Feedback from the other writers is that this should be on its own page with links to all the other Suffrage issues and stamps. I have decided to quickly do this before everyone gets used to it being with the 2018 Suffrage issue.
Woman's Suffrage in Stamps.
(A small thematic collection.)
Katherine Sheppard / First Country with Women's Suffrage.
1990 Heritage Set 5 - The Achievers.
Katherine Wilson "Kate" Sheppard (10 March 1847–13 July 1934) was the most prominent member of New Zealand's Women's Suffrage and was the country's most famous suffragette. Katherine Sheppard emigrated to New Zealand from England in 1869. As a result of her campaigning, our country was the first in the world to award equal voting rights to women. A social worker and a feminist, she founded the New Zealand Christian Women's Temperance Union. She then went on to lead New Zealand women in the historic campaign for suffrage.
She also appears on the New Zealand ten-dollar note. Since New Zealand was the first country to introduce universal suffrage, Sheppard's work has had a considerable impact on women's suffrage movements in other countries around the world.
$3.00 - Kate Sheppard. $3.00 - Camellia.
2018 Suffrage 125 Years Whakatu Wahine.
These two stamps show Kate Sheppard, a prominent leader in the Suffrage campaign. When combined they show the full shape of the camellia, a symbol of the Suffrage Movement. They are both print with the colour purple, the official colour adopted by the movement.
40c - Women’s Suffrage.
1999 Millennium V - Leading the Way.
The first women’s franchise bill was introduced into the New Zealand Parliament in 1877. It was rejected – just like similar bills that would be introduced over the next decade.
Throughout 1892 Kate Sheppard, national superintendent of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union’s Franchise Department and suffragists throughout the country intensified the pressure for change, through leaflets, articles, public meetings and direct lobbying of politicians. By the following year, suffrage had gained widespread support. A third petition – 300 yards long and containing the signatures of nearly 32,000 women – resulted in an electoral bill giving women the right to vote being passed on 8 September. The Electoral Act 1893 was passed 11 days later, making New Zealand the first country in the world to inaugurate universal female suffrage.
It was not, however, until 1919 that women were actually allowed to stand for Parliament. The first woman MP was elected in 1933 when Elizabeth McCombs won the seat left vacant by her husband's death. Since then, three women have achieved the highest position in Parliament, leading New Zealand as Prime Minister.
The figure in the background of the Women’s Suffrage Petition stamp is a stylised “suffragist” from the 1890s, representing the hundreds of volunteers who door-knocked in all weathers in communities across the country to collect the signatures that won New Zealand women the vote. Purple was the official colour of the movement.
Today Kate Sheppard and the Suffrage movement is celebrated as one of the major achievements of a young emerging country. This is why she appears in a fun issue on New Zealand culture.
2008 The A to Z of New Zealand.
2008 Kate Sheppard.
45c - The First Vote - 1893.
In 1893 nearly one in every four New Zealand women signed a petition urging Parliament to recognise their right to vote. In September that year, New Zealand women became the first in the world to be granted voting rights in general elections.
80c - Second World War Work.
During World War II the demand for labour saw women taking on many jobs previously only open to men, and in the process, the prejudice against married women working began to change. After the war, many women continued as members of the paid workforce.
$1.00 - Child Care.
Attitudes about child care have changed considerably in the last 40 years. Many women now combine raising children with work outside the home - some by choice, others through necessity - and men are playing a more active role in caring for children. Nonetheless, women continue to be the principal caregivers.
$1.50 - Contemporary Women.
As women's lives have become more varied and in many ways richer than their forebears', awareness of those earlier women's efforts to bring about change has also grown. Those efforts continue today. Healthcare, access to top jobs, economic independence for women at home, and reduction of violence against women are just some areas which women, and many men, continue to address.
Do you see where this is going? The Suffrage Campaign and winning the vote was a game-changer for women. This change began on the campaign trail, even before they had won the right to vote. Women working together, united under a common cause. Of course, gaining the vote lead to changes in the way politicians thought of women who now hold nearly half of the country's vote.
Woman's Suffrage, the beginning of change for women, empowering them to strive for greater rights and freedom. Social change, nation-building, an important chapter in the history of New Zealand.
Some of the images in this post were used with permission from the illustrated catalogue of StampsNZ
Information & images for this post came from.
This post is a joint project by Asami & Allan.
What an interesting post. Social change, a game changer for women. I like the way you did that. A thematic collection with a great story to tell.
ReplyDeleteNina.