PHANZA Professional Historians of New Zealand / Aotearoa

Hi, we're new here 👋 PHANZA is the professional body for NZ's historians and heritage experts. Follow to learn more about our members' work, publications, events, heritage advocacy and all things history related. We welcome new members, including students/postgrads. Visit our website to learn more.

📚PHANZA is delighted to feature Professor Katie Pickles’ review of Elizabeth Cox's Mr Ward’s Map: Victorian Wellington Street by Street in the current issue of the New Zealand Journal of Public History. phanza.org.nz/wp-content/u...

Dunedin Heritage Weekend is coming up 9-11 October, with talks, tours and events exploring some of the stories, places and people that have shaped Dunedin. Come along and get a taste of Dunedin's rich heritage resources. www.southernheritage.org.nz/events

If you're looking for fun, heritage-themed activities for the school holidays, check out the Auckland Heritage Festival. The theme is Tastes of Tāmaki: A Heritage Feast, and centres on the history and heritage of food and beverage in Auckland. ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/heritage-fes...

⚠️ PHANZA members, the link for this Thursday's AGM has changed from Zoom to Microsoft Teams.⚠️ You should have received an email on Monday with an updated link and agenda. The new link is also in the meeting papers on the PHANZA website.

The Society is pleased to launch a new programme to support research bit.ly/4iFNuF0 The RHS / Social History Archive Partnership offers free access to resources in @socialhistarchive.bsky.social, published by DC Thomson. Applications for 6-month access to Archive content invited #Skystorians 1/2

Join us and @drmirandakaufmann.bsky.social as she peels back the polished veneer of Britain's Georgian elite to reveal fortunes built on Caribbean slavery, and examines the women whose wealth and status were tied to the enslaved economy. Book here: www.history.org.uk/events/calen...

New in the NZ Journal of Public History: Jessie Garland and Meg Nicoll's case study in educational outreach from Ōhinehou Lyttelton, using archaeological materials and arts integration to engage primary students with local history and material perspectives on the past. phanza.org.nz/wp-content/u...

www.1news.co.nz/2026/09/13/h...

In 2024 a book was published identifying the 180 most significant Māori-authored works of non-fiction. Books of Mana is a valuable resource for covering Māori authors on Wikipedia, so for Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, editors in Ōtepoti Dunedin will be improving coverage of authors with articles.

🪧PHANZA's AGM is coming up next week, by Zoom and in person in Wellington. If you're attending in person, please RSVP to phanza[dot]ea[at]gmail[dot]com by Tuesday 22 Sept. 📆 Thursday 24 September ⏰ 5:30pm 📍Archives Reading Room Te Matapihi te Ao Nui Central Library Victoria Street, Wellington

The Aotearoa History and Heritage Alliance, including PHANZA, has released an open letter on the deeply damaging and far-reaching impacts of proposed cuts at Archives NZ and the National Library. Read the letter at the link below and please share widely. phanza.org.nz/wp-content/u...

When Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey came out this summer, many criticized its historical inaccuracies. In #AHAPerspectives, AHA president Suzanne Marchand recalls the same criticisms directed at an ancestral form of historical communication: history painting.

If you care about governments being held accountable, then you need to know about disastrous cuts being planned for Archives NZ and the National Library. These cuts don't just make it much harder to do history. They undermine the institutions at the heart of our democracy.

PHANZA has released a statement expressing our dismay at the nature and magnitude of proposed reductions to staff and services at the National Library and Archives New Zealand. It details our concerns with collections access and fulfillment of legal obligations. phanza.org.nz/wp-content/u...

“Emanuel’s reporting, writing and precise recording of dialogue are wonders of concision and restraint … He shows us what power journalism can have, if given the chance.” Eric Trump reviews The Valley by Asher Emanuel in this month’s Landfall Tauraka Review. landfallreview.com/i-will-hurt-...

No Country for Archivists and Librarians. www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Historians and heritage professionals should be aware of severe cuts being proposed at the National Library and Archives NZ, which will affect both local and international researchers. PHANZA will be making a statement but in the meantime, the RNZ story provides the details.

Wellington Heritage Festival 2026 is here, with a month of talks, events and activities for all ages. 📆 24 October to 15 November 📍Events around the city and region PHANZA members, if you're involved in an event, reply with the info or DM us. We'd love to share! wellingtonheritagefestival.co.nz

We're looking forward to this FREE event in October with the Wellington Heritage Festival and Wellington City Council 💻 🗓️ Saturday 31 October, 12:30pm - 3:30pm 📍 Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui Wellington Central Library 🎫 Spaces limited, book here: bit.ly/4izlqmw

A big thank you to all our members who have renewed their memberships already. You're the best 😀 If you haven't already renewed, please do so by 31 August. Check your email for a renewal notice or see the website for details. Ngā mihi nui!

The 2026 issue of The Manawatū Journal of History is out, with rich and engaging articles on the social, cultural and material histories of the Manawatū.📚 This issue is edited by PHANZA member Margaret Tennant and features articles by Margaret and PHANZA members Clare Gleeson and Fiona McKergow.

Join us in Auckland this Monday for a conversation between historian Tony Ballantyne and AUT Vice-Chancellor Damon Salesa to celebrate the publication of Captain Cook and the Unsettled Afterlives of Empire.

🎉 Congratulations to PHANZA member Julia Bradshaw on her new book, Digging Deep: Women on New Zealand's Goldfields.📚 The book illuminates the stories of settler women who helped shape life on the goldfields, as well as Māori women already living in these areas. www.canterbury.ac.nz/about-uc/wha...

"We shot New Zealanders, didn't we? 110 years ago Private Frank Hughes was executed by firing squad for desertion on 25 August (on his grave) or 26 August 1916 (this order in his service file) at Hallencourt, Somme, France. He was the first of five New Zealanders executed during WWI. #ShotAtDawn

Now is the time to join PHANZA or renew your membership. PHANZA aims to be a strong voice of advocacy for history and heritage in Aotearoa New Zealand. We hope you'll consider joining us! Membership is NZ$60/year, free for postgrads. For more info, head to our website. phanza.org.nz/members/

News | Experimental display at Natural History Museum, London invites public to help shape new permanent gallery Museum to unveil 'hidden' space not seen by visitors since the second world war

Might be some interesting comparative material in this open access article for anyone working on humanitarian politics, the Church Missionary Society etc. in 19thC Aotearoa New Zealand.

Dunedin folks are invited to a talk by PHANZA member Jonathan Howard on 'The Rise and Fall of Seacliff', the Asylum that was once one of NZ's largest buildings. 📆 Wednesday 26 August 2026, 5:30pm 📍Dunningham Suite, Level 4, Dunedin Public Library Pic: Alexander Turnbull Library PAColl-8769-04.

Read PHANZA member Hazel Petrie's review of Charlotte Macdonald’s award-winning history, Garrison World: Redcoat Soldiers in New Zealand and across the British Empire (Bridget Williams Books, 2025), in The Landfall Tauraka Review landfallreview.com/marching-to-... @bwbnz.bsky.social