Friends’ bulletin board

Turnbull Library Record 2024: Call for Papers

We are now inviting contributions for the 2024 issue of the Turnbull Library Record.

The Turnbull Library Record is a journal in the humanities, published yearly by the Alexander Turnbull Library in association with the Friends of the Turnbull Library. It is the longest-running humanities journal in New Zealand. It publishes information relating to the activities of the library, as well as articles covering a wide range of research, with special emphasis on the societies and cultures of New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Its purpose is to increase knowledge of the library’s collections by showing their scope and richness, and the ways researchers are using them.

Articles or pictorial essays should be between 2,000–6,000 words in length. Contributions that have not been previously published are welcome and, before acceptance, will be independently refereed. Articles should have a scholarly underpinning and be written in a lively and accessible manner for an informed but not specialist readership.

The Editorial Board reserves the right to decline to publish an article, whether solicited or unsolicited.

The deadline for submitting articles is Monday 11 December 2023. Publication is scheduled for August 2024.

For more information, to propose an idea or submit an article, please contact the Managing Editor, Michael Keith (mickeith@shearwater.kiwi).

August Speaker Event: Down the Conspiracy Rabbit Hole: Arthur Nelson Field and the Great Depression

Wednesday 30 August at 5.30 pm

Down the Conspiracy Rabbit Hole: Arthur Nelson Field and the Great Depression

The 1930s New Zealand experienced a severe social, economic and political crisis. As the Great Depression took hold, a widely respected and experienced journalist sought to understand the causes of the devasting collapse in purchasing power and the misery this unleashed across the country. Through a series of chance events, A.N. Field became convinced that the economic crisis had been deliberately manufactured by a super-conspiracy of malevolent Jewish bankers. Pouring his newfound conspiratorial antisemitism into his writings, Field influenced the political debate in New Zealand and became an important conspiratorialist ‘expert’ to the English-speaking far-right. Field’s influence was the subject of a chapter in the recently published book: Histories of Hate: The Radical Right in Aotearoa New Zealand (Otago University Press, 2023).

About the author: Raised in Dunedin amidst a large Dutch immigrant family, Marinus La Rooij is an independent researcher with degrees from Otago and Victoria Universities. He has been researching and publishing on radicalisation, antisemitism and extremism over the last thirty years and was a co-editor of Histories of Hate. Professionally, Marinus has been a state servant and consultant working on transport and infrastructure matters, and also as an official in the Treaty of Waitangi settlement process.

FRIENDS OF THE TURNBULL LIBRARY 2023 AGM

Wednesday 26 July

FRIENDS OF THE TURNBULL LIBRARY 2023 AGM

Venue:  Ground Floor, National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa Cnr Molesworth & Aitken street

All members welcome! Light refreshments offered

Please RSVP to turnbullfriends@gmail.com

Following the meeting Dr Ashwinee Pendharkar, ATL Curator Contemporary Voices and Archives, will provide an address that takes us into the work for which she is responsible.

AGM Documents:

AGM Address:

Collecting for Contemporary Voices and Archives: Purpose and practice

In discussing the purpose and practice that informs Contemporary Voices and Archives, Dr Ashwinee Pendharkar will draw on one of its collections as a case study:  Abhi Chinniah is a New Zealand-born portrait photographer, podcaster and writer of Sri Lankan-Malaysian descent who grew up in Malaysia and now resides in New Zealand. The collection ATL-Group-00785 includes photographic portraits of New Zealand women from her exhibitions Light Skin Dark Skin and A Migrant’s Path along with interviews of and essays by these women. This collection addresses the important issue of the negative impacts of colourism.

About the speaker… Dr Ashwinee Pendharkar is an academic and heritage professional with deep commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. As the inaugural curator of CVA, she has been instrumental in giving form to the Alexander Turnbull Library’s vision for a diverse, inclusive, equitable, and sustainable documentary heritage representing all New Zealanders. She leads these efforts by proactively ensuring focus on hitherto marginalised and under-represented cultural identities, communities, events, concerns, and formats.

