Today, September 19, 130 years ago in 1893, New Zealand became the first self-governing country in the world in which women won the right to vote.
First image, click to enlarge: This women's history landmark—the Kate Sheppard National Memorial, located by the Avon River, Christchurch, New Zealand— is high up on my "To-Visit" wish list! Created by Dutch-born New Zealand sculptor and painter Margriet Windhausen, the memorial was dedicated on September 19, 1993, the 100th anniversary of universal suffrage in New Zealand.
Measuring 16 feet wide and 6' 7" high, the side panels depict scenes from everyday women's lives in the nineteenth century, and include text recounting women's fight for the vote. The six life-size figures in the center panel, from left to right, represent:
Meri Te Tai Mangakāhia, Māori suffragist and the first woman to address the Māori Parliament; Amey Daldy, English-born New Zealand feminist and suffragist; Kate Sheppard, English-born editor of the first woman-operated newspaper in New Zealand, and the key leader of the fight for the vote. (In 1991, her portrait replaced Queen Elizabeth II's on a New Zealand ten-dollar note); Ada Wells, English-born suffragist and social worker; Harriet Morison, Irish-born trade unionist and suffragist; and Helen Nicol, Scottish-born suffragist and temperance leader. (The images from from Wikipedia.)
The wooden barrel overflowing with petitions represents the massive number of petitions that were presented to Parliament in 1891, 1892, 1893.
Check out this eye-opening link, documenting women's world-wide fight for the vote.:
International Women's Suffrage Timeline: 1851-Present by Jone Johnson Lewis at ThoughtCo.
First image is by Donna Robertson, flickr; next images from Wikipedia and Wikicommons
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