The Onslow Historical Society Oral History Project (1993)

This oral history project was a collaboration between the Onslow Historical Society (OHS) and the Cummings Park (Ngaio) branch of the Wellington City Libraries network. Initially proposed in 1991, the project took on different focus leading up to 1993 as this was the centennial year of Women's Suffrage in New Zealand when many community groups were looking for new and innovative ways of marking the event. OHS President Judy Siers and library staff member Christine Quinn attended an oral history training course run by the Alexander Turnbull Library and Wellington City Libraries purchased the necessary recording equipment and provided support.  Eight oral histories were conducted with members of the local community who had either grown up in the Onslow area or had moved to it after marriage. Following the completion of the project, copies of the tapes were deposited at the Cummings Park Library, the ATL Oral History Unit and at 'KATE'; the historic Khandallah Automatic Telephone Exchange building which acts as the headquarters of the society (the drawing of the façade of which forms the logo of the society).

Wishing to make these recordings more available , with the kind permission of the OHS, the original analogue cassettes have been now digitised by Wellington City Libraries and have been made available to listen on this platform. You are welcome to use information contained within these recordings for research purposes but please credit any use back to the original interviewee and include a link back to the recording if possible. 

You can read more about this project and how the centennial of women's suffrage was celebrated in this special 1993 issue of the Onslow Historian which is available to read on the society's website here.

Note that audio recordings on this platform may not play correctly if using a smartphone or other mobile device. We recommend using a laptop or desktop computer to listen to these interviews.