“The Turnbull Library virtually everywhere – expanding the reach of the Turnbull Library through digital services”

Wednesday 19 July, at 6.00pm – TAKAPUNA CENTRAL LIBRARY

“The Turnbull Library virtually everywhere – expanding the reach of the Turnbull Library through digital services”

Alexander Turnbull’s vision for his original library was that it should be open to anyone who was a seeker after truth. Being open has taken on new meaning recently as the Turnbull has worked hard to make the Library’s collections accessible during COVID-19, a three week closure due to parliamentary protest and now a construction project that will create a bridge between the Library and the new Archives New Zealand building.

Alison McIntyre (left) and Jessica Moran, Associate Chief Librarians at the Alexander Turnbull Library
Through this  disruption we’ve focused  on expanding access to the Library’s collections through digital services that reach researchers anywhere or everywhere. Associate Chief Librarians Jessica Moran and Alison McIntyre will introduce some of the current work underway (and collections available), from ensuring the preservation of endangered sound and video recordings through digitisation to creating a virtual reading room for researchers outside of Wellington.

FoTL July Talk – Dr John E Martin – Empire City: The Making of Wellington

Dr John E Martin – Empire City: The Making of Wellington

Venue: Taiwhanga Kawhau Auditorium, lower ground floor, National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, Thorndon. Entrance on Aitken Street

Dr John E Martin will talk about his book ‘Empire City’: Wellington Becomes the Capital of New Zealand (2022) which covers the period from first encounters between Māori and the New Zealand Company in Te Whanganui-a-Tara in 1839 through to becoming the ‘Empire City; by the 1870s.

The ‘Empire City’ story begins with a small and fragile New Zealand Company pākehā settlement relying only on whaling and racked by earthquakes and shows how a durable economic base was created and how Wellington became a thriving political and commercial centre and the country’s capital.

Contributions from a diverse population: Author Dr John E Martin looks at the contributions made by Māori, the New Zealand Company, early pākehā settlers, merchants, shopkeepers, working people, worthy and less worthy citizens alike, together with a host of institutions and organisations.

This diverse, rich and turbulent story is the key to understanding how Wellington came from such unpromising beginnings to be the capital of New Zealand.

Dr John E Martin  has researched and written about New Zealand history since the 1980s, teaching in universities and employed as an historian in the public sector. He was parliamentary historian in the 2000s and 2010s.

He has published texts on rural and labour history, the history of science and engineering, and social and political history.

His books include The Forgotten Worker (1990), People, Politics and Power Stations (1991 and 1998), Holding the Balance (1996), The House: New Zealand’s House of Representatives,1854–2004 (2004),Parliament’s Library (2008), Honouring the  Contract (2010), Illuminating Our World (2017) and A Colonist’s Gaze (2018). John currently works as a freelance historian.

Please RSVP to turnbullfriends@gmail.com

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.

Register if you’d like to join this talk and we’ll send you the link to use on the day.

REGISTER NOW FOR ZOOM

Treasures of Turnbull Library inspire two writers

Two well-known writers are co-recipients of 2019 Friends of Turnbull Library Research Grants.

Wellington writer and broadcaster Nick Bollinger receives a research grant to assist his latest project, eventually to be published as an illustrated book chronicling the development of the counterculture in New Zealand during the years 1960-1975. Bollinger will be drawing on the rich and diverse collections of the Turnbull Library to trace the roots of countercultural ideas, how they evolved and how they affected New Zealand society.

Bollinger is presenter and producer of The Sampler for RNZ, and is the author of the acclaimed Goneville: a memoir, published by Awa Press in 2016. He says the term “counterculture” originated in the 1960s and became widely used to identify a range of groups and individuals broadly sharing a belief in an alternative society. “From Baxter’s poetry to the music of Blerta, from Roger Donaldson to Tim Shadbolt, the counterculture has had a profound and lasting impact on New Zealand culture.”

Wellington historian Dr Vincent O’Malley – whose fine book The Great War for New Zealand: Waikato 1800-2000, was published by Bridget Williams Books in 2016 – receives a research grant to assist him to continue work on a book on the New Zealand Wars aimed at secondary school students as well as a general market.

