Programme 3 - Women, Politics and Education
"A woman has to make sacrifices ....."
A one hour programme exploring issues around women's paid work, education and politics in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Suited to senior students and adults.
All told in the first person by characters created out of extensive research in the "Living History" tradition.
The Housewife, the Politician and the teacher
"The Vote" or "Trouble Enough Already" 1893.
Katarzyna is a German-Polish Immigrant.It is 1893 and everyone is talking about the women's vote.Katarzyna's married daughter, her sister-in-law, her husband, Michal, the priest, the bishop - Everyone has an opinion! As a non-British immigrant she must get naturalised and registered before she can vote – It all depends on Michal. This is a very popular story full of warmth and humour that arises naturally out of the relationships between Katarzyna and her husband and family.Based on Research and family stories - Katarzyna was a real person.
Charlotte 1904
Charlotte is in Standard Six and new regulations introduce the Proficiency Examination. Girls and boys are equally entitled to sit the exam and equally able to qualify for free secondary education.What difference will it make for bright young women like Charlotte?Charlotte is considering her employment options in a composition under the eye of her teacher (a nun). In a desperate bid to experience the freedom of the boys she and a friend go down to the river determined to “swear and cuss and smoke".They meet an old woman who puts their struggle into historical perspective, 1904 styleCharacters are fictional - but based on historical research on NZ Education in the 19th Century
Mabel Howard
Mabel Howard was 10 in 1904 She passed her Proficiency at New Brighton school and went on to a career in industrial relations and politics. She was the First Woman Cabinet Minister in the Commonwealth. Her story is both tragic and amusing, rich in courage, humour, and irony.Based on David Gee's biography, "Our Mabel"
Love and Marriage
An exploration of marriage customs in 19th Century New Zealand featuring the role of the father
A Wife for Johnny 1899
Arranged marriages were normal back in West Prussia.Johnny was always in trouble - a wife would settle him down.How does Michal go about finding hime a wife?Based on a family story. Told by Katarzyna, wife of Michal, and mother of Johnny
The Courting of Caroline
Bert is the son of an English Methodist Couple. Caroline is the daughter of an Irish Catholic mother and a German Lutheran father.She is a devout catholic. Both families are opposed to the match.The young people are determined.
Based on a family story. Told by Fanny, the unmarried sister of Bert.
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