Emeritus Professor Margaret Tennant

RSNZ Manawatu Branch October 2018 meeting

7.30 pm Tuesday, 16 October, Palmerston North Central Library, George Street, Palmerston North

In 1893 New Zealand became the first nation state to give women the vote. With this came a package of aspirations for the arrangement of women’s domestic lives and economic opportunities, as well as a further voice in the political life of the country. For many, the vote was the means to other ends, some of which seemed relatively conservative to a later generation of feminists.

This talk will reflect upon some of these goals and the degree to which they had been achieved 125 years later, as well as looking at women’s suffrage in a broader international context.

Emeritus Professor Margaret Tennant FRSNZ, FNZAH was formerly Professor of History at Massey University. She commenced her postgraduate career with a thesis on the organisations which came into existence after women gained the vote in 1893, and one of her areas of research since then has been the history of the non-profit sector.

 All warmly welcome!