Since its first volume in June 1930, the publication now known as Papahou: Records of the Auckland Museum has documented the research and practice of Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum. Across nearly a century, the journal has traced the evolution of the Museum while remaining grounded in its collections as a site of research, commemoration, documentation, and interpretation. Now in its 60th volume, Papahou offers an opportunity to look back on that trajectory. First established as the Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum and later published as the Records of the Auckland Museum, the journal emerged at a moment when the Museum was redefining its role in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The opening of the new War Memorial Museum building in November 1929 marked more than a change of site. It signalled a shift towards a modern museum model in which research, collecting, display, education, and public engagement were understood as interdependent, expressed through activities such as fieldwork programmes, school loan collections, lectures, and exhibitions. Under the leadership of Sir Gilbert Archey, appointed Director in 1924, the Museum developed as a coordinated institution in which each function contributed to a wider purpose. As Evan Graham Turbott later observed, from its “rebirth” in 1929 the Museum came to be recognised as “a model for modern museums” (Turbott 1975, p. 10).
Within this context, the establishment of the Records was not an isolated initiative but part of this interconnected approach to museum practice. It positioned the publication of museum research alongside these activities and enabled this work to be shared within Aotearoa and internationally, thereby situating the institution within a broader network of scholarship. Contemporary reporting described the first volume as “a national service to science,” recognising the importance of publishing the complete details of research (“Researches by museum”, 1930).
From these beginnings, the scope of the Records expanded alongside the Museum’s work. Early volumes focused strongly on the Natural Sciences, contributing to scientific research in Taxonomy, Zoology, Botany, Anthropology, and Palaeontology and documenting fieldwork across Aotearoa and the Pacific. Over time, this broadened to include Archaeology, Taonga Māori, Pacific and World, Applied Arts and Documentary Heritage collections, and more recently to encompass museum practice and interdisciplinary research, extending the publication’s scientific foundations into new areas of inquiry. This shift reflects the Museum’s role as both a research institution and a place where knowledge is developed alongside and shared with communities, recognising that communities contribute to this knowledge as much as the Museum itself.
Central to this history is the sustained commitment of those who have contributed to the journal, much of it undertaken alongside the everyday responsibilities of museum work. As noted in the Auckland Museum Annual Report, 1958–1959, “members of the staff have continued their contributions to research, although almost entirely as an after-hours occupation” (p. 12).
Alongside this, the production of the Records has also been a collective endeavour, encompassing editorial work such as the preparation of manuscripts and coordination of contributions, as well as the physical, and now digital, processes of publication. In turn, these volumes reflect not only the development of research within the Museum, but the contributions of those who have shaped, edited, reviewed, and supported the Records over time. From its earliest editorial stewardship, under Sir Gilbert Archey, through the tenure of A. W. B. Powell, the work of Keith Wise and the editorial committee, and the later leadership of Brian Gill and Nigel Prickett, to more recent editors including John Early, Fuli Pereira, and Louise Furey, and the current editorial team, the Records has been carried forward through successive generations.
The transition to Papahou: Records of the Auckland Museum signals a continuation of this legacy alongside a shift in emphasis. The name Papahou, a container for treasured knowledge and taonga, aligns the publication with the Museum’s role as kaitiaki (guardians or custodians) and the responsibility to hold, share and create new knowledge. The move to a fully digital, open-access format further extends this commitment, enabling wider access and engagement. Though the format may have changed, the mission remains consistent with Archey’s original vision to make the Museum’s work widely accessible. In its relaunched form, Papahou also reflects an expanded understanding of research, building on a long tradition of scientific and scholarly inquiry grounded in the Museum’s collections. It maintains its role as a peer-reviewed journal while reflecting the evolving relationships between collections, research, and the communities connected to them.
Volume 60 highlights the diverse threads of 21st-century museum practice, with articles ranging from soil chemistry on Rangitāhua to the use of Wikipedia in Aotearoa and cultural heritage contexts in West Africa, alongside collections-based studies such as Sartorial diplomacy: Rt Hon Helen Clark on the world stage. These contributions sit proudly within our journal’s 97-year history, as Papahou carries forward a legacy of sustained inquiry and collective effort, connecting people, place, and taonga across generations.