Interview with Lou Ormsby

Mary Louise Ormsby, known as Lou, was born in Hamilton in 1947. Describes parents, talking about her father's iwi affiliation with Nga Puhi, and her mother's Irish Catholic ancestry. Discusses childhood, cultural differences between Maori and Pakeha relatives, and Catholic education, including boarding school. Talks about study at Otago University, meeting husband Maurice Ormsby, marriage and birth of two children. Discusses motherhood, and being involved in the issues of the 1960s, including the Vietnam War protests. Mentions move to Wellington and then to Oxford in 1970, and describes the English class structure, discovering feminism, inspiring feminist writers, the Women's Liberation Movement and Oxford's liberating social environment. Discusses being an activist, and the movement's aims of equal pay, equal educational opportunites, free contraception, abortion on demand, and 24 hour childcare.

Talks about living in Samoa as a diplomat's wife, and describes Samoan culture and the role of Samoan women. Describes work on her return to Wellington, including being part of the 'Herstory Diaries' collective and working as a researcher in the 1990s, and mentions Phillida Bunkle's support. Describes living in Iran 1986-88, and the culture and the position of women. Comments on the impact of feminism on her children, the gains made by feminism, and the lack of 24 hour childcare. Comments on the contemporary women's movement, and changes within the movement by the end of the 1970s. Describes her current research project on relationships between Maori women and Pakeha men pre-1900.

Interviewer(s) - Jill Abigail

Accompanying material - Curriculum Vitae

Quantity: 3 C60 cassette(s). 1 printed abstract(s). 1 Electronic document(s) - abstract. 1 interview(s). 3 Hours Duration.

Physical Description: Textual files - Microsoft word

Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete OHA-2656, OHDL-001005.

Original recordings not available for playback. Surrogate copies will be provided.

Alternative form available: Listening copies OHLC-004322 - OHLC-004324

Both printed and digital versions of the abstract are available