New Zealand History

On 6th August 2025 at National Library, Gareth Watkins and Dr Roger Smith from PrideNZ and Walk Tours NZ presented their work using off-the-shelf AI software to bring to life their oral history recordings of Cuba St, Wellington New Zealand. Drawing on the PrideNZ archival audio collection, A Rather Queer Cuba Street was a site-based event that combined eye-witness audio clips, AI-generated human avatars, and live presentation to create an engaging, feature-rich historical experience. From AI transcriptions of oral histories to AI-assisted identification of engaging quotations from long-form interviews, and the creation of video elements featuring AI human avatars. Gareth Watkins is the founder and editor of PrideNZ. He, along with Roger Smith, co-founded Walk Tours NZ in 2017 – offering free community LGBTIQ+ walk tours around Wellington. Dr Roger Smith is also a contributor to PrideNZ and a past Trustee of the Lesbian and Gay Archives of New Zealand (now Kawe Mahara). Download a transcript of this talk (PDF) Download slides used for this talk (PDF) A video of the full talk is available on YouTube  Note some of the audio played during the recording process does not always sound as good in our playback, we apologise for this.

In this Public History Talk recorded at the National Library on 4 June 2025, podcast producers William Ray (RNZ) and Kirsten Johnstone (Popsock Media) explored the art of creating captivating history podcasts, sharing storytelling and audio techniques from series like Black Sheep, The Lake, The Aotearoa History Show, Te Rauparaha Kei Wareware and The Magpie House. They discussed the delicate balance of distilling complex history for an engaging auditory experience, using sound design and music to enhance storytelling, and offered insider tips and tricks from their award-winning work. About the speakers Kirsten Johnstone (Ngāi Tahu / Pākehā) co-founded award winning podcast production company Popsock Media in 2020. She honed her craft as a producer, editor, host, and content creator at RNZ. William Ray (Pākehā) is an award-winning podcast producer at RNZ. He primarily works on history programming including Black Sheep and the Aotearoa History Show. Download a transcript of this talk (PDF)

In this podcast, Catherine Comyn reframes the financial colonisation of Aotearoa — a history of the joint stock company, a speculative London property market that romanticised the distant lands of indigenous peoples, and the calculated use of credit and taxation by the British to dispossess Māori of their land and subject them to colonial rule. Finance was at the centre of every stage of the colonisation of Aotearoa, from the sale of Māori lands and the emigration of early colonists to the founding of settler nationhood and the enforcement of colonial governance. Catherine’s Ockham-longlisted book, The Financial Colonisation of Aotearoa (ESRA, 2023), has been hailed by Jane Kelsey as “the most stimulating book I have read on the colonisation of Aotearoa from the exciting new generation of scholars”. Catherine tells the story of the financial instruments and imperatives that drove the British colonial project in the 19th century. By illuminating the centrality of finance in the colonisation of Aotearoa, Catherine not only reframes the understanding of this country's history, but also the stakes of anti-colonial struggle today. Catherine Comyn (Ngāti Ranginui, Pākehā) is a PhD candidate in International Political Economy at King's College London. Her research focuses on finance capital and colonisation, and possibilities for their overcoming. The talk was recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand on 28 May 2024, as part of the Public History Talks series, a collaboration between the Alexander Turnbull Library and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Download a transcript of this talk (PDF)

In this podcast, Mark Derby talks about his recent book Frontline Surgeon: New Zealand Medical Pioneer Douglas Jolly, published by Massey University Press/University of Nebraska Press. Frontline Surgeon and related publications record New Zealand’s response to the Spanish Civil War, and its present-day significance. Central Otago-born doctor, Doug Jolly, pioneered mobile emergency surgery during the Spanish Civil War. His surgical manual, based on battlefield experiences close to the front line, was widely used in later conflicts. Mark makes a case for Dr Jolly to be recognised as one of the most influential medical figures of the 20th century. Frontline Surgeon is part of a long-running, unplanned, and ongoing project to record New Zealand's response to the Spanish Civil War and its present-day significance. The project began in 2006 when Mark edited a book of seminar papers — Kiwi Compañeros: New Zealand and the Spanish Civil War (ed. Mark Derby, Canterbury University Press, 2009.) This appeared in a Spanish translation as Compañeros Kiwis — Nueva Zealanda y la Guerra Civil Espanola (University of Castilla- La Mancha, 2011). Mark later discovered a cache of letters by Christchurch nurse Dorothy Morris in the Alexander Turnbull Library. This resulted in a full-length biography, Petals and Bullets: Dorothy Morris, New Zealand Nurse in the Spanish Civil War (Potton and Burton Publishing / Leeds University Press, 2015.) Mark has also written about this history for the Virtual Museum of the Spanish Civil War, a Te Ara-like online resource. The British publisher Bloomsbury has been recently contracted to publish a book based on the Virtual Museum’s content. In this talk, Mark speaks about these inter-related projects, and how they were produced. Virtual Museum of the Spanish Civil War The talk was recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand on 7 August 2024, as part of the Public History Talks series, a collaboration between the Alexander Turnbull Library and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Download a transcript of this talk (PDF) Download slides associated with this talk (PDF)

Dr Lisa Renard has a Ph.D. in Social and Cultural Anthropology / Museum Studies Docteure en anthropologie sociale et culturelle / Muséographe and is currently the Fyssen Postdoctoral Researcher at The University of Auckland. This talk was presented at the Stout Centre for New Zealand Studies at Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University of Wellington on 3 April 2024. In France, the majority of the Māori taonga are housed at the Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac in Paris, where 268 taonga are registered in the collections of the museum. Based on previous research conducted during Dr Renard’s M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Strasbourg, France, she found that the oldest taonga in French museums travelled from Aotearoa to France in the late 18th and first half of the 19th centuries. For many years, Māori specialists across Aotearoa have sought to access more information about taonga in museums around the world. Dr Renard’s postdoctoral research is intended to help meet these needs and to demonstrate the richness of the taonga tuku iho biographies and agencies, particularly in terms of their mnemonic qualities, when reunited with the tangata whenua of Aotearoa and other taonga tuku iho. This paper presents the state of Dr Renard’s research in relation to 4 kākahu, 2 hei tiki, 3 taonga pūoro, and 1 Rākau atua associated with the voyage of French explorer Jules César Sébastien Dumont d’Urville on board l’Astrolabe in 1827. Due to cultural considerations related to the taonga, this is an audio only podcast with transcription provided for accessibility purposes. Download a transcript of this talk (PDF)

In this podcast, Professor Richard Shaw whose great-grandfather took part in the 1881 invasion of Parihaka pā and farmed land taken from Taranaki iwi, discusses the entanglement of the small histories of settler families with the large history of the colonisation of Aotearoa New Zealand. On the morning of 5 November 1881, an Irishman called Andrew Gilhooly formed up alongside other members of the Armed Constabulary at the entrance to Parihaka pā. He was there for the invasion, the occupation and — much later — for the farming of land taken from Taranaki iwi. But those events dropped out of the family stories handed down to Gilhooly’s descendants. In this presentation, Richard Shaw, one of those descendants, explores the possible reasons for and purposes of this historical amnesia, and discusses the entanglement of the small histories of settler families with the large history of the colonisation of Aotearoa New Zealand. He also discusses his book, The Unsettled: Small Stories of Colonisation (MUP, 2024), which features stories shared by New Zealanders who are trying to figure out how to live well with their own pasts, their presents and their possible futures explores the layered histories embedded in three landscapes in the city. Richard Shaw is a professor of politics at Massey University, where he teaches New Zealand politics and undertakes research on political advisers in the executive branch of government. His publications include The Edward Elgar Handbook on Ministerial and Political Advisers (2023) and Core Executives in a Comparative Context (with K. Koltveitt, 2022). His work has been published in journals such as Governance, Public Administration, Parliamentary Affairs, and Public Management Review. He is also the author of two books that address matters of memory and forgetting amongst settler families in Aotearoa New Zealand — The Forgotten Coast (2021) and The Unsettled: Small Stories of Colonisation (2024) — both published by Massey University Press. The talk was recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand on 1 May 2024, as part of the Public History Talks series, a collaboration between the Alexander Turnbull Library and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Download a transcript of this talk (PDF)

