Monday 12 October, 2008

Christchurch heritage in focus

Heritage Week 2008 is a celebration of Christchurch's heritage of the post-war period with the theme of "Retrospective: Christchurch life, architecture and design 1940s - 1970s". Christchurch City Libraries photo competition is designed to uncover Christchurch photos of the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s.

Photos can be entered under the following themes:

All entries will go in the draw to win a Sony digital camera or one of three $50 photography vouchers. The competition closes on Wednesday, October 22 and winners will be announced on 28 October.

The photograph collection is one of the many heritage resources available at Christchurch City Libraries. Family history resources are some of the most popular, and the Christchurch Timeline allows you to seach for events that happened in Christchurch on particular dates. The digitised publications and maps are many and varied and all offer a slightly different look at the Christchurch of the past. And for those with a musical bent, the music section provides insight into how Christchurch may have sounded in the past.

Richard Greenaway: Historian extraordinaire

Genealogy librarian at Christchurch City Libraries Richard Greenaway has been awarded the 2008 A.C. Rhodes History Medal. The medal is awarded annually by the Canterbury History Foundation to recognise and honour a significant contribution to the study of history in Canterbury, particularly one that has excited interest in history in the wider community. Read more about Richard's career.

We recommend: Heritage resources

Our online resources:

Heritage Week Christchurch Photo Competition
Tī Kōuka Whenua - our rich and intriguing past before 1850
Women in the council chamber
Cemeteries of Christchurch
Museums on CINCH, the community information directory
Christchurch timeline
Digitised heritage resources, including maps
Family History - your guide to getting started and digging deeper
Photographs
Music
People
Places
Publications
Heritage and history at localeye
Genealogy groups in CINCH, our community information directory
Whakapapa and genealogy on localeye

Our Internet Gateway recommends:

Browse the resources in our libraries:

This week in Christchurch history

What interesting things happened in Christchurch this week? Find out with the help of the Christchurch Chronology on the library website.

October 10, 1885 Life insurance fraud ("The Case of the Severed Hand") at Sumner. The perpetrator, Arthur Howard, was sentenced to 2 years prison on April 11 the following year.
October 10, 1953 The "last great air race" from London to Christchurch won by an RAF Canberra bomber.
October 11, 1988 "The Wizard" wages war against the "Tasteless tyrants of Telecom" by repainting the new blue telephone boxes traditional red.
October 11, 1989 Waitangi Tribunal Hearing of land claim by Ngai Tahu closes at Tuahiwi Marae.
October 12-14, 1981 Visit by Queen and Duke of Edinburgh.
October 12, 1939 Battery point guns in Lyttelton Harbour accidentally sink fishing boat "Dolphin". 1 man killed.
October 13, 1866 Railway south open to Rolleston.
October 13, 1986 Sir Hamish Hay begins his fifth and final term as Mayor of Christchurch.
October 14, 1989 Vicki Buck, first woman and youngest to be elected, wins Christchurch Mayoralty.
October 15, 1881 Lancaster Park opens. This privately owned development was built so that sports clubs could charge admission fees to games.
October 15, 1979 Visit by King Tupou IV and the Queen of Tonga.
October 16, 1988 Victoria Square Amphitheatre opens.

What's new online?

New on the blog

New on the library website

Next week: The financial crisis: find out more

It seems like it's in the news every day - next week well profile some resources to give you some perspective on the financial crisis - books, online resources and more.