Month: February 2015

The New Zealand Collection Presents: This week in History: February 22nd – 28th

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This week we take time to remember the 4 year anniversary of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. We also highlight two other events that occurred this week in history dating back to 1902 when the Wellington Cable Car opened for business. This week’s selected topics come from the Today in History page at nzhistory.net.nz. On display in the New Zealand Reference Collection are books that can provide more information on the events featured in ‘This Week in History’.

From 2011: The Christchurch Earthquake
On Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12.51 p.m. Christchurch was shaken by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake. 185 people were killed and hundreds injured. The earthquake was centered near Lyttelton and just 10 km away from Christchurch’s central business district. Many books have since been published about the earthquake, the damage and the human response.

Syndetics book coverChristchurch 22.2 : beyond the cordon / through the eyes of the New Zealand Police photographers.
“At 12:51pm on Tuesday, 22 February 2011 a 6.3 magnitude earthquake shook Christchurch. It proved to be one of the worst natural disasters New Zealand has ever experienced. The earthquake devastated central Christchurch and many suburbs. A national State of Emergency was declared and the Christchurch Police immediately began Operation Earthquake. Police Forensic photographers began the grim task of documenting the disaster and its effects. This book is a collection of 256 of their photographs.” (Abridged from inside cover)

Syndetics book coverEarthquake : Christchurch, New Zealand, 22 February 2011 / text by Chris Moore and Press Journalists ; images by Press and Fairfax photographers ; picture research by Jude Tewnion.
“This book tracks the immediate effects of the quake and its aftermath as well as looking at the science behind the quakes.” (Abridged from back cover)

From 1951: Troops were deployed in the 1951 waterfront dispute
The waterfront dispute of 1951 was the biggest industrial confrontation in New Zealand’s history. It went on for five months, from 15 February to 15 July. Sid Holland’s National government declared a state of emergency on 21 February. On the 27th, troops were sent onto the Auckland and Wellington wharves to load and unload ships.

History students can come and search the database of “Evening Post” newspaper clipping files we hold to search for primary sources for assignments or can refer to books such as the following about the waterfront dispute.

Syndetics book coverThe big blue : snapshots of the 1951 waterfront lockout / edited by David Grant.
“In working-class parlance a ‘blue’ was the colloquial term for an industrial disruption – a strike or a lockout. The 1951 waterfront lockout was, up until that time, the biggest ‘blue’ of them all and still holds attention today as a seminal event in New Zealand’s industrial and political history.” (Abridged from back cover)

Never a white flag : the memoirs of Jock Barnes / edited by Tom Bramble.
“Jock Barnes’ name was once known by everyone in New Zealand as the leader of the Waterside Workers’ Union. His memoirs cover the period from 1935 to the 1951 lockout of watersiders and the destruction of the Union. He writes of the events of those times, and the personalities he knew. Illustrated with historical photographs; includes an introduction by the editor, Tom Bramble.” (Syndetics summary)

From 1902: Wellington’s Kelburn Cable Car Opens
Wellingtonians were eager to try out the new cable car that connected Lambton Quay and Kelburn when it was opened in February 1902. Its development opened up the Kelburn area for housing and is a popular Wellington tourist attraction. As well as books we have some old postcards featuring the Kelburn Cable Car from the Postcard Collection.

Syndetics book coverHold very tight please! : the cable cars of New Zealand / Don McAra.
“In beautifully detailed and meticulously researched paintings. and a delightfully nostalgic text, artist Don McAra brings alive New Zealand’s original cable cars and the post-Second World War world they inhabited. In Wellington the Kelburn cable car was, and still is, integral to city life.” (inside cover)

The Kelburn cable car : Wellington – New Zealand / Graham Stewart
“Like San Francisco, the Wellington Cable Car climbs right up to the sky, from under the city high rise buildings through tunnels and over viaducts to the residential suburb of Kelburn.” (inside cover)

Kelburn Kiosk and Cable Car

Kelburne Tea Kiosk, Wellington, N.Z. [postcard].
Hand-tinted photograph of the Kelburn (then Kelburne) Kiosk on Upland Road, with a cable car, passengers, and Karori hills in the background.