The new book Secret History: State Surveillance in New Zealand, 1900-1956 by Richard S Hill and Steven Loveridge (Auckland University Press, 2023) opens up the ‘secret world’ of security intelligence during a period in which counter-espionage and counter-subversion duties were primarily handled by the New Zealand Police Force. This is the first of two volumes chronicling the history of state surveillance in New Zealand. It is the story of the surveillers who – in times of war and peace, turmoil and tranquillity – monitored and analysed perceived threats to national interests. It is also the story of the surveilled: those whose association with organisations and movements led to their public and private lives being documented in secret files. Secret History explores a hidden and intriguing dimension of New Zealand history, one which sits uneasily with cherished national notions of an exceptionally fair and open society. At this session, recorded at the Stout Research Centre for New Zealand Studies at Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington in October 2023, the authors discussed the book’s revelations, methodology and implications with Malcolm McKinnon.  This was followed by a Q and A session with the audience. Speakers: Richard S. Hill is an Emeritus Professor at the Stout Research Centre. Among his outputs are four books in the History of Policing in New Zealand series, and two on Crown-Māori relations in the twentieth century. His co-authored book, Secret History, is the first of two volumes in a history of security intelligence in twentieth-century New Zealand. Steven Loveridge is an adjunct Research Associate at the Stout Research Centre. His published work includes some major studies of New Zealand society during the First World War, and work on diplomatic history and security intelligence. He is currently co-authoring the second volume in the history of security intelligence in twentieth-century New Zealand which will cover the 1956-2000 period. Malcolm McKinnon is an adjunct research associate in the School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations at Victoria University of Wellington Te Herenga Waka. He is the author of a number of works on the history of both New Zealand's foreign relations and its political economy. Download a transcript of this talk: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/secret-history-public-history-talk.pdf

Forced labour haunts the streets we walk today and the spaces we take for granted. From 1814 onwards, the unfree work of prisoners was used to forge roads, ports, buildings, harbour defences and other public works across New Zealand and its Pacific empire. Prisoners planted forests, cleared land and laboured on dairy farms. Their work was crucial to colonisation. Yet convict Australia and the myth of New Zealand exceptionalism has meant the history of prison labour has been largely overlooked. In this Public History Talk, Jared Davidson discussed his latest book, Blood and Dirt: Prison Labour and the Making of New Zealand (Bridget Williams Books, 2023). He charted the hidden history of prison labour across New Zealand's urban and rural landscapes and into the Pacific, as well the challenges of researching history from the bottom up. Jared Davidson is an archivist by day and an author by night, based in Lower Hutt. He is currently the Research Librarian Manuscripts at the Alexander Turnbull Library. Blood and Dirt is his fifth book. These free Public History Talks are a collaboration between the Alexander Turnbull Library and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. They are usually held on the first Wednesday of the month March to November. Download a transcript of this talk: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/jared-davidson-transcript.pdf

In this month's Public History Talk, the authors of two recently published books discussed the profound impact of closed stranger adoption in New Zealand and the drive for change. Closed stranger adoption under the 1955 Adoption Act, still in force today, has deeply affected thousands of New Zealanders. In their recent book Adopted: Loss, love, family and reunion (Massey University Press, 2022), Jo Willis and Brigs (Brigitta) Baker shared the complexity of their reunion journeys, the emotional challenges they faced, and the ongoing impacts of their adoptions, with candour and courage. The stories of their birthparents, partners and children and the physical and emotional toll of adoption on them are also heard.  Jo Wills joined us for this Public History Talk.  Anne Else and Maria Haenga-Collins’ comprehensive new eBook is A Question of Adoption: Closed Stranger Adoption in New Zealand 1944–1974 and Adoption, State Care, Donor Conception and Surrogacy 1975–2022 (Bridget Williams Books, 2023). It combines Anne’s original 1991 post-war adoption history with seven new chapters giving up-to-date accounts of state care, donor conception and surrogacy, alongside the ongoing story of adoption. Anne joined us for this talk. The conversation was led by Professor Bill Atkin, recently retired from Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington Law School. It was recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand on 28 August 2023. Some questions were submitted by audience members, and others were submitted online and read out by a staff member. These free Public History Talks are a collaboration between the Alexander Turnbull Library and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Download a transcript of this talk: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/adoption-panel-transcription.pdf An explanation of the changing legislation which governed closed adoption records in New Zealand was provided by Anne Else, and is available here: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/anne-else-closed-adoption-records.pdf --- If you have questions about closed adoption, these organisations can help: Adoption NZ is a support organisastion which provides advice for those impacted by adoption, including links to support groups, professional support, and advice about how to find records.Adoption New Zealand Community Law provides free legal help throughout New Zealand, and provides information about how to find adoption records.Community Law Manual: Adoption Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry for Children, provides information and support around finding your birth family.Oranga Tamariki: Finding your birth family

Paul Diamond's book, Downfall: The destruction of Charles Mackay, examines the startling ‘Whanganui Affair’ of 1920, when the mayor Charles Mackay, shot a young gay man, D'Arcy Cresswell. The affair and subsequent events reveal the perilous existence of homosexual men at that time and how society conspired to control and punish them. In 1920 New Zealanders were shocked by the news that the brilliant, well-connected mayor of Whanganui had shot a young gay poet, D'Arcy Cresswell, who was blackmailing him. They were then riveted by the trial that followed. Mackay was sentenced to hard labour and later left the country, only to be shot by a police sniper during street unrest in Berlin during the rise of the Nazis. Mackay had married into Whanganui high society, and the story has long been the town’s dark secret. The outcome of years of digging by historian Paul Diamond, Downfall: The destruction of Charles Mackay shines a clear light on the vengeful impulses behind the blackmail and Mackay’s ruination. At its heart, the Mackay affair reveals the perilous existence of homosexual men at that time and how society conspired to control and punish them. We recommend that you watch this presentation if you can on YouTube, so that you can see the images Paul discussed in his talk. Downfall: the destruction of Charles Mackay (YouTube) Since Paul gave this talk in December 2022, Duigan’s Buildings, in Whanganui, where the shooting took place, have been listed by Heritage New Zealand as a Category 1 History Place. Duigan's Buildings (Heritage New Zealand) This presentation was made at the National Library in December 2022.  Paul Diamond (Ngāti Hauā, Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi) has been Curator Māori, at the Alexander Turnbull Library since 2011. A journalist and broadcaster he is also the author of A Fire in Your Belly: Māori Leaders Speak (Huia, 2003), Makereti: taking Māori to the world (Random House, 2007) and Savaged to suit: Māori and cartooning in New Zealand (NZ Cartoon Archive, 2018). His latest book Downfall: The destruction of Charles Mackay was published by Massey University Press in November 2022. Download a transcript of this talk: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/paul-diamond-pht-transcript-2022-12-12.pdf

For more than 150 years, five carved panels that once formed the back wall of a pātaka, slept in a small swamp just north of Waitara. The carvings, which uri of Taranaki now call the Motunui Epa, emerged from their long sleep in 1971 setting off an extraordinary chain of events that would take them around the world and back again. In this talk, Dr Rachel Buchanan will discuss how unearthing the government records has changed the way she works as a historian, taking her much closer to the power of the underground and the sovereignty that exists, undiminished beneath our feet.  This work resulted in her book Te Motunui Epa (BWB Books, 2022). This talk was recorded on 15 May 2023 at the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa.  Dr Rachel Buchanan (Taranaki, Te Ātiawa) is the author of three books that explore Taranaki histories, including the invasion of Parihaka. Her new book, Te Motunui Epa (BWB Books, 2022), was shortlisted for the 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards in the illustrated non-fiction category. Along with Hana Buchanan and Debbie Broughton, Rachel is also member of Te Aro Pā poets. A former journalist, Rachel has also documented the collapse of newspapers in the history-memoir, Stop Press: the last days of newspapers. Download a transcript of this talk: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/new-lenses-history-talk-rachel-buchanan-transcript.pdf

In seeking to understand the terrorist attacks of March 2019, several commentators observed the similarities with the murder of an elderly Chinese man named Joe Kum Yung by Lionel Terry in 1905. It is tempting to draw a direct causal line between the two attacks, both as a concise way of framing an uncomfortable subject and as an emotional salve against the possibility that New Zealand’s radical right tradition is more than the occasional ‘lone wolf’. But this obscures far more than it explains. In this talk, historian Matthew Cunningham explores some of the many threads of New Zealand’s diverse radical right tradition between the murder of Joe Kum Yung and the rise of identitarianism and the alt-right. Drawing on his recent co-edited book, Histories of Hate, this talk suggests that the radical right is a diverse mix of ideas, ideologues, organisations, social clubs and political parties animated by different combinations of ideas in different ways and at different times. It also draws out some common themes across this disparate tradition in terms of ideology, structure, and political behaviour. Matthew Cunningham is an independent historian residing in Wellington, New Zealand. He has a diverse publication history, including books, edited collections, oral histories, peer-reviewed journal articles, Waitangi Tribunal commissioned research reports, Marine and Coastal Area reports, public history articles, and journalistic and general interest pieces. He is also a published children author. Download a transcript of this talk: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/transcript-matthew-cunningham-pht.pdf

In this podcast, Dr Lucy Mackintosh discusses aspects of her recently published book, Shifting Grounds: Deep Histories of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland (Bridget Williams Books, 2021), which explores the layered histories embedded in three landscapes in the city. Starting with rocks, lava flows, a grassy paddock, the remains of a garden, the site of a cottage, or a monument, the book examines the histories that unfolded in these places and connects them with the broader historical context of the city, the nation and the world. Lucy’s talk considers how histories told from particular places, at particular moments of time, opens up new stories and perspectives that can change the way we currently tend to think about the past and the present in urban spaces. Dr Lucy Mackintosh is a Senior Research Fellow, and formerly Curator of History, at Auckland War Memorial Museum. Her debut book Shifting Grounds: Deep Histories of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, drew extensively on the collections of the Alexander Turnbull library and other archives throughout New Zealand. The book was awarded the Ernest Scott Prize for History (co-winner), the ARANZ Ian Wards Prize and the NZSA Heritage Book Award for Non-Fiction in 2022.   The talk was recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand on 1 March 2023, as part of the Public History Talks series, a collaboration between the Alexander Turnbull Library and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage.  Download a transcript of this talk: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/lucy-mackintosh-talk transcript-2023.pdf

