AHI Summer Research Scholarships
Research Articles
“Not in my Backyard” – The Construction of the Auckland Observatory
By Isabella Wensley*
The idea of Aucklanders having their own maunga and opposing views as to their function is reflected in the decades long quest of the Auckland Astronomical Society to find a site for Auckland’s first observatory.
“The Yankee Hospital” – The 39th General US Army Hospital
Part Two "The Yankee Hospital" – The 39th General US Army HospitalPart One “Mere Cold Stone” The Different Meanings of the One Tree Hill ObeliskPart Three “Not in my Backyard” – The Construction of the Auckland ObservatoryPart Four Activism at the Summit: a new...
“Mere Cold Stone” The Different Meanings of the One Tree Hill Obelisk
By Isabella Wensley*
The Maungakiekie/One Tree Hill obelisk is one of the most distinctive landmarks in Auckland. Standing at odds with its natural landscape, it rises 100ft above the summit, its sharp concrete angles contrasting with the rolling grassy hilltop it sits upon.
Living in Parnell
By Tom Wilkinson*
In previous pieces, I have touched upon the changing makeup of Parnell’s social and physical landscape throughout the twentieth century. In this final piece of the series, I wanted to touch on some of the ways in which residents of Parnell experienced the area during this time.
Gentrification in Parnell
by Tom Wilkinson*
Over the course of the 1960s and the 1970s, some major changes occurred in the suburb of contrasts. The post-war cycle of economic and residential growth helped turn Auckland into New Zealand’s ‘primate city’, and as a result vast swathes of land were converted to new industrial and residential suburbs.
Parnell: A Suburb of Contrasts
By Tom Wilkinson*
Located on the periphery of Auckland’s CBD, Parnell has an extensive history as one of the city’s oldest suburbs. The area has a reputation of affluence and prestige – in part due to this long history, but also to the prevalence of boutique stores, expensive restaurants, and beautiful scenery.
Parnell: The Patchwork Suburb
by Tom Wilkinson*
Parnell, as one of Auckland’s oldest suburbs, has a history extending back to the early settlement of the area. When Pākeha arrived in New Zealand and began obtaining land, the area which we now call Parnell was one of the earliest acquisitions.
The Borders of Identity: Illusions in Auckland’s Chinese History
by Hanna Lu*
Let’s start with an end. ‘Chinatown’, located in what is now the city centre’s Greys Avenue, faded out of existence in the 1960s. As its buildings were demolished and its residents moved out, the 1966 Auckland Star published an article in which the author mourned that “Chinatown has gone—and with it one of the more colourful links with Auckland’s past”.
Auckland’s Chinese: Home, Youth and Joy in Turbulence
by Hanna Lu*
To live and die in the same place in the age of wanderlust is to incite pity from those who have only ever seen travel as a voluntary adventure. It’s an opportunity for growth and for excitement — but always with the knowledge that home is there, waiting patiently, for the traveller to come home to. For migrants, things are different.
The Standing Point: Studying the History of Auckland’s Chinese People
by Hanna Lu*
History is not about us. I mean, the people involved are usually not us. But the stories we tell are about ourselves, and who we’ve been, and what we mean when we say ‘ourselves’. Are there concepts of who we are that rest on the exclusion of certain groups?
Two Powerful Voices in Diverse Communities
by Brooke Stevenson*
Mere Newton and Mary Dreaver were two women in politics in the 1930s that commanded an influential were voice within their respective communities. On the 28th August 1939, Mere Newton suspended standing orders of the Onehunga Borough Council Meeting to highlight the need for better Māori housing in their community.
Female Perspectives and Female Issues: Different approaches to politics
by Brooke Stevenson*
Mere Newton, local Māori politician and social worker, and Mary Dreaver, a daughter of Scottish immigrants and a national politician, operated within their vastly different spheres of influence in 1937. However, Newton and Dreaver’s isolated worlds merged on the 12th June 1937 when Mere Newton invited Mary Dreaver to become a guest speaker to the ladies’ social committee of the Epsom-Oak branch of the Labour Party.