Heritage

The Kate Sheppard Memorial, Oxford Terrace

Public notice for a meeting on the present and outlook of woman's suffrage to be held at the Oddfellows Hall, Lichfield Street, Chch. 1892

Public notice for a meeting on the present and outlook of woman's suffrage to be held at the Oddfellows Hall, Lichfield Street, Chch. 1892

The Kate Sheppard Memorial was unveiled on 19 September 1993, by the Governor General, Dame Catherine Tizard, to commemorate 100 years since New Zealand women won the right to vote. The Memorial stands in a landscaped area beside the Avon River on Oxford Terrace known as the Kate Sheppard National Memorial Reserve. It is the only National Memorial in Christchurch and is the only New Zealand monument depicting the fight for women's suffrage.

The Memorial, the work of sculptor Margriet Windhausen, comprises a 3.3m by 2.1m bronze bas-relief supported by a 5m pebbled wall. The central panel depicts life size figures of Kate Sheppard and other leaders of the suffrage movement. Smaller panels depict women of the time in typical everyday settings. Bronze panels record a written history of Kate Sheppard and the suffrage movement. A time capsule enclosed in the wall contains a record of the donors and material relevant to women's lives in 1993.

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Sources

This was originally derived from the Christchurch City Council handbook of 1998.