Katherine Mansfield was a New Zealand author of international renown. Her short stories and poetry have been translated into more than 25 languages and her work continues to have an impact one hundred years after her death in France in 1923.  Mansfield spent most of her adult life in Europe, working as a writer, editor, and critic, and living in various places, moving as fortune and misfortune decreed. Author Redmer Yska follows these movements in his new book, Katherine Mansfield's Europe: Station to Station. Using Mansfield’s letters and diaries as guides, he travels through Germany, France and Switzerland to the villas, pensions, hotels, spas, railway stations, churches, towns, beaches and cities where Mansfield wrote some of her finest stories. In this Public History Talk, recorded live in June 2023, Cherie Jacobson, Director of Katherine Mansfield House & Garden, interviewed Redmer about his new book. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the Alexander Turnbull Library and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Download a transcript of this talk: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/redmer-yska-and-cherie-jacobson-public-history-talk-june-2023.pdf

What can popular music tell us about a country and its culture? As the 2023 Lilburn Research Fellow, Nick Bollinger is looking at ways in which pop music in Aotearoa New Zealand has reflected, contradicted, and contributed to our national stories. In this talk he will offer a progress report on a few of his discoveries. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the Alexander Turnbull Library and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Recorded live on 3 May 2023. Download a transcript of this talk: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/nick-bollinger-transcript-may-2023.pdf

Cybèle Locke’s recently published biography of Bill Andersen, Comrade, examines labour activism, communism and social change, from the 1930s until the turn of the twenty-first century. This talk offers possibilities for how Bill Andersen’s Communist, working-class life might speak to us in the current moment. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the Alexander Turnbull Library and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Recorded live on 5 April 2023. Download a transcript of this talk: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/solidarity-and-the-right-to-strike-transcript.pdf

Brilliant, hardworking and creative, women architects have made many significant contributions to the built environment, creativity and community of Aotearoa New Zealand. A ground-breaking new book, Making Space, tells the story of women making space for themselves in a male-dominated profession while designing architectural, landscape and urban spaces over a century. Edited by Elizabeth Cox and written by 30 women architects, architectural historians and academics, the book’s bold, vivid chapters shine light on hundreds of remarkable women, including many whose careers have until now been lost to the historical record. Elizabeth and authors Divya Purushotham and Mary-Jane Duffy discuss the many challenges and triumphs of women architects in Aotearoa. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the Alexander Turnbull Library and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Recorded live on 2 November 2022. Download a transcript of this talk: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/making-space-transcript.pdf

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFAT) is a remarkable organisation that has represented New Zealand for more than 75 years. A new book, New Zealand’s Foreign Service: A History examines how MFAT (and its predecessors) responded to ever-evolving political and military allegiances, trade globalisation, economic threats, natural disasters and military conflict on behalf of a small nation that seeks to engage on the global stage while maintaining the principles that underpin its political institutions. Commissioning editor Ian McGibbon and two of the authors Steven Loveridge and Anita Perkins will discuss what is distinctive about MFAT's approach to diplomacy in New Zealand and globally, and reflect on the process of researching and writing the book. Facilitated by Malcolm McKinnon. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the Alexander Turnbull Library and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Recorded live on 12 October 2022. Download a transcript of this talk: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/transcript-mfat-pht-2022-10-12.pdf

This talk sketches Lake Tūtira’s history from formation to today. Historian Jonathan West will follow in the traces of Herbert Guthrie Smith, whose obsessive records of the changes witnessed while farming by the lake made him the founder of environmental history here. He will take his cue from Guthrie Smith’s first book’s opening lines: ‘The lake on Tutira may be considered the heart of the run. It is the centre of all the station’s life and energy.’ Guthrie Smith preserved the lake as a sanctuary for his beloved birds. But since the 1950s Lake Tūtira has faced problems – now posed much more widely – of invasive weeds, nutrient pollution, poisonous algal blooms, and mass fish kills. Jonathan will conclude considering the lessons its history provides for our future. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the Alexander Turnbull Library and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Recorded live on 6 July 2021. Download a transcript of this talk: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/transcript-jonathan-west-2022.pdf

It's over 40 years since the Working Women's Charter was adopted as policy by the New Zealand Federation of Labour. The 16-clause Charter demanded rights for women in all aspects of life and work, including equal pay; ending discrimination; education and health rights; improved working conditions; quality child care; family and parental leave, and reproductive rights. But persuading the male-dominated trade union movement to adopt the Charter wasn't an easy job. A panel of authors from the book Women Will Rise will trace the earlier working women's charters in New Zealand, and the work and organising done by trade union women and their supporters to achieve the Charter. Finally, a feminist historian of the generation following the 1970s Charter women reflects on their work. Songs from the period are included. The speakers are among 11 co-authors of the book Women Will Rise! Recalling the Working Women's Charter: Sue Kedgley is a women’s advocate, author of a recent memoir Fifty Years a Feminist, and a former Green MP. Hazel Armstrong worked for women's liberation and unions. She is a lawyer specialising in health, safety and ACC work. Therese O'Connell has been active (and singing) in unions and other social justice movements. Grace Millar is a feminist, unionist and historian, currently working for the Public Service Association. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the Alexander Turnbull Library and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Recorded live on 3 October 2021. Download a transcript of this talk: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/transcript-women-will-rise-2022.pdf

Māni Dunlop (Ngāpuhi) and Jamie Tahana (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Makino, Te Arawa) are journalists and national broadcasters who actively champion te reo Māori me nga tikanga Māori through their work. Māni was the first Māori journalist at RNZ to host a weekday show, while Jamie is one of RNZ’s youngest Māori News Directors. They began their careers as RNZ interns, Māni in 2011 and Jamie in 2014. Māni initially worked in the general newsroom focusing on housing and social issues. Jamie started at Radio New Zealand Pacific (formerly International) with a focus on climate change and political undulations. Now, they’re incredibly popular Māori broadcasters. Every week, more than 600,000 people listen to RNZ and in 2021 the listenership of Te Ao Māori shows increased 55%. Thousands of Twitter followers want to know what their ‘takes’ are, beyond the stories they write and produce to the public. For Mahuru Māori, Māni and Jamie spoke about their experiences, challenges, and triumphs of being at the front line of change in public radio. The past decade has seen dramatic changes in public radio, influenced by iwi radio, social media, politics, and pandemics. Today, these two young Māori journalists are now major decision-makers in the inclusion of Māori content and te reo Māori at a national level. Facilitated by Pou Matua Mātauranga Māori, Senior Historian Mātauranga Māori, Matariki Williams (Tūhoe, Ngāti Hauiti, Taranaki, Ngāti Whakaue). These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the Alexander Turnbull Library and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Recorded live at the Wellesley Boutique Hotel on 6 September 2022. Download a transcript of this talk:https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/transcript-mahuru-maori-2022-09-07.pdf

Liana MacDonald (Ngāti Kuia, Rangitāne o Wairau, Ngāti Koata) is a lecturer in the Faculty of Education, Victoria University of Wellington. She is interested in how racism, whiteness, and settler colonialism manifest in national institutions. In this talk, Liana focusses on two significant conflicts between mana whenua and British and settler militia during the early stages of the New Zealand Wars and how they are remembered today. Interviews reveal how the Wairau Affray (1843) is remembered differently by settler and Indigenous people from the Marlborough region. Researcher observations are the basis for thinking about how sites associated with the Battle of Boulcott's Farm (1846) reflect settler perspectives about the past. The research in this talk is part of a large-scale ethnographic study called He Taonga te Wareware? Remembering and Forgetting New Zealand’s Colonial Past.  These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the Alexander Turnbull Library and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Recorded live via Zoom, 1 June 2022. Download a transcript of this talk:https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/transcript-liana-macdonald-pht-2022-07-26.pdf

In September 2019, Hon Chris Hipkins announced Aotearoa New Zealand's histories would be taught in all schools and kura from 2022 (later extended to 2023). In this talk Dr Genaro Oliveira shared findings from a comprehensive survey of primary school teachers across the Manawatū region about history teaching at Years 1 to 6. Answers from the ten local schools corroborate the anecdotal evidence many teachers and people involved with primary education have known for a while: first, despite differences of approach, focus and depth, primary schools have already been teaching Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories long before the announcement and through creative and critical approaches; and second, despite prior experience teaching history, most teachers still lack confidence teaching New Zealand histories and welcome Professional Learning Development (PLDs). These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the Alexander Turnbull Library and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Recorded live via Zoom, 6 March 2022. Download a transcript of this talk: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/transcript-genaro-oliveira-pht 2022-07-01.pdf

