Heritage et AL

In 1913 Arthur Myers , M.P., and former Mayor of Auckland gifted the city £9000 for the purchase of a gully in central Auckland with the intent to turn it into a park for the people of Auckland. Ref: Auckland Weekly News, The giver in his gift, 9 October 1913, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19131009-48-5.

Today marks the start of the Pasifika festival. 'My pride, my treasure, my Samoa / O lo'u mitamitaga, o a'u measina, o lau Samoa' is the title of the new  collection of Samoan photos on Historypin . This collection covers both Samoa and American Samoa and was created from the heritage collections at Auckland Libraries. The images are mainly from the late 19th and early 20th century with a selection from the late 1980s and 1990s giving a more contemporary focus. Ref: AWNS-18980909-2-1, bush scene in Apia, 1898, Sir George Grey Special Collectio These photos capture the timeless essence of what is most important to Samoa; her land and her people and are a good way to mark the start of the Pasifika Festival. They bring together key places and events in Samoa and NZ - from the sliding rocks of Papasea, to the procession of Malietoa’s men on Coronation Day in the late 1800s, to the Bairds Intermediate Samoan group performance at the Otara Festival. To access the ...

Ref: AWNS-19010322-8-1, Ploughing, 1901, Sir George Grey Special Collections You may remember a post called 'Pinning cows' from last month (Thursday 7 February). Well we have gone and done it and now have a shiny new Historypin collection dedicated to cows and the dairy industry in New Zealand! Don't worry no real cows or packs of butter were harmed in this process .... Ref: 2-V1223, Milk maid milking a cow, 1906-1908, Sir George Grey Special Collections

To celebrate Chinese New Year (also see the earlier post on 21 January 2013), we have been busy pinning up great heritage photos on Historypin. The images show locations and activities in Auckland associated with Chinese communities. The collection of images on Historypin  has two parts. The first is Old Chinatown in the centre of Auckland, around Greys Avenue, Hobson and Cook Streets. The first shop and business in this area was recorded in 1895. Other shops and businesses as well as a mission hall, masonic lodge and housing were quickly established. The images chosen show key locations in Old Chinatown, a landscape which will be both familiar and unfamiliar to present day Aucklanders. In an attempt to 'clean up the area', by 1964 Old Chinatown had been demolished to make way for new developments such as Myers Park, council flats and Auckland Town Hall. Ref: 4-2212, Chinese Mission Hall, Sir George Grey Special Collections