Dr O’Malley says that his project “takes us to the heart of the series of conflicts that profoundly shaped the course and direction of our nation’s history.” His new book will focus on a number of quite lengthy first-hand accounts (manuscripts held in the Alexander Turnbull Library) from Māori and Pākehā who either fought in or witnessed the wars that ravaged New Zealand between 1845 and 1872. From Heni Te Kiri Karamu’s narrative of her remarkable exploits as a wahine toa, through to Gustavus Ferdinand von Tempsky’s colourful account of his time in the Forest Rangers and beyond, these stories will resonate with New Zealanders who are now acknowledging the need to remember, embrace and own our past.

Winners of Smart Alex Competition announced

We are delighted to announce all the award-winning entries in this year’s Smart Alex creative writing competition.

In the Yr 11-13 category, the winner is: CHARLOTTE BOYLE of Cashmere High School, Christchurch (“Crotchety crochet”); and runner-up is: LIA HORSLEY OF Hastings Girls High School (“Bȃc sī”).

In the Yr 9-10 category, the winner is: KRISTEN ROXBURGH of Selwyn College, Auckland (“Right side up”); and runner-up is: EARINA SAVINELLI of Whakatane High School, Whakatane (“The Haircut”)

Our thanks to all those who entered this year’s inaugural SMART ALEX Competition.

Years 9-10 Smart Alex winners Yr 9-10

Years 11-13 Smart Alex winners Yr 11-13

Congratulations to all these wonderful achievers, and remember to look out for next year’s competition in 2019.

Call for papers: TURNBULL LIBRARY RECORD

Contributions are now invited for the 2019 issue of the Turnbull Library Record.

The Turnbull Library Record is a journal in the humanities, published yearly by the Alexander Turnbull Library in association with the Friends of the Turnbull Library. It is the longest-running humanities journal in New Zealand. It publishes information relating to the activities of the Library, as well as articles covering a wide range of research, with special emphasis on the societies and cultures of New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Its purpose is to increase knowledge of the Library’s collections by showing their scope and richness, and the ways researchers are using them.

Articles or pictorial essays should be between 2,000–5,000 words in length. Contributions that have not been previously published are welcome and, before acceptance, will be independently refereed. Articles should have a scholarly underpinning and be written in a lively and accessible manner for an informed but not specialist readership.

The Editorial Board reserves the right to decline to publish an article, whether solicited or unsolicited.

The deadline for submitting articles is Friday 2 November 2018. Publication is scheduled for August 2019.

For more information, to propose an idea or to submit an article, please contact the Managing Editor, Fiona Oliver (fiona.oliver@dia.govt.nz).

Information about past issues of the Turnbull Library Record can be found at: www.turnbullfriends.org.nz/about-us/publications

Turnbull Centenary 2018-2020 Essay

AIM: To create new knowledge about Alexander Turnbull, and to publicise his legacy during the anniversary years 2018-2020.

The Friends of the Turnbull Library (FoTL) is now calling for Expressions of Interest in submitting an essay on any aspect of the life and/or collecting role of Alexander Horsburgh Turnbull, who donated his personal collection of about 55,000 books and other items relating to New Zealand and the Pacific Islands to the nation in 1918. This generous bequest became the nucleus of the Alexander Turnbull Library, an internationally renowned research library which opened its doors to the public in 1920.

At the discretion of the Friends of Turnbull Library, the expressions of interest will be assessed and entrants will be advised of the terms and conditions. The original concept of an essay competition may be modified to provide research funding to one or more selected entrants.

GUIDELINES:

  • We expect the final essay(s) will achieve a high academic level of accessible scholarship, providing a new perspective on the life and achievements of Alexander Turnbull.
  • Entries may be non-fiction or creative writing.
  • By entering the competition entrants agree to FoTL terms and conditions regarding subsequent publication of your essay and FoTL publicity requirements.
  • The awarding of research funding will be decided by a panel selected by FoTL and the decision of the judges is final. No correspondence will be entered into.
  • Open to anyone (no age limit).
  • Word length: is expected not to exceed 5000 words.