In the 1940s radio played a central role in the life of the New Zealand household as a source of news and entertainment. Sound historian Sarah Johnston is researching radio during this era, particularly the role of our first radio war correspondents, who travelled with the New Zealand forces in North Africa, the Middle East, Italy and in the Pacific as mobile broadcasting units. Sarah outlines details she has uncovered in her research, including the way demand from listeners back home shaped the work of the broadcasting units. Her talk includes archived radio recordings from the era, courtesy of RNZ and Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. This talk is also available on YouTube. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the Alexander Turnbull Library and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Recorded live via Zoom, 5 May 2022. Download a transcript of this talk: https://nzhistory.govt.nz//files/pdfs/transcript-sarah-johnston-pht-2022-06-14.pdf

Please note: This talk contains material that may be distressing to some listeners, including the discussions of war crimes. If you wish to skip this discussion, it runs from 9:19 through to 16:36. Please take care of yourself, and if you don't think this talk is for you, no worries, and we hope you'll listen again soon. In this talk, military historians John Crawford and Matthew Buck talk about results from their recent research projects.  Over the last 35 years, John Crawford has written on many aspects of the history of the New Zealand Armed Forces and defence policy. His recent research into New Zealand’s campaigns against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War has uncovered several interesting aspects of New Zealand’s involvement in the Senussi Campaign, fought in Libya in 1915. John’s talk will focus on the Christmas Day attack on the Senussi forces, an under-researched episode in New Zealand’s military history thus far. Matthew Buck is Senior Advisor Heritage at the New Zealand Defence Force. His focus in recent months has been on veterans’ issues and the way in which the services of veterans were recognised following the two world wars. His work on how medals were distributed after the Second World War is just one aspect of this work. How this came to be a public policy issue lies at the heart of his presentation. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the Alexander Turnbull Library and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand, 3 November 2021. Download a transcript of this talk: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/transcipt-john-crawford-and-matthew-buck-2021-11-03.pdf

In this talk, Melani Anae, Associate Professor in Pacific Studies at the University of Auckland discusses aspects of her recent book, The Platform: the radical legacy of the Polynesian Panthers. In the book she writes, ‘Fifty years ago the Polynesian Panther Party began to shine a light on racism and oppressive systems, and we made small changes. But these small changes were and are so much greater than the sum of their parts; they are writ large by the liberating education some of us are still involved in and the snowballing effect it has.’ The book is both deeply personal and highly political and recalls the radical activism of Auckland’s Polynesian Panthers. In solidarity with the US Black Panther Party, the Polynesian Panthers were founded in response to the racist treatment of Pacific Islanders in the era of the Dawn Raids. Central to the group’s philosophy was a three-point ‘platform’ of peaceful resistance, Pacific empowerment and educating New Zealand about persistent and systemic racism. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand, 6 August 2021. Download a transcript of this talk: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/melani-anae-transcript.pdf

In this talk author Brent Coutts discusses his recently published book, Crossing the Lines, a history of New Zealand homosexual soldiers in the Second World War. While he uncovered fifty homosexual men who served in the military during the war, his research focused on Ralph Dyer, Douglas Morison, and Harold Robinson, three men who were female impersonators in the Pacific Kiwi Concert Party and Tui Concert Party. Coutts discusses their lives before, during, and after the war, and how he uncovered this new historical narrative which enriches our understanding of the New Zealand soldier experience during this conflict. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand, 7 July 2021. Download a transcript of this talk: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/brent-coutts-transcript.pdf

In this talk, historian Ryan Bodman explores the value of social media as a 21st century history-research tool. Over the past five years, Ryan has been researching and writing Rugby League: A New Zealand History, which is a social and cultural history of the football code in New Zealand. As part of this project, he has developed a social media account under the same name, which promotes public engagement with his research outputs and has brought a collaborative component to his research process. In this talk, Ryan will explore the use of social media in the development of his book, paying particular attention to the value of social media to academic historians seeking to engage with people from outside of the university-setting. The monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand, 2 June 2021. Download a transcript of this talk: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/ryan-bodman-transcript-june-2021.pdf

In this talk, Nigel Robson, author of Our first foreign war (Massey University Press, 2021), examines opposition within New Zealand to the South African War 1899–1902. At a time when patriotic fervour engulfed the country, those who questioned British actions in South Africa, or criticised the widespread support for the conflict that characterized New Zealand’s response, risked public vilification and being labelled a ‘pro-Boer’. From J. Grattan Grey, the Hansard chief reporter who described the ‘wave of imperialism’ sweeping Australasia in the New York Times, to Charlotte Bewicke, who raised funds for sick and injured Boers, dissenters who publicly voiced opposition to the war displayed both determination and fortitude. The monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand, 5 May 2021. Download a transcript of this talk: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/Nigel-Robson-transcript_history-talk_5-May-2021.pdf

What happens when a pandemic hits and the country is locked down? How can we help keep New Zealanders connected? In collaboration with Sue Berman, Principal Oral History Advisor Auckland Libraries, staff at Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage got on Zoom and hatched a plan to use free online software to encourage nine oral historians from various communities around the country to collect short oral histories with our support. Thirty-five stories with Ngāti Porou, LGBTQI community members, rural Pākehā, health workers, musicians, young Mums, Pacific Island New Zealanders, Northland community workers and Chinese New Zealanders were the result. In this talk Tuaratini will discuss her involvement in the project as a community interviewer, while radio producer and journalist Teresa Cowie will describe her experience working on the creative output of the oral histories. The resulting weekly podcast series, ‘Kei roto i te miru: inside the bubble’, launched on 25 March this year based on the interviews undertaken during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

In this Public History Talk, co-editor and a writer for City at the Centre: A History of Palmerston North Margaret Tennant will discuss the dilemmas faced by its editors and the question of audience for such a volume: whether to take a thematic, ‘slice’ or chronological approach, how much to assume in terms of local knowledge, and whether to link with a commemorative event.  City at the Centre evolved with the knowledge of other, complementary forms of story-telling about place, but also against perceptions of Palmerston North as ‘boring’ and less significant than the four main centres. How much history is obliged to become promotion becomes an issue. And, as with any publication, there are always the things which would have been done differently with hindsight. Pulled together during the 2020 Covid lockdown, City at the Centre was published in October 2020. In a previous life Margaret Tennant lectured in history at Massey University, her special interests the history of women, of health and of social policy.  She has more recently focused on local history, and is on the PHANZA national committee. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand, 3 March 2020.

‘He Pukapuka Tātaku i ngā Mahi a Te Rauparaha Nui’ is a 50,000-word account of Te Rauparaha’s life written by his son Tamihana Te Rauparaha in the late 1860s. A rich source of Ngāti Toa history, language and culture, it offers fascinating insights into traditional Māori society and the tumultuous history of the 1820s and 1830s. This was an era characterised by intertribal conflict and the redrawing of the tribal map of Aotearoa, as well as by early encounters between Māori and Europeans that were largely conducted on Māori terms. Tamihana’s account of his father’s life has now been published in full for the first time in a parallel Māori/English edition. In this talk, the book’s translator and editor Ross Calman will discuss the historical context that led to the creation of Tamihana’s manuscript, give an overview of how the manuscript has been represented by various writers and translators over the past 150 years and describe some of the challenges he faced in interpreting the manuscript for a modern audience. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand, 2 December 2020. See also  Te Rauparaha: Kei Wareware podcast series

Today, te reo Māori is recognised as an important part of New Zealand culture and identity. But things were not always so hopeful for the language. By the 1970s, te reo Māori was on the verge of extinction. The long journey of revitalisation has been marked with many challenges and many victories. Part of the journey was taking Wai 11, the te reo Māori claim, to the Waitangi Tribunal. The resulting report confirmed te reo Māori was a taonga the Crown had to actively protect and contributed to te reo Māori being made an official language in 1987. Te reo Māori champions Piripi Walker and Justice Joe Williams speak about their own journeys in language revitalisation and the wider movement across the country. A facilitated discussion with Dr Vincent Olsen-Reeder follows. This talk is in support of the new Te Mana O Te Reo Māori online story, part of Te Tai Treaty Settlement Stories, a programme initiated by Manatū Taonga which aims to enhance understanding of the past by exploring Treaty settlements and their enduring impact. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand, 4 November 2020.

When German-Jewish refugees arrived in New Zealand in the 1930s fleeing Hitler’s Europe, they brought everything they could from their former homes: furniture, luggage, personal documents, musical instruments, artwork, books, silverware, linen, a typewriter. Some of these humble and remarkable domestic objects survive today, a few in public heritage collections; most in the private family homes of descendants. But while the Jewish refugee migration story is well known, less so is the story of those objects. In this talk, Louisa Hormann shares findings from a research project exploring the relationships between Holocaust survivor refugee families, their descendants, and the material objects they have inherited. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand, 7 October 2020.

