Unique sources on colonial institutional youth care and mission history
This archival collection shows the extraordinary history of an institution where several thousands of (Indo-)European children from all over the Dutch East Indies grew up, between 1830 and 1950. Driven by religious motivations, children received healthcare and education at the orphanage. But they were also prepared for life in a colonial structure. The collection contains family books, minutes and photo albums that can offer researchers valuable insights into colonial childhood care, mission history and Indo-European family stories.
Heritage accessible for education, research and heritage communities
The digitisation of this archive was part of the Sharing Shared Heritage pilot project, which explored the possibilities of making the shared mission heritage of the Netherlands and Indonesia available for education and research in both countries. During the launch of this resource on 13 June 2025 at the Pioneering in Shared Heritage seminar, it became clear what kind of exciting new possibilities this digital collection will be able to offer. Teachers, students, researchers and representatives of the Indio-European heritage community discovered each other's perspectives, asked critical questions about colonial legacies and affirmed the importance of archival access for communities of origin. Equal cooperation across borders is necessary for good heritage care.
Get started yourself
Browse the collection of the Roman Catholic Orphanage in Semarang yourself online via the KDC website. We invite researchers, students, teachers and those interested in family history to actively use this collection in teaching and research. We hope this resource will be of value to your research, teaching or other projects.
This is how to access the archive:
- Go to the KDC website by following the link above.
- Type in the search bar: scans orphanage semarang
- Click on “show” in the search results
- Click on the first hit
- Expand the overview via the plus sign (+) - sometimes several times
- Use the links in the overview to view the scans of records
If you have further questions about this collection or are curious about other heritage from a colonial context managed by the KDC, please email us at info [at] kdc.ru.nl (info[at]kdc[dot]ru[dot]nl)
