History

It is celebrated and argued over. It contains contradictions, and yet it offers clarity. It has a rocky past, but it is providing New Zealanders with new ways forward. It is the Treaty of Waitangi – this nation’s founding agreement.

Listen to leading architects, researchers, and advocates discussing the role of housing in creating a fairer, happier, healthier society.

Share the Anzac spirit by making a medal for an everyday hero – an essential worker, or someone in your bubble. Wear it when you stand at dawn, and tag us on Facebook when you share a photo.

Studio portraits taken in a professional photographer’s studio – often making use of backdrops or props – were for formal, posed portraits, as well as informal, candid photographs of people, and sometimes their pets.

Board games, television, sewing, weaving, cooking – many of us are trying to keep ourselves entertained while staying at home. Perhaps this quiz, using items from the collections, will help inspire your next project or activity.

Professional and community-level sport has a long history in Aotearoa New Zealand from team sports to individual achievements. Read about rugby, running, racing, and rowing, along with political crossovers like the 81 tour, international firsts like the Britten Bike, Olympic champions like Peter Snell, and life before the All Blacks.

The history of the discovery of Aotearoa New Zealand goes back a millennium and contains the stories of many fine explorers, from Kupe to Cook. Here, explore Pacific exploration and European colonisation through our taonga, kōrero, and events.

Think ‘Scots in New Zealand’, and your thoughts will probably turn to tartan, bagpipes, and ‘Auld Lang Syne’. But look beyond these and you’ll find a Scottish presence everywhere in New Zealand life.

Made from exposed tubular steel, John Crichton's lamp brought industrial materials and processes into the domestic interior and would have seemed radical in 1950s New Zealand. Te Papa decided to recreate it for Modern Living using historic photographs.

50 years ago the world celebrated landing on the moon. How’s your space knowledge? Put it to the test.

Explore stories that highlight diverse women’s experiences as they have made positive changes for themselves, their whānau, and their communities.

Collections Data Technician Gareth Watkins finds a series of photographs from the 1800s where a combination of movement and long exposure has created unusual, ghostly scenes.

Find out how New Zealand citizens contributed to the suffrage movement in Britain.

Hear a talk by historian Jay Winter, exploring the ‘Kodak revolution’ of World War I and the extensive trail of unofficial photography that ensued.

This collection of propaganda posters was produced by the United States Food Administration during the First World War.

Surgical enhancement to make bottoms bigger seems to be all the rage recently. In the 18th century ladies simply paid a visit to her local ‘bum-shop’ to purchase something a little less painful – a tie-on bum-roll.

Do you recognise New Zealand in the 1800s and 1900s? Guess where these images by historic photographers Muir & Moodie and the Burton Brothers were taken.

Today, no form of birth control is as widespread as the condom – or as essential for sexual health. But it wasn’t always so.

Justine Olsen, curator of decorative art and design discusses the fine process of conserving and preparing lace for display.

In 1918, the New Zealand army commissioned photographs of servicemen who had lost limbs during the war. This was part of a government scheme to show that these men were still competent and employable.

Father's Day is celebrated in New Zealand on the first Sunday of September. We've had a rummage through Collections Online and brought together some of our favourite 'dad gifts'.

Textile conservator Anne Peranteau, and costume mount maker Sam Gatley describe the process of preparing two 18th century dresses for display in an exhibition.

From Jacinda Ardern’s encounter with the sled of her Antarctic hero, to a nine-year-old boy obsessed with the colossal squid, this new podcast series brings New Zealanders face to face with their favourite objects from Te Papa.

A series of articles looking at the social and cultural impact of a one-time ‘essential industry’ and familiar presence in almost all New Zealand homes.

The 1918 influenza lasted three years and infected roughly a quarter of the world’s population. But how much do you know about it?