Angela Wanhalla (Kāi Tahu), is an associate professor in the History Programme, University of Otago. She teaches and writes about New Zealand history and is currently involved in a collaborative research project on the histories and legacies of the Māori home front during the Second World War. In this Public History Talk Angela Wanhalla looks at the recruitment of Māori women into the auxiliary services, why they joined, and how their wartime service impacted on their post-war lives. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand, 2 September 2020.

Inside the Bubble : Kei Roto i te Miru is a collection of human stories recorded during Covid-19 lockdown in Aotearoa New Zealand. Oral historians worked in partnership with Ngā Pātaka Kōrero Auckland Libraries and Manatu Taonga to collect, create and conserve viewpoints from around the country. Oral historian Will Hansen interviewed his flatmate Jack Hitchcox on ‘Queerintine’; living in an all queer flat during lockdown, being a frontline health worker, making art, watching films, reading books, transitioning, coming out to family and friends and future plans. For further information or support check out InsideOut or Rainbow Youth Transcript of this talk:https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/documents/jacks-story-transcript.pdf

How do we write a history of caring? This became a central question for Barbara Brookes, Professor of History at the University of Otago in writing 'A History of New Zealand Women'. There have been major transitions in the locus of care over time. In the early twentieth century, for example, unmarried daughters might be expected to care for their parents in old age. In the mid-twentieth century, married women with children were expected to care for them. The care of children and the elderly, expected in the past to be the responsibility of families and to take place in family homes, or benevolent or church institutions, might now take place in a commercial context. In the twenty-first century, such caring – both for the elderly and the young – may be part of the market economy. This talk will consider the changing landscapes of care and their implications in the twenty-first century. Recorded at the National Library of New Zealand, 2 August 2017.

How do we capture the flurry of activity, the frenetic movement of people and goods, the routines and ruptures that shape individuals’ everyday experiences and the spaces in which they live? How do we write a history of domestic space, and what are the benefits of such an endeavour for the social or cultural historian? In this talk, Dr Katie Cooper will address these questions offering a peek through the window of New Zealand’s rural kitchens.Dr Cooper is curator of colonial histories at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Her doctoral research, completed in 2016, examined the history of rural New Zealand to 1940, focusing on rural food ways and the kitchen as a functional and social space in rural homes. Recorded at the National Library of New Zealand, 1 July 2017.

One hundred years ago in June 1917, the New Zealand Pioneer Battalion was toiling in the war torn environment around Messines in Belgium. The Pioneers had over a year’s experience as a mixed-race battalion (i.e. Maori, Pakeha and Pacific Islanders) and before that as the Maori Contingent and Otago Mounted Rifles Regiment at Gallipoli. In this talk - Historian Monty Soutar, (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Ngai Tai) presents a recently delivered paper from the Myriad Faces of War Conference at Te Papa. It invites the audience to contemplate the development of three processes and their results during 1917, so that they may understand the Maori situation after the First World War. It also includes waiata by Tā Apirana Ngata sung live by Hine Parata Walker, Te Mihinga Tukariri and Te Aniwa Nelson. Recorded at the National Library of New Zealand, 7 June 2017.

The government recently announced a proposal to make more of our rivers ‘swimmable' by 2040 – it has attracted significant controversy, demonstrating the level of concern about the state of our rivers among ordinary New Zealanders. In this talk, Catherine Knight, author of New Zealand’s Rivers: An environmental history, will provide important context to this debate by exploring some of our complex – and often conflicted – history with rivers since humans first settled in Aotearoa New Zealand. She will argue that knowing our history is an important foundation to forging a better future, both in terms of our environment and our socioeconomic wellbeing. Catherine is an environmental historian. New Zealand’s Rivers: An environmental history (Canterbury University Press, 2016) has been longlisted for the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2017 and was selected as one of the Listener’s Best Books for 2016. Her previous book, Ravaged Beauty: An environmental history of the Manawatu (Dunmore Press, 2014), won the J.M. Sherrard major award for excellence in regional and local history, and Palmerston North Heritage Trust’s inaugural award for the best work of history relating to the Manawatu. Catherine is a policy and communications consultant and lives with her family on a small farmlet in the Manawatu, where they are restoring the totara forest. Introduction by Chief Historian Neil Atkinson. Recorded at the National Library of New Zealand, 3 April 2017.

In this presentation Ben Schrader offers some reflections on the writing of his recent book The Big Smoke: New Zealand Cities, 1840-1920 (Bridget Williams Books, Wellington, 2016).Why did he write the book and how did he go about it?  What were the challenges and rewards of writing a broad story in a narrowly researched field?  He then reveals some of the most important findings from the project and suggests ways they increase our understanding of New Zealand’s past.  Finally, he ponders how the work might shape future research. Might, for example, his focus on the lived experience of city dwellers suggest social history is making a long-awaited comeback? Recorded at the National Library of New Zealand, 5 April 2017.

The Treaty of Waitangi struck a bargain between two parties - the Crown and Māori. Its promises of security however, were followed from 1845 to 1872 by a series of volatile and bloody conflicts commonly known as the New Zealand Wars. Many people believe that these wars were fought solely between the Crown and Maori, when the reality is Maori aligned with both sides, resulting in three participants from differing viewpoints. In this episode, lawyer and writer Ron Crosby discusses his most recent book, Kūpapa.Introduction by Chief Historian Neil Atkinson. Recorded at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, 7 October 2015.

Tom Brooking is Professor of History at the University of Otago. He specialises in New Zealand rural and environmental history, political history and historical links between New Zealand and Scotland. He is an author, co author and biographer of numerous books and publications, including the 2014 biography: Richard Seddon King of God's Own. Although he was no saint Seddon was a far more complex and multi-faceted character than the often rather one-dimensional revisionist portraits within our historical literature. In this presentation, Tom Brooking will attempt to explain how he tried to challenge this increasingly orthodox view by attempting to understand Seddon according to the values of his own times rather than condemning him from a comfortable, presentist distance. Introduction by Chief Historian Neil Atkinson. Recorded at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, 2 September 2015.

Steven Loveridge holds a PhD in history from Victoria University of Wellington and has researched, taught and written on various aspects of the First World War. This talk explores the dynamics of the mobilisation process and considers what it might add to our comprehension of wartime New Zealand. Introduction by Senior Historian Gavin McLean, and recorded at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, 6 August 2015.

Dr Grant Morris is a Senior Lecturer in Law at Victoria University of Wellington. In this podcast he explores James Prendergast, the most infamous figure in New Zealand’s legal history. Known mainly for his condemnation of the Treaty of Waitangi as “a simple nullity” in 1877, Prendergast was a highly respected lawyer and judge and his good reputation remained intact until the 1980s, when the Treaty of Waitangi finally returned to the centre of New Zealand political life. The more the Treaty has been celebrated, the more Prendergast has been condemned. Who was this legal villain? Was he really a villain at all? Introduciton by Chief Historian Neil Atkinson, and recorded at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, 1 July 2015.

This presentation by Andrew Francis discusses a still under-researched aspect of New Zealand’s war on the home front. It assesses the government, press and public’s conduct interwoven with Germans settlers’ wartime experiences. It considers the government’s task in attempting to safeguard the dominion’s security while remaining fair and just to New Zealand’s German communities; it analyses the role of the press, in particular those who fostered an increasingly hostile anti-German spirit; and it discusses the extent to which the public’s reaction to the ‘enemy in our midst’ was both a pseudo-patriotic response to wartime conditions and the culmination of an anti-foreigner campaign developed throughout the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Introduction by Imelda Bargas, Senior Historian at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Recorded at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, 3 June 2015.

Imelda Bargas and Tim Shoebridge are Senior Historians in the Ministry for Culture and Heritage's History Group. In this talk Imelda and Tim will explain how they came to work on their book, New Zealand's First World War Heritage and some of the challenges they faced putting it together. They'll also explore the themes covered in the book, using some of their favourite stories and sites. Recorded at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, 6 May 2015.

Dame Margaret Sparrow has had a long career in general and reproductive health. She was awarded an MBE in 1987, the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal in 1993, and the DCNZM for services to medicine and the community in 2002, which in 2009 became a DNZM. The women who had abortions in 19th century New Zealand are all long dead and little is known of their shortened lives. Most of what we know about them comes from coroners’ reports and newspaper accounts, and in many cases we know more about the abortionists than the women themselves. Those who survived had engaged in criminal activity so they were unlikely to talk about it.  Abortion was not written about or mentioned in their correspondence to family and friends.  The information we have is biased towards events with a tragic ending but even this gives us some insight into the lives of ordinary women.  At a time when contraception was frowned upon by the medical profession women obtained abortions by whatever means they could, despite the dangers of poisoning, haemorrhage and infection. Abortionists did their work despite the threat of long prison sentences. Recorded at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, 1 April 2015. Introduction by Neil Atkinson of the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Historian Margaret Pointer discusses why 150 Niueans were accepted for service in the Māori Contingent, their experiences in Auckland, Egypt France and England and what life was lie for the men returning home. Recorded at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, 6 August 2014.

