Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 34, Number 1, 1 Ianuali 2017 — Hawaiian Historical Society turns 125 [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hawaiian Historical Society turns 125

ByTreenaShapiro Honors often go to those who make history, but this year the Hawaiian Historical Society will recognize those who preserve it. Every month in 2017, the Society will be shining a spotlight on historians, aeademics and regular citizens who saw the need to document an aspect of Hawai'i's history that otherwise might have been lost forever. "We don't often look at those who work quietly behind the scenes doing the work that preserves the history of Hawai'i," said Shari Tamashiro, the Society's president. These lesser-known "history preserv-

ers" will be honored throughout the Society's 1 25 th anniversary year. The dedication and passion of those individuals have helped enrich the Society's library, whieh today includes more than 12,000 volumes and 35 linear feet of manuscripts that chroniele Hawai'i and Paeihe Island history and the experiences of diverse groups who have called the islands home. Established during turbulent times on Jan. 11, 1892 - less than a year after the death of King Kalākaua and just over a year before the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom - the Hawaiian Historical Society was started by prominent citizens to preserve historic materials, offer puhlie lectures and publish scholarly research about Hawai'i. Queen Lili'uokalani was one of the Society's early patrons. The impetus for the Society's creation, noted Nanea Armstrong-Wassel, was the belief stated by its first librarian Rev. R.R. Hoes, who said at the society's founding: "Nothing ever printed in this country, even an ephemeral hand-bill, is without ultimate historic interest, and there is destroyed every month, in this community, materials that would be of permanent interest and value on the shelves of our library."

Now housed at the Mission Houses, the Society library's extensive collections include broadsides, narratives about early voyages to Hawai'i, Hawai-ian-language imprints and newspapers published in Hawai'i. In the 1800s, "Other institutions that served to provide knowledge and preservation of history did exist, but were not necessarily focused on just Hawaiian history and the history of Hawai'i and Polynesia," said Armstrong-Wassel, the Society's

secretary. "The overall continued effort shared

by these establishments was the sincere belief that knowledge and the care for knowledge was for the betterment of all in society." One preexisting organization, the Honolulu Library and Reading Room, provided the Society's first home and passed its Hawaiian materials to the Society, most significantly 500 to 600 volumes from Queen Emma's private library. Today, the Society's library is used by scholars, historians and history buffs interested in Hawai'i

and Paeihe Island history, particularly from the 19th century. Puhlie lectures are held quarterly and the society also publishes "The Hawaiian Journal of History" annually. This year, events in May and October will celebrate the Society's 125th anniversary, along with some of the individuals who have contributed to the preservation of the islands' history. "There are so many people who are deserving of honor," said Tamashiro. "Narrowing it down was really difficult. However, it is a

start and we hope to eontinue shining a spotlight on these history preservers." Tamashiro, a Kapi'olani Community College "cybrarian" - or cyber librarian - added that the anniversary year isn't just a time for reflection, but also a time to look ahead at digitizing and moving more of the Society's collections online to make them accessible to the broader puhlie. Outreach through social media, such as Ron Williams, Ph.D.'s "This Day in Hawaiian History," has already helped interest and engage more people in the Society's activities, she pointed out. On Dec. 5, Williams' post described the Society's first meeting. Vice-president Jonathan Swift Emerson delivered the first chairman's address for absent president Charles Reed Bishop. The Facebook post includes this excerpt: "The object of this society, as expressed in the Constitution, is 'the collection, study, and utilization of all material illus-

trating tne ttnnotogy, Arcneotogy, ana History of the Hawaiian Islands.' We are therefore not committed to any political faith, or ecclesiastical creed, or the advancement of any

one of the several nationalities whieh together form the Hawaiian Kingdom. We now seek, and shall continue to seek, exact historic truth, and shall cordially weleome it from whatever source it may reach us. The field before us is extremely rich." To keep up to date on the upcoming activities, visit www.hawaiianhistory.org or follow the Hawaiian Historical Society on Facebook at www. facebook.com/hawaiianhistory. ■

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August Nicolas Vaillant. "Scēne de Danse, aux lles Sandwich" from Voyage Autour du Monde . . . (Paris, 1 845-1 852). Images: Courtesy of the Hawaiian Historical Society

Broadside advertising a musical eventwith the Lancashire Bell Ring ers, circa 1870.

Fannv Kekelaokalani Youna. neneil 32.