RESEARCH FUNDING (OR PRIZE MONEY IF A COMPETITION IS CONFIRMED):

Up to $15,000 to be allocated or shared at the complete discretion of the Friends of Turnbull Library.

DEADLINES: Expressions of interest (research proposals) must be received by Friday 29 June 2018.

Following confirmation of the acceptance of a research proposal, essays must be received by FoTL on or before 1 September 2019. Results announced 15 November 2019.  Successful entries may be published in Turnbull Library Record in 2020.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Alexander Turnbull (1868-1918) was born in Wellington, the sixth of seven children, and was educated in Wellington and then in England. As a young man Alex joined the family’s prosperous “general commission business”, involving importing, shipping and insurance, occupying two warehouses and an office on Customhouse Quay. His growing passion for collecting books began when he was 17, and quickly focussed on anything published in or about New Zealand. At times he was buying about 700 books per year, and his interests widened to include all the “South Sea Islands” of the Pacific. When he died, shortly before his fiftieth birthday, he had amassed about 55,000 books, along with drawings, prints, paintings, maps and manuscripts; and this was the collection he gifted to the nation to form “the nucleus of a New Zealand National Collection”. It was welcomed as “the most generous bequest to the people of New Zealand ever made by a New Zealander.”

E.H. McCormick’s excellent 1974 biography of Alexander Turnbull is meticulously researched and rich with archival detail, but there are various dimensions of this driven and generous man which might produce a fascinating essay. Turnbull’s first racing yacht, the narrow and beautiful gaff rigged cutter Rona, is moored at Chaffers Marina. Turnbull’s history as a sportsman and sailor has been documented by his own account of sailing in Queen Charlotte Sound. What is Turnbull’s history as a sailor? Before he became a dedicated book hound Turnbull was a laddish man about town – what kind of person was he? He came from a close family but his relationship with his sisters, especially the younger one Sissy, seems to have been a bit puritanical – what was he like as a brother and son? Why did Turnbull himself never marry and is the obvious explanation the right one? What was he like as a businessman and how did the business support the ferocious bookbuying? Towards the end of his life Turnbull succumbed to drug addiction, about which McCormick is clear but discreet. What was the incidence of drug use in Wellington at this time and how would Turnbull have acquired his supplies? Who were his close friends?

An essay on these, or any other aspects of this remarkable but essentially private man would add to our knowledge and understanding of Turnbull’s life and passions.

Further information about Alex and the Alexander Turnbull Library is on www.turnbullfriends.org

Enquiries and Expressions of Interest to: fergiehill@xtra.co.nz

Preserving the past to enlighten the future

The Friends of the Turnbull Library Inc

PO Box 12186, Thorndon, Wellington 6144, New Zealand

ESSAY COMPETITION: CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

The Friends of the Turnbull Library is pleased to announce an essay competition with prizes totalling $15,000 to celebrate the anniversaries of the generous bequest of Alexander Horsburgh Turnbull’s library to the nation in 2018, and the subsequent opening of the Alexander Turnbull Library in 2020.

We are now inviting expressions of interest in submitting an essay on any aspect of Alexander Turnbull’s life and/or his role as a collector.

Essays should be between 3,000–5,000 words in length, and must not have been previously published. We expect they will have a scholarly underpinning and be written in a lively and accessible manner for an informed but not specialist readership.

Turnbull’s personal collection, of some 55,000 books and other items relating to New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, formed the basis of the Turnbull Library which has subsequently grown steadily to become the internationally renowned research library it is today, serving all those with interests in the fields of historical, literary, cultural and genealogical studies.

The Friends of the Turnbull Library is an incorporated society established in 1939. The essay competition assists our aims to promote public interest in the Alexander Turnbull Library, and to encourage research and use of Library materials to create new knowledge.

The deadline for expressions of interest in entering the essay competition is 29 June 2018. Subsequent completed essays must be submitted (by email or by post) by 1 September 2019.

Enquiries and Expressions of Interest should be emailed to editor@turnbullfriends.org.nz or fergiehill@xtra.co.nz