Lecturer in History at the University of Auckland, Aroha Harris (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi) talks about new perspectives on Māori history. Her latest book 'Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History' is a collaboration between Harris, Judith Binney and Atholl Anderson and is published by Bridget Williams Books. Recorded at Ministry for Culture and Heritage, 4 March 2015. Introduction by Ripeka Evans.

Recorded on 5 November 2014. Historian Matthew Wright discusses his recent publication on the chequered history of coal.

Kate Hunter and Kirstie Ross discuss their recent publication Holding On To Home: New Zealand Stories and Objects of the First World War. Recorded at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, 1 October 2014.

Recorded on 3 September 2014. Language expert Dianne Bardsley discusses geographic and social conditions that have produced the distinctive form of New Zealand English.

In this recording from 2 July 2014 Jim McAloon, Associate Professor of History, Victoria University, sheds light on the perceptions, ideas, and competing interests which shaped the views and actions of ministers and officials in managing a small externally dependent economy in the decades following the Second World War.

In this talk recorded on 4 June 2014 Nancy Swarbrick discusses pet culture in New Zealand in the context of the international movement that began in the nineteenth century and still resonates today .

Seminar presented by Malcolm McKinnon at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage on 2 April 2014. In this talk Malcolm McKinnon discusses ways in which a trans-Tasman frame of reference expands our understanding of the economic depression in 1930s New Zealand. Investors moved their money, workers their labour, politicians their laws and economists their advice back and forth across the Tasman. Malcolm McKinnon is a Wellington historian who is working on a study of the 1930s depression in New Zealand. He is a former writer and theme editor for Te Ara, was the editor of the New Zealand historical atlas (1997) and has published books on New Zealand foreign relations, immigration history and economic history.

Seminar presented by Dr Jarrod Gilbert at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage on 5 March 2014. Rape, murder, violence and drugs: gangs are synonymous with them all. Despite having a significant presence in New Zealand since the 1950s, though, our gangs have been under-researched and remain poorly understood. One reason for this is the difficulty of doing fieldwork. This seminar looks at the problems of researching gangs, but also the problems encountered when research findings clash with popular and official understandings. Between 2002 and 2010 Jarrod Gilbert undertook the most comprehensive study ever done on gangs in New Zealand, and in 2013 he published Patched: The History of Gangs in New Zealand. Patched won the Peoples Choice category at the 2013 New Zealand Post Book Awards and was a finalist for best non-fiction book.Jarrod lectures at the University of Canterbury and is the lead researcher at Independent Research Solutions. He is currently working on a book titled Murder: A New Zealand History.

Seminar presented by historian Gavin McLean at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage on 6 November 2013. In 1915 the New Zealand government converted the liners Maheno and Marama into state-of-the art floating hospitals. Fitted out partly with funds raised by high profile public appeals, the ships had a busy war, eventually carrying 47,000 people. Painted distinctively in accordance with international requirements, they were the public face of our merchant marine's war, with the Maheno's crew making a direct civilian contribution to the Gallipoli campaign. Not everything went according to plan. There were tensions between the governor and ministers and shipboard disputes between army officers and mariners and between doctors and nurses. The political left also muttered about profiteering by the Union Steam Ship Company. Come along and hear the story of New Zealand's white ships.Gavin McLean is a senior historian in the History Group of the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. He is about to start on writing a book on New Zealand's First World War at sea.

Seminar presented by historian Peter Clayworth at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage on 2 October 2013.  The Great Strike of 1913 was one of the largest and most disruptive in New Zealand’s history. From October 1913 to January 1914 a strike wave swept across the country, involving about 14,000 workers, hundreds of police and thousands of special constables. In this talk Peter Clayworth gives an overview of the strike, with a closer look at events in Wellington. He examines some of the questions the events of 1913 raise concerning the nature of New Zealand society on the eve of the Great War. Peter also briefly discusses events being organised to commemorate the strike centennial.Peter works as a writer for Te Ara the encyclopedia of New Zealand. He has a PhD in history from the University of Otago. He is a committee member of the Labour History Project and is currently involved in organising a series of commemorative events for the centennial of the 1913 strike. He is also working on a biography of Red Fed leader Pat Hickey. Peter hails from a family of mechanics in Stoke, Nelson, and is descended from a long line of West Coasters.

Seminar presented by historians Chris Maclean and Shaun Barnett at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage on 4 September 2013.  Introduced by Jock PhillipsNew Zealand offers some of finest tramping anywhere with some of the most striking scenery on the planet, arguably the best hut and track network in the world, a small population, no dangerous wild animals, poisonous snakes or toxic spiders, good access, 14 national parks, 19 forest parks, 10 conservation parks, and no entry fees. Around these attributes a uniquely New Zealand culture of tramping has developed, reflecting broader national characteristics. In this presentation we will talk about the history of tramping in New Zealand, and also about the process of researching and writing a book on the subject.Shaun Barnett began tramping as a teenager in Hawke's Bay during the 1980s and has since tramped extensively around New Zealand and also overseas. In 1996, he became a full-time outdoors writer and photographer. He edited Wilderness magazine for three years, has authored several tramping guidebooks, and served on the Federated Mountain Clubs executive for nearly 10 years. Shaun's most recent book, Shelter from the Storm, The Story of New Zealand's Backcountry Huts, co-authored with Rob Brown and Geoff Spearpoint, is a finalist at this year's NZ Post Book Awards.Chris Maclean graduated from Victoria University with a B.A. in History, and has since made a career out of writing historical books. His book Tararua, highlighted the history of a previously underrated mountain range, while his subsequent book Kapiti won a Montana Book Award in 2000. A keen tramper and sea kayaker, Chris has wide experience of the New Zealand outdoors, and his most recent book Stag Spooner, Wild Man from the Bush, is also a finalist at this year's NZ Post Book Awards.

Seminar presented by historian Margaret Tennant at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage on 3 July 2013. While writing an institutional history requires attention to the framework of the organisation itself, its membership, leadership and changes over time, it invariably provides a lens into broader historical themes and how they are played out within particular local and national frameworks. In the case of the New Zealand Red Cross, we have the example of a transnational organisation which, in New Zealand, emerged within an imperial framework, but operated in minutely local contexts - it links with the history of high diplomacy and nation states, but equally embraces the iconographic wartime sock knitter, the home nursing class, neighbourly social caring and school-room pen pals. The wide range of activities undertaken by the Red Cross during its history sheds light on such areas as disaster relief, children's voluntarism, the militarisation of charity, the business of fundraising, the policing of professional boundaries and the relationship between government and non-profit formations. Margaret's presentation will explore some of these themes while commenting on the tension between the requirements of a conventional, largely chronological institutional history and the desire to 'dig deeper' in pursuit of wider historical questions.Margaret Tennant was formerly Professor of History at Massey University, and is currently working as a contract historian. Margaret is the author of The Fabric of Welfare. Voluntary Organisations, Government and Welfare in New Zealand 1840-2005, Children's Health, the Nation's Wealth, and numerous articles on women's history and the history of health and welfare in New Zealand, the most recent being 'Fun and Fundraising: the Selling of Charity in New Zealand's Past' (Social History, 2013).

Seminar presented at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage on 3 July 2013 Coast is a novel from David Young after some decades as a writer of non-fiction, particularly in the field of history and environment. Exploring the effects of two world wars on three generations of men from the same family, Coast is also a meditation on the power of landscape. The east coast of Kincardineshire, Scotland and the North Island’s Rangitikei coastline where a Scots community endures even today, anchor this story in psychological, as well as physical, reality. Told from the standpoints of the three related key characters, the narrative unfolds a male social history spanning much of the twentieth century. It embraces issues of identity, belonging and connection to place. Kin and romantic love, matters of class, the Depression, active service abroad – first on the Western Front, then through the air war in the Pacific – and of family life, reach out beyond Pakeha concerns to the circularity of history and the tangata whenua. The question of how much the writer brings to his fiction from his previous historical endeavours and from his own life is explored in this talk. The author’s history of conservation in New Zealand, Our Islands Our Selves, his Whanganui River book, Woven by Water, and even his first book, Faces of the River, played a part in the genesis of this work. So too did oral and documentary historical research.

Seminar delivered by Gerald Hensley at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, 5 June 2013. In 1984 the anti-nuclear policy of the newly elected Labour Government collided with the United States policy of nuclear deterrence. It led to the rebuff of a US naval visit and after two years in which tempers rose and diplomacy struggled with David Lange's free-wheeling press conferences, the standoff ended in New Zealand's suspension from the ANZUS alliance. In his talk Gerald Hensley, who was one of the participants, draws on interviews and classified files in New Zealand, the US, Australia and the United Kingdom to look at how this came about and how the clash of powerful personalities shifted the foundations of New Zealand's foreign policy. Gerald Hensley was trained as an historian. He served as a diplomat for twenty years before becoming Head of the Prime Minister's Department under both Sir Robert Muldoon and David Lange, and subsequently Secretary of Defence.

