Phanzine Newsletter of the Professional Historians’ Association of New Zealand/Aotearoa Vol
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Phanzine Newsletter of the Professional Historians’ Association of New Zealand/Aotearoa Vol. 20, No. 3, December 2014, ISSN 1173 4124 www.phanza.org.nz Editorial Kia ora whānau. This is a special issue of Phanzine for a special occasion – PHANZA’s 20th anniversary – so it’s worthwhile remembering how and why PHANZA was formed Here I’m writing as a participant, for I was one of a group who or- ganised a meeting for like-mind- Left to right: Bronwyn Dalley, Gavin McLean, Ben Schrader, Bronwyn Labrum, ed and like-employed historians Graham Butterworth, Helen Walter and David Grant at the first PHANZA and researchers in 1993 to con- Annual General Meeting. sider forming an association to represent our views. rate; the intricacies of producing association that would act as a We were not using the term commissioned history or work- lobby group on behalf of pro- ‘public history’ to define our- ing in the politicised and judicial fessional historians – a form of selves, but we knew the issues environment of Treaty claims; ‘industrial advocacy’ is how we occupying us – historians at the and the challenges of preserving saw it – but also one that knew the Department of Internal Affairs, built heritage. particularities facing those work- the Waitangi Tribunal and associ- From that initial meeting, a ing in our sector. We were not ated research organisations, and small working group came to- especially interested in following self-employed scholars – were gether – myself, Helen Walter, some of the Australian public often quite different from those Tony Nightingale, and for a time, history groups which set tight cri- facing our university colleagues. Michael Belgrave and Buddy teria about standards of historical There were employment and taxa- Mikaere – to explore what form scholarship or which closely tion matters and the difficulties an association could take, and guarded the meaning of of being paid at a professional what it would do. We wanted an ► continues over page INSIDE 1 Editorial 8 History in motion: Jock Phillips 2 Editor’s note 12 Oral history defined, and redefined 3 Te Ara: the journey continues 14 Heritage – the past 10 years PO BOx 1904, ThOrndOn, 4 Commemorative history 16 New PHANZA committee members WellingTOn 6 Writing institutional history PHANZINE December 2014 1 ► continued from page 1 country in a way we never envisaged, and of course, ‘historian’. The range of historians working in New technological changes influence the way we oper- Zealand and the breadth of work produced for dif- ate as an Association. The ground of public history ferent purposes would make any ‘policing’ role both changes all the time. Major historical projects have difficult and undesirable. come and gone; so too, sadly, have public history In 1994, an interim committee set about prepar- programmes in universities; new ventures have ap- ing a draft constitution and rules, and in December peared (Te Papa) or existing ones expanded (Auck- that year, 38 locally-based historians met in PSA land Museum); the Treaty claims process continues; House, Wellington, to establish PHANZA. Gavin built heritage remains at risk; commemorative McLean called for someone to move the association events keep on keeping on. PHANZA still has work be formed; Jock Phillips did the honours, seconded to do in representing the interests of our practice by Graham Butterworth. PHANZA’s first committee and keeping the professional profile of history high. got on with the job of representing the interests of And here I want to thank everyone who has been professional historians – providing advice, lobby- involved in making this happen, from the first ing, working to raise the profile of history, acting as members of the working party and interim commit- a network and generally keeping the public history tee back in 1993–94, right through all the committee community informed of relevant matters. Within a members since. So many people have freely given year, membership had grown to close to 100 mem- their time and energy to run the organisation or bers and Phanzine appeared. do the newsletter, organise conferences, represent The rest, as we say, is public history. There were the interests of members, provide references, attend some teething problems, of course, attendant upon meetings and many, many other things besides. the emergence of any new organisation or the devel- Thanks, too, to our ‘base’, first at the Department opment of new forms of historical practice. There of Internal Affairs and then the Ministry for Culture were questions about the use of the term ‘profes- and Heritage, which have provided places to meet sional’ in our title, and what ‘public history’ meant. and other forms of support from time to time. Debates about such