Rate My Professor Kari Wilson-Allan

Wilson-Allan has made notable contributions to The Hocken Blog, authoring posts that illuminate lesser-known aspects of history drawn directly from the collections. Key publications include "'Hets miss out on gay blood': early gay community perspectives on AIDS" (March 2022), which examines archival materials on community responses to the epidemic; "Frenchman's letters share tales from Otago goldfields" (April 2025), featuring personal correspondence from the 1860s gold rush era; "Missing; stolen; drunk: perusing the Police Gazettes" (September 2014), analyzing 19th-century crime reports; "Reading between the lines in Blighty" (August 2018), reviewing a World War I YMCA booklet for soldiers; "Stirring up the stacks #1: Variety salad in tomato aspic," recreating historical recipes; "Vaccines: public health good, or conspiratorial 'delusion and snare'" (September 2020), contextualizing anti-vaccination sentiments; "The real housewives of Dunedin: the Dunedin Housewives Union/Dunedin Housewives Association records, 1930-1977" (March 2017), highlighting women's organizational history; "Thai students' wartime communications in New Zealand," detailing personal letters during World War II; "Going past Papers Past: a mass of mastheads," discussing physical newspaper collections; and "For Dunedin's Good Rule and Government," reviewing early city by-laws. These pieces demonstrate her focus on public health, LGBTQ+ history, women's roles, migration, crime, food culture, and local governance. She has also supported exhibitions like queer zines displays (March 2025) and donated items such as Radio One posters to the collections. Wilson-Allan has participated in community advocacy, signing open letters on academic matters and rainbow community naming in mental health submissions (2019-2020). Her efforts enhance access to Hocken’s archives for academic and public audiences, preserving narratives of New Zealand's diverse past.