Story: History and historians

New Zealand books on women's history

New Zealand books on women's history

The writing of New Zealand history had been dominated by male historians, who tended to focus on issues such as politics and war, spheres from which women were generally excluded. But under the influence of feminism, a generation of important New Zealand women historians emerged in the 1980s and 1990s. Here are three of the books which marked their appearance. On the left is a collection, Women in history, edited by Barbara Brookes (a lecturer at the University of Otago), Charlotte Macdonald (who was soon to join Victoria University of Wellington) and Margaret Tennant (at Massey University), which appeared in 1986. It was so successful that a sequel, seen on the right, appeared in 1992. Behind is Sandra Coney's Standing in the sunshine, which was published in 1993 to mark the centenary of women's suffrage, and included some path-breaking research on New Zealand women's experience and social history.

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Photograph by Marguerite Hill

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How to cite this page:

Jock Phillips, 'History and historians - New types of historical writing since 1970', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/44142/new-zealand-books-on-womens-history (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Jock Phillips, published 22 Oct 2014