Part of the Public Service Act centenary series, this talk by Prof. Peter Hughes, School of Government was presented on 30 October 2012. The talk is introduced by Lewis Holden, CEO of Manatū Tanoga - the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

Part of the Public Service Act centenary series, this talk by Prof. Jonathon Boston, Institute of Governance and Policy Studies was presented on 23 October 2012.

Talk by John R. Martin, IPANZ Fellow, presented on 16 October 2012.

Talk by Dr. John E. Martin, Parliamentary Historian on 8 October 2012.  This is the first in the IPANZ series of talks marking the centenary of the Public Service Act.

In 1929 Charles Mackay, a former mayor of Wanganui bled to death on a Berlin street corner – a victim of violent clashes between police and Communist protesters. How did he get there? An earlier incident triggered Mackay’s tragic trajectory: in 1920 he shot the returned soldier-cum-writer Walter D’Arcy Cresswell, who was blackmailing the (secretly homosexual) mayor. Paul Diamond’s research into the events surrounding both shootings has uncovered new information about this hidden aspect of New Zealand history. Seminar presented by Paul Diamond, 7 September 2011.

Belgian historian Charlotte Descamps, who has lived her whole life in the First World War battlefields of the Ypres Salient, talks about her experiences at Varlet Farm, how evidence of the conflict is unearthed every year, how modern technology is helping to identify human remains almost a century after the war, the ‘iron harvest’ in the Salient (over 200 tons of live ammunition is still collected very year) and the work of the bomb disposal squad, how other items like helmets, rifles, rum jars, badges, buckles and silent pickets help tell the history of the area, and the ongoing research efforts to locate tunnels, ammunition dumps and dugouts. This seminar was presented on 1 August 2012.  You can also download the associated slides for this talk (4mb, pdf)

Redmer Yska recalls his involvement with 'NZ Truth' newspaper over three decades: first, as a journalist, second as a historical researcher, and lastly as its biographer, resulting in the 2010 book NZ Truth: the Rise and Fall of the People's Paper. This seminar was presented on 5 October 2011.

Dr Joanne Drayton discusses her biography of crime writer Anne Perry, better known in New Zealand as the convicted muderer Juliet Hulme. On 22 June 1954, Juliet Hulme and her friend Pauline Parker, set out for an afternoon in Victoria Park, Christchurch with Pauline’s mother, Honora Parker. For Honora, the walk ended with her murder. Juliet and Pauline were subsequently tried in a sensational court case that was widely covered by the press in New Zealand and overseas. Having been found guilty, Juliet spent five and a half years in prison. On her release she changed her name, left New Zealand and disappeared from view. Then Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures (1994) changed everything. With interest in the murder reignited, journalists managed to track down Juliet Hulme, who was now living under the name of Anne Perry – and leading a successful life as a bestselling crime fiction writer (she’s sold more than 25 million copies of her books). While Anne’s identity has been revealed to the world for some years now, she has never spoken to a biographer about her life in-depth. However, in a ground-breaking move, the famously private Perry agreed to be interviewed by Joanne Drayton, allowing her unparalleled access to her friends, relatives, colleagues and archives. This unique access has resulted in the first comprehensive biography of Anne Perry, bringing together the two somewhat incompatible lives of Juliet Hulme the murderer, and Anne Perry the bestselling author in a literary biography with a twist. This seminar was presented on 5 September 2012.

How do we remember the past? What place do colonial memorials have in public spaces? How can we better represent diverse histories in the landscape? In this first Public History Talk for 2020, Professor of Māori education at Victoria University, Joanna Kidman hosts a panel to discuss these issues and offer a facilitated conversation with the public on colonial memorials, history and memory. About the panelists: Morrie Love (Te Atiawa ki te Upoko o te Ika a Mauī, Taranaki, Ngati Ruanui) is Director Raukura Consultants, a writer and historian. Nicky Karu (Hauraki: Paeroa and Thames Coast) Tira Poutama Iwi Partnerships. Ewan Morris (Pākehā) is a historian with an interest in public memory and cultural contestation over symbols. These free Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand https://natlib.govt.nz/ and Manatū Taonga/Ministry for Culture and Heritage https://mch.govt.nz/ Recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand, 15 July, 2020.

In this talk, authors Stephanie Gibson, Matariki Williams and Puawai Cairns will provide insights into the stories and objects that fill the recent publication ‘Protest Tautohetohe: Objects of Resistance, Persistence and Defiance’, their material history of activism in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Since 2010, the small town of Wairoa on the East Coast of New Zealand has been at the centre of the most bitter and protracted industrial dispute in New Zealand’s recent history. The agri-business giant, Talley’s Group, took over the town’s meat plant in 2010 and commenced a campaign to ‘draw the line on union influence’. Drawing on oral histories, this talk by Ross Webb focuses on the campaign by meat workers to save their union, the sacrifices involved, and the legacy of three successive lockouts on workers and the community. Ross Webb is an historian with an interest in labour history. He is currently a PhD candidate at Victoria University, Wellington. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand https://natlib.govt.nz/ and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage https://mch.govt.nz/. Recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand, 2 October 2019.

From Porgy and Bess to haka, to Elsdon Best and Tuini Ngāwai, Pūkana will range far and wide to give a sense of the ihi, wehi and wana, inherent to Maori performance. Paul Diamond is lead curator for the Pūkana exhibition, and talks about the background to the exhibition which celebrates Māori performance across time. Paul (Ngāti Hauā, Te Rarawa and Ngāpuhi) was appointed as Curator, Māori at the Alexander Turnbull Library in 2011. He is an author and has also worked as an oral historian and broadcaster. Pūkana opens on 14 September, 2019 and runs until 23 May 2020 at the National Library of New Zealand, in Wellington New Zealand. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand https://natlib.govt.nz/ and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage https://mch.govt.nz/. Recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand, 4 September 2019. Please note, due to copyright restrictions, some of  the audio and video excerpts played during the presentation are not able to be republished and the presentation has been edited to reflect this.

In a career that spans more than 30 books, time as a librarian, radio producer and screenwriter, Wellington writer Dame Fiona Kidman also claimed New Zealand's most prestigious literary prize in 2019. At the 51st Ockham Book Awards. This Mortal Boy was awarded the Acorn Foundation's Prize for Fiction. In this Public History Talk, Dame Fiona talks about her latest work which explores one of New Zealand's last executions, and the events that followed. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand https://natlib.govt.nz/ and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage https://mch.govt.nz/.  Recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand, 7 August 2019.

The Tararua Tramping Club (TTC) was founded in 1919. At that time, most people in New Zealand viewed tramping as an odd form of recreation, but today tramping has become one of New Zealand’s most popular leisure pursuits. The club also fostered climbing, embraced skiing and encouraged women to participate in all these activities. And its leaders encouraged the formation of other clubs throughout the country. In this presentation, freelance writer and photographer Shaun Barnett and author Chris Maclean will explore the context of 100 years of organised tramping in New Zealand, how the club formed, why it was a success and how it set a model for other clubs to follow. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand https://natlib.govt.nz/ and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage https://mch.govt.nz/. Recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand, 3 July 2019.

In our 50th episode, ‘The Hidden Women of the Public Stage: Women in New Zealand orchestras at the turn of the twentieth century’, Inge van Rij, Associate Professor of Musicology at Victoria University of Wellington, explores the paradoxical position of women in New Zealand’s early orchestral history. Focusing on two New Zealand exhibition orchestras (from 1889 and 1906), and contextualising them in relation to the women’s suffrage movement and representations of Maori culture, her talk aims to render visible the experiences of women whose presence on the public stage has long been overlooked. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand https://natlib.govt.nz/ and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage https://mch.govt.nz/. Recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand, 1 May 2019.

In this presentation, oral historian, writer and editor Caren Wilton talks about using oral history – ‘history from below’ – to document what can seem to be a secret or hidden world, and telling stories that are both extraordinary and ordinary.   Her book 'My Body, My Business: New Zealand sex workers in an era of change’ is a collection of intimate portraits of New Zealand sex workers, based on her series of oral-history interviews carried out over a nine-year period. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand https://natlib.govt.nz/ and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage https://mch.govt.nz/. Recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand, 3 April 2019.

New Zealand, an island nation, the sea surrounds us. Both barrier and highway, it was the only way for people, goods and ideas to come to this country for hundreds of years. In this first Public History Talk for 2019, Sarah Ell, author of the book 'Ocean: tales of voyaging and encounter that defined New Zealand', explores the relationship between our peoples and the sea, from the earliest Polynesian voyagers to explorers and entrepreneurs, immigrants and environmentalists. https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/ocean-9780143772675 These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand https://natlib.govt.nz/ and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage https://mch.govt.nz/. Recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand, 6 March 2019.