Kelburn Tea Kiosk

Kelburne Tea Kiosk, Wellington, N.Z. [postcard].
Photograph of the Kelburn (then Kelburne) Kiosk on Upland Road, with a cable car, passengers, and Karori hills in the background.

Kelburn Cable Car

Kelburne Cable Tram, Wellington [postcard].
Shows a cable car climbing up to Kelburn (then Kelburne), with the harbour in the background.

Cable car in scroll shape

[Kelburn Kiosk and cable car] [postcard].
Photograph (in scroll shape) of the Kelburn Kiosk on Upland Road, with a cable car, passengers, and Karori hills in the background.

Celia Lashlie, a legacy for social justice

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Celia Lashlie, who was well known as a researcher and social commentator, died on the 16th February 2015 after a short illness. Celia’s work in social justice started in the probation service. In December 1985 she started as the first woman to work as a prison officer in a male prison in New Zealand and worked for the Prison Service for 15 years. Her last role for the Prison Service was at the Christchurch Women’s Prison as a manager. She left that position in September 1999.

She was well known for her talks on raising teenage boys, and on social justice issues and authored three books that are available here at Wellington City Libraries; The Journey to Prison: Who goes and why, He’ll Be Ok, Growing Gorgeous Boys into Good Men and The Power of Mothers: Releasing Our Children.  In September 2004, she completed the ‘Good Man’ project. The project aimed to create a working definition of what makes a good man in the 21st century.

Up until her illness she was working on projects linked to improving the lives of at-risk children and empowering families to find their own solutions to the challenges they face. Celia and her family hoped that this work would continue with public support and will be a testament to her great contribution to social justice and improving the lives of at-risk families, aiding the reduction of crime and poverty in this country and driven by her belief that “every child is born pure and filled with their own particular brand of magic”.

Celia had two children and three grandchildren.

Syndetics book coverThe journey to prison : who goes and why / Celia Lashlie.
‘There is a blond, angelic-faced five year old sitting in a classroom in New Zealand and he is coming to prison…on his way, he will probably kill someone.’ With these words Celia Lashlie caused a media storm that propeeled her into the headlines for weeks during 2001. Now she tells the story from her point of view, then goes on to look at the whole question of the origins issue of crime in New Zealand, the way we punish offenders, the effectiveness of prison (for both men and women), parental responsibility, the role of drugs, where education comes in and the role of state institutions. Underpinning her argument is the need for the community as a whole to take responsibility for the incidence of crime in our society. With her background as a prison officer in male prisons and manager of a female prison, Celia Lashlie is uniquely placed to offer both real facts and wise insights that will inform the often unenlightened debate about crime and punishment in New Zealand. (Abridged from back cover)

Syndetics book cover He’ll be OK : growing gorgeous boys into good men / Celia Lashlie.
“Adolescent boys – they seem to disappear into another world where they barely communicate and where fast cars, alcohol and drugs are constant temptations.  Will they survive to become good men?  How can parents and schools understand them and help them through this difficult and dangerous time?  Celia Lashlie has some of the answers.  After years of working in the prison service she knows what can happen when boys make the wrong choices.  She also knows what it is like to be a parent – she raised a son on her own and feared for his survival.  During the recent Good Man Project she talked to 180 classes of boys throughout New Zealand, and what she found was surprising, amusing , and in some cases, frightening.  In this funny, honest, no-nonsense book Celia Lashlie reveals what goes on inside the world of boys, and that it is an entirely different world from that of girls.  With clarity and insight she offers parents – especially mothers – practical and reassuring advice on raising their boys to become  good, loving, articulate men.”  (Abridged from back cover)

Syndetics book coverThe power of mothers : releasing our children / Celia Lashlie.
“A hard-hitting look at crime and criminal families and the women with the power to change things – if we let them. The Power of Mothers is a wake up call to voter and politician, parent and grandparent, social agency and lobby group alike. We must do more than build prisons to hold the children we fail – and we must start now.” (Abridged from back cover)