The Auckland Women’s Suffrage Memorial celebrates the pioneering women who campaigned tirelessly for New Zealand women’s suffrage in the late 19th century. Located at Lower Khartoum Place at the heart of Auckland city center, it was renamed in 2016 Te Hā o Hine Place, meaning pay heed to the dignity of women. Local community members led the centenary project designed by feminist artist Jan Morrison and created in collaboration with Claudia Pond Eyley, and it was dedicated on September 20, 1993, a day and a hundred years since New Zealand women gained the right to vote, making New Zealand the first self-governing country in the world to grant women’s suffrage rights. The memorial comprises over 2,000 brightly glazed ceramic tiles installed on multiple facades around an existing fountain and stairway. The dominant aspect depicts the historic 1893 petition that helped secure voting rights for New Zealand women. Several murals feature portraits of prominent New Zealand suffragists, including Ada Wells (1863-1933), the leading organizer of the suffrage movement, Amey Daldy (1829-1920), the president of the Auckland Women’s Franchise League, Anne Ward (1825-1896) the first president of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union of New Zealand (WCTU NZ), Annie Jane Schnackenberg (1835-1905) president of WCTU NZ for 19 years, Elizabeth Yates (1840-1918), the first woman elected mayor in New Zealand and the British Empire, journalist Lizzie Frost Rattray (1855-1931), Matilda Allsopp and Fanny Brown, two of the first seven women enrolled to vote in Auckland for the Parliamentary elections. The memorial depicts iconic symbols associated with Auckland’s history and geography, like the Rangitoto volcano, the pōhutukawa tree, and the now-extinct huia bird, endemic to the upper North Island in 1893. The camellia flower, the emblem of the suffrage movement, features prominently throughout. Images of women on bicycles reference how campaigners used this transport to gather signatures in outlying areas. A harakeke weaving pattern recognizes the coming together of Māori and Pākehā women in the campaign, further highlighted by naming influential Māori suffragist Meri Te Tai Mangakāhia. Three decades later, the Auckland Women’s Suffrage Memorial remains one of the few monuments nationwide honoring this transformative achievement in women’s rights and democratic progress. Ongoing advocacy secured the preservation of this cherished public artwork and recognition of its importance, including being designated as a Category 1 historic place on the New Zealand Heritage List. The memorial continues to serve as a vibrant gathering place for community events and special events such as Suffrage Day (September 19) and International Women’s Day (March 8). Read more...

On the corner of Wahine Toa Park (in Māori contexts: a female warrior) in the Three Kings suburb of Auckland stands a powerful sculpture commemorating the courageous and lesser-known local women who campaigned for women’s suffrage in the late 19th century. The striking memorial, commissioned by the Puketāpapa Local Board and Auckland Council, was designed by artists Matthew van Sturmer and Carmen Sosich. It takes the abstract form of a camellia flower, an iconic symbol adopted by the New Zealand suffrage movement in its early beginning. VOTE FOR WOMEN, JUSTICE, COURAGE, HI WAHINE Toa, and STRENGTH are among the words carved into the sculpture. Inscribed on the sculpture’s base are the names of around 30 local Mt Roskill women who boldly added their signatures to the historic 1893 petition demanding the vote for women. A nearby plaque displays the names of subsequent generations of Mt Roskill women who built upon that legacy and served their community in local and national government, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark. The project was funded through the local board’s discretionary budget. Over 50 community members gathered for the recent unveiling ceremony on September 19th, 2013, commemorating the 120th anniversary of women gaining the vote in New Zealand. Read more...

Since 1989, the bronze sculpture of the legendary aviator Jean Batten waving has welcomed visitors to Auckland International Airport, where the international terminal bears her name, and the Percival Gull, in which she made the first solo trip from England to New Zealand, is on display. Jean Batten was a pioneering New Zealand aviator who set multiple solo flight records in the 1930s. Born in 1909, Batten developed an interest in aviation from a young age and emigrated to England in 1930 to pursue her dream of becoming a pilot. She earned her licenses and planned record-breaking long-distance flights to Australia and beyond, raising funds and modifying her Gipsy Moth biplane to increase its range. Despite crashes and near disasters, Batten broke Amy Johnson’s England to Australia solo flight record in 1934, then set subsequent speed and distance records over the next four years, flying perilous routes across oceans and continents. Through her talent and determination, Batten repeatedly conquered the male-dominated domain of record-setting global flights and became an international celebrity. In 1937, at only 28 years old, Batten retired from aviation and disappeared from public view for decades. Batten resurfaced in the 1970s and 80s to promote her memoirs and museum exhibits that revived her celebrity before dying obscurely from a dog bite in 1982. It took five years for stunned family members to learn she had passed. Her pioneering early achievements and mysterious later years only added to her aura as an aviation trailblazer. Several streets, schools, and even a peak were named in her honor. The Jean Batten Memorial stands at Jean Batten Square in her hometown, Rotorua, New Zealand. The plaque on the base of the statue reads. Sculptor Anthony Stones sculpted this statue, and the Governor-General of New Zealand, Sir Paul Reeves, unveiled it on 5 October 1989. The plaque on the base of the statue reads – THIS MEMORIAL TO JEAN BATTEN WAS UNVEILED BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE MOST REVEREND SIR PAUL REEVES, GCMG, GCVO, OSO, GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF NEW ZEALAND ON 5 OCTOBER 1989 THE PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL SPONSORS OF THE STATUE WERE: AIR NEW ZEALAND LTD AUCKLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT LTD BITUMIX LTD CHALLENGE PROPERTIES LTD COOPERS & LYBRAND DOWNER & CO LTD HAWKINS CONSTRUCTION LTD LION NATHAN LTD MAINZEAL MCDONALDS SYSTEM OF NZ LTD NEWMANS GROUP OF COMPANIES: NEWMANS COACHLINES NEWMANS TOURS ATLANTIC & PACIFIC TRAVEL GROUP HORIZON HOLIDAYS GO INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL GROUP NZ LOTTERY BOARD NISSAN DATSUN HOLDINGS TELECOM (AK) LTD BARRY CURTIS MAYOR OR MANUKAU CHAIRMAN, JEAN BATTEN MEMORIAL TRUST SCULPTOR: ANTHONY STONES Nest to the base there are two other plaques: JEAN BATTEN 1909-1982 NEW ZEALAND’S MOST FAMOUS AVIATRIX THE FIRST PERSON TO FLY SOLO FROM ENGLAND TO NEW ZEALAND. SHE LEFT ENGLAND ON 5 OCTOBER AND LANDED HERE AT MANGERE 11 DAYS LATER ON 16 OCTOBER 1936. “I WAS DESTINED TO BE A WANDERER… I SEEMED BORN TO TRAVEL… IN FLYING I FOUND… SPEED AND FREEDOM TO ROAM THE EARTH.” JEAN BATTEN Read more...