The New Zealand Collection presents – This week in history: 24th – 30th May

This week’s selected topic comes from the Today in History page at nzhistory.net.nz. The New Zealand Collection is located on the second floor of The Central Library. Each week we feature topics in the This Week in History display in the NZ Collection and using available databases and the library collections to illustrate and provide additional information.

29 May 1953: Hillary and Tenzing conquer Everest

Arguably our most famous New Zealander and someone whose picture we probably all carry around in our wallet, all be it on the $5 note, as he was one of the few living non-heads of state to feature on the banknotes first issued in 1990. This week we celebrate Sir Edmund Hillary’s Everest climb to the top of the world.

Edmund Hillary came to worldwide attention when he and Tenzing Norgay became the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak. Hillary and fellow New Zealander George Lowe were members of the British Everest Expedition which was led by John Hunt. The summit was reached 4 days before the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. They reached the 8848m summit on the 29th May 1953. There was much discussion and controversy over who was the first to step on the summit. The news broke on the morning of the coronation and Hillary was one of the first to receive a knighthood from the new Queen bringing about another controversy as Hillary was knighted while Norgay was awarded the George Medal.

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Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tensing Norgay in Wellington. Further negatives of the Evening Post newspaper. Ref: EP/1971/3690/6A-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22751853

I used the Proquest database located on the MyGateway page of the library webpages to find some articles written about Sir Edmund Hillary. The great thing about the Proquest database is that it offers full text, searchable access to national and provincial newspaper from Australia and New Zealand including The Dominion Post, Sunday Star Times and The New Zealand Herald. You need a library card to log on so you can search from home or on the free internet service available at all our branch libraries. I found a number of obituaries written at the time of Sir Edmund’s death. I particulary liked this quote from an article titled “The man mountain” by Anthony Hubbard in the Sunday Star Times on the 6th Apr 2003.

Hillary laughed about the cascade of compliments coming his way during the 50th anniversary of his conquest of Everest. “What’s the term they use?” he asked. “No, not the hero, the ah… I always forget the name.” He called out to his wife upstairs. “June, what am I?” Lady Hillary came down and said, matter of fact: “An icon.”

“An icon!” he laughed. “I’m certainly not an icon at home.” “No man”, she replied, “is an icon to his wife.”

While talking about Sir Edmund Hillary with a colleague he mentioned a performance he had seen at Womad and sent me a link. It received a rousing reception at the festival and it is worth a look. The group Public Service Broadcasting say in their Youtube account description that “They take samples from old public information films, archive footage and propaganda material, attempting to ‘teach the lessons of the past through the music of the future’.” You can view the clip below or hop over to to our catalogue for their CD titled Inform educate entertain.

You can also view a N.Z. On Screen short film of Hillary returning to New Zealand after the history making climb to the summit of Everest at their website here. You will also be able to view other documentaries about Sir Edmund Hillary from the same link.

A trivia question: What vehicle associated with Sir Edmund’s Antarctic expeditions is pictured on the five dollar note? Go to see the answer here as it’s quite hard to see on the bottom left corner of the note.

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Following his ascent of Everest Hillary devoted much of his life to helping the Sherpa people of Nepal through the Himalayan Trust, which he founded in 1960. Due to the trust and his determined efforts many schools and hospitals were built in this remote region of the Himalayas. Through the trust many New Zealanders have donated money and volunteered in the building projects and staffing of schools and hospitals in Nepal. On the 50th anniversary of the climb the Prime Minister of Nepal made Sir Edmund an honorary citizen of Nepal. A close connection between Nepal and New Zealand continues today and at the time of the tragic Anzac Day earthquake in Nepal Himalayan Trust members and other New Zealand travellers and volunteers were in Nepal. A number of appeals have since been launched in New Zealand to provide aide to the Nepalese people.

Various expeditions to climb Everest had been undertaken since 1921 and you can read digitised newspaper articles on the Papers Past database with a simple search of Everest. You can also read online the New Zealand Geographic here and search for articles on Hillary by logging on with your library card. I found the following article on Papers Past from the Evening Post 18 July 1934 which illustrates the drive that adventurers felt to conquer Everest which was sometimes called the ‘Third Pole’ in relation to the difficulty, excitement and interest in planning and making North and South Pole Expeditions.

Evening Post 18 July 1934, Page 9

Sir Edmund Hillary was on the front cover of many newspapers and magazines following the Everest climb. Articles can be found in the London Times which you can search using your library card to log in from the Newspaper database collection here. As the 1950s print media is not widely digitised you can instead view Wellington newspaper front pages of the time on microfilm, or you can ask to see the Life Magazine issue (Vol 15, No. 3. August 10, 1953 – International Edition) that had Hillary and Tenzing on the front cover. The famous magazine contained an article written by Sir Edmund Hillary, Tenzing’s own story and some stunning photographs. There is also a small glossary of the special ‘Language of Everest’ to explain climbing terms used in the article. You can also ask to see the 1953 New Zealand Alpine Journal that has an editorial dedicated to the ‘Ascent of Everest’ and contains an article by Hillary about the previous year’s British expedition to the Himalayas or the May 2003 copy of National Geographic for an article on the 50th anniversary of the ascent.

Hillary Magazines

Hillary died of heart failure at the age of 88 on 11 January 2008. At Scott Base in Antarctica and at all New Zealand government and public buildings flags were lowered to half mast in recognition of his death and as a tribute to what he meant to the people of New Zealand. A state funeral was held in New Zealand and a thanksgiving service was also held in London. Many memorials and lasting tributes have since been set up to commemorate him. The library holds a number of books about Hillary and Everest, the first is a fascinating illustrated biography with stunning photos many taken by Sir Edmund who was an avid photographer.

