The Kate Sheppard National Memorial to Women’s Suffrage, in Oxford Terrace, Ōtautahi Christchurch, has at last been entered on the Rārangi Kōrero/New Zealand Heritage List as a Category 1 historic place. The creation of the memorial in 1993 was a true group effort, much like the original nineteenth century suffrage campaign led by Kate Sheppard. In June 1990, 44 women representing many women’s groups and organisations met to discuss how they could celebrate the upcoming centenary. One outcome was the establishment of the Kate Sheppard Memorial Appeal Committee, which then selected South Canterbury artist, Margriet Windhausen to create the memorial. The funding for the memorial was supported by a public campaign at the time.

The sculpture depicts a life-sized Kate Sheppard, flanked by five other influential suffragists. These women are:

• Meri Te Tai Mangakāhia, of Taitokerau who requested the vote for women from Te Kotahitanga, the Māori Parliament;
• Amey Daldy, a foundation member of the Auckland W.C.T.U. and president of the Auckland Franchise League;
• Ada Wells, of Christchurch, who campaigned vigorously for equal educational opportunities for girls and women;
• Harriet Morison, of Dunedin, vice president of the Tailoresses’ Union and a powerful advocate for working women; and,
• Helen Nicol, who pioneered the women’s franchise campaign in Dunedin.

The artwork was created for the 1993 commemorations of the achievement of New Zealand women gaining the right to vote one hundred years earlier. NCWNZ Life Member and Ōtautahi Christchurch Branch member, Christine Low, was a member of the original Kate Sheppard Memorial Appeal Committee. The sculpture was unveiled on 19 September 1993, in a special ceremony attended by up to 3000 people.

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga’s Listing Advisor, Robyn Burgess, was impressed by the number of submissions in favour of the memorial being entered as a List 1 Category. She noted that "people see this as a very significant memorial not only for Christchurch, but for all of Aotearoa New Zealand.” NCWNZ Ōtautahi Christchurch Branch wrote a submission in support of the proposal.

Today, the Kate Sheppard National Memorial to Women’s Suffrage is a place of gathering and reflection. Each year on Suffrage Day, 19 September, our Ōtautahi Christchurch Branch of the National Council of Women holds our celebration commemoration at the memorial. We always lay white camellias at the foot of the memorial each Suffrage Day.

Te Whakaronga Trust (Kate Sheppard National Memorial Site Enhancement Project), a group of women urban designers, landscape architects and lawyers, are currently working to upgrade the site and to make it more visible. Read more about this initiative at Inside Government: https://insidegovernment.co.nz/heritage-recognition-for-kate-sheppard-national-suffrage-memorial/.

To read more articles from The Circular (May-June 2025) issue 652, click on the tag below.