and KVP.
Minutes deputatenvergaderingen
The notebook contains the minutes for the period 1879 to 1933 of the so-called deputatenvergaderingen. These were the meetings of the delegates of local electoral associations, in which they determined the programme, appointed candidates and set the party's course.
Minutes of founding meeting
The minutes of the founding meeting were written by Abraham Kuyper, secretary n one occasion, then chairman of the Central Committee, the executive body of the deputation meeting. In his neatest handwriting, he reports on the meeting. He dwells at length on the ideas of Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer, on which the party programme is based. All sorts of things are settled that were known in broad outline, but can now be studied in detail. For example, the nevertheless surprising fact that Kuyper was only elected president in the second round of voting after first finishing equal with A.F. de Savornin Lohman.
Source for historians interested in politics
The script is a wonderful source for historians interested in politics for several reasons. Although about 30 metres of ARP archives have been preserved, the pre-war part of this covers only one metre. Much of that history is still unclear and this notebook can shed light on that.
Archives of the ARP, including: Central Committee of Antirevolutionary Electoral Associations (1878-1940) and Antirevolutionary Party, (1945-1980) Lit.: George Harinck, Roel Kuiper and Peter Bak, De Antirevolutionaire Partij 1829-1980, Hilversum 2001.
The Antirevolutionary Party produced four prime ministers, whose archives can be consulted at the HDC | Protestants Erfgoed collection. These are the archives of A. Kuyper, 1837-1920; Th. Heemskerk, 1852-1932; H. Colijn, 1869-1944 and J. Zijlstra, 1918-2001 and B. Biesheuvel, 1920 - 2001.
