Huiswoud, Hermina Dumont, 1905-1998

Hermina ("Hermie") Dumont Huiswoud (1905-1998), was born in British Guiana (now Guyana), and migrated to New York in 1919. In 1926 she married Otto Eduard Huiswoud (1893-1961), born in Dutch Guiana (now Surinam) and a charter member of the Communist Party of the United States of America. Otto was also active in international communist activities, including heading the Profintern's International Trade Union Committee of Negro Workers, and editing their publication, The Negro Worker, under the name Charles Woodson. Hermina accompanied her husband to Moscow, Paris, Antwerp and Amsterdam, where she settled in 1949. She actively participated in activities associated with the Left, and wrote articles for radical publications. Langston Hughes was one of her friends and correspondents.