issues were vital steps in the The biggest acknowledgement goes to you, the development both of PHANZA and of the practice of members, who have supported the organisation. We public history in New Zealand, and they forced the have many members who have been with us since association (and many practitioners) to think deeply Day One (and some who were on those early groups about what we did and what we represented. as well), and others who have joined more recently. Twenty years on, the Association remains in fine Thanks to one and all. fettle. The membership base is spread through the — Bronwyn Dalley, PHANZA President Editor’s note Merry Christmas from your Phanzine editor! For this twentieth-anniversary issue of Phanzine, I’ve asked a number of PHANZA members to reflect on different aspects of public history in Aotearoa New Zealand today. So we have articles on oral history, commemorations, writing institutional history, and protection of heritage places. I hope to run more such articles next year, as we continue to reflect on the state of public history in PHANZA’s 20th year. The centrepiece of this issue is a tribute by David Young to Jock Phillips, the inaugural recipient of a life membership of PHANZA at our 2014 Annual General Meeting. David profiles Jock’s long involve- ment with public history in New Zealand, and draws on the words of others to explain the nature and extent of Jock’s contribution. Happy reading, and happy 20th birthday, PHANZA! — Ewan Morris, Phanzine editor 2 PHANZINE December 2014 The team that will be continuing to work on Te Ara. Left to right: Kerryn Pollock, Caren Wilton, Nancy Swarbrick, Emily Tutaki and Melanie Lovell-Smith. (Photo: Philothea Flynn) Te Ara: the journey continues Nancy Swarbrick from Te Ara – the online Encyclopedia of New Zealand – reports on the end of one phase of Te Ara’s life and the start of a new one The last weeks of October were received a fitting send-off. In information, and a place to ex- bittersweet for those of us work- addition Janine Faulknor, Ross plore fascinating and illuminat- ing on Te Ara. On the sweetness Somerville, Helen Rickerby, ing images, interactives, sound side of the ledger, we had the great Andy Palmer, Philothea Flynn and film clips. The good news is satisfaction of launching our final and Angela Mitchell came to the that Te Ara will continue to flour- theme – Creative and Intellectual end of their contracts and were ish and grow! A small team of us Life – which explores the many farewelled with tears, laughter who have worked on building the facets of New Zealand creativity. and song – as well as a drink or site are staying on to ensure that This dazzling occasion brought to two. Back in September, too, we the content is maintained and a close the work on the ‘first build’ bid adieu to Marguerite Hill, who kept up to date (as much as is pos- of Te Ara, the world’s first born- took up the role of curator human sible with such a huge website). digital encyclopedia. The project history at Canterbury Museum. We also plan to develop it with was conceived and driven by Jock Thank you all for sharing your new entries and resources that Phillips, who much to our delight amazing skills, your commitment will reflect the changing face of was honoured in October for this and your friendship over the past New Zealand. and his other ground-breaking in- years – your work for Te Ara will The new team members (several tellectual work by the 2014 Prime live on. of them also PHANZA members!) Minister’s Award for Literary Many people throughout and are: Achievement for non-fiction. beyond New Zealand have con- ¶¶Myself – Nancy Swarbrick. I While celebrating these tri- tributed to the making of Te Ara, joined Te Ara as managing edi- umphs, we have had the sadness and many more have found it tor in 2002, and was tasked with of saying goodbye to colleagues. a helpful starter for research, a organising and keeping track of Jock retired in October, and rich source of useful facts and ► continues over page PHANZINE December 2014 3 ► continued from page 3 schedules and workflow, but I’ve Commemorative history also had the pleasure of writing some of the entries. Many PHANZA members are currently involved with ¶¶Kerryn Pollock, a brilliant activities relating to the First World War centenary. researcher and writer (and latterly, also a resource researcher) who Neill Atkinson (Chief Historian, Ministry for Culture joined Te Ara in 2008. and Heritage) considers the role of commemoration ¶¶Melanie Lovell-Smith, who has been the doyenne of resource twenty years ago and today. (image, video etc) research since 2003, bringing her creativity Twenty years ago PHANZA was – has been revolutionised by the to every theme, and who is also founded as a voice for profes- digitisation of material held in renowned for her technical sional historians at a time when museums, libraries and archives.