Christchurch will mark Suffrage Day with an event at the Kate Sheppard National Memorial on the banks of the Avon River.
The commemoration will run from midday to 1pm and feature speakers including Heritage New Zealand’s Robyn Burgess, Deputy Mayor Pauline Cotter, and Mayoress Chrissy Mauger.
The memorial, created by sculptor Margriet Windhausen and unveiled in 1993 to mark the centenary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand, is the country’s only national monument dedicated to the cause. It features a bronze bas-relief showing Kate Sheppard and five other leaders of the suffrage movement carrying their petition to Parliament. They are Amey Daldy of the Auckland Women’s Christian Temperance Union, Ada Wells of Christchurch who campaigned for equal education for girls, Harriet Morison of Dunedin who advocated for working women, and Helen Nicol, also from Dunedin, a prominent suffrage campaigner.
Kate Shepherd Memorial in Christchurch
Panels on either side of the relief depict scenes of women’s lives in the late 19th century and record the history of the campaign that led New Zealand to become the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote.
Located on Oxford Terrace at the corner of Worcester Street, the memorial was added to the Heritage New Zealand register as a Category I historic place earlier this year. A time capsule inside contains material relevant to women’s lives in 1993, including the names of donors who helped fund its construction.
Suffrage Day is observed nationally each year on 19 September, the date the landmark legislation was passed. The annual event in Christchurch will give residents an opportunity to pause, listen, and reflect on the efforts of the women who paved the way for future generations.