Syndetics book coverSir Edmund Hillary : an extraordinary life / Alexa Johnston.
“Around the world Sir Edmund Hillary is a legendary figure – climber, bold adventurer, practical philanthropist and one of the most widely respected persons of our time. He has survived extremes of human experience – from historic triumphs to crushing personal loss – but he sees himself as an ordinary man, persistent rather than heroic. This beautiful book is profusely illustrated with over 500 images, using fascinating material, such as letters, cards, diary pages, and ephemera, from his personal archive. It is a magnificent tribute to one of the greatest climbers and explorers of all time.” (Syndetics summary)

Here is a quote from Edmund Hillary’s diary from Sir Edmund Hillary : an extraordinary life.

Tenzing is an absolutely first class companion for a climber such as myself who likes a lion’s share of the leading. His great strength & endurance enable him to maintain almost any pace without complaint. He is always watchful and efficient in his technique & over dangerous ground the rope is kept tight with a comforting assurance of readiness to meet any emergency.

Syndetics book coverView from the summit / Edmund Hillary.
View from the Summit is a thoughtful and honest reappraisal of a life spent pushing human ability to its limits and relishing the challenges thrown down by the elements. It is also the story of a man whom the world has taken to its heart.” (Inside Cover)

Syndetics book coverSir Edmund Hillary & the people of Everest / foreword by Prince Philip ; with photographs by Anne B. Keiser ; text by Cynthia Russ Ramsay.
“Describes Hillary’s ascent to the summit of Mount Everest and his lifelong relationship with the Sherpas.” (Syndetics summary)

Syndetics book coverEverest 1953 : the epic story of the first ascent / Mick Conefrey.
“On the morning of 2 June 1953, the day of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, the first news broke that Everest had finally been conquered. Drawing on first-hand interviews and unprecedented access to archives, this is a ground-breaking new account of that extraordinary first ascent. Revealing that what has gone down in history as a supremely well-planned expedition was actually beset by crisis and controversy, Everest 1953 recounts a bygone age of self-sacrifice and heroism, using letters and personal diaries to reveal the immense stress and heartache the climbers often hid from their fellow team members. Charting how the ascent affected the original team ­in subsequent years and detailing its immense cultural impact today, Everest 1953 is the perfect book to commemorate this remarkable feat of the human will.” (Syndetics summary)

Syndetics book coverEverest – the first ascent : the untold story of Griffith Pugh, the man who made it possible / Harriet Tuckey.
“Marking the 60th anniversary of the first ascent of Everest in May 1953, Everest — The First Ascent tells the story of the doctor and physiologist Griffith Pugh, without whom the successful conquest of Everest by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay would not have been possible. Recruited as an advisor in 1952, Pugh battled for fifteen months — in the face of opposition, suspicion and ridicule — to revolutionise almost every aspect of British high-altitude mountaineering, transforming the approach to oxygen, clothing, boots, tents, air beds, fitness, hygiene, health-care, diet and acclimatisation. The results were a stunning success and opened the door to the golden age of Himalayan climbing. Pugh’s techniques are still in use today, yet he has never enjoyed popular credit for his work.” (Syndetics summary)

Syndetics book coverAfter Everest : inside the private world of Edmund Hillary / Paul Little with Carolyne Meng-Yee.
“Edmund Hillary is a towering figure among adventurers. His conquest of Everest and his dedication to the welfare of the Nepalese people is well known. While much has been written about what Sir Edmund Hillary did, ‘Ed’, the man behind the legend, is less well known in large part because he controlled how his story was told. The years leading up to Everest and the other great adventures are remarkable enough, but it is the drama of Ed’s later years that throws light onto the world of the private man: the death of his wife and daughter in an air crash, his remarriage to the widow of an old friend, and, finally, the falling out, after his own death, of family members and those in his inner circle. Ed’s image was that of a simple, straightforward man, but in reality he was a complex bundle of paradoxes. This is the story of the man behind the legend.”–Back cover.

Syndetics book coverThe conquest of Everest : original photographs from the legendary first ascent / George Lowe and Huw Lewis-Jones.
“Published to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the conquest of Mount Everest, this visually spectacular book features a trove of original photographs and other rare materials from the George Lowe collection, many unpublished, complemented by classic images from the final ascent. Stunning landscapes, candid portraits, and action shots describe the day-by-day moments of the historic expedition as never before.The extraordinary journey is retold from Lowe’s point of view, capturing the drama of the expedition and the personal stories of those involved. The book also includes contributions from an impressive team of mountaineers and explorers, including Reinhold Messner, Sir Chris Bonington, the late Sir Edmund Hillary, Peter Hillary, Doug Scott, Stephen Venables, Norbu Tenzing Norgay, Tom Hornbein, Kenton Cool, and Jan Morris.” (Syndetics summary)

Syndetics book coverEverest / [editors, Ian Penberthy and George Lewis].
“Approximately 400 unique photographs, along with descriptive captions, transport the reader from base camp to the snow-clad slopes and ridges of Mount Everest, and to the peak itself. The Earth’s highest mountain… has long been a lure for mountaineers and explorers. The dangers of altitude sickness, adverse weather conditions, and ferocious winds make the peak tantalizingly difficult to attain. The ninth British expedition, led by John Hunt, made two attempts in 1953. The first climbing pair came to within 300ft of the summit on May 26th, but were forced to turn back after experiencing oxygen problems. Two days later New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, a Nepali Sherpa, made a second assault, reaching the summit at 11:30 am on May 29th via the South Col Route. The Royal Geographical Society’s extensive archives contain an astonishingly detailed and intimate record of the unsuccessful expeditions in the 1920s and 1930s, and the landmark 1953 expedition, with many fascinating and beautiful images captured by the photographers who accompanied the climbing teams.” (Syndetics summary)