Articles in the 2009 issue included:
John A Lee, 1891-1982. Philip Rainer looks at the considerable impact made by the life and controversial career of the colourful Labour Member of Parliament.
Royal Scenes from the Empire City: The Prince of Wales in Wellington, 5-8 May 1920. David Colquhoun describes the exuberantly patriotic welcome offered to the charming and fashionable Prince, and reveals some of the frankly unfavourable comments the royal visitor wrote privately to his lover at the time.
Te Hokowhitu-a-Tu: What Did They Come Home To? Monty Soutar analyses some of the economic, social and political impacts of Maori participation in the First World War and during the period of continuing inequalities in the 1920s and 1930s.
‘Facing an Uncertain Future’: New Zealand’s Enemy Aliens and the Aftermath of War. Andrew Francis examines a little-known episode in our history, the continuing mistrust of New Zealand’s ‘enemy alien’ communities in the post-war rehabilitation period.
‘Poetry of Motion, Sound and Colour’: Anna Pavlova in New Zealand. Ian Lochhead celebrates the excitement generated by the 1926 visit to New Zealand of the great ballerina and outlines its wider legacies.
‘Like all the Roosters in the World Crowing Together’: Pioneers in the Dissemination of Jazz in 1920s New Zealand. Chris Bourke’s focus is on the emergence of jazz in New Zealand from about the 1920s, and he considers the careers and influence of two of its earliest proponents, Walter Smith and Bob Adams.
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS:
Chris Bourke was the National Library’s Research Fellow in 2006, embarking on a history of mid-20th century popular music in New Zealand – work he continued in 2008 as Writer in Residence at the University of Waikato. Blue Smoke: The Lost Years of New Zealand Popular Music, 1918-1964 will be published by Auckland University Press in 2010.
David Colquhoun has been Curator of Manuscripts at the Alexander Turnbull Library since 1989. He has an MA with First Class Honours from the University of Auckland, and has written many articles on aspects of New Zealand’s history and archives. His book As If Running on Air: The Journals of Jack Lovelock was published in 2008, and he is now writing a book about the royal visit of 1920.
Andrew Francis completed his PhD at Victoria University of Wellington in 2009. His thesis examined the treatment of German and Austro-Hungarian residents in New Zealand during the Great War. He was formerly employed as a lecturer and tutor in the History programme at Victoria, and has worked in Published Collections at the Alexander Turnbull Library. He is currently a researcher for the Waitangi Tribunal.
Ian Lochhead teaches Art History at the University of Canterbury. Although better known as an architectural historian, he has been a balletomane from an early age, and has been researching the impact of the Ballets Russes tours of New Zealand in the 1930s.
Philip Rainer left the Alexander Turnbull Library in January 2009 after 25 years’ service. He is currently working for a publishing company, using the resources of the Library to support authors writing in the areas of New Zealand history and culture.
Monty Soutar is a Guardian of the Alexander Turnbull Library and member of the Archives New Zealand Council. He has significant experience in historical research, vast knowledge in dealing with Maori Land Court records, and has worked widely with iwi and Maori communities. He was appointed to the Waitangi Tribunal in 2002, and is currently Chief Executive of Te Runanga o Ngati Porou.