Soon after the opening of Old St Paul’s church in Mulgrave Street, Wellington, in 1866, Charles Abraham, the first Anglican Bishop of Wellington, said of the church that it was ‘a very handsome building of wood, and the interior is a great success. Being built of tōtara, it may last, unless some accident occurs to it, several centuries’. However, less than a century later, the future of the church was under threat, as the Wellington Anglican authorities, at the time building a large new cathedral in nearby Molesworth Street, contemplated what do to with Old St Paul’s when its congregation moved to the new building. The ensuing battle to save the church - which lasted over a decade - tested New Zealander’s understandings of heritage, community value, private property rights and spirituality. In this Public History talk about the heritage battle to save Old St Paul’s, historian Elizabeth Cox will focus on this period of crisis in the 1950s and 1960s, when Wellington was divided over the future of the church, and follow the efforts of those trying to decide its future. Elizabeth is a Wellington historian and heritage consultant, and a Senior Historian at the Ministry for Culture & Heritage. Her book A Friend Indeed: The Saving of Old St Paul’s was published earlier this year, and she writes about the social history of Wellington, through the lens of Old St Paul’s, on her blog www.osphistory.org She also blogs about Wellington heritage issues at www.bayheritage.co.nz/heritage-blog/ These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand https://natlib.govt.nz/ and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage https://mch.govt.nz/. Recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand, 7 November 2018.

In October 1918 the SS Talune was permitted to leave Auckland bound for Fiji and Polynesia, even though the ship's master knew that influenza was rife in the city and that there were sick on board ship when it left port. The state of the ship was also known prior to its arrival in many of its destination ports. Within eight weeks of berthing at Fiji, Western Samoa and Tonga, at least 5% of Fijians, 7% of Tongans and one-quarter of Western Samoa's population had died of influenza. In this Public History talk, qualified nurse and communicable diseases specialist Ryan McLane discusses how and why this tragedy occurred. Ryan McLane has worked in a variety of public health roles over the past two decades, including time spent leading a clinical team in an Ebola Treatment Unit in Sierra Leone and managing a public health unit in the Alaskan arctic. During his seven years in New Zealand he has worked with the Ministry of Health, the Southern District Health Board and the University of Otago Medical School. His PhD with the University of Otago focused upon the 1918 influenza pandemic in the Samoas, Tonga, and Fiji. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand https://natlib.govt.nz/ and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage https://mch.govt.nz/.

As we celebrate 125 years of women’s suffrage, it's time to re-evaluate Polly Plum, once described as ‘a highly controversial public figure for a few years only’. In this Public History Talk, feminist historian and author Jenny Coleman shares some of the lesser-known parts of social reformer Mary Ann Colclough's (AKA Polly Plum) life, and her role in the “first wave” of feminism in New Zealand. She was also a leading educationalist and one of the earliest published female authors in New Zealand. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand https://natlib.govt.nz/ and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage https://mch.govt.nz/. Recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand, 1 August 2018.

In this Public History Talk about an iconic kiwi institution, two historians of early childhood education present the outline of their new book, Growing a Kindergarten Movement in Aotearoa New Zealand. Emeritus Professor at the University of Otago Helen May, and retired senior lecturer Kerry Bethell, Massey Universtiy, have published and presented nationally and internationally on the subject of early childhood education. This book is their first joint publication which saw them travelling extensively around historical kindergarten sites and delving into archives, allowing them to gather new sources for their research. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand https://natlib.govt.nz/ and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage https://mch.govt.nz/ Recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand, 4 July 2018.

The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography was originally published in five print volumes between 1990 and 2000. It comprised 3000 biographical essays about a wide range of deceased New Zealanders who had come to prominence by 1960. The Dictionary went online in 2001. In 2010 it was merged with Te Ara: the Encyclopedia of New Zealand to form the single largest reference work on New Zealand's history and society https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies The combined Dictionary and Te Ara website is one of the largest works of scholarship ever undertaken in this country, and is unique in the world. Since 2000 The Dictionary has been in hiatus, with the exception of a batch of 15 biographies that were published online in 2010-11. In 2017 the Ministry for Culture and Heritage decided to resume work on the Dictionary, and to publish a new batch of biographies online every year. The new programme commences with 20 new biographies of women which will be published in September this year to celebrate the 125th anniversary of women’s suffrage. In this presentation, senior historian Tim Shoebridge - the Dictionary’s programme manager, will speak about the challenges posed and opportunities offered by this new chapter in the Dictionary’s life. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand https://natlib.govt.nz/ and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage https://mch.govt.nz/ Recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand, 6 June 2018.

In this episode, Charlotte Macdonald and Rebecca Lenihan will discuss the development of a database of men serving in the imperial regiments in New Zealand, the nature of the ‘big data’ generated by the War Office, issues, limitations and possibilities to date, and goals for the database’s continuing development, along with some preliminary analysis. An initial release of the database is planned ahead of Rā Maumahara – the National Day of Commemoration on 28 October. At least 12,000 imperial soldiers served in New Zealand in the wars of the 1860s. Who were the faces behind the uniforms serving Queen and government in this pivotal moment in New Zealand’s history? Where did the soldiers come from? Where did they go to? Many men had served in the Crimea, India or Australia. Some women and children also travelled with the regiments. What did they bring to New Zealand? And how might the wars on these soils be understood within the broader history of the British Empire in the mid-nineteenth century? Professor Macdonald is Professor of History at Victoria University of Wellington Te Whare Wānanga o te Ūpoko o Te Ika a Maui. Dr Lenihan is a post-doctoral fellow at Victoria University of Wellington Te Whare Wānanga o te Ūpoko o Te Ika a Maui, working with Charlotte Macdonald on the Soldiers of Empire project. She is the author of From Alba to Aotearoa: Profiling New Zealand’s Scots 1840-1920 (Otago University Press, 2015). Recorded at the National Library of New Zealand, 4 October 2017.

Douglas Lilburn Research Fellow, Dr Aleisha Ward explores some of the many facets of ‘jazz’ in New Zealand’s Jazz Age. The image of 1920s New Zealand is frequently one of a quiet, staid society that ‘closed at 5’. Contrary to belief however, New Zealand had a flourishing, vibrant, urban landscape and a burgeoning jazz scene. Dr Aleisha Ward is the 2017 Douglas Lilburn Research Fellow and a recipient of a 2018 Ministry for Culture and Heritage New Zealand History Research Trust Fund award investigating the Jazz Age in New Zealand. Aleisha is an award-winning writer, freelance editor, and lecturer in music history. She writes about jazz in New Zealand for a number of publications including audioculture.co.nz and New Zealand Musician and on her own blog NZ Jazz https://nzjazz.wordpress.com/shameless-self-promotion/ These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Recorded at the National Library of New Zealand, 2 May 2018.

Redmer Yska is a Wellington based writer and historian, and is author to many New Zealand history works. Redmer presents his latest work 'A Strange Beautiful Excitement, Katherine Mansfield’s Wellington, 1888-1903’, and discusses a new connection between Mansfield's family and Women's Suffrage. He tried, as he put it, to ‘catch a glimpse of her in the open air: striding through the gale, long hair flying’. His research into Thorndon’s festering, deadly surroundings also led him to propose a new theory for the family’s 1893 move to Karori. Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Recorded at the National Library of New Zealand, 7 March 2018.

Dr Angela Wanhalla teaches in the Department of History and Art History at the University of Otago, Dunedin. This presentation draws upon her most recent book, He Reo Wāhine: Māori Women’s Voices from the Nineteenth Century, co-authored with Māori-language scholar and historian, Lachy Paterson. Collective petitions have helped force significant political and social reform in New Zealand. This talk introduces women petitioners and their concerns and argues that petitions are an important body of Māori writing that can offer insight into Māori women’s experiences of the colonial era. These monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Recorded at the National Library of New Zealand, 4 April 2018.

The Great War for New Zealand tells the story of the defining conflict in New Zealand history. War in the Waikato in 1863-64 shaped the nation in all kinds of ways, setting back Māori and Pākehā relations by several generations, marking an end to any hopes of meaningful partnership and allowing the government to begin to assert the kind of real control over the country that had eluded it since 1840. Spanning nearly two centuries from first contacts in the Waikato in the early nineteenth century through to settlement and apology in 1995, Vincent O’Malley’s book focuses on the human impact of the war, its origins and aftermath. In this presentation, Vincent O’Malley reflects on the book’s key messages and its reception, just over a year after publication, and following the inaugural national day of commemoration for the New Zealand Wars. Has the call for New Zealanders to own their history, warts and all, been heeded? Vincent O’Malley is a founding partner of HistoryWorks, a Wellington consultancy specialising in Treaty of Waitangi research, and is the author of many books on New Zealand history. Recorded at the National Library of New Zealand, 1 November 2017

In this presentation, Malcolm McKinnon considers the significance of the year 1932 in New Zealand’s history. Keith Sinclair famously described the disturbances of that year and the government’s harsh response as marking New Zealand’s nadir. But the disturbances also prompted the government to abandon its austerity policy, although this was hard to pick at the time, and a political impasse about the way forward stymied recovery Malcolm is a Wellington historian. His study The Broken Decade: Prosperity, depression and recovery in New Zealand, 1928-39, was published by Otago University Press in 2016. These public history talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and are recorded monthly, live at the National Library of New Zealand.