American lawyer Nancy Hollader has visited Vietnam three times (the first time in 2019, the second time in 2023). On her two previous visits, she donated a total of 459 artifacts to the Vietnam Women's Museum, including letters, reports, and notebooks, documenting the perspectives and voices of women from both Vietnam and the United States in their efforts to promote peace and oppose the war in Vietnam.
On her third visit to Vietnam, Nancy Hollader brought with her a special artifact related to the meeting between the US women's delegation and women from both North and South Vietnam in 1965 in Jakarta, Indonesia, to donate to the Vietnam Women's Museum. This meeting is considered the first diplomatic activity between Vietnamese citizens (from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and the United States since the start of the war.
Sharing about the artifact, Nancy recounted: “In 1965, during a meeting in Jakarta between the Vietnamese and American women's delegations, I was given a bottle of wine by the Vietnamese delegation, symbolizing friendship and hope for a peaceful future between the two countries. At that time, I promised myself that I would open the bottle and drink it when the war ended. On April 30, 1975, when I heard the news that Vietnam had liberated the South and unified the country, I opened the bottle and drank with about 10 friends, marking the historic moment when peace came to Vietnam. Since then, I have kept this bottle as a symbol of memory and belief in a more peaceful and better future.”
The Board of Directors of the Vietnam Women's Museum received artifacts donated by American lawyer Nancy Hollander.
American lawyer Nancy Hollander tells the story of a special bottle.
Besides the empty wine bottle, which American lawyer Nancy Hollader considers "priceless," she once kept over 450 mementos and artifacts related to the history and people of Vietnam during the war against American imperialism to defend the country. Before donating these items to the Vietnam Women's Museum, Nancy Hollader carefully stored them in a large box for decades. She placed the empty wine bottle in a prominent position in her bedroom. For nearly six decades, Nancy Hollader moved between states and changed residences several times, but she always cherished and preserved the artifacts related to Vietnam as her treasures. "They are a living testament to the friendship, courage, and belief in a unified future of the Vietnamese women I met," Nancy Hollader expressed.
Later, the person who connected Nancy Hollader to Vietnam, bringing with her valuable artifacts to donate to the Vietnam Women's Museum, was the American writer Lady Borton (a close friend of the Vietnamese people, who lived, worked, and researched in Vietnam since 1978).
In an exclusive interview with a reporter from the Vietnam Women's Newspaper, Ms. Nancy Hollader said that she wished for "the artifacts to be returned to their rightful place." Therefore, Ms. Nancy Hollader decided to donate all the artifacts related to the people, the nation, and the war in Vietnam that she possessed to the Vietnam Women's Museum.
American lawyer Nancy Hollander tells the story of a special bottle.
“After donating all the artifacts I had collected to the Vietnam Women’s Museum, I only kept the empty wine bottle as my personal possession. For me, it is a priceless memento with immense historical significance. But wanting the bottle (which contained the wine that I and my American friends, who love peace and support Vietnam, drank to celebrate Vietnam’s victory, a gift from our Vietnamese friends during a women’s diplomatic event between the two countries in Jakarta) to return to its origin, to be reunited with our Vietnamese friends, I decided to donate my last remaining memento to the Vietnam Women’s Museum. I believe that here, this historical artifact, conveying the story of friendship and resilience of women from Vietnam and the United States, will be shared with a wider audience and future generations of Vietnamese people,” lawyer Nancy Hollader confided.
Upon receiving the precious artifact from lawyer Nancy Hollader, Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet, Director of the Vietnam Women's Museum, affirmed : "This bottle is a valuable piece of evidence connected to the history of Vietnam in general, and the Vietnamese women's movement in particular. It is not simply a bottle used for holding wine, but a touching story about the aspiration for peace and the love for Vietnam of true women."
Source: Vietnam Women's Newspaper
Attorney Nancy Hollander, along with leaders, officials, and staff of the Vietnam Women's Museum, at the artifact reception ceremony on November 5, 2024.
Source: https://baotangphunu.org.vn/hien-vat-dac-biet-ma-nu-luat-su-nguoi-my-trao-tang-bao-tang-phu-nu-viet-nam/
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