Heritage et AL

Ref: John Daley, Lorne Street, 1974, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 7-A13628. THIS TOTARA TREE WAS PLANTED BY THE AUCKLAND CITY COUNCIL TO HONOUR THE MEMORY OF RONALD ALLISON KELLS MASON POET AND NATIVE SON OF THIS CITY 1905 - 1971 I knew that the tōtara planted hard against the library edge was planted for R. A. K. Mason but the plaque has weathered in this exposed comer of Rutland and Lorne Streets. When I saw the photograph by John Daley of the new building the decision to plant a memorial here made sense. This is a resonant corner with a new modern library and a wow factor. I researched the back story in the library's own New Zealand Card Index, now digitised for convenient access. The two articles indexed from the New Zealand Herald give a sense of the difficult road to achieving Mason's memorial which the simple plaque text gives no indication of. They are also an insight into the value of this remarkable index.

The Women’s Suffrage mural in Khartoum Place celebrates suffragettes who fought for women’s franchise in New Zealand – which they won in 1893 , and women in this country became the first in the world to gain the vote. Artists Claudia Pond Eyley and Jan Morrison designed the 2,000 bright tiles of the mural marking the centenary of this achievement. A Navy band led over 300 guests down Queen Street for the 1993 opening, and the Air Force hung a cargo parachute across Khartoum Place which dropped at the exact dramatic moment for the unveiling by Irish President Mary Robinson and Governor-General Dame Catherine Tizard. Ref: Auckland Council, Khartoum Place pre-1993.

The Auckland Heritage Festival is about to begin again. The region wide festival starts this Saturday, 26 September, and runs for the subsequent two weeks until 11 October. This year’s theme is “The iwi, people, kōrero, and stories that shaped our region, Tāmaki Makaurau”. Ref: 2 015 Auckland Heritage Festival logo.

The fine brick-and-tile Ōtāhuhu Methodist Memorial Sunday School is a rare but impressive example of a Methodist war memorial building. It stands behind the Ōtāhuhu Methodist church in Fairburn Road. Ref:  Bruce Ringer, Ōtāhuhu Methodist Memorial Sunday School, 2013. The foundation stone, inset into the footing of the building’s southern wall, reads: “Ōtāhuhu Methodist Memorial / Sunday School / - / This stone was laid / to the glory of God / by Revd. E. Drake, President of Conf. / on Feb. 28 th 1920 / - / Feed my lambs”.

At least nine of Auckland Libraries’ past or present community libraries are either war memorial buildings or have war memorial associations. The oldest of these is the Albany Memorial Library . On Peace Day 19 July 1919 a group of Albany residents resolved to build a library as their district’s war memorial. Architect Sholto Smith designed the building. Governor-General Lord Jellicoe opened the cottage-style, half-timbered structure on 21 December 1922. The library was approached via a stone arch with ‘1914-1918’ inscribed on the keystone. The words ‘Albany Memorial Library’ were displayed above the entrance. The east window commemorated the Great War. Inside, a brick fireplace incorporated a green marble memorial tablet listing the names of 23 local men who gave their lives during the First World War. (Another tablet was later added honouring seven dead from the Second World War.) The building functioned as a working library until 2004, and is still available for commun...

New Lynn’s First World War memorial was not erected until some years after the war. A proposal first made in 1920 to erect a soldiers’ memorial on the Triangle Reserve in the centre of town came to nothing. Eventually, Reverend W.P. Rankin, the minister at St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church Hall, took matters literally into his own hands, and erected a substantial brick ‘Gateway of Remembrance' on the corner of Matai Street and Margan Avenue outside his church. The Reverend Rankin was no stranger to bricklaying, having previously built the church hall himself. Ref: excerpt from the New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21638, 2 November 1933, page 6.

Today, November the eleventh, is the anniversary of Armistice Day, which commemorates the signing of the armistice between Germany and the Allies to end fighting on the Western Front of World War One. The Auckland Weekly News Photographic Supplement contains many images relating to Armistice Day beginning with the singing of the armistice in 1918. The selection of photographs below show how Armistice Day was remembered by earlier generations around New Zealand and the Pacific: Ref: Auckland Weekly News, parade of school cadets in Queen St., 17 November 1921, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19211117-34-1

This year's Anzac Day takes on special significance with the start of the upcoming centenary of the First World War being marked in August. The library also has a range of heritage images showing Anzac Day scenes over the years, such as services, parades, memorials and banners. You can search for these by using the keyword Anzac in the search box of  the heritage databases:  Heritage Images , Local History Online and Footprints . We have put together a selection for you below and as you look through these, take a moment to remember all the servicemen and servicewomen who have served for their country. Services: Ref: Photographer unknown, Anzac Day ceremony, Papatoetoe, c. 1970s, photograph reproduced by courtesy of Mr Neil Closey (via Cheryl Fowler), South Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries, Footprints 01506 Ref: Photographer unknown, Anazac service, Auckland Town Hall, corner of Greys Ave and Queen St, c. 1922-1929, Sir George Grey Special Collections...