Special artifact donated by American female lawyer to Vietnam Women's Museum

On the morning of November 5, 2024, the Vietnam Women's Museum held a ceremony to receive a special artifact from lawyer Nancy Hollander - a member of the US Women's Delegation participating in the meeting with women from the two regions of South and North Vietnam in Jakarta, Indonesia in 1965. It was the shell of a wine bottle (symbolizing friendship and hope for a peaceful future between Vietnam and the United States) that Ms. Nancy was given by the Vietnamese Women's Delegation during the meeting.

Việt Nam•05/11/2024

American lawyer Nancy Hollader has visited Vietnam three times (the first time in 2019, the second time in 2023). In the previous two visits, she donated a total of 459 artifacts to the Vietnamese Women's Museum, including letters, reports and notebooks, recording the views and voices of women from both Vietnam and the United States in their efforts to promote peace and protest the war in Vietnam.

Returning to Vietnam for the third time, Ms. Nancy Hollader brought a special artifact associated with the meeting of the US women's delegation with women from the two regions of South and North Vietnam in 1965 in the capital Jakarta (Indonesia) to present to the Vietnam Women's Museum. This meeting is considered the first diplomatic activity between Vietnamese citizens (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and the United States since the two sides began the war.

Sharing about the artifact, Ms. Nancy said: “In 1965, during a meeting in Jakarta between the Vietnamese and American Women's Unions, I was given a bottle of wine by the Vietnamese Women's Union, symbolizing friendship and hope for a peaceful future between the two countries. At that time, I promised myself that I would open the bottle of wine to drink when the war ended. On April 30, 1975, when I heard that Vietnam had liberated the South and reunified the country, I opened the bottle of wine and drank with about 10 friends, marking the historic moment when peace had come to Vietnam. Since then, I have kept this bottle as a symbol of memory and belief in a peaceful and better future.”

The Board of Directors of the Vietnam Women's Museum received an artifact donated by American lawyer Nancy Hollader.

American lawyer Nancy Hollader tells the story of a special bottle

In addition to the wine bottles that American lawyer Nancy Hollader considers a “priceless asset”, she once kept more than 450 souvenirs and artifacts related to the history and people of Vietnam during the war against American imperialism to protect the country. Before returning those artifacts to the Vietnamese Women's Museum, Ms. Nancy Hollader kept them in a large box and preserved them very carefully for decades. The wine bottles were placed in a prominent position in her bedroom. For nearly 6 decades, Ms. Nancy Hollader has worked in many states and changed her residence many times, but the artifacts related to Vietnam have always been treasured and preserved by her as her treasures. “They are a living testament to the friendship and courage, as well as the belief in the future of unification of the Vietnamese women I have met,” Nancy Hollader expressed.

Later, the person who connected Nancy Hollader to Vietnam, bringing valuable artifacts to donate to the Vietnamese Women's Museum, was the American writer Lady Borton (a close friend of the Vietnamese people, who has lived, worked and researched in Vietnam since 1978).

Speaking exclusively to reporters from the Vietnam Women’s Newspaper, Ms. Nancy Hollader said that she wanted “the artifacts to be returned to their proper place.” Therefore, Ms. Nancy Hollader decided to donate all the artifacts related to people, humanity and the Vietnam War that she kept to the Vietnam Women’s Museum.

American lawyer Nancy Hollader tells the story of a special bottle

“After donating all the artifacts I kept to the Women's Museum, I only kept the wine bottle as my own possession. For me personally, it is a priceless souvenir with great historical significance. However, wishing that the bottle (containing wine that I and my American friends who love peace and support Vietnam drank to celebrate Vietnam's victory, given by Vietnamese friends during the women's diplomatic event between the two countries in Jakarta) could return to its original place, and possibly return to my Vietnamese friends, I decided to donate the last souvenir I kept to the Vietnam Women's Museum. I believe that here, this historical souvenir conveying the story of friendship and resilience of women from Vietnam and the United States will be spread to the general public and generations of Vietnamese people,” said lawyer Nancy Hollader.

Receiving the precious artifact from female lawyer Nancy Hollader, Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet, Director of the Vietnam Women's Museum, affirmed : "The bottle is a valuable evidence associated with the historical story of Vietnam in general, and the Vietnamese women's movement in particular. It is not simply a wine bottle but a touching story about the desire for peace, about the love for Vietnam of true women".

Source: Vietnam Women's Newspaper