Dotted around the region’s tiny towns and rural backroads, Southland’s histories are safeguarded by the very people they belong to.
Asylums of the past, museums big and small harbour vast amounts of knowledge and information, largely cared for by volunteers.
From Rakiura to Waikaia, Southland District Council roving museum officer Jo Massey has spent the last 15 years aiding their efforts in local history.
Her work is varied and no day is the same as she catalogues, archives and acts as caretaker to artefacts and records of the region’s colourful past.
She can spend months working in one place.
The stories she came across, and the people they belonged to, were what she enjoyed, she said.
‘‘When they all come together through research, or out of the blue sometimes, telling that story is amazing.’’
Museum success related directly to community drive; Ms Massey could see how it reflected in the museums she worked in.
Not unlike other causes, volunteers were valued, but in some places not high in numbers.
‘‘Everything varies.’’
When asked what she thought most unique in any of Southland’s collections, Ms Massey found it hard to answer, but speaking in general of weird and wonderful items, she had plenty of stories to share.
That connection between item and story was most special.
A blue-green button the size of a thumbnail, small and seemingly insignificant, was put on display at Waikaia’s Switzers Museum, where it told a story far more meaningful than one might expect.
His body was not found, nor was word given about his final moments.
It was not until 1927 that his remains were located, identified by his officer’s buttons still in place where he lay beneath a bridge.
Lt Pinckney was the only New Zealander to be buried at Bailleul Road East Cemetery.
‘‘He came back to the community here, it’s a story we tell just around that small button.’’
The stories and items housed at the Waikaia museum said a lot about the community it served, she said.
‘‘It says a lot that a small community of 90 people has done this. It says a lot about how they feel about their history, their family connections.’’
She felt admiration for the volunteers working as custodians of their community’s heritage.
Her first museum experience had not been forgotten.
‘‘It was when I was looking for a job, I didn’t know what I wanted to do.’’
‘‘She said, ‘Oh, this is really boring’, and I was thinking, ‘It’s amazing, I’d love to be able to do something like that’.’’
Fascination kicked off her desire to work in museums.
Had she ever found it boring? No.
‘‘Even the tasks people might find mundane, you can find joy in that ... also engaging other people in that story, sharing that passion.’’
Most items in Southland’s collections do not explode, but part of the job was to identify items that could do just that.
Last month, a century-old tin of antiseptic, known as picric acid, was found at Waikawa & Districts Museum in the Catlins.
The substance can become explosive, and is found at museums from time to time in items coming into their collections.
‘‘Thankfully picric doesn’t turn up very often.’’
Items accepted into collections, before going through the process of cataloguing and digitisation of records, had to meet criteria.
All the while, it needed to be considered whether it would be put on display or not.
For the items that did, it could be a source for learning as well as nostalgia, Ms Massey said.
