WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE MURAL AND STAIRCASE

This mural is an Auckland landmark. It celebrates one of the country's feminist prides: the right to vote granted to women in 1893, a world first. This mural, in bright, cheerful colors, celebrates the women who contributed to this pioneering success. It was painted by two women, Jan Morrison and Claudia Pond Eyley, in 1993, to mark the centenary of women's suffrage. The fresco is rich in detail and symbolism.

Firstly, it features portraits of nine suffragists, seven of whom are highly renowned: Amey Daldy and Anne Ward, who held leadership roles in feminist unions; Lizzie Rattray, one of the country's first female journalists and a member of the Auckland Women's Franchise League (chaired by Amey Daldy); Matilda Allsopp and Fanny Brown, two of the first women to exercise their right to vote; Elizabeth Yates, the first female mayor in the British Empire; Annie Schnackenberg, founder of the National Council of Women.

Above them, the names of two other women: Elizabeth Caradus, treasurer of theAuckland Women's Franchise League, and Meri Te Tai Mangakāhia, the first woman to demand the right to vote in the Māori parliament.

Elsewhere, several symbols of the suffragette movement can be found. Among them, white camellias, distributed to members of parliament who supported the passage of the law; and bicycles, with which the feminists rode hundreds of kilometers to collect signatures on their petition.