The Friends of the Turnbull Library (FoTL) is a national organisation, supporting the work and activities of the Alexander Turnbull Library since 1939.
Titiro ki muri kia whakatika ā mua. Preserving the past to enlighten the future.
The Alexander Turnbull Library is a guardian of our heritage, a great research institution serving the general public and scholars in the fields of historical research, literary, cultural and genealogical studies. The Friends of the Turnbull Library promotes public interest in the Library’s collections and supports research and use of its collections.
Join us for an enchanting evening as familiar voices bring to life selected letters from the Alexander Turnbull Library collections. Spanning from 1856 to 1982, these letters range from the poignant to the hilarious, offering a captivating glimpse into surprising events over 126 years. Book your tickets: https://events.humanitix.com/letters-out-loud
PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
NEWS ALERT: FRIENDS OF THE TURNBULL LIBRARY RESEARCH GRANT
Applications now open for 2025: Closing Date: 4 October 2024. Go to our RESEARCH page for details
Go to the What’s on page to see details of what is coming up in our monthly programme of public talks. Wellington events are held at Taiwhanga Kauhau — the National Library Wellington Auditorium -entrance from Aitken Street, Thorndon.
In Auckland, talks are held at the Takapuna Library, 9 The Strand.
WEDNESDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 6PM, Takapuna, Auckland
Ryan Bodman: Rugby League in New Zealand
The history of rugby league in New Zealand began as a humble story of working-class communities and a popular ball game that felt like “being part of a large family”. Always a minority sport alongside rugby, it put down strong roots and flourished throughout the regional heartlands, before emerging into the mainstream in the 1980s.
Ryan Bodman was awarded a Research Grant from the Friends of Turnbull Library in 2017, and his beautifully illustrated history won this year’s illustrated non-fiction prize in the Ockham NZ Book Awards. Bring the whanau and join us to hear Ryan discuss some key moments in the New Zealand code’s rich heritage and its powerful cultural journey.
Later in the year we plan to have an address by Dame Claudia Orange, previously advertised for September but then unavoidably postponed. We will advise you of the new date for Dame Claudia when re-scheduled.
WEDNESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 5.30 PM
Taiwhanga Kauhau – the National Library Wellington Auditorium -entrance from Aitken
Street, Thorndon.
Professor Emerita Charlotte Macdonald
Who’s afraid of martial law? New Zealand’s 19th century adoption – and suspension – of the ‘British rule of law’
Please note: this talk was first advertised for 19 September but the date has been changed to Wednesday 25 September.
On several occasions in 19th-century Aotearoa New Zealand the colony was placed under martial law. The presentation will revisit those moments: the circumstances, debates surrounding, and consequences of such extreme actions. It takes us to important deliberations across the wider mid-nineteenth-century empire including metropolitan England.
What was the scope of ‘the rule of law’ and who had the power to make, and suspend that law?
When governments suspend the usual rights, protections and freedoms of ‘the people’ – citizens or subjects – what can be at stake?
About the speaker…
Charlotte Macdonald is Professor Emerita at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington. She co-convenes the Aotearoa Gender History Network with Charlotte Greenhalgh (University of Waikato). Papers from a February 2023 workshop of the Network have recently appeared in a special issue of the New Zealand Journal of History (Vol 58: 1 April 2024, available through Project Muse). Her book on the 19th-century garrison world will be published in 2025.
Can’t make it in person?
This event will also be delivered using Zoom. You do not need to install the software to attend, you can opt to run Zoom from your browser. If you would like to join this talk please register below and we’ll send you the link to use on the day.
REGISTER FOR ZOOM LINK
…are now due. Please see the Join Us link above.
NOTE: If you have joined the Friends of Turnbull Library online in the past few months, and have paid your membership subscription via internet banking, PLEASE NOTE that we need your contact details. Copies of the annual magazine Off The Record were mailed to members in May. We need your postal address. Please contact us at turnbullfriends@gmail.com to supply your contact details.
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