Preserving the stories that have shaped New Zealand
The Preserving Local History and Educational Trust (Te Pupuri I Nga Hitori o Te Rohe Trust) wishes to preserve the stories that have helped to shape our communities and our nation, and to make these accessible to New Zealanders both at home and abroad.
We have commenced a multi-stage, multi-year project Your Stories that seeks to preserve Aotearoa New Zealand’s written history for our tamariki and increase access to New Zealand’s cultural history.
About the Trust
The Preserving Local History and Educational Trust, Te Pupuri I Nga Hitori o Te Rohe has the primary goal to preserve Aotearoa New Zealand’s cultural heritage and taonga.
We believe our mahi can provide lasting benefits for communities and help advance education, while ultimately supporting the views and expectations of tangata whenua.
Our Your Stories Project
Your Stories - preserving local histories for our tamariki goal is to digitise, and make available, all historical newspapers (from 1840 to 2000) that are at risk of loss or decay. This will ensure that the stories and histories from diverse communities right across urban and rural New Zealand are preserved for current and future generations.
Marlborough Express now published on Papers Past
The Preserving Local History & Educational Trust is proud to announce that the Marlborough Express (1921–1952) has been successfully digitised and is now fully searchable on Papers Past, New Zealand’s premier online archive of historic newspapers and cultural records.
This important milestone is the result of a collaborative effort between the Trust, the National Library of New Zealand, and Marlborough Museum — with the goal of preserving Aotearoa’s rich community histories for future generations.
Urgent preservation of our history required
Newspapers are comprehensive records that capture local events, stories and knowledge all about the tāngata, businesses, clubs, and organisations that build a community. Preserving a community’s history is crucial to understanding who we are, and our tūrangawaewae.
A significant number of these newspapers are stored in poor conditions, often looked after by volunteer community groups. They are fragile documents, not easily accessed by the public and are deteriorating year-on-year.
Without urgent preservation these stories will be missing from our nation’s kōrero.
The need has been identified within the library sector, community sector, by individuals, at the Government level and backed by use statistics for newspapers that have already been digitised via the National Library’s Papers Past – one of our country’s most researched databases/websites.
“Digitised copies of our papers will be a great help for us and the community. Most of this information is not available anywhere else.”
— Robert Milne, Editor of the Ruapehu Bulletin.
Making history accessible to all
The digitised and preserved newspapers will be available online through our Recollect site.
This site provides immediate access to newspapers digitised by the Trust while we wait for the images to be ingested into the National Digital Heritage Archive and eventually uploaded to Papers Past.
Anyone with access to the internet will be able to view the digital images of the newspapers, 24/7 (rights permitting).
Across Aotearoa many public libraries, archives, and museums offer free internet services.
Digitised Newspapers
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The Marlborough Express
1921-1943
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Waimarino Bulletin
1983-1989
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The Ruapehu Bulletin
1989-1999, 2001
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The Taupō Times
1958-1990
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The Otago Witness Illustrated Supplements
1900-1915
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The Chatham Islander
1992-2010
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North Shore Gazette
1924-1948
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Devonport Gazette & Greater North Shore Advocate
1921-1924
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Northcote Athenaeum Meteor
1905-1915
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Mount News
1948 - 1990
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Opotiki News
1951 - 1972, 1981
Would you like the Trust to save your story?
We are interested in historical newspapers that are at risk of loss or decay. Titles that are already preserved on microfilm or present on Papers Past will not be considered at this time.
If you hold newspapers that are not known about (you can check this in the National Library's catalogue: https://natlib.govt.nz/) or are not widely held, the Trust is interested in learning more about your collection.
Show your support
As a charitable trust, we require your support to continue to fulfil our important mahi. Show your support for our project by making a donation, taking the time to advocate for our project, or telling us about hard-to-find newspapers.
Our Strategic Partners
We express our gratitude and thanks to The National Library of New Zealand and NZMS for their contribution and support.
